Lizzie Mintus is the Founder and CEO of Here’s Waldo Recruiting, a boutique technical recruiting firm specializing in the video game space. Before founding her agency, Lizzie was a technical recruiter for Verticalmove, Inc. She received a certificate in Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership from the University of Washington to enhance her leadership skills and grow her agency. Lizzie is also an ambassador at Women in Games, a platform empowering women in the gaming industry, and an active member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [2:36] Lizzie Mintus’ journey from a Nordstrom sales associate to a recruiter and entrepreneur
- [9:18] Lizzie talks about her decision to create a niche recruiting firm
- [11:37] The growth trajectory of the gaming industry
- [14:43] How Meta’s year of efficiency impacted Lizzie’s business
- [16:25] Lizzie reveals her approach to leading like a woman
- [20:35] Advice for women taking professional risks
- [21:46] How Lizzie landed a meeting with the Founder of Xbox
In this episode...
Every entrepreneur knows that starting and managing a business means navigating market fluctuations, industry dominations and descents, and many failures. Yet among setbacks and losses, success and impact prevail.
Using her exceptional people skills, extroverted recruiter Lizzie Mintus went from losing profitable clients during Meta’s year of efficiency to landing a meeting with the Founder of Xbox. From this connection, Lizzie began paying it forward, providing her clients with valuable referrals and even offering to pay for an employee’s travel expenses to spend time with family during a crisis. Lizzie’s advice for women wanting to break into an industry with little experience is to take the risk and recognize that if it doesn’t work out, it’s never too late to start over.
In this episode of the Lead Like a Woman Show, Lizzie Mintus, the Founder and CEO of Here’s Waldo Recruiting, joins Andrea Heuston to discuss how she ventured boldly into entrepreneurship. Lizzie explains the importance of leading with empathy, the gaming industry’s evolution and growth, and why she created a niche recruiting business.
Quotable Moments:
- “I’ve learned a lot. It was an excellent first job. You talk to people, and you have to figure out how to get people to talk to you, which is really my superpower.”
- “I made a business plan in a notebook. It’s a simple beginning, but you never know where it might lead.”
- “People were willing to take my call because I’d been good to them in the past. That’s the power of building long-term relationships.”
- “You have to be somewhat crazy to start a business. If it fails, what’s the worst thing that could happen? You just get another job.”
- “If you can’t take care of your personal life, you cannot be a good employee or a good person. So you need to take care of that first.”
Action Steps:
- Start building your business plan and keep iterating: Dive into the creation process of your business plan, allowing it to evolve as you gain more insight.
- Build and sustain long-term relationships in your network: Foster relationships by being genuinely interested in others and reaching out with personalized connections; this creates a valuable support system for entrepreneurial endeavors.
- Identify and leverage your unique superpower: Reflect on what comes naturally to you and use it as a cornerstone for personal and professional growth.
- Embrace change and learn from adversity: Adopt a flexible mindset to navigate industry shifts by reassessing and strengthening your business’ internal processes.
- Prioritize empathy and personal care in leadership: Lead like a woman by putting empathy at the forefront of your business decisions, which nurtures a loyal, caring workplace culture.
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by Artitudes Design by Andrea Heuston. Artitudes Design is an award-winning creative agency that has been creating visual communication for Fortune 500 companies for over 25 years. They have worked with notable companies such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Expedia, and have also served startups and nonprofit organizations.
They specialize in connecting speakers with audiences by creating visual value with presentations and through the creation of motion graphics, video, and content.
To learn more about Artitudes Design, visit their website today. Checkout their portfolio to see their previous projects, and contact them today to find out how they can help you bring your business a cut above the rest.