Exploring Life & Business with Diane Blau-Wilkins of Professional Alternatives of Colorado

Today we’d like to introduce you to Diane Blau-Wilkins.

Hi Diane, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My professional background started in the accounting and finance industry, where I quickly discovered that I was more of a people person than a sit behind a desk person. In 1989 I registered with a locally owned recruiting firm to help place me in a different industry and the conversation quickly lead to a Business Management opportunity that they were looking to hire for internally. I took the job and launched my career in the Recruiting/Staffing industry.

Thirty-one years later, I am still working in the industry and loving every minute of it. I opened my first business in 1998 after looking for a staffing company that shared the same values, quality, not quantity, and not being able to find those values. I decided to jump off the edge and do this on my own. I had a model of opening up staffing companies in niche-specific areas, accounting/finance, administrative, technical, legal, sales, to name a few. I took a day and registered 13 different trade names and began to hire management staff to dive the individual businesses. Our 3rd year we were operating at $7.9 million in revenues and ranked #2 as the Fastest Small Business in Denver. This was what I referred to as “hyper-growth”. It was an incredible time in my career with over 35 employees in a beautiful office in Downtown Denver, we were on fire, but something was missing for me personally. I found myself removed from working with Clients and Candidates and making placements and, more so, working on the business. My passion has always been making placements, helping companies find great employees and individuals great companies to work for.

In 2005 I sold my business to an individual that I had worked for early on in my career, we had always stayed in contact, and the timing was perfect for us both. I worked my contract and the day it was fulfilled, I relaunched myself back into the Staffing and Recruiting industry. The biggest change with this second business launch in 2007, I was working in the business for the first time in nearly ten years. Now, almost 14 years later, I am a “solopreneur” and loving every minute of it! I am working with locally owned and operated companies to find the talent they are looking for to take their businesses to the next level.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Owning a business has it’s own set of challenges but through my career growth, I learned the staffing industry from the operational side first to the sales side second, which gave me the insight to build the company with very strong operational practices in place. I have always placed on the temporary and direct side, which gives me the staying power to weather any type of economic storm. Through the recession and now the pandemic operating lean and mean has given me the solid foundation needed to come our a survivor.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Professional Alternatives of Colorado?
PAC is a full-service staffing firm that focuses on the placement of white-collar professionals across all industries. Full service meaning we place contract/temporary, temporary to hire and direct hire candidates with our clients. White-collar professional, meaning any type of position that would be a role that would work within your office, for example, Sales, HR, Operations, Accounting. The common thread that we have with the companies we recruit for is the companies are all located within the state of Colorado. We work with companies that span from Ft Collins down to Colorado Springs and everything in between.

In working with PAC, you are working directly with the owner from start to finish. I bring multiple years of experience in a vast variety of areas where I am able to consultative work with companies to ensure the “right hire”. My 31 years in the staffing industry have been here in the state of Colorado, and 95% of the clients I recruit for have been clients of mine for multiple decades due to my primary focus of Quality and the ability to horizontally recruit, for most all departments within the company.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The staffing industry has been around for many years dating back to The World War when the term headhunter came about when an ex-soldier knew guys with “special skills” that he was able to connect with individuals needing folks in specific areas. After 31 years of working in the industry, I can honestly say there will always be a need for recruiters. Finding the top talent in any market is a company #1 priority and using a recruiter gives companies the ability to hire individuals that will help them reach their targeted goals.

Contact Info:

• Email: d.blau@proaltco.com
• Website: www.proaltco.com