Aaron Grossman, a former wrestler and president of Alliance Staffing Solutions, always noticed that the former wrestlers he met during the course of business had felt a unique bond not found among other student athletes.
“Wrestlers spend years going through shared pain and agony, with the stress of weekly weigh-ins and constant threats of seeing funding for our programs cut,” he recalled. “You definitely feel like you’ve been run through the gauntlet, and any other wrestler you meet without exception tends to understand exactly what you mean.”
Grossman wondered just how deep this sentiment existed in the community. As an experienced social media marketer for his own business, he decided to test the idea by creating a LinkedIn Group, Wrestlers in Business, which would reunite other wrestlers. In a few months, it became the largest group on Linkedin dedicated to the sport of wrestling with over 1,000 members. He tried the same experiment with Facebook as a second test – and received more than 2,500 followers within a single month.
Last month, Grossman and a team of other wrestling enthusiasts launched a nonprofit, “Wrestlers in Business” site www.wrestlersinbusiness.org. Membership in the group provides access to thousands of other wrestlers, networking events, discussion forums, access to job postings and scholarships and most of all, an opportunity to give back to a sport that has made an impact in the lives of these professionals. The group held a kickoff event in Cleveland during January.
Tim Courtad, one of the organization’s board members, said he is optimistic about the impact the group can have for its members. “It’s not unusual to consider reaching 100,000 members, based on the immediate online response we received just from word-of-mouth. If we can achieve those types of numbers, just think how much influence we can have in terms of helping our members’ businesses. In addition, we’ll have considerable financial and political clout to help support high school and college programs in danger of being dropped. Instead of fighting for our sport on an individual basis, Wrestlers in Business is about one team fighting for the sport together.”
If you would like more information on this organization, visit www.wrestlersinbusiness.org.
About Alliance Staffing Solutions
A registered Minority Business Enterprise, the Alliance Staffing Solutions Group of Companies, is a full-service recruitment firm headquartered in Independence, Ohio. Alliance Staffing offers expertise through its business units that include Alliance Financial Solutions, Alliance Office Solutions, Alliance Healthcare Solutions, Alliance Scientific Solutions, Alliance Technical Solutions, Alliance Industrial Solutions, and the Alliance Search Group. The recruitment agency is a multiple Weatherhead 100 award recipient as one of Northeast Ohio’s fastest growing companies. Alliance believes in providing efficient and effective sourcing of specialized recruitment services that result in consistent, qualified placements that enhance organizational productivity for its clients. Alliance Staffing was also recently awarded a NEO Success Award, which recognizes the most successful companies in the region. For more information on any of Alliance Staffing’s recruitment capabilities, call 216-525-0100 or visit www.AllianceStaffingSolutions.com.
