I met Carol Schutlz in 2013 when my startup, CloudHealth Technologies, was still in its earliest phases. Our small team was actively hiring across all functions, and Carol offered to partner with us to find top talent. I have worked with many people in the talent business, but few I felt were great at their job. Carol was one of those people who was truly great at what she did. She built relationships with both the hiring managers and candidates, deeply understood our company and its culture, and found candidates we never otherwise would have met. Without exception, everyone she brought into CloudHealth ended up being a top performer that was critical to our business success. Many of them would go on to have their career trajectories changed by their decision to join us. For example, Carol introduced us to a young financial analyst at an aging tech firm who was not sure where to go next in her career. Seven years later, she now runs a global customer success organization for a public company. I can tell many stories like this from CloudHealth, each of which shows the power of what can happen when you intersect top talent with a strong company culture.

When Carol asked me to be a guest on her podcast Authentically Successful, I of course said yes. I didn't know what to expect, but knew Carol would take our discussion in all sorts of interesting directions. This may also be one of the few podcasts I have done in which I honestly forgot part way through we were recording. When I listened to this episode for the first time, it sounds like a phone conversation the two of us might any time in the last eight years.

Since we first met, Carol and I have both had lots of change in our careers. I went on to sell CloudHealth to VMware in 2018, spent time there after acquisition, and have since moved on to find my next big thing. Carol has focused on partnering with companies to help them transform into talent-centric businesses through consulting and coaching.

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