Tappero

“We just didn’t want to raise our kids in Southern California anymore,” said the dynamic owner and president of West Sound Workforce. So, choosing the Kitsap Peninsula “out of the blue,” Tappero got a job in Gig Harbor and the family settled into the area.

Nine years later Tappero was looking to strike on her own professionally. “I wanted to own my own business,” she said.

After looking at several business opportunities, and going through a number of business plans, she finally settled on opening a staffing company.

“I’d never worked in the staffing industry before,” Tappero said, “But with my background [in human resources and business management] I thought I had the best chance at success.”

A dozen years later, West Sound Workforce is one of the best-known local staffing companies on the Kitsap Peninsula. The company now has 13 staff members and two offices, its original Gig Harbor location, and another office in Poulsbo.

“We’ve had a nice, steady growth,” said Tappero.

Tappero believes that West Sound Workforce has been successful for several reasons.

“As an HR person I was a consumer of staffing,” she said. “I knew what I liked and what I didn’t like. I understood the industry from the HR perspective. Now I can treat my clients how I like to be treated.”

As a small, independent company, she continued, West Sound Workforce “can change on a dime,” altering their methods of working with clients to meet each company’s unique needs.

The company’s underlying values, which include a commitment to customer service, as well as valuing employees and a commitment to treating people well, has also served West Sound Workforce well in its dealings with clients and in attracting and retaining a dedicated workforce.

“That was one of the reasons why I wanted to start my own company,” Tappero said. “It was important to me to have a business where employees are valued. I knew if I did that I would be successful.”

She is proud of the fact that West Sound Workforce has a stable staff, with little of the steady turnover that most staffing agencies experience.

“The staffing industry has a high burnout rate, usually,” she said.

This commitment to treating employees well extends to the individuals that the company places in both temporary and permanent positions.

“My ‘product’ is a human being,” Tappero said. “People have unique needs. I think it’s really important to remember that. My temporary employee today could be my client tomorrow.”

Tappero also has a strong commitment to community, which she carries over into her professional life.

“In my personal life I have always been a volunteer,” Tappero said. “Running a business I knew I might not have time on my own, but I believed that was still important.”

Tappero has channeled that commitment into activities through the business. Soon after starting West Sound Workforce, Tappero joined, and remains active in, every chamber of commerce in the area, from Bainbridge Island to Gig Harbor.

“I have somebody who goes to every chamber,” she said.

Tappero is the past president of the Gig Harbor Peninsula Area Chamber of Commerce and currently serves as that chamber’s business economic development vice president. She is also a representative on the area’s hospital task force and sits on the governor-appointed Community Economic Revitalization Board. West Sound Workforce’s other community involvements include being an active member and partner of the Kitsap Economic Development Council and actively participating in local job fairs and business expo events.

“Julie believes that it is the role of local business leaders to support quality of life and economic development of the community,” said Kim D.E.D. Hails, executive director of the Gig Harbor Peninsula Area Chamber of Commerce.

In her personal life Tappero is also active in a number of community organizations, including the Olalla Community Council, Kitsap County’s Banner Forest Stewardship Committee and the organizing committee for the Olalla Summer Bluegrass Festival.

I’ve been very lucky in my life,” she said. “Everybody who can give back has a responsibility to do so.”

One of the pleasant side benefits of being so active in the community, said Tappero, is that it has contributed to the long-term success of West Sound Workforce.

“That wasn’t my plan, but that’s what happened,” she said. “By [becoming involved] when we were a young company, people started to recognize us before we were a company to be recognized. It’s helped us to be successful.”

Looking back on her experiences as a business owner, Tappero says, “When you start a business you have to have a plan, or you fail. At the same time you can’t think too carefully about what you’re doing, or you’ll never do it.”

For inspiration, Tappero looks to a quote from George Bernard Shaw that she keeps on her desk: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him... The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself... All progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

“That’s sort of my philosophy in life,” she said. “I believe in trying to create change.”.