The Resilient Recruiter

What’s the most innovative way to scale a recruitment firm—especially in a fast-changing, competitive market? For Stuart Barnes, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Navitas Recruitment Group, the answer was combining quick-turn perm revenue with recurring contract income. That dual strategy helped Navitas grow from zero to over £2.6M in net fee income within just two years. In this episode, Stuart...

What if you could place nearly every candidate you represent—and do it at premium fees, without racing to the bottom? In this episode of The Resilient Recruiter, Mark Whitby is joined by Lysha Holmes, founder of QUI Recruitment and host of The Recruiters Recruitment Podcast. With over 20 years in Rec2Rec, Lysha shares how she’s built a values-led, inbound-only business with zero cold calling. You’...

Hiring great recruiters should be second nature for recruitment business owners—after all, it's what we do for clients daily. But when it comes to growing your own team, the stakes are higher, the risks are real, and the margin for error is razor-thin. In today’s episode, we dive into what it really takes to attract, hire, and retain high-performing recruiters—especially in a competitive market wh...

If you're struggling to hire high-performing recruiters across multiple cities or regions, the issue might not be your comp plan—it’s your value proposition. In this episode, I sit down with Lisa Dixon of FIFTEEN WEST to unpack a strategy that more recruitment agency owners need to use: customizing your EVP (Employee Value Proposition) based on location. Lisa shares hard-won insights from helping...

Why do most recruitment companies stall at 10 to 20 people, while others scale to 100+ across continents? In this episode, you’ll hear directly from someone who’s done it. STR Group is a family of specialist recruitment brands focused on STEM sectors. As co-founder, Clive Hutchings has spent over two decades growing the business to more than 120 staff across the UK, Europe, and the US—all while st...

What does the future look like for recruitment agency owners? In this episode, I’m joined by DeeDee Doke, Editor-in-Chief of Recruiter magazine. With over 20 years in the role, DeeDee has a unique view of the industry, both in the UK and globally. We recorded this live at the Recruitment Agency Expo in London, and talked about how recruitment is changing — fast. Whether it's AI, M&A trends, or...

What if discovering your neurodivergent could unlock a deeper sense of purpose—and make your recruitment business more impactful? In this episode, Adam Tobias shares how getting diagnosed with ADHD and autism in his 40s reshaped not only how he works, but why he works. That discovery ignited a new mission: helping organizations remove the hidden barriers that exclude brilliant, underrepresented ta...

What if you could swap 100 cold calls a day for content that reaches thousands? That’s exactly what award-winning recruiter Justis Pederson did. In this episode, Justis shares how going digital didn’t just scale his reach—it nearly doubled his revenue. Justis is the President & CEO of the Pederson Group of Companies in Winnipeg, which he has grown from $500K to $1.8M in revenue. His group includes...

How do you build an endless stream of referrals to sustain your recruitment business—especially during an economic downturn? Brandon Glyck’s answer: relentless follow-ups. But not in the way you might expect. It’s not about hounding clients—it’s about staying top-of-mind with consistency, care, and value. Brandon is the CEO of Quantum Search Partners in Virginia, where he leads a high-performing t...

After relocating from Dubai to the U.S. with two young children, Karolina Willis found herself having to rebuild her recruitment business from scratch. Facing overwhelming personal and professional challenges, she reached a breaking point—when walking away felt like the only option. But instead of giving up, Karolina doubled down. What followed was a period of six months of explosive growth. In th...

Focus is a superpower every recruiter needs, especially in a harsh market with tough competition. How do you keep yourself organized and focused despite multiple expectations that you have to deliver to your clients, candidates, and if you are a business owner, to your team? Jenny shares the Jenny Diaz Day Plan and how it helps her stay organized and focused every day. She also shares how basic da...

What separates top billers from everyone else in recruitment? In this episode, DG Recruit co-founders Dandan Zhu and Grace Marlin reveal the strategies they’ve seen consistently drive high performance across the industry. Their rec-to-rec agency gives them unique insight into what elite recruiters do differently—and how you can replicate it. Dandan and Grace share three core themes that make or br...

Imagine building a recruitment firm where every placement creates a real positive impact. That’s exactly what Leo Hewett set out to do when he launched Core3—a finance & accounting recruitment agency built on purpose, ethics, and community. After reaching Director level in corporate recruitment, Leo launched Core3 in 2022 with a clear mission: to build a B Corp-certified business that goes beyond...

What if your next training session became the highlight of your recruiters' week rather than just another calendar obligation? We explore how innovative recruitment leaders transform traditional onboarding into engaging experiences that drive performance and retention. In this episode, a tenured recruiter and recruitment business owner shares his experience in training hundreds of recruiters in th...

The journey from top-performing recruiter to successful business leader requires a significant mindset shift. Melanie DeBeer, Director of Full Circle Selection shares how she built a thriving recruitment business that doesn't rely solely on her personal billings. With over 25 years in the industry, Melanie reveals the pivotal moment when she realized that to scale her business, she needed to step...

Would you be apprehensive about adding a recruitment bot in your hiring process at the risk of losing the ‘human’ factor? Our special guest, Betsy Robinson, explains how they utilize AI trends and other tech stacks to enhance their client and candidate experience.   Betsy Robinson is the Founder & CEO of Tier4 Group, a woman-owned, diversity-certified talent acquisition firm headquartered in Atlan...

A 25-year recruiting veteran! Our special guest, Jeff Cox, shares his journey and insights on how he made two transitions to up his recruitment game: From placing junior to senior roles and switching from contingent to retainer model.   These shifts can be challenging, and so it takes the right mindset and preparation for your to have the power to transition. Jeff shared how he did it!   Jeff spec...

Imagine this: being so meticulous in your candidate screening process invites an unexpected face-to-face investigation from Federal Agents. That is what our special guest, Lee Ann Howard, had to go through when starting as a recruiter in her early 20s. The secret to her 'suspicious' expertise? Simply asking the right questions and listening carefully to candidates.   Lee Ann is the visionary Found...

In this episode, we are joined by Rickard Fritjofsson. He’s the founder and CEO of a successful multi-brand recruitment company, Worldwiders, that has placed over 5,000 people in 40 countries.   Rickard discussed key elements of their company culture, influenced by sports principles, including clear career paths and collaborative goal-setting. As a recruitment business owner, it will also resonate...

Not everyone is born to become a recruiter, but this may be the case for our special guest, Rachel Filby. When her father convinced her to pursue a career in recruitment, she never hesitated and firmly believed that it was one of the best decisions of her life. In her first year with Michael Page, she became a top biller, and she now runs her own recruitment agency, RF Recruitment. In this episode...

Mary Morton reveals how converting scientific research into strategic relationships revolutionized her recruitment approach. A biology major turned pharmaceutical recruiter, she leverages investor presentations and company pipelines to identify opportunities before her competitors.  This research-driven strategy and building deep client trust helped her agency thrive from its 2008 recession launch...

How does someone with zero recruitment experience build a thriving search firm from the ground up—in just five years? In this episode, Hugh Pocock, Co-Founder of Cultura Connect, shares how his deep agricultural background helped him build a rapidly scaling recruitment firm that now boasts a team of 13 specialists across the agriculture, food, and forestry sectors. We explore Hugh’s mindset, lesso...

Few people have established the credibility and connections that Jessica Hamilton has when it comes to recruiting in the financial crime space. Jess is the go-to recruiter in London for financial crime roles, with over a decade of experience partnering with clients to build out their teams. In our conversation, Jess shares the fascinating story of how a discussion in a pub first got her interested...

If there is one thing more certain in marketing and branding, it is this: Making videos is no longer optional for building a successful recruitment business brand. How do you overcome the common barriers, misconceptions, and complexities of creating effective video content? What are the proven ROI and benefits of doing so? In this episode, we are joined by Sunjay Vyas, an accomplished videographer...

"Work hardest when times are best, not worst" - this counterintuitive philosophy helped Brock Boyd build a 25-year tech recruitment empire that's survived three major market crashes. When Brock Boyd started his recruitment firm in 1998, he ran his business from his bedroom in a shared house, where suited colleagues would show up to work daily - sometimes while he was still sleeping from late-night...