In 2007, Ingram Losner and I quit our corporate jobs and started Proven Recruiting.

It was a total Jerry Maguire moment. At the time, we were both working for a large, publicly-traded recruiting firm and had become disillusioned with the way traditional agencies in our industry worked. The focus was almost singularly on shareholders and profit, and employees were often treated poorly as a result.

We refused to accept the idea that profit was a zero-sum game. We believed it was possible to make money and provide exceptional service to customers by focusing on our employees first – especially in an industry that exists to place new employees in positions and companies where they’ll thrive.

We thought that should start in our own backyard.

And so it did. In May of 2007, Proven Recruiting was born at a table in my garage. The mission was to create a place where talented people liked coming to work and were allowed to focus on the things they were good at.

We believed this type of environment would elevate our recruiters’ expectations as they helped other companies hire happy, productive employees. Those companies would then go on to create better products and services, and we would ultimately grow and make money as a result.

It worked.

Today, Proven Recruiting has grown from seven original founders to a 150-person community of core employees and consultants across the U.S.

We attribute this success to an unwavering commitment to focus on our people first, which is why Ingram and I spend so much time meticulously cultivating our employee-centric culture. (Which, by the way, has won a Best Places to Work Award for every year we’ve been in business).

We’ve also created five Guiding Principles for our company, so that as we continue to grow we don’t lose sight of the values upon which Proven Recruiting was built. They are our ‘secret sauce,’ if you will, and they guide who we hire, how we treat each other and our customers, and how we’ll continue to grow.

Proven Recruiting’s Five Guiding Principles

1. Make $hit Happen.

2. Do the Right Thing.

3. Celebrate Success.

4. Give Back.

5. Try. Learn. Grow. Repeat.

As a final note – clarifying and articulating the Guiding Principles that have been long-held within our organization took us about a year to get right. If you’re working on defining the core values or principles that guide your growing company, feel free to give me a call at 858-412-1122. I’d love to share insight on our process and the steps we took to engage our employees in co-creating this meaningful platform for our continued growth.

Have a question for Louis? Ask him in the comments below!