Meet Beth Smith | Expert in the Hiring Process

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

Hi Beth, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I made a really bad hire when I owned my restaurant. I hired a manager, and he let in two underage football players. This was one of the incidents in the Colorado Football Recruiting Scandal, and it made national news! It took me forever to clean up the mess. The Boulder Police Department came into my restaurant the next day and told me that I was going to lose my license. I asked them if there was anything that I could do to prevent that from happening, and they told me that I had to learn how to hire better. I said “ok!” I was in a very unique position because, I had to hire about 30-40 people per year without any support: no HR people, no recruiters. I learned how to connect the dots between what we see in an interview and how employees perform.

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?
At A-list Interviews, we teach our clients how to conduct effective interviews so that they are hiring better employees. We have a 91% retention rate for employees after 1 year, a retention rate that is unheard of. I am so proud of the work that we do! I have never meet anyone that does what we do: we create the hiring process for our clients and teach them how to use it. We teach people how to fish.

I have had to learn over the years that taking time off is really important. One of my best ideas came from being in San Diego with my daughter. We were at Sea World, and I was watching her swim with the beluga whales. Then all of the sudden, I was struck by inspiration! I started writing my first book “Why Can’t I Hire Good People?” and I have written 2 other ones since. I have a 4th one coming out next year.

I believe that hiring the right people and putting them in the right jobs can change lives!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The very first place we would go would be the Amphitheatre in Boulder! The views from up there are miraculous! We would have lunch at Lindsay’s Boulder Deli, walk around the Pearl Street Mall, maybe hike Shanahan Ridge and head back up the Hill to eat dinner at The Sink. We would also hike Wonderland Lake in north Boulder.

In Denver, we would tour the Rockies Stadium, eat dinner at Maggiano’s, maybe hit a show at the Buell theatre.

In Westminster where I live, we would walk in the open space behind my house, then have happy hour at my favorite restaurant, the Northside Tavern! For a longer trip, Estes Park and Breckenridge are lovely places to visit!

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?
There have been so many people who have helped me along the way! A few years back, I was invited to speak at the Bank CEO Network, and I had the privilege of working with several banks across the country. Chris Williston was the one who invited me, and it was a fabulous opportunity for me!

My girl friends have been so supportive of my endeavors. And my daughter, Katy, is always my inspiration!

Somewhere along the way, I was introduced to the book “The Laws of Success” by Napoleon Hill. It was originally published in 1928, and it is over 600 pages long. I have read it cover to cover 3 different times. You could spend your entire life studying this book and never know it all. Every time that I face a really big challenge, I go back to that book.

Website: https://www.a-listinterviews.com

Linkedin: Beth Smith and A-list Interviews

Youtube: @a-listinterviews2753