The BrainTrust, Inc. Story

The Inspiration

A "typical work week" is no longer typical. Because of our virtual world, people work around the clock, and some rarely set foot in an office. Yet, despite the progress that's been made toward a more flexible work-week, there are many highly qualified people with graduate degrees, extensive work experience, and talent who can't find work that provides the flexibility they need.

To those seeking challenging part-time or project work, the opportunities can seem few and far between. But the truth is, many companies are eager to hire highly qualified individuals on a part-time or contract basis. However until now, there has been no effective way to match up these talented people with these "atypical" jobs.

Our Mission

We bring talented, part-time individuals and challenging, part-time positions together, and we eliminate the time-consuming and expensive placement firm from the equation. From working moms who want a work/home balance, stay-at-home moms who want to return to work after their children have grown, recent retirees who realize that retirement is not what they thought it would be, to returning military who want to use their skills in a new way, BrainTrust, Inc. is a place where smart candidates and great companies come together.

My Story

In March, 2005, the Harvard Business Review published a Research Report entitled "The Hidden Brain Drain: Off-Ramps and On-Ramps in Women's Careers," noting that many talented women were leaving the work force to stay home with their children because employers couldn't offer the flexibility these new moms required.

I fell squarely in this category, as I had decided to stay home after my second child was born. After a few years, I was fortunate to re-connect with a colleague who brought me back into the consulting world I had known before, but this time, on a project basis that worked with my schedule.

As a part-time consultant with exposure to many companies, and a mom who could empathize with the challenges of balancing work and home, I realized that employers, both large and small, had become increasingly willing to offer creative solutions to find and retain the right talent to get the work done. And they had finally seen the benefits of hiring project-based workers -- a net gain to productivity without additional overhead.

Because of my strong network, employers sent me job descriptions to see if I knew anyone who might be a good fit, and friends filled my in-box with resumes. I saw an opportunity to bring these people together with a new company - BrainTrust, Inc. - that effectively matches up employers and employees directly. And, in living proof that the concept works -- it was built by part-time talent.

Today, many great choices exist for working full-time in a professional setting. And many choices are available to those who work in the home, or are of retirement age. But opportunities that fall in the middle of that spectrum, can be hard to find. BrainTrust's goal is to stake out a few more interim points along the continuum so we can offer different levels of work-life balance to highly talented candidates while helping companies tap into this valuable segment of professionals.

Anne Elton
Founder, BrainTrust, Inc.