Article by:
Lauren Anderson
I’m Lauren Anderson, Owner of All-In Recruiting & Talent Boutique & Creator of Shark-ish! All-In Recruiting is a Search Firm, we specialize in hiring mid- senior level top talented and diverse professionals for corporations, businesses, and federal and state entities. To date, we’ve helped our candidates secure over $4M in salaries. I’ve earned and been blessed to obtain venture capital to grow my business, which places among the 2.3% of women to obtain funding for their businesses in the U.S. Shark-ish is in its 3rd year, an annual Tech Biz Pitch Contest that I created as my company’s social responsibility, has now awarded over $20k to underrepresented founders who’ve won our contest from Las Vegas to Africa to NY.
I was born in Gary, IN and raised in the Bronx, NY. I went to 2 colleges throughout Indiana to and obtained my A.S in Sociology but then tragedy struck, and I lost my mother to cancer at 19, and that was really tough! However, I continued to accelerate, persevering, knowing she would want me too and obtained my B.S in Human Resource Development from ISU. Then, I moved to Chicago, and obtained my M.S in Human Resource Management from Roosevelt U by the age of 22. After, I began working in Corporate Human Resources & Talent Acquisition from the Michigan Ave in Chicago to the Las Vegas Strip, working for 3 of the world’s largest hospitality & gaming companies for over 10 years.
Nestled now in Las Vegas for 12 years , a little over 5 years ago, I stepped out on faith to pursue what I believe God helped me to acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do which became All-In Recruiting & Talent Boutique. I started my company from scratch in my former condo, using my brain and the little bit of money I had. I grew confidence in my skillset, secured Fortune 100 clients and began making money and delivering on the promise of providing talented & diverse professionals to companies nationwide. I was validated when sales came in and when people’s lives were changed because of the work that we did. Then, I happened to be at the right place during a great time and met the right people, Advantage Capital. I pitched my company to them and expressed the importance of this work, they agreed, and provided me with funding to continue to expand my high-growth operation.
I used those funds to make more money, hiring over 13 employees so far, opened an office at 501 S Rancho, and expanded marketing efforts! But making money and helping to hire deserving professionals for our clients was only the start of what our impact could be. More impact could be made by helping to solve challenges that other underrepresented founders & populations face, so whether it be environment, where you’re from, what has happened to you, or capital issues…you can still persevere and accelerate. With business friends and clients support, together, we’re helping solve the #1 issue of entrepreneurs of color which is access to capital and Shark-ish was born in 2021.
Afterall, the Bible says, “let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” This contest, my company, and business friends are testaments to that, the impact of Shark-ish continues to surpass our imaginations. In 2021, our Adult Winner Andrew Smith put his $5k into building his DigiPatient (Health Tech) app and using his pitch experience for other competitions that ultimately led him to be selected by the Governor to represent the state in Slovenia. In 2022, our Adult Winner Elvis Kadhama put his $5k into buying 2 acres of land in Uganda and expanding operations of EssyMart(AgriTech), he then went on to another contest winning $20k and has recently been named Top 40 under 40 in Uganda. We’ve awarded enterprising youth over the years as well! We just awarded our 2023 Adult Winner $5k, Victor Perkins of JaiaBoards and our Youth winner Justyn Boumah with $1k, we know that they too will surpass our imaginations and continue to accelerate.
At All-In Recruiting, we’re committed to excellence in hiring by making companies better and candidates happy. By exhibiting our key differentiators in the market such as our social responsibility, The Shark-ish, we’re able to create even more impact together with more support. So, in closing, whatever stage you’re at in business or the idea phase, keep both feet to the Pedals of Excellence and continue to Accelerate and in due season you will see a harvest!