Phil Davis With FulPhillment® Solutions, LLC

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by on pay. Atlanta’s New standard in payroll. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Onpay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have Phil Davis with FulPhilllment Solutions. Welcome, Phil.

PhilDavis: Hey, Lee, Thanks for having me today. Appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about fulfillment solutions, how you serving folks.

PhilDavis: Absolutely. So fulfillment and it’s spelled literally with p h i l l. So my name is actually trademarked within the fulfillment name. It is a unique career coaching and recruiting consultancy company. And so the bulk of what I love to do is I love to help Mid-senior level career professionals to find fulfillment in their career journey by helping them to tune into their value with confidence right? So as we all know, right, we all have unique value add in our careers and in our lives. And so one of the things that I absolutely love to do with my clients, my job seeker clients, is to not only help them really tune into their value, but to really show it out to companies, to whether it’s to their current employers or to a new employer, if they’re looking for a job in a way that’s compelling, but that they also feel good about. Right. And so I came up with fulfillment. The idea of of the fulfillment brand and business model, gosh, it’s been over about two years or so just during Covid and just absolutely love what I do. So that’s a little bit about that.

Lee Kantor: So what’s the backstory? How did you come to this point where you want to help people kind of get their dream jobs?

PhilDavis: Absolutely. Well, as you know, as Covid 19 hit, right. We saw a lot of a lot of career professionals get laid off. Right. Lose their positions very, very quickly just during the kind of the big season of the pandemic and being a being one of one of those affected by a layoff or really multiple layoffs. Myself, I’ve been through three consecutive layoffs in my recruiting career in corporate. I decided that I needed to just do something different with my life, right? And so for me, I saw kind of a solution, if you will, to go into the marketplace, to start my own journey, really with fulfillment. And in the beginning, rightly, like, like most entrepreneurs, I started just kind of doing pro bono work, right? Helping people with their resumes, doing a quick resume review here and there, checking out a LinkedIn profile, doing cover letters. And this was all just during Covid while I was first looking for a job myself. And I knew the job market for me was going to be a little challenging just based on my level of experience. And so just really, really being able to give and to serve back to my community here in Atlanta, I said, you know what? I’d really monetize something and really build a brand and a business just off of this fulfillment name because really the name fulfillment came to came to being through LinkedIn, right? And so when I started kind of getting on on LinkedIn, I had marketing coaches reach out and say, Hey, you need to have a unique hashtag on your LinkedIn page.

PhilDavis: And so I thought, Well, what am I here to do, right? Am I here to find a job or am I here for something kind of at a deeper level? Right? And and I knew that the frustration of Covid and job seekers being laid off then just I knew I was going to be there to help inspire and fulfill people. And so what really kind of started out as a unique, kind of quirky hashtag then became a built from scratch business model where I actually do help those job seekers and sometimes, you know, other businesses one on one with their brand and really to bring their brand out and to sing it out, if you will. I do have an opera singer voice, so I actually I went to school for opera in business. And so a lot of my framework is very musically inclined, if you will. So.

Lee Kantor: So it’s all coming together now. Coming together is your like, tell me about your ideal client. Is it somebody that is kind of in an enterprise role right now that wants to go to another enterprise role? Could they be in like you, you were a musician, Could they be in the creative arts? And you help them, you know, find a career in that path? Or do you have a sweet spot in terms of an ideal client fit?

PhilDavis: Yeah, great questions, Lee. So typically, I mean, I’ve since I’ve, I’ve been in all sorts of different industries myself. I mean, I primarily work with operations professionals. So usually folks who are in marketing or accounting finance or even HR, but a lot of, a lot of clients, a lot of folks that I love to serve are folks who want to pivot, you know, career, pivot, whether they want to change jobs, like if they’re in the education space. I’ll work with some clients in the education space that want to go into like a corporate opportunity or if they want to change industries, right? So like, let’s say I’ve got somebody that works in HR and they’re in the technology space, but they want to move into manufacturing, right? So I’d say the bulk of my work with those mid-senior level operating professionals are folks who want to make a complete career change either into a new kind of job in and of itself or into a new industry. But I work with all sorts of people. I don’t really niche down too much where I’m working like solely with like a technology client, if you will. It’s primarily those mid mid to senior level people that are currently in a career where maybe they’re not feeling that fulfillment and they want to find fulfillment in a new opportunity or a new company altogether, if you will.

Lee Kantor: So what’s the symptom? Say I’m working somewhere and you know, things are going on. And, you know, yesterday it was like today, which was like, you know, last week, how do I know? Maybe I would like a refresh or a, you know, a new career. How do I know if I’m in kind of a rut or I’ve plateaued?

PhilDavis: Yeah, it’s really, really good question. I mean, I think a lot of it and a lot of people who reach out to me primarily on LinkedIn, they’ll they’ll kind of say, hey, Phil, you know, I’m I feel like I’m ready for a new career opportunity. But, you know, I’m not sure where to begin or I don’t know if I’m fully ready to to leave my company. Right. And I think a lot of that and I tell these these folks a lot you know, a lot of it’s kind of inner reflection. Right. And so I think the most important thing when it comes to being ready to to make a move is really to like have the have the proper mindset and the realization that you are ready to make a change. Because, I mean, let’s let’s face it, right? Moving into a new career opportunity can be scary, right? Whether you’re getting into a new industry or whether you’re ready to make a move into a new job altogether, it can be very, very scary. And so I think a lot of it is is really reflecting on your career as a whole. And I tell folks to all the time, like, really give your time, Give yourself that time and that grace to reflect on where you’ve been in your career and also like write down or type out accomplishments throughout your career that you you felt really good about, right? So, for example, for me, kind of going at entrepreneurship, I knew as I was doing a season of being laid off kind of before Fulfillment was a business.

PhilDavis: I basically wrote down on paper, you know, I love to serve others, right? I love to serve other people. I love to see other people grow. And in corporate, I absolutely love recruiting, but I also loved developing talent as well, right? So helping them to build their careers, whether they want to be promoted or whether they want to move into a lateral position. Right. And so I’ve kind of thought about for me what was going to excite me most about my next steps. And I knew that I wanted to talent develop people, you know, so I wanted to get into a new career opportunity where I could truly help other people define their value and to feel good about all the achievements that they’ve done within their careers. And so I’d say, you know, writing things out on paper, really taking that time to reflect. And I call that, you know, some clarity coaching, right? So I do a little bit of that clarity coaching with folks who maybe want to uncover not only some of their value, but also really to dig into their career achievements and really helping them to define, you know, a role that might be be a good fit for them for their next story. So a lot of it is is internal reflection and getting yourself to that mindset of, you know, I am ready to make that change. And of course the time to do so, right? Because I think it takes it takes some time to to really reflect on our achievements and not really rushing the process either.

Lee Kantor: Now, what like, what’s the split of your work in terms of helping individuals as opposed to helping corporations? Like I was talking to a CEO today and he’s going from 30 people to 50 people in a year. I would imagine he’s going to need to bring on somebody if he doesn’t have it on the team, somebody like you that can help them make sure that they’re getting the right fit people in the organization to fill the right specific roles.

PhilDavis: Yeah, definitely. So I’d say for my business model right now, I’d say about a good 60 to 70% is, is on the coaching side and then the 30% is typically B2B work. And so in my business work, you know, I do offer full scale recruitment, right? So I do, I do a lot of recruiting for various industries, as I mentioned earlier. But then I also do one one thing that’s really fun that I love to do is kind of the talent attraction space and the employer branding space. So really helping typically smaller high growth organizations with their employment branding piece, right? How are they branding themselves organically or through social media, right. To really attract that top talent and the talent that they’re looking for to hire. And so I incorporate a lot of that branding into some of my recruiting strategy with those those clients, those business clients. But that is shifting, right? I think, you know, naturally, as we’re seeing the job market, as I like to say, it’s complex as we start to see companies looking to close out positions by the end of this year, they’re looking to finalize budgets and things like that and get ready for the 2024 year. Um, a lot of my my service offerings are starting to see more of an even split now. So I’d say, you know, 5050 is about what I’m doing right now. Half the work is with my job seeker clients and the other half of the work is going to be with businesses and companies who are maybe they’re looking to to hire, you know, a new recruitment department for their small startup company or they’re looking to get some consulting work out there because they have a big hiring surge that they’re going through. But it just all kind of depends.

Lee Kantor: Now, how about some advice for that job seeker? Is there anything they could be doing right now on LinkedIn specifically that can help them be found by people, you know, that are recruiters that are looking for folks? Like what are some of the the tips and tricks that a person could be using so they get, you know, pulled out? You know, they’re the needle pulled out of the haystack.

PhilDavis: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the biggest the biggest tip of advice well, I’ve got kind of two things off the top of my head. I think the biggest thing and I did a post about it today on my LinkedIn page is just to start, you know, get out there. One of my good friends who’s a marketing consultant, she says, Put yourself out there. And it’s something that resonates with me to this day. Right? Because, I mean, I was in a in a same boat during Covid, right? I, I had used LinkedIn primarily as a corporate recruiter to to identify and source talent and then just send them messages on LinkedIn. But I never got to a point where I was creating content and just really putting myself out there. And so I think the biggest thing is just to start right and and really not to compare yourself to other folks out there who have maybe done content a little bit longer than you. Because I think, you know, comparison is the thief of joy, right? Like we all are on our own unique journey. And when it comes to LinkedIn and content creation, right, like really just getting started, right? Find find people that find people that create content out there that you resonate with and that you can start commenting on their posts. And you know, we don’t have to spend all day, every day on social media to get noticed, right? Even if you just take a few minutes a day and start commenting on people’s posts or also like company pages, if you’re interested in a company that you might want to work for, start start looking at those company pages and seeing what what’s out there that you can engage on that’s important.

PhilDavis: I also think, too, you know, sharing your story is critical, right? Like we say, LinkedIn is a professional platform, which it is, Right. And it was designed in the beginning, right to be a platform for job seekers and companies to identify opportunities and candidates. But it’s more than that, right? I mean, I think it’s it’s really becoming truly like a social media platform where folks are sharing their stories, their experiences and and being a little bit personable as well. So I like to say all the time, especially on LinkedIn, you know, be personable all in a professional way, but then also show your professionalism with a personable approach. So it’s a balance between the two. But I think, you know, the more that you do it and just to be your authentic self out there, you know, people will see that that you’re out there. And I think, too, you know, don’t focus on the metrics when starting out, focus on the impact that you’re going to be making. Employers love that. And believe it or not, you know, people are looking at you when you do engage and when you do comment and when you do post. So every interaction you have matters and people people are watching.

Lee Kantor: So how do you kind of get in front of people? Do you do webinars? Do you do events speaking like, can people hire you at their organization to do lunch and learns? Like how how do you kind of get the word out? And do you have any events coming up?

PhilDavis: Yeah, absolutely. So I was part of a LinkedIn local Atlanta event with my good friend Rachel Simon and Adam Marks, and we started doing kind of a local networking event through LinkedIn. You don’t necessarily have to have a LinkedIn account, but that’s something that the three of us decided we wanted to do. I’m linked in. Event events kind of informally. Once a quarter or so, I’ll do some of those volunteer work with them. But then as far as like speaking engagements, absolutely. I mean, I’m I’m more than happy to get into an organization if they’re looking for somebody to talk about maybe career development or job progression. Right. Or if there are some like colleges and universities out there who may want somebody to come in and do like a resume review day or like an interview, like a like a mock interview day or something like that. Because I know a lot of colleges and universities out there in the market, you know, looking for folks to to help them with their, you know, their students about to graduate from college and things like that. So, I mean, I do all sorts of stuff, but definitely, you know, community speaking, engagement around career career development and and even recruitment strategies and talent attraction. Those are areas that I love to talk about. So all sorts of different stuff.

Lee Kantor: And if people want to learn more, have more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what’s a website?

PhilDavis: Absolutely. So I’m a one man business. So they basically get all of me if they want to learn more. My website of course w WW dot fulfillment, which is l p h i l l mint.com. If you type fulfillment on Google, you’ll be able to find me. And then of course I’m on LinkedIn as well primarily. Um, so if you type fulfillment and you’ll be able to find me, find me all over.

Lee Kantor: Now on the website, there’s a lot of information for the job seeker, including career coaching course.

PhilDavis: Yeah I do have a free and it and it is it is a free introductory career coaching course. So I created this little 25 minute introductory course for the job seeker. Maybe if they haven’t job sought, you know, been a job seeker for a while or if they just need kind of a refresher to get them started, right? To get them motivated along their job search, the people can click on that. It’s on the top right of my page. So it’s free career coaching course. People can access that and it’s literally just a 25 minute video that job seekers can watch and they can kind of learn the ins and outs of, you know, why job seeking can be challenging and other things as well, right? To help them kind of find results along their job search. And then of course how to fine tune your path. Right So really focusing in on a couple strategies that, you know based on my experience, job seekers can kind of get a quick little snapshot on before they decide they want to, you know, work with me one on one.

Lee Kantor: Well, congratulations on all the success you’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

PhilDavis: Oh, I appreciate it. Lee It’s definitely been a fun and fulfilling experience for me as well. It’s definitely I love I love what I do and I definitely appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: All right. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today, Phil.

PhilDavis: This for having me. Lee, I appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.