If you have a hiring problem, it may actually be a brand experience problem

It seems like everywhere you go lately, businesses are hiring. Some of my favorite stores and fitness studios are constantly looking for managers, stylists, instructors and honestly, just bodies to work the floor. Even great brands are struggling to not only find people, but retain them.

Over my career, I’ve been responsible for recruiting, hiring, and training across multiple industries, most heavily in retail and fitness. When I first stepped into a district leadership role, I needed to hire for at least five positions across eight stores throughout New England. Job boards and social media posts were not attracting the kind of candidates I was looking for, and I felt completely stuck. I couldn’t be everywhere at once, and I didn’t want our client experience to suffer because teams were stretched too thin.

At the same time, I knew there had to be people out there just like me. Fashion or fitness obsessed. Driven. Excited by people. People who dreamed of working in the industry. So why couldn’t I find them?

The answer was actually sitting right in front of me: the in person experience itself.

I realized that most of my own desire to work in these industries came from memorable experiences I had growing up. Stores that made me feel excited, inspired, confident, and seen. Fitness classes where the instructor corrected me and knew my name. Businesses where the energy on the floor made the job look fun, creative, and worth being part of.

If job postings weren’t attracting the right people, I knew we had to make the in store experience strong enough that clients would want to turn their shopping experience into a career.

And it worked.

The best hires I’ve ever made were people who experienced what we were building firsthand. They understood the energy, the connection, and the experience we were creating because they had already felt it themselves as clients.

The stronger your brand experience is, the stronger your hiring pipeline becomes. Because when people feel connected to your brand, they don’t just want to spend their money there. They want to be part of building it.