She was handing layoff letters to her own team when her own letter came.
April 24, 2020. Her director's parting line: "If we had more recruiting, you'd still be here."
She cried for four hours. Then she built a plan. Five years later, she's the CEO.
This is the comeback story of Catiana Ibarra Aponte — now CEO and Brand Manager of PeopleLift, an HR staffing and AI consulting firm serving clients across Puerto Rico, Latin America, and the United States.
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This episode is brought to you by Atlas — the AI-first recruitment platform built to eliminate admin so agency recruiters can focus on placements. Atlas captures every conversation automatically and makes it instantly searchable with MagicSearch. Ask Atlas "who talked about relocating?" or "who mentioned a four-day week?" and get answers across your entire database in seconds. Atlas also powers BD with opportunity tracking, generative-AI client tools, and smart dashboards for full pipeline visibility. Customers report 40%+ EBITDA growth and 80%+ increases in monthly billings. Unlock your exclusive listener offer at https://recruitwithatlas.com
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In this conversation, Catiana walks Benjamin Mena through one of the most resilient career arcs in recruiting:

Surviving Hurricane Maria with six months of no electricity while still trying to fill jobs
Getting laid off while she was personally handing out layoffs during COVID
Bouncing through four contract roles in two years
A COVID-era first interview at a hotel she suspected might be a kidnapping setup
Getting publicly attacked in a company-wide Slack channel by a teammate
Working from talent acquisition manager all the way to CEO

If you're an agency recruiter, executive search professional, or staffing firm owner who's ever wondered whether you have what it takes to become an operator, a partner, or a CEO — this is your episode.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 The layoff that broke her — and built her
03:30 Told "no" by her father, her professor, her boss
08:00 Surviving Hurricane Maria as a recruiter
13:00 April 24, 2020 — the day she became the layoff
18:30 Four contract roles in two years
23:00 The hotel interview she thought was a kidnapping
28:00 From TA manager to CEO — the after-5pm work
33:30 The Slack message that tried to break her
39:00 How to spot a top biller who can become a leader
44:00 Why one-service staffing firms are at risk
49:30 Advice for recruiters dreaming of running the firm
(Benjamin — adjust timestamps against the final cut before publishing.)
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🤝 Connect with Catiana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catiana-i-ibarra-aponte-91656642/
🎙️ Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-laid-off-recruiter-to-staffing-firm-ceo-catiana-ibarra/id1547241660?i=1000767174389
🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3gfoOiQQhYFJDwYKeMBBi9?si=4aiOC9oeQDy4ZkPlOXIRyQ

#AgencyRecruiting #StaffingFirmOwner #ExecutiveSearch #RecruitingPodcast #eliterecruiter

A second word from our sponsor:
Throughout this episode, Catiana keeps coming back to one theme — the recruiters who win are the ones who care enough to remember the small details. The candidate who mentioned they're open to relocating next year. The hiring manager who hinted at a Q2 budget approval. The senior engineer who said they'd be open to a conversation in six months.
The hard part isn't caring. It's that the admin work makes it impossible to remember everything you care about.
Atlas was built so you never lose those details again. Every conversation auto-captured. Every detail instantly searchable. The caring scales when your tech scales with you.
Unlock your exclusive listener offer at https://recruitwithatlas.com