Ep. 25 – Martha Hernandez: MadeBOS – How your nine-to-five may reveal the problem you will solve as an entrepreneur.

The Executive Aspect Podcast

0:21 - We begin by discussing Martha’s work before her entrepreneurial pursuits. Having worked for both for and not for profit companies in sales, corporate training, and talent management and acquisition, Martha believes that her diverse array of previous experiences prepared her significantly for the road ahead. This is also where she perfected her hustle. As a Latina and also usually the youngest on management teams, Martha had to work extra hard to have her ideas heard. 1:54 - We discuss Martha’s background in recruiting, how she got into it, and how it helps her today. After College, Martha applied to and was accepted in the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs. During these nine months, she ran the gamut with different organizations and learned from a number of fast paced experiences. After this program, Martha managed to land a job with Coro, where she managed to develop their national comprehensive strategic recruitment plan. It was at Coro that she began her sales journey, sometimes selling literally door to door. 6:48 - The decision to move from a stable full time job to the unsteady life of an entrepreneur looks different for everyone. We discuss what led Martha to that decision and what her eventual exit from corporate America looked like. In 2010, Martha realized there needed to be a solution to the problems she had seen over and over in HR. She believed recruiting needed to continue beyond just the initial hiring process and instead help employees move up in the company. After experiencing this same issue multiple times as she moved from company to company, Martha realized how big the problems truly were. She also began to believe that maybe she could do something about it. 10:00 - Here, we get down to business in talking about what MadeBOS is, what they do, and how they do it. Martha begins by explaining how MadeBOS has expanded from its original model as an AI driven career platform that offers employees a better view of upward mobility in their organization. They began with the app, and now they offer services that support that app. Employees take assessments through the app that helps the app guide them towards possible career maps fit with data and recommendations. 14:40 - While some things seemed to fall into place for Martha on her career path, she worked extremely hard to have those pieces fit. However, you can work tirelessly and things still might go wrong. As she moved from the 9-5 world to entrepreneurship, she began running into obstacles that were entirely out of her control. We discuss how Martha was able to turn setbacks into advantages while still maintaining her own personal relationships and integrity 18:39 - MadeBOS works with their customers to understand how their app and services can better help the businesses and employees they serve. We take some time to discuss the consulting work Martha has been doing with her customers. 20:40 - Martha’s biggest advice for you? Prepare. She expands on that here by recounting her own past experiences. Her naivety helped her push forward, but it also made it harder for her to pass hurdles that might have been easier for her to get over had she prepared for them. Martha encourages entrepreneurs to always consider “What is this going to cost you?” 23:00 - What is the difference between expectations vs. reality with entrepreneurship? The fear, the reality of it. Helping means potentially making mistakes and becoming someone’s enemy. Competition can be scary and dangerous. It’s not a game. 25:18 - Martha knows she was naive at the start of her journey, but she isn’t quite convinced she’d change that. However, if she could go back and give her younger self advice, it would be to recognize how the market was not yet ready for her idea. We spend time discussing what she means by this and why it would have helped to understand it sooner. 25:53 - We discuss how entrepreneurship is not ...