January Episodes

Another month in the books and a stellar start for 2025 with these amazing guests! Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to watch/listen to the episodes so far, and to anyone who has enjoyed the newsletter.

In 2025, the goal is to do more in-person podcasts and more content from events... With that being said, we have 2 slots for the podcast zone at the recruitment agency expo in March! ??

If you haven't watched/listened to the episodes in Jan, we had a really diverse range of guests and topics this month, with some great stories, anecdotes, and invaluable advice for anyone within the recruitment industry.

Episode #19 - Bradley Placks founder of Mint66

Topics discussed in this episode:

• High impact high-value tasks, focusing on things that will make a difference.
• Doing the basics well, effective planning for the day, how can you be proactive.
• Work-life balance, work-life integration. The power of your words and body language.
• How these two things can affect how people interpret what you say.
• How to build a business on kindness and compassion.??

"Planning is the foundation of a good day and success starts by being disciplined."

Brad is well known in the industry, advising on the board of many recruitment companies an was the co-founder of Broadbean, a tool I used back in the day. Brad is a very methodical and pragmatic person with tons of useful advice for anyone within this industry. But what strikes me, was the topic of conversation we had surrounding 'building a business on kindness and compassion'. That's not something you hear every day in recruitment!

"As leaders in this industry, we need to be taking people on a journey. It's your duty to look out for their personal and professional development."

As always, we end each show with the same question: How can people in recruitment get 1% better following today's episode?

"Effective planning, recognising that a plan is not just a to-do list. To be a high achiever, try to control as much of your day as you possibly can."

Episode #20 - Laura Clark ?? CEO of OA Recruitment Solutions

Topics discussed in this episode:

• You can’t have everything and be successful without sacrificing things. You can’t have it all, what is your all? Can you go to the gym for 4hrs and be a successful business owner/biller.
• The culture within a business is the immune system and how to be agile & adaptable
• Why women aren’t getting the opportunities, why do women not take risks like most men do and do some women have a victim mentality?
• Trying to raise a family whilst running/growing a business.

"If you want to be really successful in anything you do, you need to become obsessed about it. And don't be afraid to put yourself forward for asmany things as you can."

Laura is a mum of 4 and CEO of one of the fastest-growing recruitment companies in the UK. I had the pleasure of meeting her and some of the team before we recorded and in our first telephone conversation pre-recording, I knew this would be one of my favourite episodes.

Laura has had a really successful recruiter and someone for women to look up to, especially. This was a great discussion to have because I have seen a lot of women tell me they don't have the same opportunities as their male counterparts... We dove into why that may be and talked about the issues that are down to society and the individual.

"There is discrimination all around us, but you can choose who you surround yourself with. If it is women or men stopping you from progressing you, move and find somewhere else."

"I do however think that women are incredible and think we have a lot to offer, but we need to ask and put ourselves out there more. That's an US problem."

As always, we end each show with the same question: How can people in recruitment get 1% better following today's episode?

"Shut up, listen more, and be curious. You have two ears and one mouth. I would have learned a lot more if I just shut up."

Episode #21- Melanie Sedgley founder of Edge

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Opportunities for working mums. Setting up a business with kids.
• Society tells women they can not do something, how do we shift that in both society and in women.
• Navigating mental health, how to approach it in the right way.
• Utilizing ED&I as part of a value proposition for recruiters.

"To have more women in leadership positions, whilst still keeping a meritocracy, you have to have a transparent progression road map for everyone!"

Melanie was the head of people at Oscar and in the last year or so, set up Edge, a talent & people consultancy. She is a mum of two and helps companies really define their frameworks, processes, and everything people related. You can tell during our conversation how passionate Mel is about the topics we spoke about and how much she really cares!

"If we were both going for a senior consultant promotion and I was out billing a female counter part, out performing her on every metric and I got a salary increase because of that, this is completely fair. However, what really grinds my gears, is when nothing is documented and there is no clear progression. That's when you may see issues with gender pay gaps etc."

As always, we end each show with the same question: How can people in recruitment get 1% better following today's episode?

"Ask for feedback, consistently. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Define a clear process for asking for feedback, internally and externally."

Episode #22- Dan Payne founder of Ark Recruitment EST

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Transitioning from army to recruitment
• Setting up Ark Recruitment
• Career changing, people telling you can't do something
• Mental health awareness

"One of the worst things I witnessed when I served in the army was a 4yo boy try and sell his daughter to soldiers to feed his glue addiction."

Dan is one of the nicest blokes in recruitment and some of the stories he shares in this episode either make you smile ear to ear or make your jaw drop to the floor... We had a rollercoaster conversation about recruitment, and stories from the forces and spoke at length about mental health. Dan shared his experience undergoing EMDR therapy after coming back from the army which was incredible for him. We also spoke about alternative therapies they use for mental health these days, like MDMA for PTSD, Ketamine for Depression, and other psychedelics that are being used in clinics across the world.

"It's okay if someone doesn't answer the phone or if a client lets you down, we aren't in the trenches, we aren't going to die cold calling someone, it's fine, let's crack on!"

As always, we end each show with the same question: How can people in recruitment get 1% better following today's episode?

"If you are struggling with anything, talk to someone about it, whether it's your manager, your peers, the barista in the morning... that 1% you are trying to find could come from anyone."

Bonus episode - Cultivating The Best Possible Mindset for 2025 w/ Charles Kyriakou

How can we reflect on 2024?

• What went well?
• What challenges did you encounter?
• How did you approach/overcome those challenges?
• What did you learn?
• What can you take with you into the new year?
• What are you prioritizing in the new year?

Now I want you to consider what you have said to the above and look at how you might be able to reframe any of the ‘negatives’…

• ?Identify what happened > find a lesson > seek a positive > action it

?What are 3-4 key things to work on for your mindset in 2025?

• Adaptability: Change is inevitable, I am agile and can be flexible when change happens.
• Resilience: Bouncebackability is key to overcoming hurdles, I am in control of only what I do and think.
• Positivity: Being positive in tough times is crucial, I am able to train my mind to see possibilities not problems.
• Intention: Having a goal and a clear intention is huge, I am in control of my destiny.

Action plan:

I invite you to experiment with a visualization exercise. After this video, find a quiet place, whack on some headphones, and play some binaural beats or sit in silence and try the following for a few minutes.

• Visualize yourself in 12 months time when you are reflecting on your 2025.
• How far have you come? What have you achieved? What have you learned? What successes have you had?
• Now imagine yourself coming into your office or wherever you work from… What do you see around you? What do you see in the mirror? What do you look like? What are you wearing?
• What do you hear around you? What are people saying about your 2025? What do your leaders/loved ones say about you?
• What feeling do you have? How grateful are you for the hard work you put in?
• You might even start to notice what you may smell? Your aftershave/perfume? Your clean clothes? The smell of the office?
• And perhaps you might begin to taste what you ate last? The drink you just had? Maybe the taste of champagne when you have been celebrating your success?

?Now sit with this visualization for a moment and soak it in.

Now the final thing for you to do is reverse engineer your end goal. If you want to be the top biller, think about what steps you need to do each quarter, month, week and day. This goes for anyone at any level, start with the end in mind and go backwards.

So to recap: Reflect on this year, reframe any negatives looking at what went well, what you learnt and what positives you saw. Focus on your adaptability, resilience, positivity and intention. Visualize your goal and reverse engineer it!

Enjoying the podcast so far? Follow it on LinkedIn, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

The first in person recorded episode releases in Feb and the podcast is coming back to the recruitment agency expo, so keep an eye out for that.

As always, would love to get feedback on your thoughts so far, and I will be looking at the line up of guests for Q2 at the end of Feb.

I have absolutely loved doing the podcast and have some incredible guests lined up over the next few months for you all. Together, we are elevating the recruitment industry 1% after every episode, and slowly changing the perception of recruitment. ??????

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