Meet Stephanie Florio: a woman on a mission to make job searching for students easy

In the spring of 2017, Stephanie Florio co-founded Swob Inc., a mobile recruitment application. Swob is designed to make job searching for students easy and recruitment even easier. Using their smartphone, students looking for a job can now search in the comfort of their own phone. Swob is the first of its kind to target students in high turnover industries such as retail and foodservice for part-time, seasonal and full-time employment. In May 2018, Swob was named the first-ever Canadian company to win Richard Branson and Virgin Mobile Canada’s “Pitch to Rich” contest.

My first job was… working in retail at the Disney Store. 

My proudest accomplishment is… being the first Canadian company to ever win Virgin Mobile Canada and Richard Branson’s “Pitch to Rich” contest… and of course, launching Swob!

My boldest move to date was…taking the leap and starting my own business. 

My biggest setback was… the fact that I thought I had to have it all figured out by the time I finished school. It took me a while to realize it’s about the journey and not how fast you get there. 

I overcame it by… trusting the process and trying new things to really figure out what I like and dislike. 

One thing I wish I knew before starting Swob was… you won’t always make the right decisions, and that’s okay. Since starting Swob, I have worked harder than I ever have before and have used the mistakes we’ve made as a way to learn and grow.

If I had five extra hours in the day I would … cook more often. 

 The best part of what I do is… speaking at different events and inspiring those to take the leap and start a business. I love what we are doing with Swob, and if I can inspire someone to take the leap, it means I am doing something right.

The most challenging part of what I do is… the unknown. Starting a business and trying to scale it means taking risks. Some of the risks we take turn out to be successful and some fail. Not knowing what is going to work is scary at times but it’s all apart of the process. 

“If you never try, you’ll never know.”

My greatest advice from a mentor was…know how great you are. I think at times starting a business you have so much going on in your mind that you forget to celebrate the wins.  

If I were to pick one thing that has helped me succeed, it would be… my attitude. I always live by the words “if you never try, you’ll never know”. 

If you googled me you still wouldn’t know…that I lived in New York for a summer and studied fashion at Parsons. 

The future excites me because… Swob is changing a process that has stayed the same for years. We are living in a digital world and we want to be the first to change this process, and ensure that young job seekers have a resource that’s built for them.