Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Rhodes.
Kyle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2003, as a ‘bright and bushy tailed’ new grad, I was hired as a healthcare recruiter at Platinum Select. Through a multitude of challenges, I rose in the ranks there and became one of their leading producers. Our contributions took the company from ‘mom and pop’ to annual revenues exceeding $55 million. In 2008, the founding partners sold the company. The transition was a rocky one, and I found myself in a dramatically different culture and a situation with the new organization. I left a very high paying sales position, 8 months after the sell with no solidified business plan, no financing, and a healthy amount of both determination and anxiety.
Early 2009 became a crash course in starting a business and life while starting Focus Staff. It encompassed getting financing, incorporating, acquiring necessary insurances, selling, marketing, accounting, management, and essentially every aspect of a business imaginable. Unfortunately, the economy was in the worst state it had been in decades and the general market was a turbulent one for all businesses and especially start-ups.
Through perseverance, great contacts and allies, and a lot of elbow grease-Focus Staff rose from the recession as a formidable and established healthcare staffing organization. Every year, we have experienced significant growth and from 2013 to 2016, we experienced a compounded annual growth of 45%. This led to Focus Staff being recognized in the top 25 of the Fastest Growing Staffing Agencies industry-wide by Staffing Industry Analysts. We have also been recognized by SMU Cox School of business as #56 in the top 100 most entrepreneurial organizations in the metroplex.
Our constant devotion to improving our workplace, our culture, our technology, our processes, and the development of our people has led to this continued success. We sincerely aim to have fun every day here. We work extremely hard, but you can also find us running to a nearby park and having an impromptu field day just because. We celebrate our success, and we make sure our culture gets as much attention as our bottom line.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Oh god no. I have experienced tons of mishaps, struggles, and mistakes along the way. The beauty of owning your own company is that you learn something new every day. I don’t ever see a mastery of entrepreneurship as achievable. Every day is a new hurdle, and that’s the thing I love about it.
Personally, I have dealt with bad hires, inability to secure initial financing, legal hurdles, loss of clients, financial losses and more. It would be only honest to say that every day there is an obstacle and/or challenge.
I simply do my best to keep it in perspective, to breathe, to make sure we overcome it, and if we can avoid it in the future… we do our best to do so.
Please tell us about Focus Staff.
We are a nationwide healthcare staffing company. We specialize in the temporary placements of nursing and allied healthcare professionals in a number of healthcare facilities including; hospitals, nursing homes, home health, and school systems.
We are known for our engagement with clients, and our obsession with relationships- not just transactions.
I am most proud when we go out on a company outing, and I see 30 smiling faces playing flag football or egg toss. I take great pride in our financial accomplishments, but more so in having an awesome culture. I get very excited at year end to see peoples year over year financial gains. To be able to provide an opportunity and platform for people to thrive and succeed is the thing I am most proud of.
How we go about things, is what sets us apart. Staffing can be a ‘vanilla’ or commodity type service. We do our best to do it with personality and with heart. I think our clients feel that. In every aspect of our business, I want them to feel that difference… and I think they do.
We recently acquired a commercial property, gutted it, and remodeled it exactly the way I wanted. I think it’s a fantastic place to work. It feels much more ‘Silicon Valley’ than Dallas. We have fruit infused water, surround sound throughout the building, hardwoods and contemporary décor, and a gym and shower onsite. The actual property backs up to a wooded area, with a creek behind it. It’s simply a beautiful and unique office setting.
I am proud to call this my work home and proud to offer a unique physical work environment for my employees.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 877 293 6287
- Email: kyle@focus-staff.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/focusstaff/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therealFocusStaff/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/focus_staff
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVL-muHXaBA8D6KxU_piF8Q & https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/1627284/
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