Ben Browning

1. What is your name and what is the name of your business?

My name is Ben Browning and the company is called Resonant.

2. What does the business do and who are your customers?

My business helps recruitment companies with their sales and business development strategies.  We focus on mid-market and boutique recruitment businesses. We also provide training and coaching services as well.

3. What’s the history of the business & what’s your role within the business?

So up until 2020 I was employed within the recruitment industry, firstly as a recruiter, and then a leader, and then running the L&D department of a 500+ company.  I was made redundant in 2020 and looked around at all my options and thought, I would rather do this for myself.  And so I made the jump.  At the time there were not many other options about (driven by Covid), so I guess that contributed to the decision making.  But without a doubt it was the best thing that could have happened for me.  It was the right time.

4. How long have you had an office here at Freshmill and why were you looking for a space like this?

I have been here just over 18 months.  I started hot-desking here and really liked it.  I liked the environment.  I was so bored of being at home and are WiFi was terrible for about 6 months, so this was a brilliant solution!  I then moved into a 2-man office with John which works well for us.

5. Why does Freshmill work well for you and your business?

I love that it is local, and I really like the fact that we have a private office, it is really affordable, it’s a no-brainer really!  I really do enjoy the community too.

6. What is the most important lesson you have gained from your career so far?

I think it is probably the same lesson that I have taken from parenthood.  It is that things move on, it is all just phases, the challenges of life etc. Try not to label anything as particularly good or bad, I think it is important to remember equanimity.  I really like the Chinese parable about the farmer which I think illustrates the point…  So, a farmer’s horse runs away. His neighbours are sorry for him, but the farmer simply says, “Maybe.” The horse returns the next day, bringing with it several wild horses. The neighbours congratulate him on his good fortune, but the farmer just says, “Maybe.” The farmer’s son then breaks his leg while training one of the wild horses, and the neighbours are sorry for him once more. The farmer again says, “Maybe.” Soon after, war breaks out, and all the young men in the village are conscripted, except for the farmer’s son due to his broken leg. The neighbours now say how lucky the farmer is, to which he responds, “Maybe”.

So in July, we had my biggest prospective clients to date, in my five years of running the business, pull out two weeks before we were due to start working with them.  That was on 3rd July.  By the 23rd July I had generated more new business not only to cover the client that had pulled out, but also to put us on track for the rest of the year!  So it just proves the point, it’s business, things change in a heartbeat and so try to hold your nerve.  In these situations I also go back to process – what are the strengths of the business, what can I do today that will add strength to the business, and as long as I am doing that I feel like I am on the right track.

7. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?

At the moment I genuinely don’t know!  By that point my youngest child will be at school.  I don’t want to grow the business until then, but at that point I will have to make that decision – do I want to make it into something bigger, with potential employees etc, or am I at a point where I am happy with it being just me.  Ideally it would be great if I were able to step back just a little and work 20% less.  The other thing that steers a lot of my thinking is that I want to have an impact on the recruitment industry.  Most leaders will say that their people are in their top three most valuable assets, but not many leaders will say that the way they recruit is their most valuable process or strategy.  People spend more time and effort thinking about how they are going to purchase a piece of software rather than how they hire their staff! So, I want businesses to feel empowered to recruit better and to approach recruitment effectively.

When we come back to the original question, where do I want to see myself in five years, what I want to be able to do is have some sort of meaningful impact on the industry and I think that probably means having a business that does have a bigger footprint with employees out there spreading the work – I think it would be more difficult to be impactful when it is just me on my own.

8. What advice would you give your younger self just starting out?

I think it is similar to what I said before – don’t take anything too seriously.  Everything is a phase so try to enjoy the journey and don’t get too concerned about the bumps in the road on the journey.

Also, I have always suffered with a lack of self-belief.  I will give you an example – I just recently did a session with a new client – I was subcontracted in.  I went and did a day with them, came away and got some really fantastic feedback.  My immediate reaction was, well it clearly wasn’t that good, they have no idea what they are talking about!! I had to check myself! I obviously am not doing this job for those responses, but if I cannot even accept it, I need to look at myself!

So I would like to impress that message on myself earlier in life – believe in yourself, you are doing a good job!

9. What is your favourite quote/mantra?

‘What stands in the way becomes the way’ is a quote by Marcus Aurelius.  Marcus Aurelius wrote a book called Meditations which is a personal collection of his reflections on applying Stoic philosophy to his life.  And one of the most famous lines is ‘ The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way’.   What he means is that obstacles and setbacks, rather than hindering progress, can actually be used to advance and guide one’s path, they are part of your journey.

In 2018 I came across the author Ryan Holiday who writes all about Stoic philosophy for the modern age and I really love his work.  He wrote a book called ‘The Obstacle is the way’ and it’s great – Stoic philosophy has become a big part of my place in the world. That idea of equanimity, that I mentioned earlier, is Stoic philosophy as well – recognising that no situation is good or bad, it is only what you believe it to be. We should try to resist applying our own thoughts to situations, instead seeing them as neutral and staying calm.

10. If you could, who would you switch places with for the day, and why?

I think I would probably go for Lewis Hamilton.  I really love football so my natural inclination would be to go for a footballer, but I can play football (not at that level!) but I can play it.  I have no idea how to drive a F1 car! That would be amazing.