Addiction Recovery to Recruiting Success: Dave Bontempo's Inspirational Journey

Intro [00:00:00]:
Welcome to the elite recruiter podcast with your host, Benjamin Menna, where we focus on what it takes to win in the recruiting game. We cover it all from sales, marketing, mindset, money, leadership, and placements.

Benjamin Mena [00:00:20]:
Excited for you guys to listen to this podcast. It is gonna be impactful, powerful, and we're gonna be talking about some really, really deep things. But before we get started, Make sure to sign up for the recruiting growth summit. It is gonna be epic, bringing together some of the the best trainers in the industry to help you level up in 2024. It is free, so make sure to sign up, check everything out, and, grow in 2024. Secondly, book of the month For February is gonna be relentless by Tim Grover. The book is about become going from good To great, to unstoppable. And just in case you get done with that book early, we have an extra bonus book by Somer Hackley, Search in Plain Sight.

Benjamin Mena [00:01:01]:
It is a recruiting book, so definitely check that out. Alright. Now onto the podcast. I'm excited about this episode of the elite recruiter podcast. We're gonna talk about some deep subjects. We're gonna talk about addiction. My guest on this show is going to be sharing his story of how he made it through the other side of addiction, and the crazy thing about this Coming out the other side of addiction is where he found recruiting, and where it's taken his career, his family, and all that stuff. But I have my special guest, Dave Bunteppo, with me to share his story and also talk about Some of the struggles and how he made it to the other side of addiction.

Benjamin Mena [00:01:44]:
And I think this is important in the recruiting space because We are high performers. It's a high stress career, and there are a lot of times I've met through my almost 2 decades in the space. Recruiters looking for outlets, dark holes, and that is why I am excited about This episode of the podcast when it goes live. So, Dave, welcome to the podcast.

Dave Bontempo [00:02:07]:
Thanks so much for having me. I, I love the intro, and it's it's surreal to be here for sure.

Benjamin Mena [00:02:13]:
So as we always get started about how'd you get started in the space. And before we go into, like, your the the story of how you made it through the addiction, Before you even got started in the recruiting space, you are actually around the recruiting role. So talk about that.

Dave Bontempo [00:02:27]:
Yeah. I remember oh my gosh. So my dad has owned he always says pre me, and I'm 38. He's owned his own firm where he's been in the space, for 46 years. Started with Dun and Bradstreet in Philadelphia. Went to LaSalle University, got a business degree. He He laughs that when he became a recruiter, he got a phone book, and they said call people that need jobs and call people that wanna hire them and figure it out. And, so, I mean, I remember, you know, when dad would go on work trips and stuff, like, we would go, and it was always, the Dunhill professional search or recruiting, stuff like that.

Dave Bontempo [00:03:04]:
And, like, my first, I mean, we were just talking, but my my first, I used to clean the office for him, and that would be, you know, make 5 or $10 or something like that. And and I never I mean, I knew what it was, but it was my dad helps people get jobs. That was the way that I would explain it. And, In high school and college, I helped manage the temp agency side. So the folks that Craigslist was really big back Then Monster was really big back then, and before Paychex had or ADP had, like, an online time card thing, I would have to drive around To the place where we had temps and they would fill out hand time cards, and then I would bring them back. And then my grandpa, who was retired and was working for my dad, like, 2 days a week, would hand write checks, and then I would have to drive them back to the p p. So it was as as Bare bones as you can be in the the temp agency space from very, very young age.

Benjamin Mena [00:04:00]:
So you were literally in high school sitting there, like, dropping off picking up tires and dropping off checks?

Dave Bontempo [00:04:06]:
Some summer jobs, and it wasn't I mean, it was, you know, a a small operation. We had a bunch of clients in Northeast Philly, and and we would drive around Then, you know, it was technology. Nobody had a phone in their pocket back then where you could scan stuff, so it was like, Well, this person had to go to the library to print a time card, or this one couldn't figure out the fax machine. And so, yeah, I mean, it was driving around, always having a pen in the pocket, always having Fair time cards because one of the guys at the factory might have forgot his, and, yeah, it was it was interesting. I mean, I didn't realize how much of an impact that made until now, You know, being in it and kind of managing my own firm.

Benjamin Mena [00:04:43]:
And so and we'll kind of talk about some of the maybe the things that you've learned from your dad a little later on. Yeah. But so, you know, you went to you your dad owned a recruiting firm. You went to college. You didn't wanna touch recruiting after college then. Right?

Dave Bontempo [00:04:58]:
I don't wanna be anything like my dad. I was always, I think, entrepreneurial in a sense, partially because I never wanted to answer to anyone and partially because of When I was around, my dad owns a recruiting firm. My other uncles owned they bought, like, a small office and paper supply store in Northeast Philly and, like, Blew it up as I think a fair word and ended up getting purchased by Staples, and they always work for themselves. So I think that was ingrained. In high school, I liked music a lot and was never great enough to be in a band, so I started a record label, tried to help my friends. I would, like, put on shows and try and help them raise money to go to the studio. In college, I started a clothing company and used to do, like, fashion shows and all that stuff. So I always wanted to do that, but then the personal demons and struggles kinda took over.

Dave Bontempo [00:05:48]:
And so from, like, You know, 18 to 26, I was I was relatively lost and and not really sure what to

Benjamin Mena [00:05:56]:
No. I think I we always hear about, like, humans and stuff like that. Like, what was that to you?

Dave Bontempo [00:06:02]:
I mean, I was so I got sober in 2011. I was a very, very bad drug addict, alcoholic. I was an IV heroin user. I was cocaine. I was anything. You know, some people in the rehab industry say, like, You know, a a garbage head were anything to escape normalcy you would put into your body, and and that was me from Chewing tobacco to smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day, and, you know, once physically addicted, It's it's hard to even, like, look back at the symmetries because now, you know, I tell people these stories and, you know, I'm a father of 3 and Suburban dad that takes the kids to school in a minivan, and it's it's hard to encompass the 2, but it was it was ugly for a very, very long time.

Benjamin Mena [00:06:52]:
So I wasn't anything close to that drug wise, but I did some drugs in high school. And I had a a 1 night that completely changed my life that I've never touched any of that stuff ever again. Yeah. For you, was there a moment where everything changed, or was it just like a gradual, like, realization?

Dave Bontempo [00:07:15]:
So I think the the debate on this would be, you know, everyone's got their own opinions. I used to get into the battles of, like, as a dick as addiction disease is this and that. Like, you saying 1 night to change your life, I'm guessing that seared you away from it. A guy like me with my pre genetic composition, A night like that would make me only focus on that. And, like, it gets to a point where, like, you know, I remember People down in the bad neighborhoods in Philly, like, when you heard somebody overdose on a certain, you know, bag of heroin, you weren't afraid to go there. You wanted to go there because you thought that was the best drugged out that day. So, like, there was I mean, in hindsight, there's never a, like, this is, Okay. Now I'm a drug addict.

Dave Bontempo [00:07:59]:
Like, you don't know that's happening, but the escape and the normalcy When it goes from a weekend party to when you wanna do it the next morning as soon as you wake up, that was where I kinda crossed over, and it was like that for Many, many years.

Benjamin Mena [00:08:16]:
So I know us recruiters that are, like or many high performers are always looking for some sort of escape. Was it a quick, gradual crossover from, like, a weekend thing to, like I've always a meeting.

Dave Bontempo [00:08:29]:
I was an addict. Like, I I mean, god, I've done so much therapy now that being sober almost 13 years working in the field, I still do all that. So, like, My addictive traits like, I I used to tell stories of, like, schools to kids and, like, rehabs where, like, My therapist would be like, when's the first time you remember being, like, hyper addicted to something? And mine was, like, when I was 4 or 5 years old, and I would get, like, an action figure for my birthday. Was never happy with that toy. I always flipped it over to the back and all the other stuff I want it. I need that. I need that. I need that.

Dave Bontempo [00:09:00]:
I need that. And it goes back that far. Like, I like to surf. I think I have, like, 10 or 11 surfboards. Like, you need 1. You know? And there's all of these points. Yeah. So that was always there.

Dave Bontempo [00:09:16]:
You know? Once you start physically feeling it and you're kind of You fight that I'm not as bad as them. I don't do it the way they did it. I only take a pill. I only smoke a joint. Whatever it is, you constantly have this differentiating thing. And they always say, like, the longer you use, your I nevers go away, and that was the case with me. Like, well, I'll never try heroin. Well, I tried it.

Dave Bontempo [00:09:44]:
Well, I'll never shoot it. Well, I did that. Well, I'll never steal money from my family. I did that. So, like, all of these things, The I nevers go away, and there wasn't much left. And I had pretty much burned every bridge. I had no friends. I I really hadn't Not much of anything, and and through getting sober, I know I I gave that stuff away.

Dave Bontempo [00:10:05]:
I didn't lose it to the addiction. I gave it to

Benjamin Mena [00:10:08]:
how did you Get sober. How did you finally get there?

Dave Bontempo [00:10:13]:
I did it is basically my answer to that because My mom tried a 1000000 times. I got DUIs. I crashed cars. I was on house arrest. I overdosed I overdosed at my grandma's house and got taken out on the stretcher in front of fan. None of that did it. I used every time after that. The last time that I got clean and have stayed that way, there was a little rift with the family over, you know, some money or something, and and, clearly, I was the the focal point.

Dave Bontempo [00:10:47]:
But it was the only time that I made the phone call to go to rehab. I sat there with my insurance card and and read the number to the person on the other phone. I arranged, Obviously, like, with insurance, you have a deductible. I didn't have that money, so I arranged the payment plan. Like, my parents didn't do any of that that time. I got a ride there, And, like, people, a lot of times, will say, I tried to get sober a 1000000 times. Like, they're talking about this like, Matthew Perry who passed away. He spent $9,000,000 trying to get sober.

Dave Bontempo [00:11:17]:
The times that I listened to a 100% of what I was told, it took one time. The times I tried to cut corners and do 80% or 90 or whatever, that was countless times because I really wasn't trying. And the time that it worked was the time that I was just sick of being sick.

Benjamin Mena [00:11:36]:
I wanna kinda, like, ask a one more question kinda towards that. Why that day? Why how why did you finally get sick of being sick of it?

Dave Bontempo [00:11:44]:
So many people ask that, like, It's not it's not a movie moment. It's not a scene. It's not you know, I was walking down the street, and I had a vision of, You know, a deceased relative, it it was no crazy stuff. It was a regular day. I was sick. I needed what I needed to get better. I couldn't get it. My family kind of made that confrontation.

Dave Bontempo [00:12:11]:
I was nowhere Near as bad as I had been in the past, I wasn't like, people say you have to hit rock bottom. I wasn't at rock bottom. I was just Messing up again and was like, I'm either gonna die or I'm gonna try and get better one more time. And, Honestly, like, not to be dark and and whatever, but, like, I don't know that I really cared if I was gonna die or not, but I was like, I'm just try and go to rehab one more time and see what happens. And it wasn't motivation to go. Like, nobody wants to go to rehab. It wasn't My life's going great. I'm gonna go there.

Dave Bontempo [00:12:48]:
I was out of options, and I was just so tired that I was like, fine. Like, I'll go. I'll get some medicine. I'll physically feel better, and, like, we'll see what happens in 3 days. And the 3 days turned into I stayed at the place I was at for 38, and Ever since then, just listen to everything that I was told to.

Benjamin Mena [00:13:07]:
So 38 days turned into A career.

Dave Bontempo [00:13:12]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Benjamin Mena [00:13:12]:
3rd place. So talk about that next.

Dave Bontempo [00:13:15]:
Yeah. So fortunately, unfortunately, I think my story I don't Meanness to sound boastful or whatever. I think I was I was blessed with a good brain to where I could kinda coast in school. And through, like, very bad opium addiction. I got a bachelor's degree, from a 4 year university in business, and, like, all these people would be like, oh my god. I wish, like I wish I could go back to school and actually learn because, like, I I was sick for 4 years. I didn't do anything. I didn't try.

Dave Bontempo [00:13:43]:
I got season everything. I know if you got a c, you got your credits. And so I went to rehab, and I I said to the guy that on the rehab who's still a body of mine, like, how do I work In this field, how do I encompass the 2? I think the best advice he gave me was, like, you need a year sober first before you're Immersed in this chaos. Like, I can't do that to you before you have a year sober. So, like, go home, Get a year sober, and he let me volunteer at the place. Every Friday, I would drive from Philly to Lancaster and put on these things called, like, alumni meetings where patients would come back. But, like, the 1st year, I painted for a guy in AA. I painted, like, 10, $12 an hour.

Dave Bontempo [00:14:24]:
The dude knew my mom and would tell my mom how much I was getting paid. Mean, I was 26 years old. I mean, I felt like I was 5. It it was it would have been easy to get a chip on my shoulder, but I I knew, you know, from guys in the program that, like, I trained all these people to not believe anything I said. So after a year, I moved to Lancaster, and and One of my closest friend's mothers, god bless her, let me live in the apartment above their garage rent free to get back on my feet. So my buddy and I got sober together And got jobs at the rehab that we went to together, and and both of us are still sober.

Benjamin Mena [00:14:57]:
That's incredible. And so you spent a few years actually working In those these facilities. Right?

Dave Bontempo [00:15:02]:
Many. Yeah. I think I would say, like, 7 or 8 years. I started on-site doing, what they call care coordinator, which is like if you were a patient and you were leaving and you were going back to Philly, the therapist would tell me, like, Dave, he needs a place to live. He needs a doctor for this, a therapist for that, and I would go find all that and kinda match it up and, kinda like an appointment setter. And and I met a lot of people that way. I I think I have the kind of sales type a personality, so people were, like, in in the addiction space of the thing called outreach business development, which is, you know, it's Essentially like sales where you're advocating for your facility and you go to, you know, conferences and do presentations. So I did that and Rose the rank from, like, rep to director, and I was chief marketing officer at a couple places and helped open some places and stuff like that, and and so kind of rose those ranks For probably, like I said, 7 or 8 years.

Benjamin Mena [00:15:58]:
And then from there, be the chief marketing officer, opening up facilities, Impacting people's lives impacting the people's lives that were you were a few years ago.

Dave Bontempo [00:16:10]:
Sure.

Benjamin Mena [00:16:11]:
When did that flip into recruiting happen, and how did that happen?

Dave Bontempo [00:16:14]:
It happened so the the more that I put time together sobriety wise, The more friends I had that opened their own businesses, which were rehabs, or the more my friends got promoted or Got moved into c suite roles, and staffing was always an issue. And it was, I don't even know if it was my idea at first. I feel like my 1 friend, Justin, it was his of, like, isn't your dad a recruiter? Like, can he help us find Nurses because we can't find anybody and whatever. And so in the beginning, I started farming jobs To my dad, because I still worked for a center. We're a single income family. I couldn't my mind wasn't ready to take a jump, but it was like, dad, This guy needs this. I would kinda teach him the jargon and the acronyms and stuff like that, and he would go do a search. And, like, After a couple years, he was like, Dave, like not that this isn't my area of interest, but, like, you should be doing this full time.

Dave Bontempo [00:17:17]:
Like, it is Such a huge industry. It's blowing up. I can't even keep up with it. I don't even know what the hell you're talking about when you're on the phone with these people negotiating stuff. And not to mention, like, you're trying to do most of the work, like and so he was the one that kinda really shed the light on the fact that, like, If you can do this for 5 hours a week and help connecting these people, like, what do you think you could do when you're doing it full time?

Benjamin Mena [00:17:43]:
And how did you or when did you actually make that jump? Because a lot of people, like, talk about this. They talk about, like, oh, like, like, oh, yeah. Like, You could do it full time. Like, you're doing this. What made that jump?

Dave Bontempo [00:17:55]:
I, like, I I made the Forced jump, like, where they say, like, God's doing for you what you can't do for yourself. I was still so afraid. And so my my 1st venture, I started a recruiting firm with a couple partners that had no knowledge or training in recruiting, Did good work in behavioral health. I think we all learned tremendously from it, but I think it was A safety net for me where, like, you know, I wanted somebody to put up money so I would have a base salary because God forbid, and this and that. And, like, My dad's buddy's been recruited for, like, 40 years. Like, bro, if you wanna base salary, you ain't a recruiter. Like, you're not even a sales rep. And I I think we learned a lot.

Dave Bontempo [00:18:40]:
You know? I think there was there was definitely some animosity towards the end, and and and those guys, that we kinda decided to But, Waze, they had a vision for kind of like a boiler room, you know, big office with a bunch of young eyes and, hey. We're gonna get the phones pounded. And this was, like, right after COVID where, like, I'm like, bro, I've been recruiting for, like, 2, 3 years now. Like, In the last year, I haven't heard 1 person that wants to be on-site. So, like, I don't know where we're getting 40 kids to be in this boiler room making $30 a year. So we just had different views, and I think I got to a point where anxiety, even in sobriety and depression are still, like, a big part of my story. And My value is, like, they were looking at big offices in Philly, which is, like, 45 minutes from my house. And I was like, I really think I can do this from my home and set it up with no overhead and have some 10.99 contractors And and work what I wanna work and be picky with it and take a shot, and and I did that.

Dave Bontempo [00:19:43]:
And I've been on my own a 100% for 2 years now. I just finished my 2nd year.

Benjamin Mena [00:19:48]:
Congrats on that. That was awesome. Thank you.

Dave Bontempo [00:19:51]:
By no means was that easy for the people that are listening to this. There are 1,000 of dollars of therapy bills and a list of a 1000000 people telling me I told you to do this 10 years ago, So by no means was it easy or was I as confident as I may appear right now? I was a wreck for a long time.

Benjamin Mena [00:20:09]:
So when it comes to, like, this world, like, how are you different than most of the other recruiters out there in the behavioral world, which I feel like part of this is the story that we just talked about, but is there any other differentiators that you believe is making a difference for you?

Dave Bontempo [00:20:26]:
Yeah. I think I think there's 3. I think, 1, my personal, vocation to recovery, makes me really wanna work with good facilities and put good people in them so the patients are getting the best care. I think the second is that my professional career, in behavioral health. I always say to people, I've either done, supervised, We're collaborated with whatever job you're hiring me for. I just placed a COO at a $1,000,000,000 real estate company who is starting a behavioral health company, and that guy was a colleague of mine, called him up, 1 candidate, and placed them. And and so, like, I have that kind of a knack, and then I think there's a lot of folks that, you know, recruiting, it it's I almost like the next buzzword. Like, it's been around forever, and I'm still a new kid on the block, but there's a lot of folks that are in the addiction space or or whatever who are trying to start these firms.

Dave Bontempo [00:21:25]:
And I think my leg up is I was, like, born into it. Like, I I knew what recruiting was when most people didn't, and I think that really learning that And having you know, my dad lives 15 minutes away. Every time he comes and drops my kids off or whatever, there's some old Dunhill Hackett or something where he's like, read this. And, like, my first ego is, like, that's from 1981, but I read that stuff now, and I think Not everyone has that understanding of of the business. So I think that gives me a tremendous leg up.

Benjamin Mena [00:21:56]:
Where do you see the behavioral health recruiting world going over the next few years?

Dave Bontempo [00:22:01]:
I think it's such a loaded question. I think first, you would have to answer, where do I see behavioral health going? I think there's always Going to be bad players who exploit insurance and get, you know, A bad name for the whole industry. Autism's going through it now where you think, like, we're helping kiddos and children and stuff, and there's people that are going into the ABA space that are exploiting it for that. I think as long as, you know, there's so many ways that I don't think you have well, this would regulate it or that would. I think a lot of the smaller companies are gonna get bought by a lot of the bigger groups. I think insurance companies have already started, but are gonna start trying to buy their own centers like they do with roles to basically trade the money back and forth. But I think, you know, as long as The problems aren't going anywhere. I think they're gonna get worse and get younger.

Dave Bontempo [00:22:55]:
Adolescent treatment is very, very big now. Licensed clinicians and nurses, you can't Treat patients without them, so I think there's always constantly gonna be a need for it. And I think, you know, it's it's only gonna get bigger and busier, Truthfully,

Benjamin Mena [00:23:11]:
I know there's a lot of, listeners that are in the health care space, and you don't have to make this, advice, like, specifically for behavioral health. But Is there any, like, good business development tips that you would say that are working in 2024 when it comes to getting new clients in the health care world?

Dave Bontempo [00:23:28]:
I'm very blessed, and by no means is it to sounds rash or egotistical. I've been very fortunate That I don't do much cold BD because the addiction and mental health space is so small. Like, People joke around with me, and I take it after my dad. Like, I know people everywhere, and I've I've helped, I don't wanna say run the facility, but run the outreach initiative from Philadelphia, from places in Pittsburgh, North Jersey, Beverly Hills, West Palm Beach, New Jersey. So, like, I know people everywhere, and I think the real lesson, hopefully, Younger in my career, I I I probably had an ego and thought, you know, certain stuff about myself. But, hopefully, I think the way that You carry yourself and treat people is the most important because I'll get calls where they're like I got a call 2 weeks ago On a Sunday morning where some guy was like, hey. I was in synagogue yesterday, and this guy in Lakewood told me that you could I had no idea who he was talking about, But I was kind to somebody on the phone who was starting a rehab, and it got me another contract. So I think, You know, my advice when I was supervising, like, sales reps and they would cold call a business, either on the phone or in person is flip the script, and if you left what you left or said what you said on the voice mail And you got that message.

Dave Bontempo [00:24:57]:
Would you call you back? Because Monday morning, this therapist has 45 voice mails. And if you're just, Hi. I'm Dave Montempo. I saw you had a need for a clinician. Give me a callback. You're not standing at, and she's just hitting delete just like you are When if you're not looking for weed control or a pool guy and that dude leaves you a message, you delete it before he's finished talking. So I think really focusing on what am I putting out there and would I call me back was one of the best lessons I ever learned.

Benjamin Mena [00:25:26]:
Now I know you, Like, I I wanna say, like, the you chose a space, but the space chose you. Yeah. And because of that, you understand the niche very well. There's a lot of recruiters that we like, I mean, I I started off in construction management headhunting as my 1st recruiting job. I have a passion for GovCon, DOD, IC, which is that's where I'm at now. Yep. And I had to spend years working to get there. What would you Advice would you give to recruiters when you're, like, you're talking about finding a niche that works for them?

Dave Bontempo [00:26:00]:
I mean, my the the way that I decided to do this was, like, I was burned out and wanted to leave the addiction space. I didn't like some of the, competitive aspects that were going on and thought that some of it was becoming more about, You know, the bottom line is opposed to patient care. And, like, my dad said to me, you put 9 years into this space Instead of just walking away and reinventing yourself at, like, 36, find a product or a service that all of your competitors need and create it, and that's what I did. So I think people that are just starting out, like, recruiting, You know, anything can be your niche, but, like, if you're coming from somewhere where it's like, hey. I'm burned out. I wanna, like, look into this or whatever. Like, think about the field you came from, and, like, chances are recruiting in it is prominent. Like, you mentioned construction.

Dave Bontempo [00:27:00]:
There's, like, Health care is 9,000,000 different kinds of it. The trades, like, there there's a way to find that. And now more than ever, People you go into any restaurant, it's all like, we weren't opening our cities. We can't find people to work. We can't find people to work. And it's like, people have a lot of options now. So Figuring out a way to use what you've built and all the talent and all the skill set you have, maybe you've already been in that niche and and Kind of like it found me. You can just turn around and go, well, I was an IT engineer for 20 years.

Dave Bontempo [00:27:32]:
Maybe I could place those guys all over because I know what they want from a job offer. I know what they're looking at. I know all the softwares, yada yada, and that's kind of the way I did it.

Benjamin Mena [00:27:41]:
And you said you got that advice at the age of 36?

Dave Bontempo [00:27:44]:
Yeah. 36. I was, you know, I I I was tired. I was burned out. I had made a really I I made a nice living and and not to to scoff at that, but the the paycheck, like, people say you're only happy with The race for, like, 2 to 3 months and then you get used to it. Like, that was very true. And, you know, I I definitely Was like, maybe I could be a medical device sales rep or maybe I could be that, and and I just remember my dad going like, dude, your LinkedIn network, You're he he said to me, every friend I've met of yours in the past 8 years, you tell me what rehab they were. Like, every one.

Dave Bontempo [00:28:24]:
So, like, You're gonna walk away from all that. You're gonna be a nobody in some other field. Like, figure out a service for all these guys that own all these centers that they can pay you. And I was just like, it's not a bad idea.

Benjamin Mena [00:28:39]:
Is your dad still, like does he help out with the firm at all? We have your firm now.

Dave Bontempo [00:28:44]:
It's it's funny. Like, we're we're, I think, very good as as colleagues that operate separately. Just he lives 10 minutes away. We talk all the time. He has his his way of doing things. I have mine. I'm kind of, I think, Shot out of a cannon a little bit. I think he always, like, looks at me and just is like you know, the things that that I've been able to do, over the past couple years, he just kinda laughs and shakes his head, and and I always say to him, it's not lost on me.

Dave Bontempo [00:29:15]:
Like, I don't feel like, You know, luck's been on my side, and I think a lot of that is what he's taught me. I don't feel like, you know, I've arrived or I had this great, like, You know, billing year last year, so whatever, like, it could turn tomorrow, and he's he's very good at keeping it very green for me and and Letting me know, you know, while I've had a good run thus far, I'm still new kid on the block.

Benjamin Mena [00:29:37]:
What do you think has been been one of the biggest lessons that you've learned from him Old school wise in this new school world.

Dave Bontempo [00:29:46]:
Not to like, don't cut a corner for A quick fee. I think I've I definitely haven't talked more people out of not taking jobs I was sourcing for, But I would say a fair amount of folks, friends included, I'm like, Definitely, I try to highlight the good of what they have and where they're at because I think a lot of recruiters not a lot. I think some recruiters Can come off in that slimy car salesman where it's like, oh my god. You're not happy. You're not this. Well, we can do that. Well, we can do that. And, like, I always say to people, like, First of all, I don't talk to candidates on Friday afternoons anymore.

Dave Bontempo [00:30:26]:
Like, I tell them all, like, if you're in recovery, don't go to happy hour, but if you're not in recovery, go to happy hour, Ball off steam. Tell your significant other you hate your boss. If by Tuesday you still wanna leave, call me. But, like, usually, it's just that. So I think Really respecting candidates and employer, but candidates to not try and get that quick fix to force them Into something that's not right for them long term, those folks, 1, they'll come back to you later, and 2, some of my best clients are people that I talked into Staying at jobs that then were like, hey. I just got promoted to CFO, and we need 8 positions. So can you recruit? That's the most important thing.

Benjamin Mena [00:31:06]:
Is there anything else about your story that you'd love to share and talk about before we go into the next phase of the podcast?

Dave Bontempo [00:31:13]:
I think it's never too late to do anything. It's never too late to get sober. It's never too late to jump out on your own. It'll happen when it's supposed to. I look back and maybe wish that I started and and had the guts to jump out on my own sooner, but I learned a lot of lessons, Some some good, some bad. I worked for some guys that taught me how I should treat people. I worked for some guys where I said I would never treat people that way. So I I think giving it up to the universe and whatever you believe in and and truly just manifesting what you wanna see in your life is I bought into that, and I've I've seen the benefits from it for sure.

Dave Bontempo [00:31:47]:
So I think whether you're 60 and you can't put a bottle down or you're 50 and you really wanna try this little idea that's been keeping you up at night, I think you're never too old to to take a shot.

Benjamin Mena [00:31:58]:
Alright. Ready for the quick fire questions. Yeah. What advice would you give to a brand new recruiter that's actually just getting started in this industry?

Dave Bontempo [00:32:07]:
I think the same thing that I I just kind of said treat every person like they're the only candidate or employer that you're dealing with. I think a lot of times When I used to run sales teams at the rehabs, the owners would be like, I want them making 40 calls a day. And, like, you put a kid who, like especially the newer generation, like, they don't even know how to speak on the phone, let alone make 40 calls a day. If they're looking at that, they're only looking at the number of a quota they have to hit. So I think instead making really meaningful, Impact on people and wanting to be remembered for, like, patience and listening and kindness and you know? Hey. Like, I know you said you weren't feeling great last time we talked. Like, how are you? Like, I had a woman last night who I have a starting job on Monday. She was texting me waiting for a background to come back last night.

Dave Bontempo [00:33:00]:
Her 14 year old son had a basketball game yesterday. So, like, today, she's in LA. After this, I'm gonna, hey. I just thought I'd do it last night. How many points did he And really that attention to detail, I think, will make you remember from the others that just kind of returning and burning.

Benjamin Mena [00:33:15]:
Same question, but for experienced recruiters. What advice would you give to them to keep on seeing success?

Dave Bontempo [00:33:20]:
God, I'm I'm I don't wanna sound like I'm giving advice to more successful and with more time in than me. I think the one thing that, like, in some of the Facebook groups and stuff like that that that you and I are in, I see people Freaking out about AI or the industry's changing or everything's tanking. And I forget if it was you or somebody, but, like, they shared, like, You know, how many 1,000,000,000 of dollars were spent on recruiting? And and no matter how old you get, I think, with recruiting or anything, it's kind of like the analogy of, like, if you Think you can or you think you can't. Like, either way, you're right. Like, focusing on that negative like, is AI going to Be able to place 60 factory workers in a certain area, blah blah blah. Yes. Is AI gonna come in and place this niche CFO for this super specific cancer research thing and yada yada. Like, no.

Dave Bontempo [00:34:12]:
That's you, and you need to remember that That you put all this time in and you've built that, there's always gonna be someone trying to take something away from you. So they've experienced, like, Real experienced people, they probably felt like career builder was gonna end recruiting, or monster was gonna end recruiting, or the Internet. And, like, I think, you know, people seldom realize how valuable they are, and I think stopping and looking at that. Like, you've been through storms before, and that's where Eyes like me can look at the industry and go, oh, I can make it through that. I'm not as scared as chat gbt and stuff like that because My dad used to do this with the white pages.

Benjamin Mena [00:34:48]:
I got 2 more questions, little deviation, and they're gonna be deeper. For somebody going through depression Right now, what advice would you give to them?

Dave Bontempo [00:35:00]:
My advice to them, if I had said some, like, rah rah, you know, biblical or whatever. I don't think it would resonate with those people. I think my advice would be if your best friend Was going through what you're going through now, what would you tell them to make them See through for another day or to make them feel valued and then listen to that advice because that I think those 2 things, 1, It shows them they're not as far gone as they may have thought, and it's really annoying because all people usually are good people. So, like, If I had said to you, like, what if like, you were super depressed, and I was like, what advice would you give if this is 20 years to know when your kid was going through And they do this, like, eloquent thing. You're like, well, that's what you should tell yourself. I mean, you get pissed, but then you realize that's inside you. So I think that was the the lesson for me was, like, people could say all the time, you know, God is good. God doesn't leave us, You know, take us from troubled waters to let us drown on dry land and a 1,000,000 quotes.

Dave Bontempo [00:36:06]:
That shit never resonated. But if it was like, Hey, man. What if your best friend was going through something really, really bad right now? What would you say to them? And then when you voice that and you say that's what you should be telling yourself, That's really powerful because that's a message from within, and and that's where I think you have to reach to get through anything.

Benjamin Mena [00:36:25]:
Same question, but for addiction. What would you tell somebody that's struggling with an addiction?

Dave Bontempo [00:36:33]:
I think the most blunt thing that I can say is is although Almost 13 years sober and dad and yada yada. I'm still a self centered dude, and if Getting loaded was better than being sober. I'd still be getting loaded. I think the 1st the 1st year is so freaking hard. It's embarrassing. You can't go anywhere without wondering who knows what. And, you know, I remember I remember when I was thinking about leaving the 1 company that I was working at that's similar to addiction, but I I was Afraid these guys were gonna call me a job hopper and yada yada. And, like, somebody said to me, like, do you think any of them cats are gonna be at your funeral? Do you think any of them guys really care any much about you more than, like, to just say whatever? So I think, like, Really just focusing on it sounds so cliche, but, like, a day at a time, an hour at a time, You weren't put on this earth to suffer in the capacity that you probably are, and you're worth Getting better.

Dave Bontempo [00:37:39]:
And and the analogy that got me was, like, if you're in the grips of addiction, Chances are you're physically sick. Chances are you're mentally sick. Chances are you're financially broke. Chances are everyone is upset with you, And you're fighting to continue living that way. Like, you're gripping that like it's a teddy bear and you're a child. And the thought is, like, why are you holding on to that? And the reason is because you can't see a brighter tomorrow. And and an old counselor buddy of mine, Ben, said to me, change only happens when the pain of holding on is greater than a fear of letting go. And I would say let go and give it a shot.

Benjamin Mena [00:38:18]:
It's hard to switch into it back to the normal recruiting questions. So sorry, listeners.

Dave Bontempo [00:38:22]:
We'll do it we'll do a 2 part series.

Benjamin Mena [00:38:25]:
What do you think has been a Book that has had a huge impact

Dave Bontempo [00:38:29]:
on your career. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. It was Basically, like, the mantra is like Steve like, they basically make it like this. Tell them what you're gonna tell them, Then tell them then tell them what you just told them. And it basically is like what you do with the podcast, but you encompass like, It it's just a way to get your message across. I used to do it with with the drug and alcohol treatment centers. Now I do it when I'm calling a candidate. Like, Here's here's I always say to a candidate, like, my 1st call is super short.

Dave Bontempo [00:39:02]:
And and as you can tell, I talk fast and all that. Hey. I'm gonna tell you where the job is. I'm gonna tell you how much it pays. I'm gonna tell you the schedule if it's a nursing or whatever, and then I'm gonna send you the job description, and I'm gonna send you the website, And you tell me if you wanna be a part of that. I'm not gonna get into in the 1st conversation what's your biggest strength, what's your biggest weakness, what's where do you, Because the company's gonna ask all that stuff. So I basically screen them out and do that, and I think that's where, like, They feel comfortable. You basically rehearse what you're talking about.

Dave Bontempo [00:39:41]:
You end with that, and there's no kind of secrets. And and I just I know that there's some people that my dad funny. We butt heads. Never wants to put salary in in an ad. And I say to him, like I said to my sales reps with people leaving a voice mail, are you gonna click on that? If you don't know how much it pays and you're gainfully employed and you're relatively happy, do you have to go down that rabbit hole? The people that are clicking on those, in my opinion, and I'm not a 100% right, But the people that are willing to click on a job application that don't know how much it pays or where it's at or what the hours are are somebody that's probably not the best for the job because they're probably unemployed or on the market or whatever, and the guy that you want, like, that dude, you need to know how much the 4 one k matches, how much the the PTO time is, all that stuff. And then once you get through that, then you see if company culture and all that stuff matches up. But company culture and all that means nothing if it's not gonna pay the guy right and do that. So I think that's where I learned that from that book.

Benjamin Mena [00:40:40]:
Do you have, like, a favorite tech tool at the moment? Techtool.

Dave Bontempo [00:40:45]:
I'm, like, so old. I'd, like, literally have been trying to make sure that my headphones and stuff for this, and I'm not even wearing them. The microphone works for, like, 10 hours. So, like, tech wise, not re I mean, I so I started using I I do a fair amount of work with startups, And so I started using chat gpt to help them with job descriptions because I'm a sales guy. Like, I have ADD. I can't complete a sentence. So when people ask me to do, Like, a business plan or whatever, not my strong suit, but stuff like that has helped when, like, we'll be doing I'm working with a couple right now Where it's like, hey. We need, like, these 3 c suite positions, and it's gonna be in this area.

Dave Bontempo [00:41:24]:
And I'll counsel folks, and I think I've pointed the legs up for my Experience is like, well, let's do this generic job description, and then we can figure out what it is. But that certainly helped me. And my applicant tracking, I use Crelate, and I love it. It's Super simple. It's super basic. It's probably not the best for everybody. It does what I need it to do. My brother-in-law is a Teacher by day and and a headhunter by night, 10.90 nines for me and and and kills it.

Dave Bontempo [00:41:49]:
He's got a seat. He's got a LinkedIn premium account, and that's That's kinda what we do. I spend most of my day on LinkedIn.

Benjamin Mena [00:41:55]:
What do you think has been one of the biggest contributors to your success?

Dave Bontempo [00:41:59]:
My wife, I think, has, Like, whenever I get manic about work or this, my wife's so even keeled, and it drives me nuts to a sense, and then she always says, like, I trust you. I know it's gonna be fine. If I have a candidate that leaves abruptly and doesn't tell me during the replacement period, I'm like, oh my god. Like, you know, I gotta do this replacement and all. I have a nervous breakdown, and, like, she'll always say to me, like, dude, if you really, like, believe all that manifesting stuff that, like, you talk about, That person wasn't right for the job and the other one is. And, like, I've been, like, you know, really into Wayne Dyer and stuff lately, and that's very much like there is no good and bad. It just is what it is. And for a control freak type a guy like me, that's hard, but I think Seeing the silent support from my family has been a big help.

Dave Bontempo [00:42:50]:
Like, I remember when I switched jobs, I took a pay cut When my wife was pregnant, we were living with my in laws because they saw a future at this other company that I didn't see, and I I I asked my in laws, like, are you okay? Kelly's 6 months pregnant right now. I'm gonna change jobs. I'm gonna make less money. We're still living in your house rent free. And, like, they trusted me To do it, and I think that's what I need to remember because I sometimes doubt myself, but the people around me, They either don't or they haven't shown me that they do so far.

Benjamin Mena [00:43:22]:
And the next question we're gonna ask, like, 2 different ways. Everything you've gone through now, If you can go back and have a a cup of coffee with yourself at the beginning of your recruiting career. So, If few few years ago, what advice would you tell yourself on how to, like, in the recruiting world?

Dave Bontempo [00:43:39]:
It's gonna get worse before it gets better. I I don't know that I would wanna share anything with with I don't know that I would wanna share anything with early Recruiter me, I don't know that I would wanna share anything with early recovery me. I don't know that I would wanna share anything With active addict Dave, because I feel like every single thing that I went through, it's how I'm here right now. And so, like, could I give advice and stuff like that? Yeah. But, like, sitting in that pain of, like, is this candidate gonna take the job? Oh, damn. The client sent the offer letter to the candidate Friday at 5 o'clock when I asked them not to, and sitting in all that Insanity, I think, has equipped me to deal with some stuff. So I I think I would like early recruiter me to go through all the hell and all the craziness Because I think there's there's beauty in scars.

Benjamin Mena [00:44:35]:
Well and I was gonna ask the same question first. We'll just say you Coming straight out of college with everything that you've gone, but you you think it'd be best for you to

Dave Bontempo [00:44:46]:
I think the one one thing I would tell the person, like, I I man, I've lost a lot of friends. One of my closest friends passed away about 6 months ago. He just could not get sober, and I think The one thing that I would tell like like, seeing now and my wife and my kids and the life that that we've built together, The one thing that I would tell active addiction me is, like, it's gonna be okay if you don't give up, And then I would just leave it at that because I think that's that's powerful and the story is still left to be written. But I think the the Assuring that, like, not only is it gonna be okay, it's gonna be pretty damn good, but you gotta do a tremendous amount of work. And I think too many people Try to get by without that work. We're trying to cut corners, and and it just never works. It never works. The long road is the stable one, and I never I've never met anyone that put in the work that said I wish I didn't have to.

Dave Bontempo [00:45:46]:
Like I never met anyone that went to rehab that said, I found out I didn't need to be there. Like, if you're in rehab, you need to be there. So I think, you know, taking the long road and and not trying to cut corners, there's there's true beauty in that for sure.

Benjamin Mena [00:45:59]:
And before we wrap up, is there Anything else that you would love to share with the listeners?

Dave Bontempo [00:46:04]:
I think I'm very blessed to have had good teachers In my work life and in my personal life, and I think that if people told me from a very Early point in my career, you'll never work harder than when you're working for yourself. And I I believed it, but, god, I was so scared, and I was always this, like it was always a worst case Scenario thinker, and I I think I spend a lot of time worrying about these things that would never happen. And and the therapist said to me one time, like, You're worried about what play you're gonna run-in the Q4 and the game hasn't even started. So, like, yeah, like, could I, like, go out on my own? Could this year, I'd bill 0. Could this year, everything like, Anything can happen, and I think for me, I am glad that I finally got to a point with a lot of others' encouragement that it was, like, The worst thing that can happen if you try and it doesn't work out is just that. And I think the real sin would be, like, if you don't try And you look back and go, damn, I should've bet on myself. You you're never gonna regret betting on yourself. That would be my advice that it took me 38 years to learn.

Benjamin Mena [00:47:17]:
That's powerful. Yeah. If somebody actually wants to follow you or get in touch with you, what's the the best way?

Dave Bontempo [00:47:23]:
My LinkedIn is is Steve Fontempo, it's a picture of me like this with a hat on. Azore Talent Partners is the website which has my contact info on it. My email address is Dave at Azore Talent Partners, Facebook, whatever. It's funny. I was just talking to somebody. We we are doing a search for a very difficult Position that we've had 3 people sign and and magically vanish for. And I said to this woman, I'm looking people up on Instagram, on Facebook, and I'm saying, I apologize if I'm invading your personal space, but I need to talk to you about a job. So however anybody would wanna reach out to me is great, but they're the easiest, quickest ways.

Benjamin Mena [00:47:58]:
And as always, like, I normally have somebody's LinkedIn profile in the show notes, so I'll be sure to have that in the show notes.

Dave Bontempo [00:48:04]:
Yeah. And and

Benjamin Mena [00:48:05]:
and one thing

Dave Bontempo [00:48:06]:
I would say too, recruiting wise, I I certainly appreciate that. I'm definitely still, a new kid on the block, but if anybody is on or listening to this and needs advice, for themselves or for a family member. It's a 100% confidential. No one will ever know, but if you wanna just reach out to me and ask me to help navigate or just some advice, like, that is completely, I'm happy to do so.

Benjamin Mena [00:48:29]:
Well, thank you, Dave. Definitely thank you for that. Thank you for thank you for this conversation. Like, I've known a lot of people in the recruiting space where they've Gone down, the the devices have just taken over. And I know most of the time, like, our pod this podcast is, like, you know, Sunshine and rainbows. But this is an important conversation that I know that somebody out there is Dealing with or struggling with or has a family member that's struggling with it in 2024. So I'm so grateful For your time to come and share, Dave. So thank you.

Dave Bontempo [00:49:05]:
It it means a lot. I sent my dad a a picture of the podcast and Told him I was gonna be a guest on this, and and, you know, I know he was proud and, you know, to be welcomed into the recruiting community and and Still have a lot to learn, but but feel like I'm, you know, working hard and hopefully earning my stripes is is really cool. So to be a guest on something Like this is is not lost on me how fortunate I am, so I appreciate you having it.

Benjamin Mena [00:49:29]:
Well, thank you, Dave. And for the listeners, let's crush 2024. Let's all grow together, and thank you so much for listening.

Dave Bontempo [00:49:36]:
Thank you.

Intro [00:49:36]:
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