Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheri Garcia.
Cheri, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Cornbread Hustle is a staffing agency with a strong focus on transformation and education. It all began with a simple desire to help people in transition get jobs.
I did volunteer work in prison for Entrepreneurship for several years, and naturally, I started getting friend requests on Facebook from former inmates looking for jobs because going from prison straight to starting a business isn’t realistic. I would do a discovery session and ask them what their passion was and if they could do anything in the world, what would that be?
Based on their answers, I would help them find the right job. Even if it is an entry-level job at minimum wage, they were happy to be on track for a long-term goal instead of just working any job they could find. As I continued to do this, I realized it was absolutely my passion, and I needed to develop a business from it.
Fast forward to today, two years later, we have a staffing agency that helps anyone looking for a transition in their life. Whether it be after a divorce, moving to a new city, or simply a desire for a career change. We take pride in helping people discover their true passion and help them stay on track with their goals through job placement and complimentary classes.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The roller coaster of Entrepreneurship is a hell of a ride. I don’t think anyone who’s started a business could say it’s been a smooth road with a straight face. We are advocates for Entrepreneurship at Cornbread Hustle.
In fact, a lot of our employees are working jobs we’ve placed them in as part of their overall plan of one day starting their own business. A driving factor as to why I started Cornbread Hustle is because of my background of drug addiction. After struggling to get clean, the one thing that was able to keep me focused was Entrepreneurship.
As most of us know, Entrepreneurship is full of highs and lows. The highs are really high, and the lows are really low. Similar to drug addiction, but even with business failures you are always moving forward. With drug addiction, you’re always moving backwards.
Knowing that the high of entrepreneurship replaced the high of drugs, I’ve always embraced the highs and lows because I know my rebellious personality will always crave a little bit of crazy. I just recently brought in a partner who has really helped balance those highs and lows out, so they are not so extreme.
Before she joined our team, the ongoing struggle was my personal anxiety because I had a hard time facing the details of what needed to be done for the business to run smoothly. Despite helping people who were recently released from prison, sometimes I created my own prison in my head and didn’t realize I was holding the keys the entire time.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We operate just as a staffing agency would. We find quality employees for employers looking for new talent. What sets us apart is we truly put the employee first. We do this because getting a job through Cornbread Hustle means joining our community.
Our employees become even better employees to our employers because they are loyal to our community. We help each individual figure out what they really want over the next several years and discover their “WHY.” We have ongoing complimentary classes that range from PR to sales to soft skills and public speaking.
We also host events and do fun things with our employees, like go to a Mavs game or the state fair. We are about education and transformation first, and staffing second. This ensures that we are placing people who are excited to work where they are working because it’s part of their plan instead of just a job to get by.
It is unlikely one of our employees will quit without putting in a two-week notice or do something to jeopardize their job because they feel part of our family and want to represent us well.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I am so excited that there is a section to shout people out. There are too many to mention, and I’m afraid I’d leave someone out. There have been several people that have been warriors when it came to helping me get out of my own head and pumped me up to keep going even when I thought I had nothing left. Those people know who they are.
I would like to take a moment to brag on our new partner a little. Her name is Treon Kranz, and she comes from a background of software sales. She decided to quit her corporate job to look for an opportunity to help people through education and transformation. Naturally, our paths crossed.
We spent several hours together discussing our passions and visions and realized that we could do more together. So we joined forces, and we are excited to see what the future holds. She contributes an interesting component to what we do on the educational side. Before creating a successful career in sales, she was in the service industry for several years.
She figured out how to use her bar-tending background and transition it into a sales career and transform her life. She is going to help others do the same at Cornbread Hustle through her curriculum she created called “Raise the Bar.”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.CornbreadHustle.com
- Email: Cheri@CornbreadHustle.com
- Instagram: CornbreadHustle
- Facebook: Facebook.com/cornbreadhustle
- Twitter: Twitter.com/CornbreadHustla
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