The RAG Podcast - Recruitment Agency Growth Podcast

Pete Watson: 22 years as a solo Rec2Rec in Australia (and why he'd never do it again)
Pete Watson is the longest-serving boots-on-the-ground Rec2Rec in Australia.
22 years running Mint R2R. Thousands of placements. A recognisable name across the entire Australian recruitment market.
But 18 months ago, he was at the gym when he asked himself one question:
"Would I do it all again?"
His answer was immediate: "A fast no."
Not because he failed. But because of what success actually cost him.
"Even though people look at 22 years as a business owner and go 'that's amazing, congratulations' - it's been brutal. It's been lonely. It's been isolating. It has not been good for mental health."
So that afternoon, he knocked up a logo on Canva and launched Recruitment United.
Within a week, 70 agency owners joined a WhatsApp group.
Within four months, 500.
Today, there are 330 subscribing members accessing weekly training, mate rates discounts, and a proper community of peers.
This week on The RAG Podcast, Pete tells the full story.
We cover:
Why 22 years as a solo Rec2Rec nearly broke him mentally
The gym moment that changed everything
How he built a 500-member community in four months with zero plan
Why the majority of his members have no intention of scaling
The rise of lifestyle businesses over exit strategies
Navigating divorce, becoming a stepdad, and buying back his family home
13 years alcohol-free and why he finally started talking about it

This isn't about building an empire.
It's about a founder who realised that isolated recruitment success was killing him—and built something to solve that for himself and others!
If you've ever felt lonely as a solo founder, or wondered whether there's another way to build, this episode is for you.
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Episode Sponsor: Atlas
Admin is a massive waste of time. That’s why there’s Atlas, the AI-first recruitment platform built for modern agencies.
It doesn’t only track CVs and calls. It remembers everything. Every email, every interview, every conversation. Instantly searchable, always available. And now, it’s entering a whole new era.
With Atlas 2.0, you can ask anything and it delivers. With Magic Search, you speak and it listens. It finds the right candidates using real conversations, not simply look for keywords.
Atlas 2.0 also makes business development easier than ever. With Opportunities, you can track, manage and grow client relationships, powered by generative AI and built right into your workflow.
Need insights? Custom dashboards give you total visibility over your pipeline. And that’s not theory. Atlas customers have reported up to 41% EBITDA growth and an 85% increase in monthly billings after adopting the platform.
No admin. No silos. No lost info. Nothing but faster shortlists, better hires and more time to focus on what actually drives revenue.
Atlas is your personal AI partner for modern recruiting.
Don’t miss the future of recruitment. Get started with Atlas today and unlock your exclusive RAG listener offer at https://recruitwithatlas.com/therag/
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Episode Sponsor:...

Michael Green: How he made $700K in year one (after not billing for 6 years)
Michael Green spent six years running teams of 100+ recruiters.

Building offices. Managing people. Zero placements.

When he launched Unico in April 2024, he had to go back to basics.

"I had to do role plays to myself. I hadn't qualified a candidate in six years."

Day one was brutal. Just him, his house and a dog.

But Michael had something most recruiters don't: a genuine answer to "what makes you different?"

While everyone else competed on job boards chasing $30K fees, Michael went the opposite direction.

Senior positions only. Architect level and above.

New York Location only

His average fee jumped from $30K to $60K overnight.

His biggest placement? $170,000.

12 months later: $700K gross profit. Solo.

Year two: $1.5M with just four people.

But here's what makes Michael different.

He's not scaling headcount - he's scaling quality.

Ultra-niche: ServiceNow and bleeding-edge SaaS. One technology. Total focus.

Last week, a major partner messaged him: "I've seen your posts. I've heard your reputation. We want to use you exclusively."

He'd never spoken to them before..

He's now targeting growth15 profitable recruiters and $3M in 2026.

This week on The RAG Podcast, Michael tells the full story.

We cover:
- Why he walked away from running 200 people to start from scratch
- How he made $700K in year one after six years out of recruitment
- The "top 3%" model that clients can't say no to
- Why he pivoted from $30K to $100K+ fees overnight
- The AI screening tool that's changing his close rate
- His LinkedIn strategy that generates 70% conversion rates

This isn't about scaling fast.

It's about a man who had to relearn his own trade, doubted himself daily, and built a

$1.5M business in 20 months that doesn't require 100 heads to hit seven figures.

No venture capital. No growth-at-all-costs.

Just profitable headcount over vanity metrics.

If you've ever wondered whether you can start your own agency after years of management - or if there's a smarter way to scale than just adding bodies – this episode has the blueprint.

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Episode Sponsor: Atlas

Admin is a massive waste of time. That’s why there’s Atlas, the AI-first recruitment platform built for modern agencies.

It doesn’t only track CVs and calls. It remembers everything. Every email, every interview, every conversation. Instantly searchable, always available. And now, it’s entering a whole new era.

With Atlas 2.0, you can ask anything and it delivers. With Magic Search, you speak and it listens. It finds the right candidates using real conversations, not simply look for keywords.
Atlas 2.0 also makes business development easier than ever. With Opportunities, you can track, manage and grow client relationships, powered by generative AI and built right into your workflow.

Need insights? Custom dashboards give you total visibility over your pipeline. And that’s not theory. Atlas customers have reported up to 41% EBITDA growth and an 85% increase in monthly billings after adopting the platform.

No admin. No silos. No lost info. Nothing but faster shortlists, better hires and more time to focus on what actually drives revenue.

Atlas is your personal AI partner for modern recruiting.

Don’t miss the future of recruitment. Get started with...

Jen Gaster: How she sold her business to her team (and kept the tax bill at zero)
Jen Gaster launched HR Heads in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis with a six-month-old baby and zero income security.
17 years later, she runs three brands, 22 people, and just completed an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) transaction.
Tax-free exit, 5-year payout. The employees own the business when the mortgage is paid off.
One week after they completed the deal, Rachel Reeves changed the rules.
EOT payments are now taxable for anyone doing it after the budget.
Jen got in just in time.
But here's what makes this story different.
She built the business with her husband Rupert. Same office but separate brands and working processes (They've literally only attended one client meeting together in their entire lives!)
This week on The RAG Podcast, Jen tells the full story.
We cover:
Starting a business during the 2008 financial crash with a baby
Working with your spouse without destroying your marriage
Why she admits "I don't think I'm a brilliant man manager"
The EOT transaction and how they structured a tax-free exit
How Rachel Reeves' budget changed the rules one week after they completed
Why legacy mattered more than a trade sale

This isn't about building an empire.
It's about a founder who wanted to reward the people who built the business with her and managed to do it without a tax bill.
If you've ever wondered whether there's another way to exit, this episode has the blueprint.
__________________________________________
Episode Sponsor: Atlas
Admin is a massive waste of time. That's why there's Atlas, the AI-first recruitment platform built for modern agencies.
It doesn't only track CVs and calls. It remembers everything. Every email, every interview, every conversation. Instantly searchable, always available. And now, it's entering a whole new era.
With Atlas 2.0, you can ask anything and it delivers. With Magic Search, you speak and it listens. It finds the right candidates using real conversations, not simply look for keywords.
Atlas 2.0 also makes business development easier than ever. With Opportunities, you can track, manage and grow client relationships, powered by generative AI and built right into your workflow.
Need insights? Custom dashboards give you total visibility over your pipeline. And that's not theory. Atlas customers have reported up to 41% EBITDA growth and an 85% increase in monthly billings after adopting the platform.
No admin. No silos. No lost info. Nothing but faster shortlists, better hires and more time to focus on what actually drives revenue.
Atlas is your personal AI partner for modern recruiting.
Don't miss the future of recruitment. Get started with Atlas today and unlock your exclusive RAG listener offer at https://recruitwithatlas.com/therag/
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Episode Sponsor: Hoxo
Every recruitment founder is investing in LinkedIn.
Spending thousands on Recruiter licences.
Building connections. Posting content. Growing networks.
But here's the question almost no one can answer:
How much revenue is LinkedIn actually bringing into your business?
Most founders have thousands of connections but no clear process to turn that attention into cash.
That's the problem we solve.
At Hoxo, we help recruitment founders build predictable revenue systems on LinkedIn, not just noise or vanity metrics.
Our clients are turning LinkedIn into £100K–£300K in new billings within months, using their existing networks and a simple repeatable process.
To show you how it works, we've created a short training video exclusively for RAG listeners.
In less than 10 minutes,...

Helen Buchan-Connor on why she's building offshore teams and hitting $600K revenue
"All I wanted to do was make £100,000. That's it"

Helen Buchan Connor started her recruitment business in September 2020.

Her husband had just been diagnosed with lymphoma.

COVID had locked down Singapore a week earlier.

She was working from her lift lobby because there was no space for an office.

Most people would've waited for a "better time."

Helen didn't have that luxury.

First year: $350K revenue, $50K profit.

But then 2023 hit. The market turned. She lost $200K.

She'd taken investment. Signed a JV with a well-known player in the industry.

The advice she got?

"Work harder. Do more calls."

But you can't bring UK-style metrics into Southeast Asia and expect them to land.

"In Southeast Asia, trust is built off relationships. In the West, it's built off performance."

So Helen stripped it back. Looked at what the big tech companies were actually doing.

Amazon. Google. The major media agencies.

They were all offshoring. Quietly.

She decided to do it loudly.

Today:
- Three-person team
- $600K revenue
- Phone off at 7 pm
- Present mother and wife
- Building offshore hubs for ad tech clients across Southeast Asia

This week on The RAG Podcast, Helen breaks down exactly how she built it.

We cover:
- Why she started in the middle of a pandemic with a seriously ill husband
- How she turned $350K Year 1 into a $200K loss in Year 3
- Why the JV investment model failed her (and what she learned)
- The Southeast Asia + Philippines combination that changed everything
- How she's consulting clients OUT of hiring decisions (and still growing revenue)
- Why "surviving is thriving" when you're a working parent building a business

This isn't about grinding harder or scaling to 50 headcount.

This is about building a recruitment business that fits your life.

Not the other way around.

"Surviving is thriving. If you've got it together at the end of the week, you're good. If your kids like you, you're good. If you've got a couple of clients and you can invoice them, you're good."

If you want to understand how to build profitably without sacrificing everything else, this episode is essential.

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Episode Sponsor: Atlas

Admin is a massive waste of time. That’s why there’s Atlas, the AI-first recruitment platform built for modern agencies.

It doesn’t only track CVs and calls. It remembers everything. Every email, every interview, every conversation. Instantly searchable, always available. And now, it’s entering a whole new era.

With Atlas 2.0, you can ask anything and it delivers. With Magic Search, you speak and it listens. It finds the right candidates using real conversations, not simply look for keywords.
Atlas 2.0 also makes business development easier than ever. With Opportunities, you can track, manage and grow client relationships, powered by generative AI and built right into your workflow.

Need insights? Custom dashboards give you total visibility over your pipeline. And that’s not theory. Atlas customers have reported up to 41% EBITDA growth and an 85% increase in monthly billings after adopting the platform.

No admin. No silos. No lost info. Nothing but faster shortlists, better hires and more time to focus on what actually drives revenue.

Atlas is your personal AI partner for modern...

Emily Van Eyssen on why she's firing staff and replacing them with AI
"I automated someone's entire job out of my business."
"They're gone. That role doesn't exist anymore."
Emily Van Eyssen isn't talking about the future.
She's talking about last month.
She had no recruitment experience when she started.
Zero training. Never worked for an agency. Stumbled into it during the pandemic through a government contract she still doesn't understand why she won.
Most people would have crashed and burned.
Emily placed 200 young people into employment, made a lot of money, and accidentally built a completely virtual recruitment business.
When the pandemic ended and the scheme shut down, she had a choice.
Go back to managing Airbnbs (which she hated), or figure out how to make recruitment work.
Three years later:
30-35 placements per month
Team of just 8 people
300+ people placed globally
Jobs being automated out of existence in real-time

But here's what makes Emily's story urgent.
She's not planning for an AI future. She's living it right now.
South African talent + AI super users = roles disappearing overnight.
She fired someone last week for refusing to use AI. That job is now gone forever.
One of her team automated their own role out. They're still there. The role isn't.
She's training 5,000 people per month in South Africa on AI (and employing none of them).
She's targeting 100 placements per month by Easter. Same 8-person team.
This week on The RAG Podcast, Emily tells you exactly what's coming.
We cover:
Why she fired someone for refusing to adopt AI (and automated their job immediately)
How one team member automated an entire salary out of the business
The South Africa + AI combination making UK roles obsolete
Why she's training thousands in AI but employing none of them
What happens to recruitment when one person can do the work of five
Her plan to 3x placements without hiring a single person

This isn't a prediction about 2030.
This is happening right now. In Emily's business. Today.
And if you're not preparing for it, you're already behind.
If you want to understand what the next 12 months actually look like for recruitment, this episode is essential.
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Episode Sponsor: Atlas
Admin is a massive waste of time. That’s why there’s Atlas, the AI-first recruitment platform built for modern agencies.
It doesn’t only track CVs and calls. It remembers everything. Every email, every interview, every conversation. Instantly searchable, always available. And now, it’s entering a whole new era.
With Atlas 2.0, you can ask anything and it delivers. With Magic Search, you speak and it listens. It finds the right candidates using real conversations, not simply look for keywords.
Atlas 2.0 also makes business development easier than ever. With Opportunities, you can track, manage and grow client relationships, powered by generative AI and built right into your workflow.
Need insights? Custom dashboards give you total visibility over your pipeline. And that’s not theory. Atlas customers have reported up to 41% EBITDA growth and an 85% increase in monthly billings after adopting the platform.
No admin. No silos. No lost info. Nothing but faster shortlists, better hires and more time to focus on what actually drives revenue.
Atlas is your personal AI partner for modern recruiting.
Don’t miss the future of recruitment. Get started with Atlas today and unlock your exclusive RAG listener offer at...