Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi said the key to hiring a good team is to first learn to do the work yourself.
“For a long time, I held myself accountable to doing this job, whether it was human resources, operations, delivery drivers or loaders,” Tosi said on Thursday’s episode of the “It’s Hard with Maria Sharapova” podcast.
Whenever a company needs to create a new position, Tosi said she first wants to understand what the job involves before hiring someone to do it.
“What’s it like to do this job? What are the highs and lows? What kind of personality is required?” she said. “So, how can I find someone who’s better at it than me?”
Tosi said that in addition to technical skills, she seeks out people she wants to be around her to “celebrate the highs and be with us through the hard days and the lows.”
She added that she focused on hiring women for leadership roles because she found it difficult to get opportunities.
“It’s not just putting a foot in the door. Like, I have to put my whole body in the door jam to get in, and then I have to prove my worth,” Tosi said.
She saw an opportunity to hire talented women who would have been overlooked by potential employers and used that as an advantage for her business.
“I definitely know how smart and talented women are. I know how strong they are. I know how driven they are,” Tosi said. “I thought, OK, here’s a secret that maybe other people don’t know yet and I’m going to use it to my huge advantage.”
Other entrepreneurs also talk about the importance of thoughtful recruiting.
For example, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said he regretted not spending more time recruiting earlier in his career. He now spends about five hours a day recruiting, focusing on results rather than resumes.
Uber founder Travis Kalanick said he tries to simulate working with candidates during the interview process, “so day one already feels like day two.”