Meet Sarah Englade | Owner/Founder & Executive Recruiter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Englade and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking

Risk has played a massive part in my life, my overall success, and I can firmly say that there is no reward without some risk because I’m proof of that.

When I moved from Haverhill, MA to Houston, TX in 2008 I risked comfort and everything I knew moving to a brand-new city without knowing a single person. For a long time, I knew that Haverhill was not where I belonged and although my entire family and life was there for the first 23 years of my life, I took a risk and moved so that I could find out who I was and what I wanted to do with my life.

For six years, I worked in Medical Spas as a Practice Director and Medical Esthetician. In 2012, I took another risk when I left my career in esthetics and entered recruiting, which was a completely unknown world to me. I instantly fell in love with the recruiting industry, my job, and became very successful early on. I knew I had found my calling and when I was laid off in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I took another massive risk and started my own recruiting firm, Monarch Talent Solutions – all while jobs were scarce and we all lived in the “unknown.” That risk ended up being the best decision I’ve ever made. I am going on year three of being in business, closing our second year with 106% growth!

Your comfort zone is where dreams go to die. If you’re too comfortable, it’s time to do a personal audit on yourself and figure out what you want out of life. Once you figure that piece out, it’s time to start taking risks. Not every decision you make in business is going to be the “right” decision. But that’s how you learn. There is no success without failure, just like there is no reward without risk. It all goes hand-in-hand.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

I wanted to create a “feel-good” brand that people could relate to. Recruiting can be an icky word for a lot of people and the industry doesn’t have the best reputation for being transparent, and I was well aware of that. It was important to me to start a company that was values-driven and stood for something I believed in and that I knew other people would believe in, too. Our mission is to, “put humanity back into hiring” through transparency, honesty, and integrity, and to keep relationships at the forefront. We operate at a slow and steady pace and believe in the process. By having compassion and empathy for our clients and candidates, we’re able to build long-lasting relationships built on trust and kindness, which have been the backbone of our success.

There are hundreds of recruiting firms in Houston that we compete with, which is our biggest challenge. We overcome this and stand out because we act as a true extension of the companies and candidates that we partner with and are fully hands-on throughout the entire process. We keep our standards high and aim to make a difference by delivering our best work always. We are methodical and care about placing candidates in career opportunities with companies whose values align with our own. Therefore, there is a lot of care and thought put in by our recruiters to provide the highest quality candidates and to treat their candidacy and time with the utmost discretion and respect.

Recruiting is all about relationship building and forming and maintaining those relationships requires time and a lot of work. Being in the business of “people” comes with its challenges and so business for us is always personal. I’ve learned that you can be authentically yourself and have empathy and compassion and still be successful. That cut-throat “it’s just business” culture is not what works for us. I’ve learned that saying no often allows us to say yes to the right kind of opportunities and that believing in the process and keeping our standards high has allowed us to grow relationships with the organizations and people that align with our goals and values, which feels amazing.

At Monarch, we have fun and think big! We have proven time and time again that by not comprising your standards and integrity, you can make a massive difference. We are excited to be a part of reinventing the recruiting industry and this is just the beginning for us!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

If my best friend flew in for a long weekend, I would…

1) Have brunch at The Traveler’s Table
2) Exercise and people-watch at Memorial Park
3) Shop at The Galleria Mall
4) Catch a movie at the Rooftop Cinema
5) Have lunch and drinks at A’Bouzy
6) Stop by The Post in downtown to grab photos
7) Head to Zanti in River Oaks for dinner
8) Nightcap at Clarkwood for an espresso martini

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

When I decided to start my own recruiting firm in 2020, that decision was met with a full blessing from my husband who knew that he would be financially responsible for us until I was able to get the business up and running. From there I reached out to my parents, my sisters, my grandmother, and my in-laws, pitched my idea to all of them separately and asked if they would invest in me with a promise that I would pay them all back within 12 months. I was so nervous during those phone calls, but I was met with an incredible amount of support and zero hesitation from anyone. I was ready to bet on myself and with their full support and encouragement I was able to spread my wings and fly.

Having cheerleaders is massive, especially when it’s your family and everyone is genuinely proud of all you’ve accomplished. They all want to see me crush my goals and continue to play a huge part in my journey as an entrepreneur by always supporting me throughout everything. It hasn’t always been easy or fun, but they’ve never doubted me and have stood behind me through both the hard times and good times as a new business owner. I’m grateful to have such a loving and supportive family and they absolutely deserve to be recognized for playing a part in my success.

Besides my family, I’d love to shout out Andy Frisella, whose podcast RealAF changed my entire life back in 2020. His podcast has taught me a lot about the importance of personal excellence, having discipline, a strong mindset, believing in the process, leading by example, and never compromising integrity. I’ve learned a lot about business, how to execute, and how to pivot through listening to the advice and wisdom that he shares around his own entrepreneurial journey. I was lost until I found that podcast and Andy deserves credit for changing someone’s life that he doesn’t even know.

Lastly, the book “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy is my absolute favorite book on creating good habits. I’ve read it numerous times and have recommended this book to countless people who are like me and always looking for ways to “level up.” This book taught me a lot, but my favorite takeaway has been the importance of getting 1% better every day. This was so big for me that I made one of my company’s core values to “Improve by 1% every day.” It’s a way of life and this book 100% helped catapult me to where I’m at today from a dark place I never want to go back to.

Website: www.monarchtalentsolutions.com

Instagram: monarchtalenthtx

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-englade-856b2259/