Like most people in recruiting, it wasn't planned and I fell into it. I used to live in Philly and ride a motorcycle with a large group of friends, one of whom happened to be a global top biller at Robert Half. She had enough pull to get me an interview in their NYC office and I landed on a permanent placement desk for Robert Half Technology.

I’ve always been drawn to business and the idea of building something from the ground up. Agency recruitment appealed to me because it's actually very entrepreneurial. You start with essentially nothing and get back what you put into it, so to speak. Besides generally being a people person, I enjoy the challenge. Working at an agency is much harder than anyone first getting into it ever expects. You don't need to solve complex math equations—it's not difficult in that sense. But it's very hard work and requires a unique combination of skills and considerable resilience.

I do really enjoy working with candidates and clients, but what kept me in the industry the most was the opportunity to mentor, train and lead people. It's really awesome seeing people grow their careers and feeling like you played even a small role in it.

This is a great question, and it's something I seldom stop thinking about. I've been fortunate to work at amazing companies that do a lot of things right, but I do believe that agencies share many of the same challenges. I'd probably narrow them down to three things: lack of specialization, inadequate people development, and poor data quality. Specializing is critical, but it's hard to maintain the discipline, especially during tough times. It's so easy to expand what you work on when times are tough.

People development is arguably the number one ingredient to be a successful agency, but while many companies get it right when it comes to training new recruiters, it often breaks down where it matters most: with the rising stars entering management. I feel like so many agencies assume that a great biller will naturally turn into a great manager—no training required! I consider managing one of the hardest jobs out there, and new ones needs a ton of support.

And we all know how important quality data is, but internal pressure to hit KPIs coupled with a normal hatred of data entry can lead to bad data going into the CRM.

I've had an entrepreneurial mindset since I was roughly 8 years old. I started imagining launching my own agency many years ago, but I wanted to feel ready. Starting a business might be easy, but keeping the lights on AND growing are exceptionally challenging. There was always a lot at stake for me and my family, so I needed to feel that I expanded my skill set enough to improve my odds of success. I still don't think success is ever a given, but I definitely feel more confident about things.

There are a ton of recruiting agencies--it's a crowded space and differentiating is crucial. It's tough to differentiate from every other agency, but we're doing a few things to stand out. Specializing is how we set ourselves apart from the generalists. Making a significant investment into training is another attempt at standing out. I have a decent tech background with a passion for tinkering with things, so we've created a sound data strategy.

There is one aspect of our business that is unique, however. We brought a concept that we're labeling the Ratio Model to life, and it's been well-received so far. The Ratio Model is our way of removing a lot of the frustration and friction in agency recruitment, and it's actually pretty cool too.