Meet Johan Peñates, from one to 100 in Colombia

Even though my week-day-job is as a recruiter, I still work as a psychologist on the weekends, providing couple’s therapy. It's interesting to see the connection between my work in those two fields. Throughout both areas, listening is an integral part of what I do. When meeting with a job candidate, you find out their motivation, story and why they want a new job. It's very similar to therapy, as listening is core to helping find a solution.

Looking back at the last year and a half, it’s incredible to see the Kin + Carta Colombia office grow from just me to now more than 100 Kin. It’s been such a privilege to have been able to have met, listened to, and been a job-searching steward for so many of these employees and the endless amounts of candidates, alike.

One thing that stands out about my time here has been just how interested in Colombia the entire firm has been. A special memory was when we created a presentation to introduce the country of Colombia to the global team. It included everything about our food, culture, music and actors. I also remember when I was in Buenos Aires at a dinner with our leaders, and they asked us: ‘How is Colombia? What is the weather like? What is your culture?’ It was those questions which really showed me that they wanted to learn more about Colombia, our talent, our environment, and how we work. To see such engagement and interest, especially from our firm’s leadership, really meant a lot to me.

Another great memory was an experience that happened earlier this year. Since I work remotely, I don’t often get the chance to meet many of my new hires (now current Kin!) in-person. One day, I decided to change that. So I traveled across the country to meet some of our employees who are based in different cities. I organized a dinner all together for us, and it was just terrific. I was one of the first employees from Kin + Carta to visit them, and we had great conversations about our experiences so far. I loved this so much, as it allowed me to meet new people, connect with them and listen to their experiences. During this time together I learned a lot about how Kin + Carta motivated them to change jobs or to make a career move. This has been really beneficial to my role as a recruiter, as the more I know about our people and why they prefer to work with us the better I can do my job.

Listening is the best way to understand people's motivation, and this is something I’m reminded of every day through my role as a recruiter and my role as a couple’s therapist. For that reason, I go out of my way and try to meet with everyone on our team. Each person has different motivations, but there are little, consistent lines that connect us. Those connections are wildly apparent when I meet with our teams. We are builders. We know that we are creating something big, and even though we have different skills and perspectives, we converge to one goal, and that’s working as a team and sharing the same values.

I’ve been a part of hiring so many people to Kin + Carta, and it’s seeing these individuals grow within our firm and get promoted that feels like recognition to me. This shows that they’re succeeding and developing their career. And, that Kin + Carta believes in them. They are creating a career path here, and that's just what I’d hope for them since our very first connection. When I bring someone on board, I see it as a chance to develop their career and connect their motivation with Kin + Carta's purpose. It's not only about hiring talent but making sure everyone is happy and feels like they're part of something bigger.