Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in career development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Brent Peterson, Co-Founder of Career Authority LLC., located in Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We make organizations better by increasing individual productivity and retention. We do this by providing a career planning system that is flexible, portable, and offers actionable insights and learning that improves the odds of a fulfilling, bolder career for individuals and increased engagement and retention for organizations.
FlightPath™ Pro is a complete solution for career planning and development. Our business model consists of an online assessment utilizing Hogan Assessment and incorporates one-on-one coaching with a career advisor. Starting with the same chassis, for organizations, we extend coaching engagement and 360 interviews which accelerate improvements across a company.
We offer our services to individuals at all stages of their careers. Our primary customer is medium-sized companies with 200-1,000 employees.
Tell us about yourself
I spent over 30 years in HR with three industries and saw the benefits to individuals, teams, and organizations when employees were highly engaged. I knew from assessing engagement that a key reason for the lack of it was the absence of real career development. Watching how executive coaching firms delivered solutions and adapting my own career coaching approach over many years, I wanted to bring a scalable solution to the market that could be utilized by any level of career professional.
Every FlightPath Pro that I review and share its findings with a client reveals at least one profound insight for their future. The client gets excited as they realize it's a truth they knew but didn't know. I also enjoy giving them pragmatic, actionable ways to respond to the findings. They leave more confident and bolder, and their organization sees the difference. A recent client was stuck in a staff role and needed more direct accountability, and within three months of engaging our FlightPath Pro with 360 interviews and coaching, he's been promoted to lead the marketing function.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Building an interesting team - a programmer, an engineer, and human performance experts. We've delivered a scalable solution to coaching that is affordable and allows one Career Authority career advisor to serve ten times the clients of a standard coach.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Business development — I much prefer the delivery to the selling.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Do it as a side gig first, so you don't feel overly pressured.
- Aim big in your mission while keeping the real customer segment in mind.
- View strategic risk as part of your career differentiator - there really is no such thing as no risk - even a job possesses more risk than we often realize.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
I waited 32 years to be an entrepreneur due to a sense of financial responsibility, but the bug has always been with me, and over the past 3+ years that I have been doing it has marked one of the most interesting phases of my career.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://careerauthoritypro.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flightpathcareer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/careerauthority/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/careerauth
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/career-authority/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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