Good Neighbor Podcast: Frisco

EP #55: Balancing HR and Life: Todd Barnes's Journey with the Barnes Group, Adventure, and Resilience

• Sophia Yvette

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What makes Todd Barnes with The Barnes Group a good neighbor?

Unlock the secrets to thriving in human capital management with Todd Barnes of The Barnes Group! Discover how Todd's journey from East Texas to Dallas fueled his passion for supporting small and mid-sized businesses with essential HR and staffing solutions. You'll learn how his dual approach not only keeps businesses compliant but also helps them grow by overcoming the often misunderstood and seemingly costly challenges of staffing and HR services.

In this episode, Todd isn’t just a business expert; he's also an avid car and motorcycle enthusiast and a dedicated father. Hear about the personal side of a man who balances his love for adventure with his professional life. Plus, get inspired by Todd's candid sharing of overcoming a significant business setback that taught him invaluable lessons in resilience and leadership. Tune in for a story that’s rich with both professional insights and heartfelt personal anecdotes.

To learn more about The Barnes Group go to:
https://barnesgroup.net/

The Barnes Group
469-731-8120

Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a human capital management company? Surprisingly, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to your neighbor Todd Barnes with the Barnes Group. Todd, how are you doing today?

Speaker 3:

Hey Sophia, I'm doing great. How are you?

Speaker 2:

I'm great. We're excited to learn all about you and your company. Tell us a bit about the Barnes Group.

Speaker 3:

Well, thanks for having me. I really appreciate the opportunity and, as you said in the intro, we're in the human capital management business and I know that that doesn't mean a lot to most people, but it imprises or comprises two really different divisions that are similar but can be very different. One is our staffing agency, so we're providing jobs for people that are looking for them and providing workers for people that need workers employers, that is and we also provide outsourced human resource and payroll services as well. In our other division.

Speaker 2:

And how'd you get into this business?

Speaker 3:

Gosh, I kind of fell backwards into it when I moved to Dallas back in the mid nineties from East Texas, where I grew up in Tyler and really was kind of lost my way. I was just looking for a career and I put my resume out on monstercom back in the day and was approached by who at the time was the largest company in this particular space. They provided more of the HR services and I just realized that there was. I had a passion for kind of an entrepreneurial spirit, if you will, and it was great to meet clients that needed employees, had challenges. I've always been a bit of a problem solver and it just seemed a natural fit for me to be able to provide services that helped small and mid-sized companies grow their business. And then over the years we've just evolved into, you know, some other service offerings. So we not only help our employer clients, but we've really gained a passion for helping employees and the workforce as well. So it's been it's been quite a ride.

Speaker 2:

And what are the myths or misconceptions in your industry?

Speaker 3:

You know, the biggest misconception is that our services are too expensive. But the reality is, you know, most employers for that matter can't afford not to utilize a service like we provide. There's a lot of laws and regulations to being an employer, to hiring, to running a business, just in general. The red tape can be mind-numbing at times, and so employers have to do what we do. We just find ourselves to be a little bit more of an inefficient way to do it, and once we overcome those pricing challenges, then it makes sense for a lot of people.

Speaker 2:

And outside of work. What do you do for fun?

Speaker 3:

Gosh. Well, a lot of things. I'm kind of a jack of all hobbies and a master of not too many. I love cars and motorcycles so I'm big into that. My son is in high school, plays soccer, so following him around and doing all his club stuff and and uh and games and practices and whatnot is still a lot of fun. Of course we hunt and fish and do all the the cool texas things. Love football, college football. I'm a texas tech, red raider and long suffering. So uh, we, uh. We travel a bit and try to spend as much time with the family as possible.

Speaker 2:

Let's go ahead and change gears for a second because, as you know, life isn't always super positive. So can you describe one hardship or life challenge? You rose above and can now say because of it, you're better and stronger? When I say that, what comes to mind? Yeah, absolutely. When I say that, what comes to mind?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, absolutely, you know. I think some people are cut out to be business partners and some people are not, and back about 10 or so years ago, I had a fairly challenging business partnership or joint venture, if you will. Lost everything. Lost my company, just lost it all. It was without getting into too much detail.

Speaker 3:

It was just a bad time in our life and I learned a lot about business, about people, but, most importantly, about myself. I learned how resilient I was and to realize that the decisions that you make as an entrepreneur affect other people. Those are really the most important decisions that you make, and so I managed to overcome it, started over, developed a great team and hopefully have corrected some of the mistakes that I learned early on in my career. But that was definitely the most challenging part in my life. What made it harder was, again, the family that I had at the time, or still have the same family. They stuck with me but managed to get through that and knowing that they supported me and the people that we have now on our team as we have grown. You know we're twice the size we were when those things happened. So just resilience, resourcefulness those are the things that I learned about myself.

Speaker 2:

Todd, please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about the Barnes Group.

Speaker 3:

You know we are, we're people and we're passionate about people and, at the end of the day, you know the our employees, whether they're contingent workers or whether they work for our clients directly and our clients themselves they're, they're people and they, uh, they show up, they get up, suit up and show up to to do a job to provide for their families, and all most people really want is it's an opportunity, and that's what we're here to do. We're here to provide opportunities for people that need them and to give back to, you know, to the people in the communities that help us thrive. We're just like you know, it's the Good Neighbor podcast and we try to be good neighbors to everyone and give them the opportunities that we can.

Speaker 2:

And how can our listeners learn more about the Barnes Group?

Speaker 3:

Great question. Our website, of course, you know where everything centers around is barnesgroupnet, and then we're across all the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, of course, for the business community, and TikTok even I think we have a TikTok account. I don't manage all that stuff, but it's all at Barnes Group.

Speaker 2:

All right. Well, Todd, we really appreciate you being on the show and wish you and your business the best moving forward.

Speaker 3:

Well, thank you so much. We're really an honor to be here. We appreciate it. Best of luck to you guys too. Thank you for listening to the Good moving forward. Well, thank you so much. We're really an honor to be here. We appreciate it. Best of luck to you guys too.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpfriscocom. That's gnpfriscocom, or call 469-221-9345.