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Retained Masterclass Pt 2: The Dollars Are In Delivery
Picking up where Part 1 left off, Allie gets into the money and the machinery. She explains pipelining projects — building a talent bench for a client — and why she keeps at least 20% of her business there for cash flow. Then the math: why a recruiter running five to eight retained searches can out-earn one juggling fifteen contingent reqs. The centerpiece is her contrarian thesis that "great delivery is your business development" — she tried being a salesperson, failed, and found that doing the
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335
June 23, 2026
Retained Masterclass Pt 2: The Dollars Are In Delivery
Picking up where Part 1 left off, Allie gets into the money and the machinery. She explains pipelining projects — building a talent bench for a client — and why she keeps at least 20% of her business there for cash flow. Then the math: why a recruiter running five to eight retained searches can out-earn one juggling fifteen contingent reqs. The centerpiece is her contrarian thesis that "great delivery is your business development" — she tried being a salesperson, failed, and found that doing the
334
June 22, 2026
Going Retained Masterclass Part 1 with Allie Milbrath
Allie Milbrath, founder of the Quinn Roberts Company, returns to make the case that the biggest shift recruiting needs is the move from contingent to retained — and that AI is forcing the issue. Her opening frame: stop panicking about AI and ask the harder question of what part of your service was ever actually valuable. If it was speed, you're in trouble; if it's judgment, trust, and honest market feedback, that's what clients will keep paying for. Allie shares that she's run her firm 100% reta
333
June 18, 2026
Your Best Biller Costs You $5 Million.
Your best biller is the person bringing in the most money. So how could promoting them be the most expensive mistake your firm ever makes?Duncan Taylor has spent more than 30 years on the executive side of recruiting, with one unusual specialty: recruiting for recruiting companies. In this conversation he lays out the producer-manager trap in brutal math — how a single promotion that looks like a reward can send five million in gross profit out the door — then maps where recruiting leadershi
332
June 15, 2026
The NFL & Forbes 400 Hire Her. Here's Why
Rebecca Stewart serves the LA Rams, Chargers, and Forbes 400 households with a 3-person team and zero outbound. Twenty years in, every deal is referred or inbound. How she built it — and the niche thesis every recruiter needs to hear.
331
June 10, 2026
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 second is the 25-interview rolling 4-week benchmark that defines elite at EVONA, reverse-engineered from a 12-to-1 interview-to-placement ratio. Tom also unpacks why he'd hate to be running a big recrui
330
June 9, 2026
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 revenue per head doubling while overall revenue remained steady. Tom Kelly shares hard-won lessons about scaling too fast, the pitfalls of chasing headcount over profitability, and why authentic relations
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June 23, 2026
Lessons from the Peak: Walking Away to Build Something Better
Welcome back to the podcast blog, where we delve deeper into the conversations that shape our industry and inspire our listeners. In our latest episode, "Million-Dollar Biller: The AI That Builds Elite Recruiters," we had the privilege of speaking w…
June 23, 2026
Mastering 'Emotional Exits': How Recruiters Can Break Free from Contingent Habits
Discover how understanding and overcoming 'emotional exits' in contingent recruiting is crucial for building a resilient, high-value retained search practice. Learn to cultivate commitment and solve complex problems instead of bailing.Key Takeaway…
June 22, 2026
Summer 2026 Reading List: 13 Books for Recruiters and Agency Owners
Every recruiter's reading list this summer is going to look the same.Same 30 books. Same Amazon blurbs. I don't want to do that.I've been recruiting for almost 20 years. I've built a search firm. I've put on 9 summits, hosted 300+ podcast episod…
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