Today we’d like to introduce you to Jana Berton.
Jana, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started my career in Tech as a senior in college, working as a revenue intern for a startup tech company outside of Boston. It was 2004 and I was responsible for cold calling into companies and getting intro meetings for cutting edge IT companies (at that time) such as McAfee, Check Point, later Juniper and Citrix. The company I worked for would then wrap implementation and support services around these technologies and that is where my passion for tech began. From day one, I was exposed to how technology and the right people and processes could accelerate any business. We were doing it for our clients every day and we ourselves were evolving through tech and innovation.
When I made my transition into the world of enterprise software — I joined a company called CA Technologies as a technical solution strategist. I was one of the top Account Directors in the company and I was responsible for three of CA’s largest enterprise customers on the East-coast. In a male-dominated industry, this southern girl went into new or previously unsuccessful regions from Boston to New York creating revenue and opportunities, bringing in top logos for some of the best software companies. Tech has been good to me, during my career I have had the amazing opportunity to see the world through Presidents Club trips from South African Safaris to Alaskan cruises and all the islands in between. My last amazing tech ride was in 2018 with Datadog (Nasdaq 2019), where I had the absolute opportunity to experience firsthand a culture of explosive growth.
Coming off that IPO ride was the perfect on-ramp for joining Tri-Starr. In my role, I am responsible for leading, enabling, and growing our recruiting and sales teams to deliver the best level service to our clients and candidates. The critical dynamic to our success being excitement about what we are doing. It’s not good enough to be capable to do the job but we need to be willing – we want to love what we do. After all, we are the front lines when it comes to helping people find careers they love. We work with companies that are looking for positive, joyful people to join their teams. Recruiting and Staffing are historically under-appreciated functions, but are immensely important and have great impact. Personal relationships, connections, and proven success are the only things that differentiates us from all the other staffing and recruiting options out there. This starts with our internal team but it applies to all our candidates and clients – and is a 24×7 service.
Together, we are using technology to scale our ability for personal connections and relationships with our candidates. We are also making ourselves more digitally accessible to our clients. It’s not about what else we can offer; we want to focus on what we can remove off our client’s plates. We back this up with efficiency and speed, which is why we can scale and keep up with varied and high demand.
When I am not being a steward of Tri-Starr, my real purpose and passion is being a mom to my two baby girls. Riley is 2.5 and finds joy in everything and everyone. Ella is 1 and in tune with her emotional side, she loves to laugh and likes her independence. Right now, the Berton house is working on potty training, learning to swim, and sharing. My biggest fan and forever partner in crime is my husband, Keith. He is also in the tech space and is a revenue producer for Cyberhaven. A start up cloud security company. Other passions and affiliations are being a C-12 Board member and Ambassador for Goodwill Central Texas.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge in my professional career has actually been over the past year. Transitioning from Tech to Staffing didn’t have as many obstacles as I anticipated but transitioning into an executive leadership role was the biggest challenge. Realizing that your actions and decisions directly impact teams and an entire company is a serious responsibility. It was a heavy realization that I had to unpack and plan out with the utmost due diligence. That process in itself was an incredible growing opportunity. I also wouldn’t have been able to transition as well as I did if Tri-Starr didn’t already have an incredible team in place. I continue to have insane gratitude for my entire team here.
I’ll also say (briefly) that, Company transitions, especially family successions are always hard!
We’ve been impressed with Tri-Starr Group, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Tri-Starr has a 30-year proven history of providing Staffing and Recruiting services to our clients. We are a woman-owned business and just like those women who put Tri-Starr on the map in 1985, the women on our team today are taking Tri-Starr into the future. We have recognized the increased difficulty in recruiting and hiring quality people. We know that relying on the same old tactics of job boards and access to resume databases will not get it done.
Our goal is to help companies find the best technical talent, avoid big direct hire fees, and ultimately reduce or eliminate the current job board spend. We want our clients to spend more time interviewing the right people and less time mining through piles of resumes and paying for expensive job boards. We have made investments in tech innovations that give us access to AI sourcing and Machine Learning matching technology. When we leverage this access along with our database that we have built over the past 30 years, we simply have access to candidates that no one else does. This approach of Technology and Personal Touch helps us fill tough positions previously deemed “unfillable” with top talent.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Well thought out risk is always worth taking. I’ve taken risks throughout my entire career and the only ones I regret are the ones I rushed through. Patience has not always been my strength but over time (and through taking risks that did not pan out) I have learned the value of due diligence. Not allowing others to increase your sense of urgency – only you know what is best and when it is best for you. Believe it.
Contact Info:
- Email: janab@tristarrgroup.com
- Website: www.tristarrgroup.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tristarrgroup/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8ShoLQvXI6QUPrX0YRQ7kQ
