Denise Peoples, founder and owner
of Peoples Choice Staffing and Choice
Workforce Solutions, believes she is
blessed. She and her company have endured tough times and slogged through
the recession like many others, doing
more than just surviving—they have
flourished. She credits her passion, her
drive, creative brain, and her knowledge
of the industry she serves for pulling
her through and putting her at top of
her game.
Peoples had several years of experience in the staffing business before starting Peoples Choice Staffing in 1993. “I
started at the entry level with a national
staffing company and was promoted five
times in five years,” she says. “I loved the
business and was responsible for overall
management and sales. When they
closed, I had no idea where to go.”
She decided to talk to her major
clients, thinking she could get an idea
of where to work next. Surprisingly,
everyone encouraged her to open her
Denise Peoples
own business. Peoples had never considered this option, but after discussing
it with her family and “a lot of prayer
and reflection,” she decided that she
would make that path her own—and
in less than 30 days, she was in business.
Because of the ease with which she was
able to navigate the hurdles of business
startup, she was sure she’d made the
right choice. And in her first year of
business, she produced more than $1
million in sales. “It was meant to be,”
she enthuses.
By 2007, Peoples Choice was a $5
million company. Then, almost overnight, the economy crashed, and her
business was hit hard. “In the blink of an
eye, my business went from $5 million to
$1.6 million,” she recalls. “It was one of
the most challenging moments for me.
But I told my staff [that] there may be
a recession, but we refuse to participate.
Do not bring up work shortages, layoffs
or downsizing.”
Peoples has a keepsake rock that she
has had for many years with a quotation from Winston Churchill etched
on it. It reads, “Never, never quit.” On
an especially dark day during the crash,
she focused on those words, gathered her
confidence, and realized that her strong
will and her gift for relationship-building would pull her through. The last few
years have rewarded that confidence,
and since forming Choice Workforce
Solutions—a managed service provider
that specializes in hiring, contract management, statements of work, and payroll
services—in 2010, she manages two
growing, award-winning businesses.
MBE May/June 2013
35