Why the Best Women Recruiters Keep Leaving Your Firm

Benjamin Mena [00:00:00]:
Are you still trying to grow your recruiting desk or business on your own? Join the Elite Recruiter Community and connect with recruiters who know your challenges. Members get unlimited access to replays from the AI Recruiting Summit, Finish the year strong and all our past events plus biweekly roundtables where we dive into sourcing, business development and mindset. You'll also tap into our Billers Club for accountability and a split space to partner on roles. Join the number one growth environment for recruiters. For just $49 per month, you'll be part of a tight knit group that pushes you to grow and you can cancel anytime. Visit the link in the show notes and click Join now to get started and start mastering your craft today. Coming up on this episode of the Elite Recruiter Podcast for me, when I

Augusta Mirchandani [00:00:40]:
hire, I look for a few things. I look for people who genuinely care. They care about their clients, their candidates, their colleagues. People who actually genuinely care. And that's hard to find. A lot of male leaders feel intimidated by super successful women, especially when they're younger, so they kind of come at these conversations in a far more indirect, direct, passive manner, which is quite insulting.

Benjamin Mena [00:01:01]:
Welcome to the Elite Recruiter Podcast with your host Benjamin Mena where we focus on what it takes to win in the recruiting game. We cover it all from sales, marketing, mindset, money, leadership and placements. You know the resume never tells the full story. Candidates share what really matters during conversations, on calls and interviews, over email, their motivations, salary expectations, plans to relocate. Most of that detail ends up buried in notes and forgotten. Atlas changes that. It's the AI first recruitment platform built to eliminate admin. It captures every conversation automatically and turns it into something you can use.

Benjamin Mena [00:01:42]:
With MagicSearch. You can ask Atlas questions like who talked about wanting a four day week? Or who mentioned they're open to relocating next year? It searches across your entire database and pulls the answers instantly. No keyword guessing and no digging through old notes. You can you get insight from real conversations, not limited resume fields. Atlas also makes BD easier with opportunities you can track and grow client relationships powered by generative AI and built into your existing workflow. If you want visibility, smart dashboards give you a clear view of the pipeline across your business. And that's not theory. Atlas customers have reported over 40% EBITDA growth and over 80% increase in monthly billings after adopting the platform.

Benjamin Mena [00:02:22]:
It's built for agencies that want to grow without adding more manual work. Don't miss the future recruitment get started with Atlas today and unlock your exclusive listener offer At Recruit with atlas. Com. I am so excited about this episode because my guest is across five countries with a team of 35, a global recruiting organization. But that's not why I'm excited to. I mean I am excited about her talking about that, but I think one of the most important things that I've seen this time and time again in my career, I've been in this recruiting chair for two decades now. I have seen, excuse me for saying this, women come in and kick guys asses constantly but then something happens and they disappear. Time and time again I've seen high performing women leave probably one of the most amazing careers, one of the most amazing opportunities.

Benjamin Mena [00:03:14]:
How do we fix that? How do we set the structure in place, take care of the high performers? And that's why I'm excited to have my guest here today to talk about what she has gone through, what she is setting up so that women can win. So Augusta, welcome to the podcast.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:03:34]:
Thanks so much. Excited to be here.

Benjamin Mena [00:03:37]:
So real quick before we dive in, quick 30 second self introduction.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:03:41]:
So I'm Augusta. I'm the founder and CEO of AAA Global. We are across five countries. As you said, we specialize within the quant and discretionary finance space. All roles, all sectors within that quite technical world. And I've been recruiting for gosh, over a decade, 13, 13, 14 years now. I began my career within the HFT and bond space and started this business just over seven years ago.

Benjamin Mena [00:04:07]:
Awesome. So I know we were talking about this offline before we hit the record button, but you said something pretty bold and like I've seen it time and time again. Actually you said that women cannot only succeed in recruiting but in many cases outperform men because this is a relationship sales. Why do you believe that?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:04:29]:
Because it's a generalization. But I've seen time and time again women have a more natural eq, a higher eq and this is a relationship business. And I think those that win in recruitment long term are those that are really good at forming long term relationships and not viewing it as a transactional business. Instead it's a long term business and women I feel have a more natural approach to relationship forming and therefore by default if they stay in the game long term, just are better at relationship driven sales.

Benjamin Mena [00:05:02]:
And you also said that most recruiting firms, and I agree with you on this 100% based on what I've seen, are not actually built for women to thrive. Like what are these firms getting wrong?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:05:12]:
This is not on women, this is on the recruitment industry itself and the Firms itself. Because I think that these firms are set up in a very old fashioned way. So many of them, and they're still stuck in the days of essentially, you know, hours and hours of calling. People are promoted based on time in the office and being seen. And that isn't naturally setting women up to succeed. These businesses are stuck in a format that worked when essentially it was a male driven industry and they haven't evolved. And I think that if you actually change these businesses and start to adapt them so women can succeed and that metrics are based on performance, not just on KPIs, that essentially don't mean much. And if you actually look at it more holistically and over a longer period of time, you have the ability to set women up to succeed.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:06:05]:
But I think if you're stuck in the kind of dark ages which a lot of these firms are, where they are male led, they look at KPIs on a day to day basis or a weekly basis, they don't actually look at overall revenue over a longer period of time. Then they set women up to essentially to fail. And if they don't fail, they feel demotivated and they end up leaving. So I think, I think that's the main issue, I think is a structural issue within these organizations.

Benjamin Mena [00:06:31]:
So I don't have the right data, so don't quote me on the numbers, but I've seen people talk about somewhere between 85 and 90% of recruiting firms are owned by men.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:06:41]:
Yeah, definitely. I don't have stats, but it will be, it will be at least that. Yeah.

Benjamin Mena [00:06:47]:
So if I am a, a male founder running a firm, listening right now and I want to build a place where high performing women can succeed, actually stay and thrive. What are three things that you think I need to change right now?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:07:03]:
First is cultural. So I think you need to make a culture where essentially women see other women succeeding and a culture that women want to be part of. I think a lot of these recruitment companies are set up with a very, I don't know the correct term, but laddish culture where it's essentially, you know, they go out drinking when someone succeeds, they reward people who are in the office really long hours and it's a very kind of masculine, aggressive energy. So, so I think culturally that often doesn't sit with women, especially highly educated women who in many ways want to collaborate and they essentially want to be seen without having to be shouting about it or be aggressive about it. So it's culture. I think the second thing is, I think there's nothing more offensive to a high performing woman when a male boss sits down with them. And if they were having the same conversation with a man, they'd be very direct about it and be like, hey, how are we going to get you to bill over a million doll this year? And they're very, very direct when they speak to men because I guess they don't feel intimidated. I think a lot of male leaders feel intimidated by super successful women, especially when they're younger.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:08:11]:
So they kind of come at these conversations in a far more indirect, passive manner, which is quite insulting. So they'll say things like, you know, you're doing really well, just keep doing well. But successful women in sales don't want that. They don't want fluff. They want someone who's direct with them and they believe is going to actually lead them to getting to where they want to get to. Because I've seen, you know, even when I was junior, I hated having these kind of passive conversations where essentially you always felt that the male leader was not wanting to be direct with you because they were not wanting to upset you or whatever, but actually you just want to be treated the same. And I think finally, if you're want junior woman is okay, but I think by default of an age thing, I think as a woman get slightly older and they're in their late 20s, early 30s, mid-30s, and you know, maybe they get married, maybe they have a child. I think that these recruitment companies absolutely kill women's careers in many ways.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:09:16]:
In many ways because they go for maternity leave and then they come back. Their book of business has obviously always, most of the time been passed on. And essentially their desks, they've spent years building and they've created a super profitable team or desk or whatever it is has been passed on. So they have to kind of start again or they're put into management to lead when actually maybe they just want to be a very successful biller. And I think that that's the third thing. I think that if you've got women who are stepping back for whatever reason, it's not about taking everything away from them and then making them start over. That's of course going to annoy somebody. I think it's about being like, okay, cool, you might not be able to take on so many hours, but then it's not about hours, it's about productivity.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:10:01]:
And let's move the times you're working around to suit you so you actually can succeed. And also, let's not pass on your book of business when you take a step back for a few months or whatever it is, let's give that to somebody to nurture whilst you're away. But when you come back, you're obviously the best person to take that back over because you've been the one been building these relationships for years.

Benjamin Mena [00:10:23]:
Oh, I remember my wife working at a recruiting company. Uh, many years ago there was a new executive that walked in and the executive actually said like, oh wait, none of you guys have children. Oh, this is great for the company. Said that to everybody out loud. If you're listening right now, you can just see her face.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:10:41]:
I've seen it in my career. I mean, I've seen it, I've seen it to people that I know really well happen. And I'm very lucky it never happened to me because I had my own company by the time I had kids. But I think that it's, I think it's really toxic and I don't think it needs to happen. I think that actually recruitment is one of the best industries in the world for women who are ambitious. Because I feel that it's one of these industries where year on year, as long as you do the right thing every time and you're a really good recruiter and you form these long term relationships. I don't think that having a child means that you stall your career at all because it's a long term game and people who've worked with you or known you especially on the candidate side for years and years are always going to come to you when they want to move on. I don't care if you've taken three months out, five months out, nine months out, whatever it is to have a kid.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:11:29]:
And at the end of the day I think it's an amazing industry for women. But most firms are not set up to enable women to thrive. And that's why you're seeing really top women leave the industry time and time again. And that's why there are very few people like me sitting here.

Benjamin Mena [00:11:46]:
But that's the reason you were talking about kids. You told me that after having kids your purpose actually increased 100%.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:11:53]:
After I had my first, I had, I have two girls. After I had my first daughter, I opened four countries the year afterwards in one year. And I, I, I was in a different position. I never took maternity leave because I had my own company. I wasn't in a position to be able to take maternity leave. So I continued, I never took a day out, I reduced my hours and I just continued and I built back up and for me, that worked. That's not obviously going to work for everyone, but that worked for me. But my purpose increased tenfold because suddenly you've got a child.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:12:24]:
And for me, it was an even bigger purpose because I had a daughter and I believe in. I've always believed in leading from the top. And I want to show my kid that women can achieve anything they put their mind to. And also then I have. I have a child. So then I'm like, you know what? Like, I've always been very ambitious. I've always had that raw sense of ambition inside me. But I was like, I've got a child.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:12:45]:
I want that child to have everything I had and more. So I then got real purpose and I want to make real impact for people in my firm who have started families, are starting families. Women in my firm, showing them that they can do it. And I think that every woman that actually takes a leap and leads by example and shows it's possible is one more woman who people can turn to and say, hey, actually that person has done it and managed it. And so I think my purpose, it did increased a huge amount. And they always say, give a difficult task to a person with responsibility or a busy person because they'll find out the most productive way to sort it out. Right? So I actually think it's. I think these firms have got it all wrong.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:13:29]:
Because actually, if you want to look at the most responsible person in the room, the person who really needs to keep their job, it's someone with responsibility, right? Somebody with a kid. Somebody with a kid, or somebody with an elderly parent or somebody who needs to look after something thing other than just themselves. And that isn't your single young men. That is people who have a child, be that a man or be that a woman. That is people with responsibility. So if you want your clients and your candidates to have the best service and to have excellent, excellent work delivered to them time and time again, of course that can come from single people and people who have less responsibility, but actually, when you have a child that increases more.

Benjamin Mena [00:14:11]:
I love that. Well, I want to take a few steps back. Let's roll back to how did you even end up in this wonderful world of recruiting?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:14:20]:
I'm like everyone. I'm like everyone. I fell into it, but actually I. So I graduated university, I worked in fashion for six months and I was some intern at some company, and I absolutely hated it. And I really hated it because I was. I've always been really ambitious. So I. I wanted to be able to climb A lad fast and to get to the top really fast.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:14:44]:
And I didn't want to do that in an industry which was promoted by years of service and years and years, because I always felt that I was an overachiever. So I wanted to be in something that rewarded me for the work I did. And I got amazing advice from. I actually got amazing advice from my father back then. And my dad is a very successful lawyer. And I guess some people could say he's quite prejudiced, but. But he's not. He gave me very good advice in the sense that he said, look, you're a woman, you're an overachiever, you're super intelligent.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:15:12]:
Don't go into investment banking or don't go into law where you work 18 hours a day, 19 hours a day, whatever it is. When you're young and you've got loads of energy and you work really, really hard to climb this ladder, and then you get to your late 20s, early 30s, whatever it is, and you decide you want to have a kid, you take out time, your seat's gone, it stagnates your career. He said, do something where you build up relationships because you're never going to lose those. That's an investment in your future. I'm a better recruiter today than I was 13, 14 years ago. I have how many more relationships? I mean, thousands more solid relationships. So it doesn't matter that when you have a kid or whatever it is, you take out a little bit of time or you work less hours because the quality of your work is so much higher. So it's actually an amazing industry for women.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:16:04]:
And, yeah, I got lucky. I fell into it. I didn't know that back then. I know that looking back.

Benjamin Mena [00:16:09]:
Okay, so real quick, pause this. Did your dad know about the recruiting industry?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:16:14]:
No. He told me. Go into some form of sales. He said, go into some form of sales. So it's relationship driven. You need high energy and you can do really well when you're young. It just so happened that I got fortunate to. I looked at all kinds of sales.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:16:29]:
In fact, when I. When I was applying, I looked at financial sales, I looked at all kinds of sales and I was rejected by. I was rejected by every single recruitment company, I think, except for one. And it's crazy to think now, but I was. I was rejected by all of them because I think, yeah, I don't know what they thought, but I think they didn't think. I think they didn't think I needed it. And back then it was like these, you know, These boiler room environments. I was educated and was from a very comfortable upbringing and they didn't think I needed it, but they didn't realize I had war ambition.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:17:00]:
It didn't matter about all of that. So I was. Yeah, I was given. Yeah.

Benjamin Mena [00:17:05]:
Did you? The one that said yes. Is that the one that got you into the quant business?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:17:11]:
Yes.

Benjamin Mena [00:17:12]:
So let me, let me, let me pause that real quick. All the ones that said no because, like, quant is a very highly specific industry where those relationships over the years matter. Maybe it's a good thing that another company that would have put you on like day laborers said no.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:17:29]:
I mean, completely. I mean, I look back and I mean, everything happens for a reason, right? Everything happens for a reason. I'm so grateful they all said no. I'm so grateful I landed in such a technical space where it rewards longevity and it rewards people who are like me and able to build these relationships with these really technical people. Because, yeah, I would not have done well in recruitment in construction. I wouldn't have laughed. I don't think I would have been interested enough to have been at in it this long.

Benjamin Mena [00:17:58]:
So your first, like, year. How was that? How was the start of this recruiting career?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:18:03]:
It's quite interesting. So I started and the first, I was always incredibly hardworking. I used to work really, really long hours. I've always got up early in the morning. I'm. I mean, I get up before I am. I mean, so I've. I've always been like that.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:18:17]:
So I was working incredibly hard. I was always confident. I was always on the phone. I used to make a hundred calls a day. I mean, I was really working hard. But the quant space back then was starting to take off and starting to develop, and it was hard. I mean, it was really, really challenging. And I think what happened was the first six months I was making loads of calls.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:18:39]:
I had loads of interviews. I had a couple of offers fall through. And I'm lucky I didn't get fired because I hadn't because I was in a firm which I guess wanted revenue fast. And I'm very lucky I wasn't fired. And I think that I managed to turn it around at month seven where I got something signed and then I went on to be the biggest junior bill of that year.

Benjamin Mena [00:18:59]:
Wait, so you didn't make a placement for those listening, you didn't make a placement or you didn't get even a contract signed for the first seven months?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:19:07]:
Seven months slogging away 100 calls a day minimum. 10, 15 interviews a week, really slogging away. And I was doing all the right things. Just quant is hard, really hard to get something done. But the fees are big. So it was incredibly challenging start. But that's why I always say to people like, what? The most important thing in recruitment is resilience. Right? You've got to be able to keep going.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:19:31]:
And when it's hard, you have to break through anyone's career in recruitment. Like anybody who's just started out, like first two years, you should just want to learn. You should just want to learn and be resilient and just work really, really hard because that's how you learn to work smart. I see these days all these people coming into recruitment and they're like, oh, yeah, I'm going to work smart. You can't work smart until you've worked really hard. That's how you learn to work smart, right? So I did that work and I just kept on going. And at seven months I did a deal. And then I was the biggest biller that year for entry level people in the firm.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:20:04]:
And then I went on and I was a big bill every year. So sometimes you just gotta, you just gotta keep going.

Benjamin Mena [00:20:09]:
Did they ever sit you down and like, hey, like, give you the warning, saying, like, we might get rid of you soon, but we're seeing the activity.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:20:17]:
Oh, yeah, I was told I was going to be put on a pip. So, yeah, I mean, I mean, looking back, it's quite funny. I'm very, very open about my career because I think it's really important for people to realize that you may look at someone like me today or someone like you or whoever and think, oh, they've had an easy ride. I don't think so. I would actually argue. The people who have the hardest ride at the start the first year are the ones that go on to be unbelievable recruiters if they survive, because they are the people who've failed. And you learn through failure. So if you keep on failing and learning and failing and learning, that's why today I back myself to do most things in recruitment and it's just because I failed thousands of times.

Benjamin Mena [00:21:01]:
So I want to, I want to fast forward a little bit. Like, you're at this career, you're a big biller now, things are going good. When things were like hitting your stride, you're making great money, you're up on the charge. What were you doing different than other people that was keeping you ahead of the game?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:21:18]:
A few things. I always had a incredibly thorough process. So I was Always the recruiter who would call to prepare somebody for an interview. I would always the recruiter who would message them the morning of their interview check in. I was always the recruiter that called to debrief to understand about the interview, the process, everything. I was the recruiter that was always closing from the first call. I had a process. I had a very, very, very good recruitment process which I followed every time.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:21:53]:
So I was trained very well. And then I adapted that process and I always followed that. I didn't get lazy. You know, there's a lot of recruiters out there, even back when I was Jo, you know, they have a can that has an interview. They drop them a message and they say, hey, how was your interview? No, no, no, no. Get on the phone. You can't read emotions and you can't understand anything from the message. You can only understand things by getting on the phone and hearing tone, asking things that you can't ask over email.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:22:19]:
So I think it's about not being lazy. I wasn't lazy. I had a very strict process. I followed that process. And then I think the second thing is, is that I have never been someone who is a hard seller at all. I am the most subtle salesperson around. You won't even know I'm selling to you, you know, so I'm someone who I was information led. So, for example, I would know everything about the firm I was helping find talent for my client.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:22:47]:
I would know everything. So therefore, when I got on the phone with quant talent and they like information, they like data, because that's. They're technical people, they don't want fluff and they don't want to be sold to. So I wouldn't sell. All I would do is I present much more accurate and much more detailed information than any other recruiter. Because I had done my homework and I knew about that firm, the firms that I worked with. So I would be able to do a seriously good pitch not by selling hard, but by giving really good facts and huge amount of information and then being very casual about it. Being like, look, you may not be interested to move, that's no problem.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:23:25]:
But most candidates I place aren't actually interested to move. Why don't you just have. Just have a casual chat. I don't need a cv, I don't need anything. Because I would have the relationship with the client to be able to say, hey, I've got this guy, you should speak to him. The client would trust me enough to set that up. So I think it's. It's yeah, sorry.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:23:41]:
I've said quite a few things, but firstly, process led. Second thing, I never called, I never was a hard seller. It was always information led and relationship led.

Benjamin Mena [00:23:50]:
There's a lot of people that listen to this podcast and they're not the hard chargers. They're not the beat the door down to close. They're soft sellers. But they always want to get better. Are you saying like these people that like are not the beat the door down? They need to spend a lot more with the information, spend a lot more with the candidate. Like, how can they improve this segment of listeners?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:24:11]:
It's always in the 1%, right? That's how you get better. So my advice to anybody who's not hard selling is get on the phone with your client you're working with and ask them for information, factual information that they can use when they're presenting the opportunity to top candidates which nobody else knows, which they can't find online because then the candidate already thinks that you are value add because they can't find that information online. So you have to ask the client to work with you to give you information, to give you value add information, which enables you to therefore be useful to the candidate that might not necessarily want to go ahead. And when you're useful, people will go out their way to help you. And so I think that's what I would do. That's one takeaway I would do. I'd speak to the client, I'd get information like that. And then the second thing I would do is if you've got candidates that really aren't looking to move on, then either you set up an introductory chat just so they can form a relationship with that, that client and there's no strings attached.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:25:13]:
And you really is no strings attached, you don't then try and push them to interview. Or the second thing you do is you say, okay, no problem, let's stay in touch. But what you must do on that first call is find out something about that candidate that nobody else has asked. So for example, because it's a relationship business. So for example, if I'm working with a candidate and they don't want to go ahead, I'm anyway like this as a person. So I don't even do it on purpose these days. I don't even do it on purpose anyway. But I want to know where they from, do they have kids? Like why did they study a certain degree? I want to know something that other recruiters don't know.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:25:47]:
Because if you know that, then every time you reach Out. You don't have to say, hey, are you looking at opportunities now? You can say, hey, how is your daughter? She must be five now. Is she at school now? So it's personal. You want to always get personal because then you, it's a relationship, then you actually form genuine relationships. And then what happens when they do consider moving on on, who do they call? They call the recruiter they like. It's as simple as that. It's a relationship business. That's why women, that is why women often are so good at it because they, they like to chat.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:26:20]:
Like women actually like to chat and like to engage and like to. If you look at the history, as long as time, that's what women are for. They're there to build communities, right? So it's in our DNA. I have to poach this. And with some of the men, like all the guys on my farm, but with the women, you don't need to coach this. They just do this. This is just natural.

Benjamin Mena [00:26:43]:
You mean like the guy you coaching? The guys that be human

Augusta Mirchandani [00:26:48]:
sometimes not even, not even guys want to get stuff done, right? They want to get stuff done. They just want to get on with it. They want to get into the information and they don't take, they don't pause. Don't pause.

Benjamin Mena [00:27:00]:
I can just imagine my wife listening to this podcast episode. I'm in trouble. All right, switching gears, I gotta ask this. At what point did you say that like, you know what, I don't want to work for somebody else. I want to go build my own thing.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:27:19]:
I always, deep down, my dream, ever since I was young was to be a CEO. That's what I wanted to do. I didn't really care what industry like I wanted to be a CEO. And when I was at my first firm, and that was obviously that was a great, great training experience. It was a great experience. I mean it gave me every, I always, I'm always grateful for everywhere I've worked because I feel like I've only worked two places, but I feel like that really trained me and everything, et cetera, et cetera. But then that wasn't going to work out long term. I mean culturally, many, many reasons.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:27:50]:
And then I went on to the exact search side of things and I was there for one year, six months non compete and then six months, so six months. And I just knew that place wasn't right. And at that time I had got engaged and my fiance at the time, now husband said to me he was the one who actually to give him credit, was the one that actually gave me the confidence. I think I would have always ended up going and doing my own thing at some point or I would have ended up being a CEO at one of these recruitment firms. But I think that he gave me the confidence. He was the one who said to me, hey, you're too good to be working for anyone else. You need to build something. You need to create impact because you have the ability to create impact.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:28:34]:
And I can see you're frustrated. And I can see there are, I mean, there weren't any firms, to be honest, that I wanted to work for. So he was like, why are you going to go and do this? Why are you going to go and work for a. Not go to another culture, another firm, do exactly the same thing again? Because most of these firms are the same. Why don't you actually try and create impact and change and do your own thing? And I think I was young, I was 26. I was 26 when I started my own firm. So I was young, right? And I think I just had that blissful naivety and that, okay, awesome, I'm going to go and create impact and I'm going to, I'm going to do it. I'm going to start my own thing.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:29:10]:
And I'm so glad I did. Now. But the first year, first year, starting your own thing, second year, but the first year especially, it's hard, right? You suddenly go from being, you know, all you need to do is bill. And of course, I'm not trying to say that's easy because it's not, absolutely not. But you go from being a very successful big dealer to then suddenly being like, oh, gosh, now I have to deal with tax and I have to deal with accountants and I have to deal with legal and, and so many things, right? You suddenly, so many. Your time, it's about time management. So the first year is always hard. But no, I, I think I realized it.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:29:43]:
I always knew I wanted to do my own thing. And then I was given the confidence and I just said, you know what? It's now or never. I'm going to do it.

Benjamin Mena [00:29:51]:
So for the listeners, what cities do you have offices in right now?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:29:57]:
London, Amsterdam, Mumbai, Shenzhen, Dubai.

Benjamin Mena [00:30:03]:
You said starting a firm is hard. What was the first 12 months like, realistically?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:30:09]:
Oh, it actually gives me trauma, I think, looking back. No, I'm joking. I haven't been asked that in a long time. I think that honestly, I think what it looks like is my advice to anybody who's actually starting out. My advice would be don't focus on, don't focus on the fluff, don't focus on getting up a beautiful website, don't focus on trying to make everything look amazing, etc. Etc. Etc. Like, don't bother with that because once you make money you're just going to redo it anyway.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:30:35]:
Because when you first start, unless you're bringing in a huge investor, which I didn't do, you're always cash strapped at the start. So my advice to people who wanting to start out is just start making money because cash is king. If you can make money, you have the ability to then buy back your time, hire people to do things to buy back your time to actually focus on what you're really good at. Right. So my advice would be don't create a beautiful website. You don't need to. It's nurture the relationships that have enabled you to do this. Get on the phone to your clients, speak to your clients, make sure that they want to work with you.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:31:12]:
Make sure they understand why you're doing it. Make sure they understand the vision, make sure they have a better service than they had before. Make sure that that's, that's really, really key. The second thing is if you're going to actually build a firm is I would spend a huge amount of time making sure the first people you bring into the firm are right. And I actually looking back now, like I would highly advise anyone starting out to start with somebody they know or to try and bring in somebody like as a. Because it's lonely at the top. And I've been very lucky that I have, I actually have our, our head of operations as is actually my brother who joined us. Yeah, he's my brother who actually joined us five years ago.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:31:53]:
He started as a recruiter, as a biller and he was successful. And then he's gone into a different thing because I needed him a different seat. But that's always, it's always useful to have somebody that you can trust blindly to be able to even just call and to be honest, just like just complain, you know, because it's hard the first year and I didn't have that the first year, you know, so I'm lucky and probably I'm still married. So I think get money in the door. So nurture your clients, make sure you do a really good job. And second thing would be to potentially bring on somebody that you really can trust and you can actually solve problems together. Those would probably remain main two and I think the thing around that also I would say is before you start your own firm. Make sure that you really know why you're doing it.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:32:35]:
I think that's really important because I think that if you're starting out, you need to know exactly why. Because then when it gets hard, you don't just quit and go back and join another firm again. You actually double down and you push through. Because I think people think it's glamorous and they think being an owner or a founder and all this is glamorous. Like it's not. Like the reality is it's not. You're the one up at 3am if something needs to get done and everyone else is clocked off. Like it's not glamorous.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:33:05]:
Do it if you want to make impact or do it if you really want to build something or do it if you actually don't think there's a firm in your sector that you can join. Like, then maybe if there had been a firm back then where they had offered me a really good deal and it was, I really liked the owner and I really liked the culture and everything was great, like, I probably would have just been happy being a very successful recruiter and biller. I wouldn't have needed to do this. I did this because I wanted impact, but also because there wasn't a firm for me to join. Sorry, it's a very long answer to

Benjamin Mena [00:33:37]:
your question and I love it and I kind of want to segue a little bit into something else. Like, when did you realize that you didn't want to have just like a boutique desk or a boutique company that you wanted to build a global company?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:33:50]:
Once I started the firm, I knew I wanted to after my first year and how. And it had been, it was, it's always hard, right? I just knew, you know what? I've gone through this pain. I'm going to build something. I'm going to create impact. I'm going to create real impact and I'm going to create something that I'm really proud of and I'm going to be able to make impact across multiple countries and change people's lives. And that sounds really kind of wishy washy, but I just realized it. I was like, you know what? I've done this. It was hard.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:34:18]:
Now I'm going to scale this and I'm going to make sure that's why I did it. So for me, I think that was it. I just knew. And then the other aspect to this is it's like I'm very ambitious. But I think the other aspect to it is that I also really believe that we're a global business, quantum discretionary, such a global space. I really believe in having people on the ground where you're working because I think that candidates like to meet people and clients like to meet people. I just think it's important culturally as well. For example, clients that I have in India or clients I have in China, like they are working with people that speak their language, basic things like that.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:34:54]:
So that's also part of the reason that we expanded globally. But I think it's. I'm here to make impact. Of course I want to be successful financially, everything as well. But I'm here to make impact. It's bigger than me now, you know,

Benjamin Mena [00:35:05]:
focusing on the bigger than you and want to flip back to like the, the original reason why we're sitting down working with higher performing women. Like looking back in your business, when did you realize that you made your first few hires or like I know these women are going to crush it and how did you find them?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:35:25]:
The first woman I hired is still with me to this day. And she, I just knew, you know, she. I won't name her but she was someone who, in case she doesn't want to be named, but she was someone who joined us essentially under me as my researcher. And she then after six months you could just tell she just wanted to, she wanted to be 360, she wanted to thrive. And I, I genuinely feel that all the women I've hired have done that. They've thrived. I look for women who, there's something about them, there's an energy when you meet them and they just want more and they're not going to accept, they're not going to settle, they want more. There's a war, ambition, there's.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:36:08]:
And those are the women I hire. Intelligence for me is just a tick box thing. I think there is millions of people who are intelligent and have been to university or not intelligent people who've not been to university too. So I feel, I feel like that's tick box for me. When I hire, I look for a few things. I look for people who genuinely care. They care about their clients, their candidates, their colleagues, people who actually genuinely care. And that's hard to find.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:36:30]:
Second thing I look for is resilience because I think it's an absolute number so important in this industry. Third thing I look for is people who are curious, they want to learn, they want to self learn, they want to constantly expand because you need that in a technical space like ours, which is evolving so fast. And then I look for raw Ambition. Those are the four main things I look for. And I'm pretty ruthless when it comes to hiring. I mean, there's a lot of candidates that we'll speak to and people will speak to that get past every round and they get to me and I, I'm like, no, they're missing something or they're missing this. I mean, you can't see my hands, but they're missing this. Like that's just like this, like, like raw.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:37:06]:
Like really want to go. They want to just like run. They want to sprint.

Benjamin Mena [00:37:11]:
So when you're hiring these men and women, based on what you've learned from the other organizations that you're at, is there something that you're doing on the onboarding and the training that is also helping them succeed or is it just like jumping in to the fire?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:37:30]:
I train women and men the same, so I don't think there's a difference in training. But I think that what we do really well is that we make sure that people are, people are treated the same. I'm a woman and I'm also a very direct person. So I'm happy to sit down and have a very direct conversation with a guy or a girl. Like it doesn't matter to me. I'm not going to sugarcoat anything. I'm not going to be gentle about anything. I'm very direct.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:37:56]:
So I think that's kind of the thing. I think that when you're in a firm that's female led and you're a woman, you kind of can see that there's no bias here. Right? Like there's no bias because I'm in this seat and we have senior women in our company. So that's one thing. But I mean, training isn't different. But I always emphasize in training across men and women is it's a relationship driven industry. So by default I play on that. I make sure that women realize they have that skill set and they should be utilizing that skill set and they should be playing the long game and they should be forming relationships for the long game.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:38:33]:
And it's not a transactional industry. It's not like quick deal but lose some client or whatever in the process. It's like long term. So I emphasize that. And I think that comforts people so that they have the reassurance that they can play a longer game.

Benjamin Mena [00:38:48]:
I'm going to be honest with you. I really believe that 2026 is your year. I truly believe in you. I truly believe with everything in my heart that this is the year that you can own it. This is the year that you could hit your dreams. And to help you do that, we are kicking off a summit called this is your year. You are elite. You were born out to be elite.

Benjamin Mena [00:39:12]:
You were born to be the best. You were born to be the greatest. And I'm pulling together some of the industry's best speakers to help you get there. Going to be kicking off April 27th. You do not want to miss this. Make sure to run to the show, notes, get registered. All the live sessions are free. I'm bringing in Mike Williams, Brianna Rooney, Mark Whitby.

Benjamin Mena [00:39:32]:
We have an entire week of stacked speakers that are going to help you achieve your dreams. This is going to be the industry event that you do not want to miss. I believe in you. I believe in you so much that I'm pulling the best to help you achieve your dreams. 2026 is your year. Now. You have awesome builders at your firm. Now with what you've learned, what you wanted to create, that it was in your head when you're like, I'm going to make this my own firm.

Benjamin Mena [00:40:07]:
I'm going to make an impact. How are you setting up your big billers for success?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:40:14]:
There's a few things to this. Okay, So I think the first thing is you should always know what you sell, who you sell to, and how to qualify who you're going to work with. I think that's really important. So when I'm setting big billers up to succeed, I want to make sure that they're not wasting time. So I want to make sure that they're working with clients or roles who genuinely want to use us, want to close deals, want to hire, and then I make sure that they're giving them the best possible service. So it's about really qualifying who you work with because you don't want them to waste time. And then it's actually making them realize that you have to do tons and tons of work in terms of output, in terms of speaking to people and referrals and outreach, and you have to do tons of that stuff to be able to have enough in your, Whatever you want to call it, sales funnel to be able to then filter out and only work with the people that you actually feel you can help. So it's about doing a lot of action, working the right mandates with the right clients, doing a lot of action to be able to send.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:41:27]:
Owning quality, because it's not a quantity game, it's a quality game in our industry. So that's one aspect to it. Then with Big bill as the other thing that I spend time on is I'm really big on two things. Like, I'm really big on time. So. And I actually learned this. I learned this from a guy called Dan Martell who wrote the book buy back your time. And so it's not.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:41:50]:
It's not my philosophy, it says. But I think I'm a big thing on auditing your time. So actually, for example, if you look across seven days, okay. Or five days or whatever you want to say your week is okay, you are doing the tasks that you need high energy for in the times you have high energy. So you're not going to go and do client calls or call with a candidate or whatever it is when you're like half asleep, you're just not going to do that. You put the stuff you need high energy for in high energy periods of time when you have high energy and everyone's different. So you need to look at your week, look at your time over two weeks and work out when you've got good energy and when you don't. Right? And just be honest about that.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:42:30]:
Then the next thing is it's actually time blocking. It's so, so inefficient to go from candidate call to formatting a CV to LinkedIn outreach to client call. Like you're just like, your brain is flipping from thing to thing to think to think to thing. It's just so inefficient, right? You need to time block. You need to be like, okay, this morning I am only going to be on the phone to candidates for this role because then you get in the rhythm, right? I think people are useless at this. I mean, useless. So it's about that. It's about auditing time, making their time efficient.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:43:03]:
And then the final aspect to this, which is with performance is all around. I'm a big believer in like your mental state, which is also linked with your physical state. And to be able to perform in sales week after week, month after month, year after year, you need to be physically in a very good place, mentally in a very good place. And those two things take work as well. So that's another thing. Like I don't turn up to work, I don't turn up to the office. If I have not worked out, I just don't. I just know I'm not going to be the best version of me.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:43:35]:
That for me is a priority. That happens no matter what. Whatever country I'm in, even if I'm traveling, I work out before I work. That's always the thing. And so I'm, I'm big on that in our company. The other thing I big on is like your day starts the night before, right? You were never going to be able to get better or to actually increase your 1%. If you're going to bed at 1 in the morning and you've had like, I don't know, four glasses of wine and you're waking up tired and the morning is a write off, like how are you going to get better? You get better by turning up like rearing to go every day. And it's not about long hours, it's about super productive time.

Benjamin Mena [00:44:15]:
There's a few important things I kind of want to jump on real quick. So talking about the being prepared for the next day. Like what? You know, not just like having the four glasses of wine on a Monday night and going to bed at 1am even though I went to bed at 1am last night. But that's mostly due to the time differences. That's a whole other story. So you just, what do you think is really a big biller? The big billers in your team, when they're looking at the end of their day and preparing for the next day, like what does that preparation look like? So they're walking in ready to crush it.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:44:48]:
I think you've got to work out the next, like what do you need to achieve the next day and what is the hardest thing you need to do the next day? And if the hardest thing you need to do the next day is to get on 10 calls or whatever it is, however many calls to candidates about outreach, do that first. Do the hardest thing first. If the hardest thing you've got to do the next day is negotiating with a client or helping to close a deal, do that first. But organize your, your day, the following day into hardest thing first. And then following that is what actually is going to move the needle forward. So I think a lot of people, they go to the office, they, you know, they continue their day and so much time is just wasted and they've achieved nothing. I think actually it's about like the night before saying, okay, what do I need to do the following day? What's actually going to get me closer to my goal? And it's working that back. So for example, say you need, say you want to build a million dollars, right? How many deals does it take to build a million dollars in your sector? Okay.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:45:48]:
And then realistically, realistically, how many interviews do you need to get that deal done? And then how many calls do you need to Set up an interview and it's working it back, it's working all that back and then being able to be like, okay, cool, I need to hit X this month to be on target. So what I need to do is tomorrow I need to achieve this. And it's, it's setting out your day so that you're pushing the needle forward all the time and structuring it in a way that you can. Simple as that.

Benjamin Mena [00:46:19]:
Absolutely love that for you. Talking about physical fitness, being part of your journey, a requirement that you've realized helps you succeed. Do you see, you know, in people that you've worked with the difference in the people that work out every day versus the performance wise versus the people that maybe work out once a week or don't work out at all 100%.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:46:44]:
I think you see it short term and you also see, see it long term. Because I think long term people who don't work out, I don't think stay in the game. I mean they may become managers or have a role that is a bit different. But you don't remain a really big biller year on year with a stress and the work it takes without going to the gym and looking after yourself. You just don't.

Benjamin Mena [00:47:07]:
If you want a really good laugh. I was a guest at the Pinnacle Society meeting and it's a bunch of big billers, mostly in the U.S. i think you have to bill over 6, 700 per year for it. I was like, I'm gonna go to the gym. It's like five o' clock in the morning. I'll be by myself. There's like 15 other people there. I'm like, what are you guys doing?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:47:26]:
Yeah, yeah, like 100.

Benjamin Mena [00:47:29]:
I'm like, this is my space. I know you guys were out there last night too.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:47:34]:
I love that. But it's true because high performers, because, okay, I, I'm quite spiritual, but I believe. But energy, but money is a flow of energy, okay? So that's all it is. So if you are a high energy person, that's positive and you only can be in a really high energy state day after day, week after week, year after year. If you are physically fed, like if you're fit physically and mentally, then that's how you enable essentially things to work and energy to flow to you by default finances. Right? It's as simple as that. If you look at like, if you look at even. It's not just in this industry, it's in any industry look at really successful people.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:48:15]:
Like, of course you have anomalies, but A lot of them are incredibly fit.

Benjamin Mena [00:48:19]:
Off to go do a run as soon as we were done recording. Before we jump over to the quick fire questions, I actually asked a few of my friends who are high performing women some questions that I should ask you because I felt like being a guy, I didn't know what to ask. So here's and thank you for Brianna for one of these. So she's actually like, was just like, hey, brought this one up to me. A lot of high achieving women. Burnout. What structures prevent burnout rather than just treating it as a fact.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:48:56]:
Burnout doesn't come from long hours. That doesn't, it doesn't happen. That's a mission. Burnout comes from working on, spending too much energy and too much time on tasks that don't give you energy. It's as simple as that. So for example, I could be working 18 hours a day on the phone with clients or in meetings with clients and that gives me energy. So I'm not going to get burnout because I enjoy that. But if suddenly somebody says to me, hey, you need to spend five hours and go through this Excel and check all the deals that are correct and are in place.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:49:40]:
Like I'm going to be completely burnt out just from five. Like not burnt out but have no energy. So if I do that day in, day out, every day, I'm going to get to burnout even if I'm only working five hours because that's not giving me energy, that's sucking my energy. Burnout comes from draining you. You lose all your energy. So be it women or men, like, same same. My advice is make sure you're doing enough in your day, which is green. Green means things that give you energy you enjoy.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:50:12]:
If your diary is covered in red, like it's all draining you. Relationships that drain you, things that drain you, yeah, you're going to burn out even if you don't work long ass. It's as simple as that. Your diary needs to be covered in green, some red, some yellow, no problem. I mean, of course I still have to do stuff I don't like, right? But predominantly green because that gives you energy. You don't then get burnout. And my advice to someone who for example is in a job that they don't like, which I'm sure some people are in jobs that they don't like and they have to do things maybe at the bottom of the ladder where you have to do things that take your energy. My advice is change your perspective on what you're doing.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:50:53]:
So find Your purpose in what you're doing. So for example, say you are junior researcher and you like have to do loads of outreach and you don't enjoy that sucks your energy, change your perspective on it. So basically you frame it as I'm doing this, I'm doing all this research because my purpose is X and I want to get to X. Because you'll actually find that it then doesn't take from you so much because your subconscious frames it in a way is like, oh, it's actually helping you instead of taking from you. So reframe what you do. But if you're in a position to be able to dictate your diary, which a lot of people in sales are, just make sure you are filling your diary with green. And that also can be simple as morning, your morning going to the gym or doing something you enjoy, going for a walk. It can be your evenings, making sure that your evenings or your time out of work is doing things you actually enjoy.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:51:43]:
Don't hang out with people that suck your energy. Burnout is a misconception in terms of like grueling hours. I've done grueling hours in my career. I have done really grueling hours at points in my career and I haven't got to the point of burnout. But that's because I've always focused on my energy and making sure that I enjoy what I do and I have purpose behind what I do.

Benjamin Mena [00:52:03]:
There's a lot of times women at a firm will say if there's a 10 guys at a firm, two women, maybe three women. So often like B and C level tasks that don't get put, don't push towards billings, gets dumped on the women. Yeah, how? Like is there a good way to be able to speak up and say like, hey, you know, it's like I shouldn't be doing this. I should be focusing on X, Y and Z.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:52:35]:
I think that that is one of the issues in a lot of these firms is culturally that happens. And I think it's really wrong. And I think that that's one of these things these firms need to change. But I think that if you need to frame how you can have that conversation, I would make it casual. Be like, sure, I'm going to do it this time, but the next task that is non revenue related somebody else needs to do because I have the ability to make as much revenue as you. And I think it is simple as that. Right. You create it so it's fair.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:53:04]:
And I also think that often with women, be it fair or be it not fair, often you have to come in and you have to prove yourself. And I think that once you show that you're someone who is good at what you do, you actually earn respect that way. So I found in my career that having that conversation early on wouldn't have worked. But once you've proven yourself after however long it is that you are someone who is good, then absolutely you should be putting your hand up and saying like I should not be doing that task because that is not worth, that is not worth my, my time. And that should be, that should be said.

Benjamin Mena [00:53:46]:
And that kind of goes into another question I got from somebody else. Like, and that just flows perfectly to this question. How do we get women to speak up and not feel weak or guilty?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:53:59]:
Women need to know their value. Anyone needs to know their value, but especially women, especially young women who for whatever reason might feel like I guess they have lack of self worth or whatever it is, right? They need to find a way to find their self self worth. And I think that that, that comes from doing tasks like getting into a rhythm and doing tasks, whatever the task may be, but really well. So for example, if you're an entry level recruiter and you're a woman and you feel like no one looks at you and you're not seen, just become really good at whatever you are able to do, like whatever you're allowed to do. So if that's just like outreach, make sure that your message is the best message that gets sent out. Like make sure that your replies, make sure that you're follow through, make sure that everything you do is absolutely perfect because that will by default they always say like that thing when it's us, like make your bed the first thing you do in the morning. You should make your bed, right? Because you've achieved something for the day. It's all about achievement, right? So if you go and you're like okay, today I am going to do whatever it is, like set mini goals and achieve them, set yourself up to achieve every day because that indirectly will slowly build your self worth every day.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:55:11]:
And a lot of people forget that. They're like oh my gosh, I'm going to build a million dollars this year and if I don't do that, I failed. No, like create small wins and win all the time. Especially as a woman who may feel like lack of confidence or whatever it is when they're starting out in their career. Small wins win all the time. By default you'll start to grow your confidence. That's what I would do.

Benjamin Mena [00:55:35]:
Is there a question about women in recruiting that you wish that I would ask you that? I just don't know the question to ask,

Augusta Mirchandani [00:55:50]:
I think. Has your, has. Has your leadership changed since you became a mother? I think that's an interesting question.

Benjamin Mena [00:55:59]:
And the answer.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:56:01]:
The answer, I think yes. I think that as I was discussing before, I think that people with responsibility and people who are really busy get things done. So for example, I have less time. I definitely have less time today than I did before I had kids. Much less time. Well, not much, but I have less time. Right. But that means I don't waste time.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:56:27]:
So I'm very strict with my time. So for example, I don't say yes to everything. And there's massive power in saying no. People should be saying no more. That should be the default, actually. It should be like a hell yes if you're going to do it. Like in my opinion. So for me it's like I've got to get home to put.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:56:45]:
Like I want to be there to put my kids to bed. So I. I'm not going to be in that extra meeting on a 6 o' clock meeting or 5 o' clock meeting or whatever it is, which I don't need to be there for. So what do I do? I bought back time because I'm like, hey, you know what? I'm going to delegate. I've become better at delegation, right? Entrusting people to take on things and allow them to step up and giving them the opportunity to step up because I don't have the time and I know they can do it as well as me. I'm not sitting there in meetings I don't need to be in. So I'm not wasting time and drain on my energy. And I lead with a more empathetic view.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:57:24]:
I think so. I think although I'm very direct and quite. I'm very direct and I'm strong, there's an empathy to me now as well, which I also think enables you to see people's perspectives and to be able to get onto the same page as someone who's struggling, etc. Etc. Because you have that like nurturing side and I think that does wonders for culture and retention and things like that. Because you can see a human side and I think that. So your leadership, my leadership style has changed in that way. I'm very ruthless with my time.

Augusta Mirchandani [00:57:54]:
I have become a much better delegator and I've become more nurturing and I think that's great.

Benjamin Mena [00:58:02]:
Awesome. Now jumping over to the quick Fire questions. They don't need to be quick answers. If someone's listening to this right now and they want to become a million dollar biller, what habits do they need to build early?

Augusta Mirchandani [00:58:18]:
They need to be good on the phone. So they need to have, they need to have the ability to speak to people, gain information and use that information at the right time and correctly. And they need to be good on the phone in the sense of really understand and get to the bottom of why somebody wants to move on or with a client like what they actually are going to hire. So I think phone, phone ability is really, really important and I think be on the phone more would be my advice. Don't be a keyboard warrior sitting behind your computer screen messaging on LinkedIn. Get on the phone.

Benjamin Mena [00:58:54]:
What's one or two things that you think most founders of recruiting firms are not thinking about when they are dealing with high performing women on their team? And this could be easily recap from what you said earlier, but I think

Augusta Mirchandani [00:59:10]:
it's important, I think they are thinking they can manage high performing women the same way as they manage, they manage high performing men. And they're very kind of like they, they, they manage them in a way where it's like let's look at KPIs, let's, let's look at the numbers. Let's be very kind of focused on that instead of looking at a very kind of holistic overall picture. I think that with women, often high performing women, you can be very direct and women want you to be direct but, and they want to be treated the same. But I think there's also a massive power in being like let's actually not break down how many calls you did or how many hours you're in the office. Let's actually look at, okay, which relationships have you formed this month? And like where do you, like where, where do you think I can support you with your process doesn't need to be changed. Don't just assume they need help. It's about like just having a bit of eq.

Augusta Mirchandani [01:00:05]:
When you manage high performing women because you're playing, you're often managing someone who has higher EQ than you. So you have to level, you have to level up.

Benjamin Mena [01:00:16]:
So level up guys, come on. What has been a book that's had a huge impact on your life and career?

Augusta Mirchandani [01:00:27]:
So I, I mentioned it before, Dan Martell's Buy back your time. That's been a massive impact on me. Huge impact on me. Second one would be Principles by Ray Dalio, all about transparency and radical Transparency and yeah, I think those two books I'm a massive follower of. I mean I love Tony Robbins, so I'm really big on that. But it's not really a book. But yeah.

Benjamin Mena [01:00:50]:
Hey, Dan Martell's team. I know you guys have told me no before. Come on the podcast.

Augusta Mirchandani [01:00:56]:
I actually coach with him. So I can, I can, I can, I can give you his email. I'm joking.

Benjamin Mena [01:01:03]:
I'm a recruiter. I could find his email.

Augusta Mirchandani [01:01:04]:
But yeah. Oh, funny.

Benjamin Mena [01:01:08]:
You're in the fast paced world of like tech. The quant world is crazy. So you're also getting the chance to see how future and AI is impacting industries. Do you have a favorite tech tool that you love? A recruiting tech tool that you cannot live without?

Augusta Mirchandani [01:01:24]:
So it's not a recruiting tech tool, but I like Manus AI and I use it for, for me it's not really for recruiting but it's for research. So it's about, I use it to like understand for example, if I'm going to go into this market, like what should, what should I be asking? And it like basically works in the background and creates this whole thing and it's, it's better than ChatGPT for like reports and all this kind of stuff. So Manus AI I think is amazing. Obviously there's cloud, but that's more for. That's different again. But mana AI, I use a lot of awesome. But in terms of AI, one thing I would say is I'm not, I'm massive on AI for like systemization and like improving processes, but I am not into AI for messaging at all, like at all.

Benjamin Mena [01:02:12]:
If you can go back in time and have a conversation with yourself in two different places, when you first few months of you starting your recruiting career with everything that you know now, what would you tell yourself?

Augusta Mirchandani [01:02:25]:
I think just learn to enjoy the journey because learn to enjoy failure because you're going to fail millions more times and you need to just learn to enjoy it and learn from it and it's going to work out in the end.

Benjamin Mena [01:02:37]:
And the second time when you started

Augusta Mirchandani [01:02:38]:
your business, I think I would tell myself, I think I would tell myself to actually, to slow down and actually sometimes to just like build in time into my diary to just sit and think strategically more. That's what I would do, tell myself.

Benjamin Mena [01:03:01]:
And I got two more questions before I let you go. Now you've given the chance to talk to a lot of recruiters, whether online or whether different, you know, different venues in different places, people on your team. You've Gotten probably a lot of questions about how do I become a top biller, how do I grow, how do I deal with this, handle this? In all these questions and conversations, do you ever wish you're like that somebody would just ask something, but they never do. If so, what would be that question? What would be that answer?

Augusta Mirchandani [01:03:35]:
I think I would wish somebody would just ask me what like, I think I would. I would, I wish they would ask me on their process. Is their process setting them up to succeed? Because I think so many people just go through mundane routine and they just follow a process, but they're not tweaking it and they're not, certainly not tweaking it constantly to actually check it's still the best thing to be doing with all the new technology, et cetera, et cetera that's coming in.

Benjamin Mena [01:04:02]:
I like that. And this is going to be the last question. I'll let you go. You mentioned something, I think probably in the first like 10 minutes of our conversation that you were always going to become a CEO, you were always going to build your own thing. But a conversation with your husband really helped launch that bit of a confidence push. I don't know how to properly ask this question, so I'm probably going to get yelled at for this. So I'll just deal with that. But I've seen a lot of high performing women that just freaking crush it, afraid to make that little jump or afraid to make that leap until like somebody has that conversation with them or gives them that little like nudge of confidence, that little push.

Benjamin Mena [01:04:43]:
If somebody's listening to this episode right now and they're looking for that, they feel like they need it. What kind of nudge and what kind of push would you give them? What would you say to them?

Augusta Mirchandani [01:04:52]:
I would say to them that you should just know your why and then just go for it. Because if you've been successful and you have a client base and you have relationships, it's going to work out, clients will follow you, you will be okay. And worst case situation is it doesn't work out and any other firm will hire you because at least you were the one who took a chance and those relationships are still with you. So I would just go for it.

Benjamin Mena [01:05:24]:
Awesome. Before I let you go, if somebody wants to follow you or connect with you, how do they go about doing that?

Augusta Mirchandani [01:05:30]:
That would be on LinkedIn and you can follow me on LinkedIn and you can connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm also on Instagram. I post a lot in regards to like talent and retention and all these kinds of things. You can follow me on Instagram. My firm of course has a website and we also have a podcast which you can also follow me there. My email is on my LinkedIn, so if anyone wants to directly reach out to me, they always can.

Benjamin Mena [01:05:52]:
And before I let you go, is there anything else that you want to share with the listeners?

Augusta Mirchandani [01:05:56]:
I think because this podcast has been a lot about women and females within this industry, I think I would say that women aren't the problem. I think that the recruitment system and recruitment company structure is broken and I think that's what needs to change.

Benjamin Mena [01:06:12]:
I'm excited that you reached out to me to have this conversation just because I've seen it time and time again. Through the 20 years I've been recruiting, the rewards have been for not sometimes the best biller, but the person that was in the office the longest hours, which is just asinine in a sales environment. But so often I've seen such amazing women leave the recruiting industry after the first kid or after their second kid or after responsibility has changed. Like they have to take care of it in aging adult. And it's not the guys most of the time that walk out. It's these women that have amazing careers and have such a bright future. So we really need to start changing the dialogue and changing what we're doing and changing how we're setting up. Like my God, we figured out how to work during COVID If you can't figure out how to do things off but 2026 I believe is going to be your year.

Benjamin Mena [01:07:07]:
Put in the work. Keep learning, keep grinding. Figure out what lights you up and gives you that energy in our space. Change that perspective and you're going to crush it. I believe in you. You know the resume never tells the full story. Candidates share what really matters during conversations, on calls and interviews, over email, their motivations, salary expectations, plans to relocate. Most of that detail ends up buried in notes and forgotten.

Benjamin Mena [01:07:33]:
Atlas changes that. It's the AI first recruitment platform built to eliminate admin. It captures every conversation automatically and turns it into something you can use with MagicSearch. You can ask Atlas questions like who talked about wanting a four day week? Or who mentioned they're open to relocating next year. It searches across your entire database and pulls the answers instantly. No keyword guessing and no digging through old notes. You get insight from real conversations, not limited resume fields. Atlas also makes BD easier with opportunities you can track and grow client relationships.

Benjamin Mena [01:08:04]:
Powered by generative AI and built into your existing workflow if you want visibility, smart dashboards give you a clear view of the pipeline across your business. And that's not theory. Atlas customers have reported over 40% EBITDA growth and over 80% increase in monthly billings after adopting the platform. It's built for agencies that want to grow without adding more manual work. Don't miss the future of recruitment. Get started with Atlas today and unlock your exclusive Listener offer@reruitwithatlas.com thanks for listening to this episode of the Elite Recruiter Podcast with Benjamin Mena. If you enjoyed, hit, subscribe and leave a rating.