Always Negotiate with Stephanie Ranno

I want to introduce you to my friend Stephanie Ranno, a recruiter at TorchLight Hire, a staffing firm for marketing and communications in the Mid-Atlantic. Stephanie loves helping people in a meaningful way as they deal with ups and downs of work. You'll love her story of how she landed in the staffing world through a chance encounter in a bar when she was a fundraiser at the tender age of 26. She shares why she loves working as a recruiter and the leaders that have taught her the human aspect of the work world. She also talks about the business development skill set (to include follow up) that she has mastered over the years. We also talk about the importance of building and nurturing relationships and why you need to exercise "positive persistence" in the spirit of serving and helping. Stephanie shares that the purpose of business is to solve a problem; money is the outcome and result of you solving a problem for someone. She encourages us to "become a better YOU" on your path to finding meaning.

You'll love Stephanie's tips on how to present yourself in the marketplace by using specific metrics and data on the impact you've had in an organization. She also recommends networking over blindly applying for jobs to find your next opportunity. She suggests using LinkedIn to help you connect with others while you are doing a job search. On the interview front, she talks about telling stories to sell the employer on why you are the best candidate and that you want to move forward in the interview process. She also highly encourages you to always negotiate to show how this opportunity will fit into your whole life and align with what you want in your career.

My favorite part of this conversation is when Stephanie allows herself to be vulnerable and talk about being a working mother of three kids to include an autistic daughter. I like her perspective on work-life balance and how she manages the constant trade-offs as well as the value of a strong support system. She relies on her strength and blessings to practice the art of forgiveness in her toughest moments.

I believe that Stephanie Ranno is a brave girl here to help heal the world with her unique gifts as she works to help others find meaning in the world of work.