In this Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight, we feature Aaron Segal, founder of Ivy League Global Talent. After a 20-year career on Wall Street, Aaron took a bold leap to create a headhunting agency that connects U.S. companies with top overseas talent. His journey, driven by the desire to build a lasting legacy, showcases the power of reinvention and entrepreneurial spirit. Dive into Aaron’s story and discover how he’s reshaping global talent acquisition.
Hi, Aaron! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?
Ivy League Global Talent is a premier white glove headhunter agency with a simple mission to deliver top overseas talent for your company at a significant discount to domestic peers. We help US businesses of all shapes and sizes hire incredibly skilled, ambitious, and eager full-time employees out of the Latin America region, starting around USD $10,000 annual pay.
Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.
When I said goodbye to the golden handcuffs of my Wall Street profession of 20 years, despite not fully having a vision for what I wanted to build yet, I took the leap with an intrinsic belief in my ability to reinvent myself and journey in any direction I wanted to go.
Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.
Becoming a father for the first time. Helped me see my priorities and the legacy I wanted to build.
Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?
GoHighLevel is our CRM. We have used their team to help us customize it in such a way to create interesting and innovative marketing and automation strategies.
We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.
In 2019, the hedge fund that I had helped build for 6 years shut down. This was the first time in my career, at the age of 38, that I was not working and had no visibility. Though I ended up staying in the business for a few more years after this, that experience was the beginning of my journey in that I started asking those bigger questions about my purpose at that moment. I never again wanted to have to rely on another person's decision to dictate my future and career path.
What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?
In recruiting, there is very little in the way of affiliate marketing. We saw an avenue to reach small business operators and entrepreneurs through some unconventional means. I was not particularly interested in the typical strategy of mass email campaigns which seemed to be the approach everyone else was pursuing. We wanted to get creative, and partner with some amazing content creators, and fellow entrepreneurs to help get the word out more organically and powerfully.
What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?
The younger you are, the easier it is to take some risks. We should all take a few big risks and FAIL at least a few times before we're 30 years old!
Want to dive deeper into Aaron's work? You can find him following these links...
- Visit Ivy League Global Talent's Website ivyleagueglobaltalent.com
- Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn: Aaron Segal
