Episode 117 – How to Scale your Brand by Hiring a Team with Torrance Hart of Teak + Twine

Friend welcome to today’s episode of the Brand Strategy Podcast where I’m chatting with my sweet friend, Torrance Hart, founder and owner of Teak & Twine all about how to scale your brand by hiring a team. Teak & Twine, a specialty gifting company that makes gifts for people who are into products that are beautifully made, thoughtfully packaged and visually stunning. In addition to her role at Teak & Twine, Torrance is an educator and entrepreneur advocate. Whether mentoring fellow entrepreneurs, testifying before Congress on behalf of military small business owners, or teaching courses for product-based businesses to help them thrive, Torrance is passionate about drawing from her experiences to help others succeed and have fun doing it! A Virginia-native, Torrance is thrilled to once again call Northern Virginia home, where she lives with her husband and two young sons. Over the years, she has built an incredible team to help her grow her own business and I can’t wait for you to keep listening for all the wonderful tips that she shares with us today so you can  make this happen for your business, too! HOW TO SCALE YOUR BRAND BY GROWING A TEAM WITH TORRANCE HART Torrance started Teak & Twine when she was still active duty in the U.S. Air Force. She had one year of her commitment left, but had a feeling she wanted to get out and do something else. So she started looking around and thinking of ideas. She followed a lot of entrepreneurs who were in the creative wedding world and thought their lives looked awesome from the outside. She began to dream about how she could serve those entrepreneurs well. Starting with the people, Torrance then identified the product. And from there, Teak & Twine was born. It all started with wedding welcome gifts, and then client gifts, and eventually corporate gifts. Now five years later, she has grown this business with an amazing team. In our conversation, Torrance shares one of her deepest and darkest confessions, incredible wisdom of how to become a great leader, and what the hiring process looks like. WHAT BUILDING A TEAM CAN DO FOR YOUR BUSINESS 7:00 – The part of Teak & Twine’s journey where Torrance knew it was time for a team + where she started 11:15 – How bringing others onto the team has grown Teak & Twine 15:00 – The surprising facts about hiring that Torrance wasn’t expecting WHAT THE HIRING PROCESS LOOKS LIKE 17:00 – The go-to qualities to look for when hiring 19:00 – When onboarding new employees, it’s a process of giving more and more freedom over time 20:45 – Make it a constant conversation about what their dream job is so you can find their secret talents + then nurture their strengths 22:20 – Allow roles to evolve TIPS + TRICKS TO BUILDING TRUST ON YOUR TEAM 23:15 – The 3 BIG things Torrance does within her team to build trust and give back to her employees 27:00 – The biggest question to ask yourself as you consider bringing someone onto your team 31:15 – How to motivate your team so they bring amazing ideas to the table