Daniel Benefiel’s 20-Year Staffing Journey: Connecting People to Meaningful Work at Morales Group

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
Welcome to another edition of the inspired stories podcast where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Cotaspodi and today’s guest is Daniel Benefield, the vice president of staffing operations at Morales Group. Founded in 2003, they do staffing differently by offering life-changing job opportunities for professional exempt, technical,

skilled and general warehousing manufacturing positions. Their mission is about building better futures and they pride themselves on fostering purpose-driven workplaces. Daniel has more than 20 years of operational leadership experience in staffing, especially in manufacturing and light industrial sectors. Throughout his career, he has successfully served in roles like director of operations, regional operations manager and branch manager at Morales Group.

always focusing on connecting people to meaningful work. In 2022, Daniel was honored as one of the staffing industry analysts 40 under 40, recognizing his significant contributions to the field. His approach to leadership centers on creating strong, dedicated teams while helping people find paths to professional success. Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Ad Back Benefits Agency.

where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. Imagine being able to give your employees free access to doctors, therapists, and prescription medications. It’s even great for high turnover environments. And here’s the fun part. The program actually puts more money in your employees’ pockets and the company’s too. One recent client was able to increase net profits by $900

per employee per year. Results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible. To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at addbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, the VP of Staffing Operations at Morales Group, Daniel Benefield. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Daniel Benefiel (02:18)
Good morning, Anthony. Thank you for having me and hosting me. It’s an honor.

Anthony Codispoti (02:22)
So, Daniel, before we talk about Morales, you spent eight years at another company called Staffmark. What first drew you into the staffing industry?

Daniel Benefiel (02:32)
It’s funny when you talk to anyone who’s been in the staffing industry for any number of years, nobody is a little kid wakes up and goes, I want to be a recruiter when I grow up. And everyone that I’ve interviewed internally, we always ask, what’s your story? ⁓ Mine was I was waiting tables to put myself through college and a buddy of mine ⁓ ejected out from waiting tables and found his way into an agency. Knew that I spoke Spanish, knew that I went to school for business and Spanish.

and they were looking for a recruiter and invited me over to apply. ⁓ I applied at the branch he was at. ⁓ The wife of the branch manager had another office and he sent me over to her and the rest is history. Was not looking for it, I just knew that I wanted to be in an office and not ⁓ waiting tables after college and that’s how it stumbled into it.

Anthony Codispoti (03:30)
So that’s how the door opened. What kept you in the staffing industry? What do you like about it so much?

Daniel Benefiel (03:35)
my Lanta. So I just did a check check yesterday with a new recruiter that’s coming in and we talked about the highs of staffing in the addiction that is there. And there’s such a high when you can get somebody that job. When I was a recruiter, you’re face to face and you know that you’ve impacted their life. Maybe it’s not the job that they want but the job that they need and then it can now afford diapers and there’s a feeling with that that comes.

And then as you grow, you’re doing that at a massive scale. I got 200 people and you’re impacting your organization to be able to hire more internally. And then there’s the lows, but for me, I keep coming back because there’s so much rich goodness in ⁓ finding employment for good, hardworking people.

Anthony Codispoti (04:23)
I could see that being really rewarding. mean, you want to show up to any job, you want to do good work, you want to get along with your co workers, you want to make a good living for yourself. But right when you can take somebody who’s been struggling, help them find a job. And I love how you put it, now they can buy diapers, you know, like, but just got to has to warm your heart.

Daniel Benefiel (04:43)
yeah, when you’re 22 and you’re probably, you know, broke and eating ramen noodles yourself and knowing that somebody sitting in front of you is going to do something impactful with the money for their family. ⁓ It was very, very rewarding, intimately, consistently. And it just, it made me thrive, I think, in my earlier years of my career.

Anthony Codispoti (05:07)
So you spent eight years there at Staff Mart. Can you think of a particularly memorable experience there that now that you look back on, you’re like, wow, that really influenced the way that I lead today?

Daniel Benefiel (05:22)
⁓ So I was kind of like a low man on the total pull for probably five years there. They’re pretty confined structure. And so it’s chopped wood, carry water and got the opportunity to cover for a maternity leave at a very high volume ⁓ customer that had a tough cookie for a human resource manager. And ⁓ I’m all wet behind the ears, ⁓ batting my brown eyes, just wanting to try to win this team over. It was a Japanese automotive firm.

And so there was just that rigidity that was in there. And then there was little old me who was just, um, you know, bowling a china shop. And I made it like my life’s mission that I’m going to, my, my time here, I’m going to win this, this point of contact over. I’m going to continue to scale the business and I’m going to make them want to keep me after the maternity leave. was just like my life’s mission because I saw it as my opportunity kind of out of the role that I was in to spearhead up. And, um, I think that has.

just continued on and on is I’m gonna win them over, I’m gonna never say no, I’m gonna never quit. And just that isolated point of leadership experience ⁓ with that point of contact and that team, I’m duplicating that either in the leadership team or with other customers or my leaders continually 20 years later.

Anthony Codispoti (06:42)
So were you successful in winning them over and keeping the job after the maternity leave was over?

Daniel Benefiel (06:47)
I was very successful at it and got to build a team around me as their business scaled. And it was a one man or one woman show out there. And then I was able to build a team around me. was the first time I had had a ⁓ small but mighty three of us out there. And that again drove me to be like, look, I can bring people in, develop them, scale this business, be a solution for labor. ⁓

like lead people and that became its own addiction, I suppose.

Anthony Codispoti (07:22)
You know, a lot of times when you’re starting early on in your career, those memorable experiences are oftentimes not one of success. They’re ones of, tried really hard, I fell on my face, and I learned a better way to do it. So to hear your story where, like you said, you were pretty wet behind the ears, ⁓ you nose to the grindstone, you figured out a way to win these folks over, why do you think you were successful right out of the gate?

Daniel Benefiel (07:36)
Yeah.

⁓ Blind ignorance, maybe something in my medulla, I got it back then, was just didn’t understand what true failure looked like. And it wasn’t all roses on my come up ⁓ either. ⁓ My first boss, so that woman I referenced, Kim Rayford, she’s now our VP of sales here at Morales Group. And that’s a story on how I came here. ⁓ But she’ll tell you, I bring her into this office right now, she’ll tell you she should have fired me five times.

I had some of my own failures, but how did I do it there? I just think I did not even have the concept of truly losing at that point in my career. And I think that helped give me that blind optimism, even today, post-COVID, in this crazy staffing world that we’re all suffering through. That resilience, I suppose, is ever present.

Anthony Codispoti (08:18)
Ha ha ha.

You know, oftentimes when I hear that competitive spirit, folks have got a background in athletics growing up. Was that the case for you?

Daniel Benefiel (08:50)
No, it’s not my competitive. So I was in the speech and debate team and I stayed nationals. ⁓ So that was where I competed. I competed in oratory ⁓ and that was, and it was, it’s not, ⁓ it’s not physical in that sense, but man, man, it is a competitive landscape in the, in the speech and the forensics world.

And then I was also in DECA, which is a business side of ⁓ high school and competed in that sense too. So there was competition. It just wasn’t on a field, so to speak.

Anthony Codispoti (09:32)
I did speech and debate briefly back in high school and I can attest to the competitive nature of it. And you gotta be quick on your feet and you’re going up against a lot of really bright people who are also quick on their feet. So yeah, I could see that. ⁓

Daniel Benefiel (09:37)
man.

yeah.

Yeah, I was tiny

in high school. I was like 110 pounds until sophomore year. I was a tiny little dude. And so ⁓ that was my playing field and all things are equal. The size and stature didn’t matter. So that was, that was nice to have that.

Anthony Codispoti (10:01)
going to say,

yeah, small frame, big brain. You use the assets that you had. OK, so you said there’s a story about how you came to join the Morales Group. Let’s hear that.

Daniel Benefiel (10:04)
Ha

That’s right.

⁓ so CBS was originally staff mark. So I joined a company called CBS and they were bought by staff mark a few years into my tenure. ⁓ I had a sales rep named Pam Griggs and I had a, ⁓ branch manager named Kim Rayford and, ⁓ somehow, some way Pam leaves staff mark and comes to the Morales group and a couple of years later, ⁓ takes Kim.

And a few years later, they tapped me on the shoulder and like, look, you got to come over here, man. This is different. It’s special. ⁓ the man who owns it has got something going on here that I think you need to be a part of. I just had my first son and did not want any instability. I, I, you know, I, I crave kind of that consistency where I changed my benefits and I got a new office. It’s just too much change. ⁓ and they eventually got me out for a, ⁓ a coffee with, with Seth Morales.

the founders, Tom, his father, and just fell in love with who we are and why we do what we do as an organization. And so it was very much a who you know. Again, I knew a guy who I worked tables with, who interviewed with Brad Rayford and his wife was running a branch. And that’s how I came there. And in this sense, it was ⁓ a couple of ⁓

ex staff weren’t folks came over and, and tapped me on the shoulder. And, I was originally supposed to come in and like open up this branch down in Alabama and get like corporate housing. And I was all ready for that. ⁓ and that deal fell through after I inked my offer letter. And so they didn’t retract it. They found a spot for me. And, by the grace of God, let me, let me thrive in my early years of the career here.

Anthony Codispoti (12:05)
Now it’s interesting that they tapped you on the shoulder and asked you to come over when earlier you were saying there were probably five times that you should have been fired. What were some of those instances or transgressions, if you will?

Daniel Benefiel (12:18)
I had a lot of fun in my 20s and was single and went, enjoyed later nights and was not a morning person like I am now. And so there was some early 20s attendance and then ⁓ attention to detail as I was, for those in the staffing industry, I love it, but completing an I-9 or running a background check, just the binary functions of my job. I was transposing socials. I was… ⁓

you know, sign in the wrong part of list A and list B, which are huge compliance issues and they cost the company money. But somehow and Kim will tell you that, you know, despite like those basic transgressions for a recruiter and account manager ⁓ that I had a spit in the spirit ⁓ that she took a shiny to thankfully and saw something in me past, you know, the air of my ways early when I was younger, frankly.

Anthony Codispoti (13:13)
So tell us about the work that you guys are doing at the Morales Group. What kinds of functions are you serving? What kind of roles are you filling?

Daniel Benefiel (13:22)
It’s evolved. It’s currently, my opinion, I’ve said this down the halls, we’re in the middle of an evolution within our company. ⁓ Traditionally for 20 years, we’ve been a very light industrial, ⁓ mid-low skill agency that had a heart for serving people and creating meaningful relationships with our clients. And we had cornered a good part of the market here in Indianapolis and had began to expand our footprint prior to COVID.

And what are we working on now is that evolution out five, 10 years from now where we need to expand past kind of like that binary zero one light industrial and move into the direct exempt technical. And so we recently did an acquisition in January of this year with a company called Career Transitions. They’re out of South Bend, a Hoosier company. ⁓

bring with them like 30 years of existence and like 80 years of experience with these bachelor and master degree recruiters. And they’ve been a wonderful culture fit and we’re beginning to expand it while the core business of light industrial staffing, as many of know out there, if they’re watching or listening, is in a mode of flux and contraction. Whereas we bought this and made some good acqui hires.

So folks who can come in with a book of business to help sell that side of it. And then now we’re focusing on contract recruitment, ⁓ technical engineers, high skill CNC ⁓ operators ⁓ that dictate a certain type of recruiter, a certain type of ⁓ difference in the methodology in which we were born and bred. And so it’s been really exciting to ⁓ support the core business.

but then pour into this ⁓ acquisition and actually scale it and not just buy it and set it and forget it. It’s been a great nine months with that team.

Anthony Codispoti (15:29)
So for those listening who maybe aren’t familiar with the ins and outs of the industry, can you first define light industrial and then explain for folks why that sector of the market is kind of having some tough times right now?

Daniel Benefiel (15:42)
How much time do you have? Yeah, mean, so light industrial is ⁓ your warehouse, general labor, pick, pack, forklift, machine operating. Just in general, that’s a very basic explanation of the light industrial side of staffing. And there’s a multitude of reasons how it’s been impacted in a state of flux or disruption over the last five years.

take COVID, but then I’d say forget COVID. We’re still trying to find a new norm. Many employers post-COVID migrated to ⁓ internal full-time hiring and kind of cutting out staffing partnerships and agencies as that middleman. I mean, we took on the financial risk of insurance, the burden of unemployment, and they decided to cost analysis that and bring it in-house. And it’s worked for some and it’s not worked for others. ⁓ With that disruption, there’s been ⁓

and evolution of recruiters out there who have joined some of the customers that we serve inside of their talent acquisition department, bringing those best practices. recently, over the last few years, you’ve got, you know, macro economic influences, whether that was supply chain disruptions that have occurred, a la carte, tariffs, de minimis impact to the industry, which we’re all kind of fighting through right now.

especially if you have we’ve got a couple good manufacturing markets and those have ⁓ Flattened a bit going on higher increases on higher freezes. So there’s a lot of unpredictability in that sense and then ⁓ Margin compression. I think everyone’s experiencing that and ⁓ Out there and they like at the front lines of the field. It’s not easy It’s tough for these folks to do what they do day in and day out how people are looking for jobs is changed and ⁓

So there’s been burnout at leadership levels and at frontline levels as well. And so I think we’re going to continue to stay in a state of flux like this, not to get long-winded, but like for the next year or two as we find out what the new, new, new normal is going to be for us.

Anthony Codispoti (17:55)
Yeah, and I hear this a lot talking with folks even outside of the staffing industry. So many changes, know, ⁓ some industries went through the roof during COVID, some went, you know, down in the toilet, ⁓ everybody coming out of COVID, you know, things have been strained. ⁓ Right. And then you’re talking about tariffs, interest rates, the change in the de minimis rule, ⁓ all these uncertainties, and business does not operate very well when there’s all of these uncertainties. And so

Even when some folks have the opportunity to grow, they’re nervous, they hold back, they put on the hiring freezes, and it just sort of, you know, it just kind of spirals in that way. And so talk to us more about the new directions that you’re heading in. Some of these industries and these positions that you’re describing, is this more of like an executive recruiting, like ⁓ a one-time fee, you place somebody permanently there, or are these still?

Daniel Benefiel (18:34)
That’s right.

Anthony Codispoti (18:52)
temporary positions that you’re filling.

Daniel Benefiel (18:55)
That’s a good question. I mean, if you would have asked us in 2017, what was our growth strategy? Our clients were inviting us market to market. were out of state three times in two years opening up. that was our growth path for the next 10 years. And after the COVID and we didn’t take the PPP money, we weathered the storm ourselves and ⁓ reassessed how is it that we’re gonna continue to grow? And it’s through.

through a acquisition. And so I’ll talk on what we acquired and what we offer, but with the asterisks that we’re continuing to pour into these acquisitions that are gonna support us being that family of brands and a people powered platform for labor solutions. But what we have now, I think is special, we’ve got two pinnacle recruiters, and a pinnacle recruiter is someone who’s gross margin over 400K a year.

on their own. ⁓ And these two can do president, COO, it’s high in the chain that you can go up. They’re specialized in that, highly confidential searches. And so we can be tapped on the shoulder for that at any time. And I’ve got the utmost confidence that ⁓ these two that we have on staff will succeed because I’ve watched them do it several times this year. And then

Not below that, but next to them are those that can find your warehousing managers, senior engineering, a plethora of them, engineering and insurance leadership roles. And then those are all the direct hire. Yeah, sure. One bill, one fee. The search can take six months if you’re going for a president. It can take six days if you’re looking for another role. And then what we also have is the contract recruitment side of the house. And those are hourly roles.

They’re typically, you know, six months to a year and those can range. Maybe you’re an IT guy or gal doing it for a year on a project that you know it’s a project ⁓ or you’re there for six months with us and the client brings you on full time. So we’ve got a variety and we like to have a variety because there’s good flexibility, not just for our customers, but for the candidates as well. They’re premium, premier paying positions and we’re proud to be able to offer it and impact, you know, those lives as well.

Anthony Codispoti (21:20)
And do you see that side of the staffing industry with more stability in the moment and more growth opportunity kind of near term?

Daniel Benefiel (21:31)
You know, so Brian Hulecki is the gentleman who runs the professional side of the house. And we brought on a gal ⁓ who sells on their behalf and another gentleman who sells on their behalf. So the two sales reps, ⁓ Shannon Puckett and Dennis Cable, those two have been in the game for as long as Brian, but on the sales side. So I’m learning from them kind of what is the, what’s the cyclical nature of this through ⁓ prior recessions and prior disruptions, right? ⁓

The short answer is yes, it’s gonna continue to grow. It’s which is gonna grow which year? Is it gonna be the direct, you know, one fee or is it gonna be the contract side of the house, the hourly? And what I’ve learned from them and another mentor of mine is that it will breathe. Six months will go hard here, six months you’ll go hard there. And there’s sometimes leading and lagging indicators in the market that you’ll see in real time in your niche little world of this.

that will tell you what the next six months are gonna be like and where ⁓ the growth is gonna be either on the hourly contract or the direct hire. Things I’m say that it’s gonna go hard on the contract because folks are gonna be a little bit less apt to hire a full-time at such a fee and not wanna take that immediate risk. As that comes out and people are ready to make those permanent investments, then the direct hire side will spike back up.

it breathes just like the labor market. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (23:03)
What stars do you think would need to align for the light industrial to make a comeback?

Daniel Benefiel (23:10)
Man, what star, that’s a great, great question, Anthony. ⁓ Good Lord. Consumer confidence, I think, would need to be one, the buying power of the dollar. I’m not here to tell anybody what to do with interest rates, but somewhere we’re all dependent upon people buying the things that folks ship and receive. ⁓

I think that once that confidence happens, supply chains loosen up, things will flow. You know, I lose sleep on going, will it ever get back to being like it was? Maybe never. And this contraction, maybe there’s just gonna be less market share, and that’s fine. That just means that we have to evolve and our competitors have to evolve as well. But for those stars, would say, yeah, consumer confidence.

supply chains and predictability. we could get a couple years of predictability, investment would happen back into the industry and you would be able to flow like a calmer river than the choppier one that we’re currently rolling up against.

Anthony Codispoti (24:25)
Daniel, you’ve been at the Morales Group for 13 years now, and you’ve kind of worked your way up the ladder there. You’ve had some different role changes. As you think back to those transitions, which one of them, moving from one role to another, was the most challenging for you?

Daniel Benefiel (24:43)
without question, the one that I’m sitting in right now, ⁓ for a multitude of reasons. One, I was born on the front lines, led the front lines for many years and that real time impact and ability to play call and pivot the direction of your branch or your region, ⁓ that was much, smaller. And I did so in what I would say really good years for the industry, where you unlock the front door, candidates came in, you unrolled the phones.

clients called you. ⁓ And that was just the perfect storm of, of kind of being addicted to winning because they’re not even knowing what losing felt like during those years. And so you fast forward and you get ejected ⁓ out of that seat and into this one. the COVID hits macro contracts and you wake up and you go, you know, is it me? Is it my leadership? ⁓ Is our stagnation part due to

to how I’m operating. And then at the same time, trying to try to fight the market from this seat and cascade it down into the organization. Those are the things that I think that I struggled with absolutely the most as I made the transition out of director into the vice president role and still continue to have those moments.

Anthony Codispoti (26:02)
How do you cope with that?

How do you handle that in the moment? Right? Because now you’re, I mean, you’re not alone, but you’re certainly ⁓ higher atop the pyramid and people are looking to you for guidance and you’re looking like, well, I don’t know. Like, I don’t have the answers.

Daniel Benefiel (26:09)
Sure.

⁓ I think I’ll still maintain some of that blind optimism. Like this too shall pass. This too shall pass. Everything that we’ve experienced either in this industry in our lives is a moment that’s fleeting and once the moment’s over, you’re on to the next one. And it may feel like this is just a longer moment. I feel responsible for my leaders and their teams. so, know, pressure is a privilege and carrying that burden is something that I feel like I’m called to do.

And so that gives me that ⁓ inspiration and that hope to lead that. And then I’ve got a really supportive executive team where if we’ve got an idea or we want to try a new piece of tech, they’ll go for it. And just leaning back into, I think, what makes my leadership special in this company special, which is the engagement appreciation connection. And that’s been harder to do at times than not. And I’ve…

challenged myself here in the last few weeks to get back to it because ⁓ that’s what they need and that’s what I’m good at. I’d say just all around, those are like the anecdotal feeling stuff. And the other one is getting smarter with the business that we’re in, measuring where we can measure, finding efficiencies where we can be efficient, upgrading up skilling talent ⁓ in a measured way. And then when we go to market, finding the right fit for the culture in someone who’s gonna…

So it’s a package on how you try to fight it and deal with it. And if anybody sits there and tells you they’ve got a silver bull order, it’s all rosy. would assume if they’re in staffing, they may be ⁓ BSing you.

Anthony Codispoti (28:01)
Do you currently have or in the past have you had a mentor that’s been helpful with you kind of going through some of these different transitions?

Daniel Benefiel (28:05)
my god.

Yes, I’ve had, I’ve been very, very lucky throughout my career here, thanks to ⁓ ownership and thanks to their network ⁓ to have been introduced to and or have worked for folks that continue to be a mentor to me. ⁓ So I’ve had about probably three or four that are just super impactful. ⁓ And it’s been great because they’ve all been with me at a certain season in my life.

whether that’s a season personally or a season professionally and when those two combine. And so I feel extremely lucky to have been with these men and women during those points of my life and my work journey.

Anthony Codispoti (28:56)
So I’m a big proponent of mentorship, ⁓ peer groups where you can support each other, something we talked about on the show a fair bit. And I’m curious to hear more about your mentors. Were they folks that there were your supervisors and they just happened to be very good at helping to develop you and guide you in the right way? Or were there people that maybe you didn’t report directly to and you kind of raised your hand and specifically asked for help?

Because I want our listeners to kind of understand that there’s different frameworks in which these mentors can appear in our lives.

Daniel Benefiel (29:30)
yeah.

No, don’t doubt and I’ve gotten the pleasure of being a mentor to a lot of folks here internally over the years. So I respect and appreciate what you’re saying about that side of it where like, my gosh, they’re, you know, they’re a boss and now they’re, or they work in a different department as a leader and they become a mentor. the three that I would reference one, ⁓ was a boss of mine, didn’t hail from the industry and probably the smartest, kindest man that that’s ever maybe one of the two, the other one, we may hear me say that and big, what about me?

But he was an old boss of mine. was the COO at the time. And he stayed with me for a few years after he left. And I would meet with him on a frequent basis. Years later, as we were undergoing a generational buyout here, right? So we’re G2, Generation 2-owned. ⁓ We were all partnered with a mentor to help us, I think, work through that transition.

because it’s not only business, but it’s emotional. And Jennifer Manning was her name. She came in and was very impactful on supporting the entire leadership team. And each one of us had our unique quirks as to why we needed to be supported through that change. And then here ⁓ recently, ⁓ ownership partnered me with ⁓ a man who tries to blend the heart.

in the brain, in the work, in the life, into one mentor package. And for me, that is absolutely what was needed. It was to lean into the authenticity of being a person who’s a leader and not mentoring me as a manager or mentoring me as a VP, but taking care of the human. And so those were three different experiences and they were very ⁓ specific, again, as I referenced to that stage of my life.

Anthony Codispoti (31:27)
Nice. I want to talk about the ⁓ honor that you were recognized being ⁓ the staffing industry analyst 40 under 40 list. Can you pick maybe an initiative, a story, something along the way that you think helped you earn this honor?

Daniel Benefiel (31:36)
Sure.

You know, even when I got it, was, it was like 39 and a half. Right. So one, um, when I received it, I was like, that’s, I know I maybe it’s part of my upbringing, but do I feel like I even deserve it? Right. Um, I feel like I’m trying to take care of people, companies in the business. And does that, is it, does it deserve an award at the time? Um, we had broke out of COVID really well.

We survived COVID and were profitable in a major way in myself and another. ⁓ We’re instrumental in pivoting the entire organization almost overnight to maintain business continuity in all aspects of the operation. We were getting more throughput with our applicants than we were when the offices were open.

with and thankfully with the clients that we were partnered with, their demand was high and it was so high, no one could keep up with it. We had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of folks in the e-comm world because nobody was buying things in brick and mortar. And so we had to develop a deployment plan for seven day, week three shift using folks who had not been at client sites and implement some serious tight best practices for compliance as well. ⁓ And like you look back now in like

It’s a memory, it’s a dream. It happened and then you’re out of it and you’re dealing with the next thing. So I look back then and I go, I know that’s why they tapped me on their shoulders because we were so successful post COVID. But I think I referenced this earlier. I felt responsible personally for my individual teams in the branches and that I needed to work my butt off and ensure that there was gonna be continuity and that through this moment in time.

They were all gonna ⁓ still work here after it was over. And so I took that personally and rolled up sleeves and had a team of support behind me. I was maybe the one that got the SIA thing, but it was our marketing, our sales, our people and culture department that were ownership, that were all instrumental ⁓ in making that initiative a success. ⁓ I just got to be the one with the sword and the shield at the front lines.

at that moment.

Anthony Codispoti (34:13)
I like how

you put that. When you’re talking about that big pivot, you said that you guys were actually able to increase ⁓ your throughput, even though you couldn’t process folks in person. How were you able to accomplish that?

Daniel Benefiel (34:27)
We stopped shop, turned about half the company into ⁓ sourcing processors and conducted a deep training over a two day period to get them up skilled to be able to take that throughput. We’ve got a wonderful business analyst and systems analyst, Amanda Franklin and Francisco Mendoza. They both came from operations. And so they’re in seats to be able to take the technology and piece it together.

to find the most efficient way, ⁓ knowing what the outcome needs to be at the front lines. And so we were able to pivot technology, pivot internally, maintain compliance to create that increase in throughput across the, at that time, the two markets where there was the most demand. That, and we turned the other offices and the supporters of where the demand was. It was pretty, I haven’t talked about it in a damn minute. It was pretty incredible.

⁓ for us to go through.

Anthony Codispoti (35:29)
You know, and I talked with a lot of folks about the COVID experience and it’s one of those things where almost universally people have kind of blocked a big part of it out of their minds until they start talking about it. And then it’s sort of like the wave of memories. It’s like, my gosh, that was such a hard time. And, know, you look back on it with like a sense of gratitude that you got through it, but also a sense of amazement that you got through it.

Daniel Benefiel (35:57)
It’s so, it’s a funny, it’s so weird. I, you know, I, again, this has been my industry. This has been my career for, for a lifetime now. And I would say, would assume to say that anyone who’s in this industry as well, ⁓ came out of it. And then since then it’s been the next thing, the next thing. And I don’t think that we, anyone really truly got a time to breathe and reflect. Yeah. Because we, ⁓ we’re back to normal because we’ve never been back. So I think that disruption that’s occurred post COVID has

also created that gap of fever dream where you where it just feels like a memory versus a reality because you’ve had to fight so much post post covid not to make this a podcast about covid or anything but ⁓ yeah go ahead it’s real

Anthony Codispoti (36:39)
Daniel The Morales Group.

It’s a part of our lives. It’s a part of

the rear view mirror. And it continues to have cascading effects today. So I think it’s not always fun, but important to revisit and remember and ⁓ embrace the lessons that came from those really hard times. So at the Morales Group, Daniel, your core values emphasize humility, courage, and being a light.

Daniel Benefiel (37:02)
I appreciate that statement.

Anthony Codispoti (37:13)
It’s one thing to sort of put those up on a placard. It’s another thing if can we come up with maybe a specific example, a tangible real life scenario where these values guided a critical decision or conflict resolution. So think that helps to really paint a picture for people about what it’s like to work.

Daniel Benefiel (37:35)
Damn. So we’ve got four core values. Be humble, be courageous, be a light. And then, I’m going to say it again, post-COVID, we added a fourth called be gritty. Because God knows in this, if I didn’t have a jacket on my sleeves, would be rolled up, right? That’s just how it has to be to fight this thing, this market. ⁓ I could probably think of two. And they’re.

Examples of when a really, really, really tough decision had to be made in the leadership team. ⁓ One about an individual and the other about an office and its permanency as part of our book of business. And ⁓ you’ve got somebody with a spreadsheet and you’ve got somebody with an opinion going, this needs to happen. ⁓ And then you’ve got

the owners of our company with that light perspective going, we’re not, that person’s staying and that office is staying open. ⁓ that was the end of the discussion. And I came out of that inspired and like, and humbled to know that there’s this commitment from the people around me.

Because I know I have it, but at the end of the day, I’m not the ultimate decision maker. And I was with them, right? I was with the decision of like, keep it open and keep them. And that was a hard meeting up into that point. And then the meeting got real easy because we were done talking about that. And it was watching the ownership lead and make decisions based upon heart. ⁓

We make them all on data and all on finances all day long, but these two were real. And I came out and I was proud to share with my net with those close to me that this had occurred. And it drove me to like lead, like continue to lead like that. I think a lot of times when you can do a senior role, it’s easy to just go numbers or numbers and make your data driven decisions based off those.

But it was beautiful to know that there’s like the art to the science, the heart to the spreadsheet that exists here. ⁓ those helped drive me in my future decision making.

Anthony Codispoti (40:05)
So what do you think was different about that particular moment, that particular decision? The numbers are saying we’ve got to close this location. We got to let folks go. They’re not producing, you know, it’s a business decision. But in that moment, the leaders, the owners were like, nope, we see this differently. Why?

Daniel Benefiel (40:20)
Yeah.

It was think about other people. It was absolutely think about those in the branch, but it was think about everybody else in this company. ⁓ Where if this were to occur, how would that impact them? Sure, the company would be more profitable, but how would that impact them ⁓ if we did not commit to sticking to this, fighting through it, selling through it, and growing it, which we’ve done. ⁓

And it gave that that confidence boost. It’s like, look, we believe like it was a message of we believe we believe in the team there. We believe in the others here. And I think that it really resonated ⁓ for more than just me in that room after having conversations with senior leadership afterwards.

Anthony Codispoti (41:16)
Yeah, I really appreciate you sharing that story because, you know, I think a lot of times people hear core values and they hear mission statements and their eyes start to roll in the back of their head. And it’s like, that sounds like something you paid a consulting group a lot of money to come up with and then sits in a drawer. And, you know, that experience there that you’re sharing is like, no, no, no, no, we actually live by this. ⁓ And now that you’ve got some distance from that particular situation, you can look in the rear of your mirror and be like, and it worked out.

Daniel Benefiel (41:30)
No doubt. No doubt.

Anthony Codispoti (41:45)
Like we had the commitment to stay with them, to stay with that office, to continue to help and develop and support them. And it’s worked out favorably for everybody.

Daniel Benefiel (41:55)
And we we so we operate in the EOS system. We’ve been doing that for about a year and a half now. So you got GWC get it one at capacity and when we put up a quick when we do RPRS or write people right see we do the three from the EOS. But then we also map out the core values to the individual. And that’s been a great exercise. ⁓ Plus sign when we rewrote our performance reviews, we do have six.

Every six months, they’re not, I would say like the traditional burdensome performance review. They are all based, they’re core value based. Yeah, there’s metrics and there’s numbers to it, but they were all created with people and culture and operations to be focused on those core values of our individual contributors. And so it really is a lot of walk behind that talk.

Anthony Codispoti (42:52)
I like that. Curious what you’re excited about as you look to the future in terms of technology and innovation and how that affects your field.

Daniel Benefiel (43:01)
Hmm. I don’t care who you had on this show today. They tell you absolutely AI. ⁓ You know, I remember as many others do hearing about it and going, And I think there’s a couple layers to that that are not completely like come to fruition. The first one I would say is that. ⁓

recruiters want to recruit. They like they’re in the game because they love the people. They want to make an impact. They like that runner’s high. They don’t like clicking. They don’t like searching for the next screen. They don’t like, a lot of that, like administration that goes along with it. It doesn’t fill their cup. It’s like sales reps. Sales reps just want to go sell. They don’t want to go back to the CRM and then document their last meeting. Gee, many Christmas. ⁓ everyone can resonate with that. Recruiters are the same way. And,

more and more you’re hearing and reading like get your recruiters back to their working genius. ⁓ Get them get them back to their core their core mission and feed them that time back. And so AI I think is going to be a wonderful thing to make recruiters ⁓ recruit again and not have to be ⁓ necessarily that administratively driven. You know the other one is ATS is man ⁓ everyone who is

probably been a minor and other seat gets sold a bill of goods and like, this ATS is the best. ⁓ they’ve gone through their own system migrations over the years. I think what’s going to be a game changer here in the next five is finding that ATS that has got that, that generative interface that is just bringing a lot of throughput and a lot of efficiency. And I don’t think it’s going to like completely disrupt your offices where from you’re going to go from five to four people.

I think they’re just going to be able to produce more, be more fulfilled, be more engaged as human beings, thanks to these technology bolt-ons that we’re currently exploring in the disruptive state of the market by implementing. And that’s maybe a cheesier, an easy answer right now to say AI, because everybody’s saying it. But those are the reasons why I think it’s going to be impacted.

It’s going to feed the human. It’s going to feed the human spirit to work on their working genius. And they’re going to feel like they did more at the end of the day because of it. And they’re not going to lose their coworker with it either, least in our world. That’s our plan. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (45:41)
You know, and I hear that from a number of folks, particularly folks in the healthcare field, interestingly enough, where their hope is that, you know, the AI, it’s not going to reduce the need for the human, but it allows for the human to do more of that human to human contact ⁓ that is so important, not only in medicine and caring for sick people, but in your field as well, to be able to interact with people, get to understand them and their needs and connect them with the right types of employment.

So it’s interesting, yeah, to hear you and the staffing field talk about it the same way. Are there any ways that you guys are using AI now that are, you know, helping to kind of streamline and maybe even in the early days of it, introduce more of that human to human interaction because you’re cutting down on that administrative requirement?

Daniel Benefiel (46:32)
So we’re in the implementation phase of one that is essentially what it’s doing is it’s mass bringing in folks to our recruiters. So instead of them having to do a binary task over and over, it’s bringing them hot candidates on a silver platter in that moment. Just that alone is making a better human experience for the candidate and for our recruiter.

Our recruiter’s not on their 14th call leaving a voicemail. They’re on their first call talking to someone who just clicked a button expressing interest in an opportunity that we have. And so you’re serving both people the right way. ⁓ like it’s easy to just use the business term like it’s more efficient. ⁓ I think it’s just it’s a better human experience for both the candidate and the recruiter.

in those intimate connective moments. And it fuels them too. The recruiter is gonna do that and they’re gonna go back to the next one. their output is gonna increase because they’re not on their 15th call of losing, they’re on their 15th call of winning. And excuse me, that’s great to see.

Anthony Codispoti (47:52)
turn the viewpoint around a little bit here and look at it through the lens of somebody who’s looking for work, who’s applying for jobs. This came up in a conversation with a friend recently where she’s out applying for a number of different positions. And one position she applied for, within seconds, she got a rejection notice back. Like it was clear like some sort of AI was scanning her application, scanning her resume and determining, you know,

Daniel Benefiel (48:12)
Mmm.

Anthony Codispoti (48:20)
sight unseen in my mind, ⁓ that she wasn’t a good fit. What would you say to somebody that’s in her shoes, where she’s looking for a position and she’s getting frustrated because she feels like she can’t even get past the AI filter?

Daniel Benefiel (48:35)
Yeah. You know, ⁓ for us, we’re not in rejection mode right now. We’re not in filter out mode. We’re in bring it in and let us do that vetting ⁓ for where we have it. Do I think that it could potentially get there if I’ve got a CNC position and you apply without any experience on it? Well, sure. ⁓ And I’ve heard the same story as I go to market for leaders or recruiters, ⁓ senior level, technical level.

⁓ light industrial level where they’re out there hitting the market and they’re finding it discouraging to be on the other end of the table now and having that. don’t know the, ⁓ without knowing her personally and knowing her story and her journey, the, ⁓ the advice that I would give, I mean, hell, just talked to a competitor’s HR who was just laid off and the advice that I gave him was like, look, dude, this is going to be, a job and it’s going to be a chin up.

And it’s going to be a network game. And I don’t, maybe it’s just me, but we’re all, I think we’re all meant to be where we’re going to going to go. And so if she gets an automated rejection letter, is that the company that you want to work for that is automatically rejecting people site unseen? Is that, is that the right opportunity for you? And is there another avenue into that organization? If it’s one that you want to be in to get into.

That’s an off the cuff response, probably not my greatest to give. Again, without kind of knowing her or the organization she was trying to penetrate.

Anthony Codispoti (50:10)
What would be another avenue

for somebody to get in? They went through sort of the traditional application process and hit a brick wall, and where do they go from there?

Daniel Benefiel (50:20)
Man, ⁓

You know, so this guy was a director of HR for eight years ⁓ at a competitor and then like 14 years in manufacturing. He like led a family owned company of like 200 and then a 5,000. And my advice to him was ⁓ continue to network, continue to network, continue to network. And ⁓ I think that’s cliche and I wasn’t trying to be cliche with him. And then I pivoted off and I was like, look, you just came from an agency, man. There’s agencies out there that specialize in HR. You need to go.

network with those people and if you’ve got a niche that you’re in, if you are niching and you’ve got a niche offering, is to identify employment agencies that specialize in placing folks with that niche. So I was able to introduce the 3-HR agency folks here in town to expand his opportunity for employment.

I’m over here lamenting over the macro and then the micro of my organization. It’s a hard market for many people right now. And I am absolutely not one to sit here and be like, I’ll just network on LinkedIn and you’ll get, ⁓ my stance is broaden all aspects of your search as wide as you can. And if you’re niche, do so in a niche way.

Anthony Codispoti (51:50)
That’s helpful. Thank you, Daniel. I’d like to shift gears now and maybe hear about a serious challenge that you had to overcome in your life, whether it was something personal or professional. What did you learn and how did you get through it?

Daniel Benefiel (51:52)
Hope so.

A few years ago, there was like an imperfect storm in my personal and professional life. So like one, we had at work, there had been a disruptive ⁓ change within the leadership team. And so a couple of the folks at the table were exiting untimely and that

there was some instability in that room and I was not in that room yet. ⁓ And as the exit occurred with one of the C-suite players in there is when myself and another were asked to join that room and very shortly after that, ⁓ my father took his life and I was in this mode of like ⁓ wanting to be proud of where I was at, scared as hell.

⁓ and then dealing with this like unexpected, ⁓ dramatic change for, someone who had, ⁓ you know, ⁓ shaped me. And so I’m having to like, live in this like proud moment, but also grieve and, ⁓ trying to combine like the, I mean, when you’re, would, maybe it’s universal, but you know, most, most sons want their fathers to be proud of them.

And those without which they had one that was I just think that’s a universal desire And so as I was like new into the role and it wasn’t easy to be doing the role like yeah You pop the champagne on Friday, but man it sleeves up on Monday. You’ve got an organization to lead Ownership suite to report to and in a business to take care of that You’ve been taking care of for a decade plus and you would feel responsible to all of it And so like combining that perfect

that imperfect storm ⁓ gave you that like personal seasoning, that executive seasoning. It gave clarity to what’s important. It made, I think, me more measured. Like when I’m in this state of flux right now in my company, I’m like, this too shall pass. The rebuild afterwards will be so much better and stronger. And I have that never ending belief. And I think as we’ve talked here, like,

That’s part of me anyway, that that unfailing desire of hope and winning and success and competition. but then when you stub a knee, a toe, a leg that hard, and then you go through all the things I think we’ve just talked about, ⁓ it, it defines you as who you are in this moment today. Like today’s not easy for me. It’s an honor to be on your podcast and it’s great to be able to talk to you, but, we’re all.

We’re all gloves up in the industry, but I have this peaceful harmonic belief that this too shall pass and out of the outside, we will be so much better and so much stronger. And I think I could probably look back a few years ago to attribute it to that time of my life where there was celebration and suffering all over, I think.

Anthony Codispoti (55:30)
So

this difficult time period where your father passed, where you’re going through the big changes at work, this, are you saying, is sort of the genesis of your thought process that this too shall pass? Is that really where you started to embrace that idea?

Daniel Benefiel (55:47)
Probably and like I haven’t given it super reflection but man Oh, man, like if you were wound back like five years like this is a high I Describe it to be a high-frequency business. There’s always something going on out there. I’ve got 3,000 people contributing to society Working and at any given moment anything can happen. It’s always happening. We’re at 300 customers So it’s very I think high frequency and what I have been wrapped around the axle of as some of my leaders

of is that worry, that unending concern like, I getting it right? And if something bad happens, you lose a client, you lose an employee, there’s this knee jerk to be like, my God, ⁓ how are we going to get through it? Whereas now, as I’m in this evolution of rebuilding the operation structure here in the core business of light industrial, I have this piece.

I have this this confidence. And I don’t know if I would have I would have had that ⁓ had I not gone through something as emotionally ⁓ as emotional and as that as that period of my life.

Anthony Codispoti (57:04)
Why do you feel like that was such a catalyst? it with the passing of your father that you went through something so painful and horrific that other things pale in comparison to that? Did it just give you a tougher exterior? it you know that you can bounce back because you made it through that? And maybe it’s, maybe I’m asking the wrong question. Maybe putting the finger on exactly why is not important, but.

There’s a curiosity inside me that wants to understand.

Daniel Benefiel (57:36)
That like that, that’s funny to say like maybe that’s not the right.

I could almost look at it like we talked about that season of COVID where it was a fever dream. Like so much happened in that time period and then it was right back on the horse. And without giving it the serious reflection of how did that truly shape you, just sitting here talking to you vulnerably. And it’s the time of my life that I, at that moment, don’t care to look back on a lot. I talked to my

⁓ therapists through it when it happened and Worked through that but man. man. It’s not one that I’ve like dived into and to say that to look back on it I I’m a belief in like ⁓ underdog and resilience and then like overcome like proving to yourself that you’ve overcome Gives you the strength to find the next hill or mountain to beat ⁓ And maybe it’s that knowing that you did

Or maybe it’s just like this internal muscle memory and like core memory that you’re not even living with at that moment. That’s just now who you are. You just now have that peace and confidence to overcome. And you’re not even knowing that you’re drawing back on what you went through because you went through it. And it’s, it’s reshaped in a sense of who you are. ⁓ I think that’s probably more of the real answer is that I don’t necessarily even know.

or recognize that that’s what it was.

Anthony Codispoti (59:09)
It’s not

something you’re consciously thinking about or aware of. It’s just, yeah, you’ve almost been changed at a cellular level because of the experience. And that’s kind of what I want to help communicate to listeners as other folks are going through hard stuff and they’re like, I’m at a wall. Like, I don’t know how I get through this. so when they can hear other people’s stories, what was your support system? How did you kind of figure out how to put one foot in front of the other as you were going through all this?

Daniel Benefiel (59:12)
Right. Right.

No doubt.

I mean, I’ve got a wonderful and caring wife. Jennifer held me up really, really well. just that alone did a lot. You know, I got the call when I was sitting in the bullpen. Actually, no, I was in my office. I don’t have a desk when I use a cell phone. And one of the owner’s sons that comes and grabs me and is like, hey, somebody’s on the phone. And I find out right there in the middle of the damn bullpen in front of the branch I used to lead.

And this family, these people here have seen me through other seasons of my life, other loss, and ⁓ have been an insanely supportive ⁓ group of leaders and group of peers. That’s at the level that I’m at. then I’ve got just a wonderful, and I know I’m talking work, ⁓ but I’ve got a ⁓ wonderful leadership team that runs the business. And ⁓ they

were right there with me as well. So like on the personal side, had, you know, ⁓ a therapist, I had my wife, I had my brother. And that takes you so far. And then, you know, because your world is work for most for most of it. And the folks here absolutely helped carry me through it. And I’m grateful for all of them for helping me through that moment in my life.

Anthony Codispoti (1:01:05)
They’re a light, which is one of those core values.

Daniel Benefiel (1:01:09)
They are, they’re human

and that’s always great to see.

Anthony Codispoti (1:01:13)
That’s wonderful. I appreciate you sharing that, Daniel. How would you characterize your superpower?

Daniel Benefiel (1:01:27)
I would say, like, I think I’m really good at being like a catalyst and a galvanizer. Like, I can spark it up and I can bring them together and I can ⁓ get them, when I say them, just whether it’s teams or people or people leaders ⁓ to operate, to push, to drive, to activate. And that’s, I think, critical in this industry. ⁓ So I do, think, we just had our operations.

meeting yesterday and we did the three things of the keep ⁓ doing, stop doing, and what’s your strength. And so I’m kind of speaking from the hip after yesterday evening that that was the keep doing is that I’m able to continue to support, push and activate them as a leadership team.

Anthony Codispoti (1:02:17)
You know, and I appreciate you talking about ⁓ that you found some help in therapy as you were going through that difficult time, because I think that’s really important for other folks to hear that that’s OK. That’s a helpful thing. Like, let’s burn away that stigma around it. ⁓ Let’s get away from sort of the therapist component and

Daniel Benefiel (1:02:31)
yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (1:02:42)
⁓ Because for some folks there are other resources in their lives that have been helpful, books or podcasts or courses, whether it’s going through something difficult or just doing personal development. Is there ⁓ something in your background that’s been really helpful? Like a book, a podcast, a course that you would recommend to other folks?

Daniel Benefiel (1:02:59)
⁓

man, ⁓ and it’s funny. I just leaned into it yesterday deep work by Cal Newton deep work by Cal Newton the the concept I think is is Incredible the book is a little heady. But man if you the first three chapters are Are just like an axe to a log the concept is that like right now you and I before we started it was let’s silence our phones and If we flip that thing back over most people

⁓ I mean, it’s notification city and you flip over to your laptop and it’s a team’s message. If you got a Mac, you’re getting your text on it. It’s a never ending stream from Outlook. And then it’s your Gmail. And there is this, I use the word high frequency again, but there is this barrage of distraction that does drive business. Like you have to respond to the email. The text does need a response at some point. And it goes through these iterations of distraction. And then

Later in the book it gets really scientific and heady, but the concept is those that can master the art of stopping what they’re removing all distractions, doing contemplative thinking, doing strategy-based thought, doing isolating work with a notepad or a whiteboard will hone and possess a skill that as time goes on less and less will have and thereby they will be more

valuable to the organization. And that was ⁓ a book given to me from an old boss, the last thing he gave to me before he left. I got three chapters in about two months after he left and stopped shop, scanned them in and got a whole session for a year with my at that time leadership team on deep work and the ability to shut this off because man, man, when I tell you we’ve got 300 clients working 24 seven in a barrage of everything, like people in staffing care.

A lot like the ones that love being in here. They they just give a huge You know what? So they want to reply they they they don’t want to let it slip through the crack They know what a missed email can do so I to get long-winded there, but man. man that book right there I would recommend that to any leader in any industry in any capacity ⁓ And then taking action on what you’ve learned is way harder than reading that book

Anthony Codispoti (1:05:24)
Can you put into words ⁓ an action that folks could take right now? Let’s be realistic. There’s going to be a small percentage of folks that listen to this that go and grab the book, but they’re really curious about sort of the idea. Give one pointer.

Daniel Benefiel (1:05:34)
Sure.

Yeah, there’s four ways to do it. ⁓ One of those ways is to set the time on your calendar and actually stick to it. It’s a no-fly zone and you leave your office and you go sit in another one and you get your notebook and think of one problem that you’ve got in your organization.

One doesn’t have to be the biggest one doesn’t have to be the hardest one Just one that is there that has not been solved and you sit down and you think for 30 45 60 minutes and start Solutioning from what is inside of your head in in silence your laptops not with you your phone’s not with you It’s you the problem in a notebook Right. Yeah, I’ve got this problem and yeah, give it to me. Yeah

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:22)
No chat GPT.

Daniel Benefiel (1:06:29)
Good Lord, when that book was written in like 13, ⁓ yeah, it even a concept then. Yeah, no chat. So, but that would be the one thing. That would be the one thing. And so I’ve got ⁓ a few new folks on the leadership team here. We talked about it yesterday and we’re going to revitalize the, it’s funny you asked that because we’re revitalizing the deep work component here out the rest of the year.

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:51)
I love that. Yeah. Just being able to tune out all distractions. It’s one of the reasons I love going on vacation. I get there, got a data unplug. I set everything aside. I’m just staring there at the ocean and it’s like, and a lot of times I’m not even trying. Like something just pops into my head that I’ve been working on. And it’s like, that’s so obvious. I just needed a moment to tune everything out, give my brain a chance to relax and then new neurons start firing. That’s terrific.

Daniel Benefiel (1:07:17)
Yeah,

I to it to my managers we were going around roundtable and they were like well I do it on vacation like that was their time and I’m like, man That’s funny that you you reference that because maybe there are clarity times of Epiphanies that can happen if you lead into it while you’re While you’re not here and you’re on a beach

Anthony Codispoti (1:07:37)
Yeah. Just one more question for you, Daniel. But before I do it, ⁓ I ⁓ want to knock out a couple of things. First of all, everyone listening, pause for just a second, open the podcast app that you’re using right now, hit the follow or subscribe button. You want to continue to get more great interviews like we’ve had today with Daniel Benefield. Daniel, I also want to let people know the best way to get in touch with you or the Morales Group. What would that be?

Daniel Benefiel (1:08:01)
Absolutely. ⁓ think the two best ways are ⁓ LinkedIn and email. ⁓ Daniel, B-E-N-E-F-I-E-L. ⁓ Not too many of that last name out there. So hopefully you’ll be able to be the one that pops up. I think I’m wearing the same suit jacket as I looked at myself this morning. That’s in my picture. ⁓ And then email daniel.benefiel.moralesgroup.net. ⁓ As much as I say, don’t ⁓ be distracted by email. I will absolutely answer any email that comes through.

Anthony Codispoti (1:08:29)
terrific. And we’ll put links to that in the show notes for everybody. So last question for you. You and I reconnect a year from now, Daniel, and your fist pumping in the air super excited about something. What is the thing one year from today that you’re celebrating?

Daniel Benefiel (1:08:39)
Mm.

The one thing I would say it would be ⁓ it’d be growth in the core business and growth with ⁓ the direct and contract and where I sit here today with what we’ve got coming down the pike. ⁓ I’m confident that in a year from now I should be doing some fist pumping ⁓ for you.

Anthony Codispoti (1:09:04)
Good stuff. Daniel Betafield from the Morales Group. I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.

Daniel Benefiel (1:09:13)
Thank you, Anthony.

Anthony Codispoti (1:09:15)
Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories Podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.