The Recruiter Who Started a Restaurant and a Global Tech Platform to Provide Workers with Dignity

TUP EP 123

Nomination: [: 00:00:00

Aransas Savas: Welcome to the Uplifters podcast, where every week we talk to an inspiring woman about how she does big, brave things despite having. The same [00:00:45] doubts and fears that we all have because we are human beings. Today I'm talking to Holly o Diamond, who was nominated for the show by the amazing Emily Levin, who you met in episode one 16.

Holly is [: 00:01:00

Holly, thank you so much for being here today. I'm [00:01:30] so excited to meet you. Thank you so much for having me. Excited to be here as well. So to kick things off, tell us a little about work Onward and how you got there.

So I'm a recruiter by trade. [: 00:01:45

My niche industry that I focused on was a blue collar industry, so manufacturing and constructions. I'm originally from South Korea [00:02:00] and I spent some time in the west coast, and I ended up moving to New York back in 2009. If you remember, 2009, it was one of the most challenging time to get a job. And so I, um, just originally graduate from college and United, studied [00:02:15] psychology, and I couldn't get a job, and so I ended up moving to New York with a $400 in my bank account.

ways been very heartbreaking [: 00:02:30

Music: Hmm.

n helping job seekers, just, [: 00:02:45

Aransas Savas: So tell us about the company you created.

e really wanna say inclusive [: 00:03:00

What about the single parents or what about women? What about immigrants? They're [00:03:30] having a hard time to get a job. I'm a first generation, went to college in my family. What about people who don't have a college degree? We wanted to create a workplace platform that recruiters or the traditional recruiting platforms couldn't really give them a [00:03:45] spotlight and I wanted to help them.

and try to find directions. [: 00:04:00

So [00:04:15] we wanted to create this map based platform that they can easily find the jobs. But not only that, I want more employers to find them 'cause it's a two-way street.

us how this works. So is it [: 00:04:30

Holly Diamond: Yes. So you will see on our app, it's a typical map kind of features.

You plug in code [: 00:04:45

Everybody know who Google is, Amazon is, but they don't really know the deli or bodega that they're hiring. They're being seen in the, uh, traditional job boards. So that's a one side. And [00:05:15] for the people that were struggling to get a job, employers can also have access to see not their exact locations, but roundabout, like where they're located and what kind of jobs they're looking for.

matchmaking on the map. How [: 00:05:30

And because of my parents' sacrifice, I was able to college. [00:06:00] When pandemic happened, my parents, they themselves lost their jobs. So this is before I started to work onward. And as a recruiter, as a daughter, as a first, you know, child, I try to help them out. I try to, [00:06:15] you know, build up their resumes in English 'cause they don't really speak English well.

ed up the restaurant. In the [: 00:06:30

So we're in a flat, [00:06:45] and again, it's kind of connecting the dots of dignity. Having a distant work for people like older adults who are having a hard time to get a job. My own principle was, Hey, if I am their [00:07:00] boss, if I'm the the restaurant owner, they don't have to worry about getting fired or losing their job security.

piration of adding the map a [: 00:07:15

I posted out in a bunch of [00:07:30] different places, but people are not like really applying because like we just opened, we don't have any marketing, like people couldn't really see our jobs. My mom came to me and when we were working at the restaurant, she brought the pen and paper and she started writing down [00:07:45] handwritten in Korean.

In December,: 2020

And I'm like, [00:08:15] we need a map. So that's how I work. Yeah. That's so interesting.

mmon response to, my parents [: 00:08:30

Holly Diamond: Do you

Aransas Savas: still

t mom and pop businesses are [: 00:08:45

Aransas Savas: The heck. Did you, I mean, this is the sort of thing that people like work their whole lives to figure out and contemplate for decades.

And [: 00:09:00

Holly Diamond: Wow. It's a lot. I mean, I think, like I was preparing for our podcast today, I was thinking about like what has happened in the past five years.

st, I can't really remember. [: 00:09:30

I spent some time in Oregon, people call us, uh, Nike Town.

Music: Mm-hmm.

kind of like built in my DA [: 00:10:00

Without the technology, you can't really help more diverse and larger audience by my problem businesses. It's not just my parents' stories. It's not just small businesses are closing down because they can't get help [00:10:30] and then they got burned down. It's a pandemic for across us, um, small business challenges.

So I think that there's a moment in my life that just have to pick it up and do it.

r story is you see a problem [: 00:10:45

Holly Diamond: Yeah, I think that's been part of me. I came from another country and English isn't my second language, obviously, and so if there's a certain kind of problems [00:11:00] out there, there's nobody else could solve the problems other than me.

you're doing sounds like it [: 00:11:15

Holly Diamond: Absolutely.

at night for me is stories, [: 00:11:30

Music: Mm-hmm.

the bamboo ceiling, whatever [: 00:12:00

Aransas Savas: Mm-hmm. And it takes somebody who has seen it firsthand and experienced it. And when, when you shared. Your experience of becoming a recruiter, the word that [00:12:30] you used that was most evocative to me was you said it was heartbreaking, your experience of finding a job, and I suspect based on everything you've told me, that it is that deep felt experience in your [00:12:45] own life and a deep empathy for others felt experience in their lives that has given you the energy and the power.

instead of backing away from [: 00:13:00

But when we put ourselves in that creator role, which is what I hear in your story of, yeah, this thing happens and it sucks and it's awful and I don't want it to happen to [00:13:30] anybody else, and I'm not just gonna sit around and hope for change. I'm gonna create the change.

Holly Diamond: Absolutely.

Aransas Savas: That we discover what we're capable of.

are not the happy emotions. [: 00:13:45

Mm-hmm. Because nobody's giving them a chance. That's when people come to recruiters. It's a lot similar to social work. It's a helping professions. And so I think as we building this, there's [00:14:15] really two different ways.

ow, you just keep rising up. [: 00:14:30

There's no money in, in helping [00:14:45] those professions. A lot of times the people say, that's government jobs. That's nonprofit jobs.

Aransas Savas: So how are you reconciling that?

esses, but we try to connect [: 00:15:00

It's not complicated. It's not like super fancy kind of, [00:15:15] um, clunky recruiting softwares. It's easy to use it, it's a user friendly. So I think in terms of reconciling, it's a tough question because it's always a balance. You know, we gonna have like a [00:15:30] salad. Are we gonna have a burger kind of questions. To me, it's like every day it's a fight.

What do you mean

Aransas Savas: by that?

pact companies typically are [: 00:15:45

Typically then, how's the profit going? So I think about this [00:16:00] question a lot. Like you can't serve two gods almost. So I think I have to choose what is true to me. We only have one life to live. So, and I always try to think about like [00:16:15] why I started this from the beginning where my journey has been. It's not an easy conversation to have.

st like has an idea, makes a [: 00:16:30

Holly Diamond: course, it's like you're driving and there's so many times you think, am [00:16:45] I going for the right direction?

ard for about two years now, [: 00:17:00

I start to see what have I done in the past six months ago? What do I need to prepare to do it? That by the end of this year and the next year, the board, there's a lot of things that kind of like almost [00:17:15] blur your view. Mm. Even though, like you said, there was such a convictions in the collateral, this is a problem that I'm going to solve.

started what I started with [: 00:17:30

And yeah, I mean, we're all human beings. We always think about, oh, I shoulda have done that. What would happen? Like all the uncertainties and, and the doubts just crips up.

Yeah. I think that's such a [: 00:18:00

I [00:18:15] accidentally said yes to my children. I was like, let's see what happens. And it's the best decision I never made, and I'm really, really glad I said yes. But if I had thought about it very much, I definitely would've talked myself outta [00:18:30] it. And I think that's true for so much of life is just doing what you did there and saying, well, this is the right decision for right now.

ord dignity that you've used [: 00:18:45

Holly Diamond: [00:19:00] self-reflection, like when you're working up and, and looking yourself in the mirror.

n, like no matter you try to [: 00:19:15

The dignity that they have, they might not necessarily think that they're ignoring it. Most likely. It's the unconscious thing that I [00:19:45] deserve to be treated the better. Mm-hmm. I deserve to get a job that really fulfills my career goal. A lot of people that.

I don't, we [: 00:20:00

I hope that makes sense.

u're saying there is that it [: 00:20:30

When we talk about dignity and [00:21:00] employment, it is about remembering that humans are all equal and all deserve equal treatment. And it's not just the people who have money and influence and privilege that deserve to be [00:21:15] treated with respect.

Holly Diamond: Absolutely true. Mm-hmm. Because one day you'll be a CEO or the C-level executive.

ishwasher at the restaurant. [: 00:21:30

[00:21:45] Back then I had no idea that, you know, one day that I'll be build, become a tech, CEO and then building a workforce platforms and, and advocating for some businesses or the people that, that have hard time to get a job. It's a reflection of [00:22:00] your journey and I think that that's the dignity.

Aransas Savas: Yeah. What do you do in your companies to ensure people are treated with dignity?

ing that, that I myself make [: 00:22:15

I cannot be built by one person. Mm. You need [00:22:45] collaboration. You need team, you need empathy. A lot of times, uh, I'm such a footie and I like to, uh, break the bread with our team members. You know, I go to, uh, mostly we go to our restaurant and. But [00:23:00] sharing the food with the team members, kind of the tough days and not every day is a day.

challenging. And so I think [: 00:23:15

I believe that in order to move the vision and actually amplify the message into the people, multiple people that who believe in the mission. That's really beautifully said.

about this show is that each [: 00:23:45

Holly Diamond: I would definitely nominate Sherman. I met Sherman, she was a restaurant owner like myself, and she had this [00:24:00] a Jamaican restaurant in Queens and she shut down her business and she started her own business, the Benefit Insurance Company. I'm excited to hear her story

fters. We love to lift other [: 00:24:15

How can we support you in. We need more

and their cries and because [: 00:24:30

I'd love to try some of the Korean food that you've made. We make a kimchi from scratch. So

t. We'll, we'll continue the [: 00:25:00

Yes, we're

to have more people to, you [: 00:25:15

That's wonderful.

Savas: And are you all over [: 00:25:45

Holly Diamond: We're hyperfocused in New York, but then we have customers that we're serving. It's a map based, uh, at the end of the day. So I always tell them, Hey, use us like Airbnb when you [00:26:00] go, you know, other countries. Let them know so they can post the jobs.

And then we'll post the jobs on the map and then people can find them on the map.

I'm so inspired by you. You [: 00:26:15

If you're getting a boost from these episodes, please share them with the Uplifters in your life and then join us in conversation over@theuplifterspodcast.com. Head over to Spotify, [00:26:45] apple Podcast, or. Wherever you get your podcast and like, follow and rate our show, it'll really help us connect with more uplifters and it'll ensure you never miss one of these beautiful stories.[00:27:00]

Music: Ah, big love painted water, sunshine with rosemary, and I'm dwelling, perplexing. You find ITing.

[: 00:27:15

Lift you up.

ft you up. Whoa, lift you up.[: 00:27:45

Lift you up.

Lift you

[: 00:28:00

Beautiful. I cried. It's that little thing you did with your voice, right? In the pre-course. [00:28:15] Right? Uhhuh. Uhhuh. I was like, mommy, stop. Stop crying, mommy.

Nomination: Stop crying. You're disturbing the peace.