The Nxt Level Story

The entrepreneurial spirit sparked early in Shane Shown when at nine years old he created his own hand-drawn Pokemon bookmarks to sell to classmates.? He is now the founder and CEO of one of the top technical and video game recruiting agencies in North America.

After time at Facebook and The Climate Corporation, Shown saw an opportunity to take his knowledge and opened Nxt Level Recruiting, focused on Machine Learning and Healthcare technologies in 2018.? Because of the Covid-19 shutdowns of 2020, most of his clients had to either stop new hiring and/or begin layoffs.? This doesn’t work well when you own a recruiting agency.? His team of three recruiters had to become salespeople and pivot quickly to bring in new clients.? One habit they developed during this time was to watch the stock market to see what companies were having growth.? They discovered that entertainment and video game company stocks were on the rise.? The team began learning everything they could about gaming studios, products, and skill sets needed to work in the field.? They were able to build a new track within the company to diversify clients and positions.

Shown also used this time to visit Nashville to help a family member set up a new company and possibly jump into the real estate market.? He came with that being the sole intention of the trip and to return home to Washington state.? While in Nashville, he fell in love with the city and saw the benefits of owning a business in Music City.??

After buying a house site unseen to flip, he decided to move Nxt Level to town and opened an office in the basement.? He also recruited one of his former employers as his new COO, Taylor Duncan .? Duncan was looking to move his family out of Chicago and Nashville was on the top of his list because of the importance of wanting in-person learning for his five children.??

Building Nxt Level into a different kind of recruiting agency is a top priority for Shown and Duncan.? The team specializes in finding world-class talent?

Because of the growth of the company in clients and employees, they were quickly able to move out of Shown’s basement and into an office space in the Maryland Farms area of Brentwood, TN.? The employee growth of over 300% has not stopped and they have rapidly outgrown their first office and are now in a new state-of-the-art office that is close to three times their previous size and is equipped with its own podcast studio.??

Nxt Level is a different kind of agency in that they do the arduous work to find and vet world-class talent for clients.? The team interviews and screens candidates several times before they are even sent to clients.? This frees up valuable time for hiring managers to see who is the best fit for their companies in experience and culture and not have to wade through hundreds of resumes to find the diamond in the ruff.??

Next Level has jumped into the technology and gaming ecosystems in Middle Tennessee to help with growth and education.? They are helping to open doors with a partnership at The Wond’ry at Vanderbilt University.? They have also partnered with the Nashville Tech Council to provide interview, resume, and LinkedIn training to individuals entering the technology workforce.? The team also serves as mentors at the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center for Williamson County Schools.?

They currently produce two podcasts.? Shown and Duncan host “Nxt In” about technology, gaming, hiring practices, and challenges.? “How She Got There” is focused on women in technology hosted by Jaime Vaughn .? Guests featured have been from companies all over the world, such as IBM, Daimler, SalesForce, Squanch Games, Unanimous AI, Google, Edward Jones, Relo Metrics, Data Stax, WorkDay, Blizzard Entertainment, and many more.?

Nxt Level is also a driving force in the entrepreneurial tech scene in Nashville.? Shown and Duncan are the city leaders for Founders Live, a worldwide pitch competition for startups.? Focusing on innovative technology startups in the Middle Tennessee area, Founders Live Nashville is one of the most innovative competitions and networking events that creates the ability for new companies to have exposure to venture capital firms, mentors, and possible new clients several times a year.

Nxt Level is now leading the way in recruitment for machine learning, gaming, defense, augmented reality, virtual reality, fintech, NFTs, Blockchain, Web3, and self-driving vehicles, with more to come.? 2023 has shown massive growth in new areas for the team and it has facilitated the need to diversify divisions.? You can now find new divisions of Nxt Attorney , Nxt Level Civil Engineering , Nxt Level Entertainment , and Nxt Level HealthTech .

Shown has come a long way from Pokemon bookmarks.?