Episodes
The 60% of Recruiters Who'll Quietly Sink Your Agency. Part 2
Tom Kelly hands over the two frameworks that explain how EVONA runs a 30-person team at the revenue of an 80-person team. The first is a sales segmentation that exposes the bracket quietly sinking most agencies — the middle 60% who measure themselves against the bottom 10% instead of the top. The s…
Scaled to 80. Cut to 30. Per-Head Revenue Doubled. Part 1
Welcome to another episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In this powerful two-part interview, Benjamin Mena sits down with Tom Kelly, a founder who took his recruitment firm from four founders all the way up to 80 team members—only to make the bold decision to cut back to 30, resulting in net rev…
$800K in Year 1. AI Ran the Cold Outreach
Welcome to another episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast! Today’s guest is Riece Keck, a recruiter and agency owner who built an astonishing $800k in billings in a single year—after nearly losing his business twice. In this episode, Benjamin Mena sits down with Riece Keck to unpack a rollercoaster…
7 Contractors in 4 Weeks From Clients You Already Have
Episode IntroductionWelcome back to The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In this episode, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Dawson Henis, the founder of Hennis Group, a search and staffing firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. At just 24, Dawson Henis made the bold leap into entrepreneurship, launching his o…
Laid Off at 48. Zero Clients. On Track for $19.4M in 3 Years
In this episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Steve Anderson, CEO of Optigy, to unpack an extraordinary journey from milkman to leading a $19 million healthcare staffing company. After being laid off with a mortgage, five daughters, and no plan B, Steve Anderson …
No AI, No CRM — $120K in 6 Weeks on a Spreadsheet
Welcome back to The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In this episode, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Lauren Lehman, a dynamic recruiter who skyrocketed her solo firm from zero to $120,000 in billings within just six weeks—armed with nothing more than relentless determination, a well-organized spreadshee…
Scott Love: Why 99% of Recruiters Fail at Business Development
Episode IntroductionWelcome to another standout episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In this episode, host Benjamin Mena sits down with industry legend scott love for a deep dive into why 99% of recruiters fail at business development—and what sets the top 1% apart. Drawing from decades of e…
The Top Biller Who Surfs 200 Days a Year
What does it take to design a life and a recruiting business truly on your own terms? In this episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Tony O'Neill—an executive search founder who traded Midwest winters for surfing in Costa Rica, defined his own metrics of success, …
From Laid-Off Recruiter to Staffing Firm CEO | Catiana Ibarra
Welcome to The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In today's episode, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Catiana I. Ibarra Aponte, CEO and brand manager of Peoplelift, to share an incredible journey of resilience, leadership, and breaking barriers. From being repeatedly told "no"—whether by family, professors…
$720K in Q1, Zero Cold Calls — Nick Poloni's AI-Powered Recruiting De…
Welcome to The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In this episode, host Benjamin Mena sits down with powerhouse recruiter Nick Pelloni for an unfiltered and eye-opening conversation about redefining success in the world of recruiting. Nick Pelloni has already surpassed $720k in billings for the quarter—witho…
Million-Dollar Biller: The AI That Builds Elite Recruiters
Welcome to The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In this episode, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Seb Sharpe, a former million-dollar biller turned entrepreneur, to dive deep into the realities behind top-performing recruiters and the evolving role of AI in the industry. Seb Sharpe shares his candid insig…
From $2.2M to $11M: The 18-Month AI Deadline Hitting Every Agency
Welcome to The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In this episode, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Amanda Hendrix, head of growth at Ember Hiring and a seasoned healthcare staffing executive, to unravel the story behind scaling a staffing agency from $2.2 million to $11 million in revenue—all within a whir…
How a Former NFL Player Built a $700K Recruiting Desk
Welcome to this episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast! Today, Benjamin Mena sits down with Luke Marquardt, a former NFL player whose journey is the ultimate story of perseverance, grit, and reinvention. From enduring a series of devastating injuries and setbacks in his athletic career—including fo…
Direct Hire Builds a Job. Recurring Revenue Built a $28M Exit.
Diane Prince walked into staffing with zero recruiting experience and one specific intention: build a business she could scale and sell. Six years later, she sold her staffing agency for $28 million. 🚀 Diane is speaking again...
Turn Your Recruiting Niche Into a $6M Practice + Venture Fund | Norm …
Welcome to another transformative episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast! This week, Benjamin Mena sits down with Norman Volsky, Managing Partner at Direct Recruiters and founder of MVP Growth Partners, to reveal the blueprint for turning your recruiting niche into a $6 million practice—and potenti…
How to Go Fully Retained Without Losing Your Clients
Episode IntroductionWelcome to another episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In today’s episode, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Andrea (Annie) Colabella, founder of Cardea Group and a leading voice in executive recruitment for investment management legal and compliance roles. Andrea (Annie…
The Diagnosis Method Behind $12B in Staffing Revenue
Welcome to a powerhouse episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In this episode, host Benjamin Mena sits down with industry legend Dave Veres, who’s helped scale teams and orchestrate explosive growth—from $300 million to a staggering $12 billion in staffing revenue. Together, they dive deep into t…
When Getting the Hire Wrong Costs Lives
Episode IntroductionWelcome back to The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In this episode, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Jake Frazer, co-founder of Precision Talent Solutions and a true industry insider in the government contracting (GovCon) executive search space. Jake Frazer shares his unconventio…
When Getting the Hire Wrong Gets People Killed
Most recruiting firms measure success by offers accepted. Jake Frazer watched that metric send unqualified people into a war zone. That was the moment he decided the industry was broken — and spent the next decade building so...
When Getting the Hire Wrong Gets People Killed
Most recruiting firms measure success by offers accepted. Jake Frazer watched that metric send unqualified people into a war zone. That was the moment he decided the industry was broken — and spent the next decade building so...
Why the Best Women Recruiters Keep Leaving Your Firm
IntroductionWelcome to The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In this episode, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Augusta Mirchandani, founder and CEO of a global recruiting organization spanning five countries. Together, they tackle a critical and persistent issue in the recruitment industry: why the bes…
From Hospitality to €500K: One of Europe's Top Recruiting Billers
Welcome to another episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast! In today’s show, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Jean-Louis-Philip Girardet, one of France’s top billers turned recruiting team leader. From luxury hospitality in Los Angeles and London to crushing €500,000 billing years—and now coaching …
She Closed a Deal in Labor — While Her Recruiting Business Kept Her A…
On this powerful episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, host Benjamin Mena sits down with Stephanie Loewenstern for a raw and inspiring conversation that goes well beyond the highlight reels of LinkedIn. Stephanie Loewenstern shares her journey from humble beginnings in call center recruiting to l…
Your Next Hire Shouldn't Be a Recruiter
Welcome to another episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast! Today, host Benjamin Mena digs into the fast-evolving world of go-to-market (GTM) strategy and what it means for recruiters with special guest Reyhan Khan , a systems and operations expert transforming how recruiting firms scale and succeed…