He got laid off at 48 with five daughters, a mortgage, and no plan B. Three months later an investor called him an idiot and hung up. Three years after that, he's on track for $19.4M — and he did it without taking a single traditional client.
Steve Anderson started as a milkman in South Carolina before spending 25 years in healthcare recruiting. After getting cut in a 1,500-person RIF in November 2023, he and his co-founders launched Optigy Group with a $400 website, no ATS, no phone system, and no contracts. Their first year did $1.1M off six months of building. Year two: $3.7M. Year three is tracking toward $19.4M with 53 active partners, an 84% close rate, and only two partners lost in two years. They closed a private equity deal in December 2025.
In this conversation, Steve walks through the operator's playbook behind that arc. Why the "partners, not clients" model cost them roughly $3.5M in walked-away deals in year one — and why he'd do it again. How they got in the room with a 2,200-location healthcare organization with no marketing collateral. What broke in Q1 of year two when the credit card bills came due. The exact five-part call structure he trains new recruiters on, and the transition point where 90% of recruiters fall apart. What he learned in-house at a company that saved his life five months after a heart attack he didn't see coming. How they vetted PE partners over five and a half months and the diligence questions that protect founders from the wrong deal.
And the line his older brother gave him that reshaped how he thinks about time: "I have lived longer than I have left to live."
If you've been waiting for the right moment to bet on yourself, this is the episode to listen to twice.

⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 — The investor who called them idiots and hung up
02:30 — Milkman in South Carolina to 25 years in healthcare recruiting
08:15 — The 1,500-person RIF and the 2:30 PM conversation with his wife
14:00 — Why they rebuilt the company in 48 hours
18:45 — "Partners, not clients" — the model that walked away from $3.5M
22:10 — Getting in the room with a 2,200-location healthcare org on a $400 website
26:00 — Building the first physician recruitment team in the ACO space
30:15 — Year 1 to Year 2: $1.1M to $3.7M and the Q1 that almost broke them
37:00 — "Work works" — what it means at each stage of a recruiter's career
42:00 — The five-part call structure and where most recruiters fail
46:00 — Closing a PE deal in December 2025 — the five-and-a-half-month process
52:00 — The heart attack and the in-house years that changed everything
58:00 — "I have lived longer than I have left to live"
01:02:00 — Quickfire: advice for recruiters going from average to elite
Timestamps are approximate — scrub against final cut before publishing.

🎙️ ABOUT THE GUEST
Steve Anderson is the CEO and co-founder of Optigy Group, an AI-enabled healthcare recruiting firm built on a partner model rather than a traditional vendor relationship. He has 25 years of experience in healthcare recruiting across agency and in-house roles. He lives in Florida with his wife and five daughters.
Connect with Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sgandersonlmg/

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