Cupalo Newsletter Launch

The beginning (gulp)

It’s been exactly 6 months since I blew up my (professional) life.

This past June I made the gut-wrenching decision to leave the longest running, highest paid job I’d ever known, to launch of Cupalo - an IT Staffing company that puts soul back into the recruiting process. 

I’ve been in the staffing industry for almost 10 years. This may come as a shock to you, but my childhood dreams did not encompass recruiting. In fact, most of my dreams had something to do with helping horses, not people. I stumbled into recruiting via a Craigslist ad promising me that I could easily “make over $100,000 your first year” and “no experience necessary.” Instead of the ever-rational “if it sounds too good to be true…”ism coming up, I went with an alternative. “Where do I sign up?”

Following my foray into recruiting thanks to that snake-oil Craigslist post, I’ve worked in small shops, big shops, body shops and candy shops (just kidding). I’ve been witness to a lot of good, bad, humane, inhumane, generalized, and specialized practices. I’ve been a recruiter and an account manager. I’ve helped 100s of people find their next job opportunity and dozens of clients find their next hire. 

I’ve cried myself to sleep and popped more champagne bottles than I can count. I’ve loved and I’ve hated the world of staffing.

After innumerable thoughts of switching swimlanes (maybe even dusting off one of my childhood dreams), I threw cold water in my face, poured myself a strong cup of joe and decided that, instead of running for the hills, to focus on what I know and love. People.

I wanted to build a company rooted in my passion for helping advance the lives of those in my orbit. I wanted to help good people meet other good people. I wanted to help candidates navigate their job search and find amazing opportunities. I wanted to help hiring leaders scale their teams with the right people, crush deadlines and meet critical deliverables. I wanted to help introverts and extroverts alike to do meaningful and organic networking. I wanted to provide a place where real people could connect with other real people to get real insights, real support, and build real cool shit.

Cupalo was born. 

In today’s highly commoditized hiring environment, where staffing companies are a dime a dozen, it’s more important than ever to work with someone who really gives a shit about you.

You are not a piece of office equipment or a deal to be scored. Staffing doesn’t have to feel transactional or stuffy. I am not a suit-and-tie or (more aptly) pencil-skirt-toting sales-y executive. I am a jeans (often sweatpants) and moccasins type gal. While I consider myself a relentless professional, I also like to “keep it real.”

And I’m not a software engineer. I’ve never written a single line of code. 

So, despite the fact that my audience is almost exclusively technical I don’t pretend to know what it’s like in their shoes. I approach each person with curiosity. I care deeply about who you are and where you come from, your background and journey to today.

The Cupalo approach is a human approach. No robots allowed. Sorry robots.

Photo by Adam Lukomski on Unsplash

The goal of all this is to build a real community of real people doing some real cool shit. To make the world a little smaller which, in my opinion, makes the world a little sweeter.

In addition to this newsletter which will be ripe with fun facts, entertaining memes, industry insights, and guest thinkers, I will also be launching a video podcast series this upcoming year.

My purpose and mission: to build an engaging community and advance the lives of those in my little orbit.

I can see just how incredible it will be. To strip away some of the stuffiness and phoniness that is permeating social media. To cover all sorts of topics such as: scaling development teams, interview experiences, mentorship, DEI initiatives, XP practices, off-shoring software development, raising capital, AI, best/worst recruiting practices, bad/good leadership, fostering psychologically safe workplaces. You name it. I want to talk to you about it. 

Join us in the journey as we continue to build out this awesome community and platform.

Meme of the week:

When you apply to the job VS when you hear back from the recruiter

Book of the Week:

The Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well by Amy Edmondson

“A certain freedom comes from learning to live comfortably with who you are. Fallibility is a part of who we are. Self-acceptance can be seen as brave. It takes courage to be honest with oneself, and it’s a first step in being honest with others. Because failure is a fact of life, failing is not a matter of if but when and how.”

Job Alerts

This newsletter will serve up “hot off the press” job opportunities delivered right to your email. While we don’t have any active jobs at this moment, we have a number of opportunities coming down the pike that are waiting on funding / final approval. Stay tuned and stay optimistic! Things will get better!