Humans of Staffing

About Humans of Staffing

Welcome to Humans of Staffing, where we explore the untold stories of the staffing industry’s most interesting leaders and innovators. Join hosts Sammy Singh and TJ Sehmi as they unpack real experiences from agency owners, operators, and the talent that powers the industry. From celebrating customer success stories to diving deep into technology trends like AI adoption, each episode brings authentic conversations about what’s really happening in staffing. Whether you’re running an agency or looking to modernize your operations, you’ll discover valuable insights from those building the future of staffing.

Publisher

WurkNow

Category

technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Feb 2025

Latest episode

19 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

18 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   19 Mar 2026

   Inclusion is not charity: the business case hiding in your hiring process

   What if the most overlooked talent pool in staffing also happened to have four times better retention than traditional hires? Lisa Doyle, President and CEO of Galt, brings 30 years in the Human Capital space, including senior leadership at ManpowerGroup and Kelly, to a mission she spent her whole career preparing for without knowing it. She tells hosts TJ Sehmi and Mindy Gulledge that disability talent is not a charity hire, it is a competitive advantage that most organizations screen out before a single capability is evaluated. Lisa walks through Galt's full placement model: sourcing exclusively from community partners with high concentrations of disability talent rather than job boards, running the IRIS psychological assessment to measure attributes like grit and self-confidence before placement, and delivering one-on-one coaching that continues after placement and expands to include hiring managers. The result is that managers who start skeptical frequently end up as the talent's loudest internal advocates, running the halls to find them new roles when an assignment ends. Topics discussed: Skills-based hiring: 25 years ahead of the trend Why disability talent is screened out before capabilities are discussed IRIS assessment and pre-placement coaching model Sourcing from community partners, not job boards Four times better retention in client results Coaching hiring managers alongside placed talent AI bias risks and human guardrails in inclusive systems Anyone can become disabled: building inclusive from the start

2. 

   5 Mar 2026

   The outreach approach that got responses when nobody knew her name

   After 23 years as a CVS Health executive, Jennifer Chavez bought a recruiting franchise. No warm pipeline, no corporate brand behind her. What got her first clients and candidates? She kept reaching out with messages intentionally written to make people laugh, and kept going back to the same people until they picked up. When they finally did, the most common response was: "I wanted to reply, I was just busy." Jennifer also makes the case that skilled trades are the most undersupplied talent pool in the market right now, not tech. She's watching small manufacturing companies in Arizona, machine shops and clean air technology firms, struggle to find CNC machinists and technicians in ways that semiconductor companies with major PR budgets never have to. The shortage is not about willingness to hire. It is about not having enough people who know what the work is or want to do it. Topics discussed: Transitioning from Fortune 500 executive to solo franchise owner Outreach tactics that generated responses without a recognizable brand name How Jennifer selects clients before committing recruiter time to a search Building day one onboarding steps into the recruiting process itself Why skilled trades are outpacing tech in unfilled demand right now AI policy gaps in small and mid-size businesses and who owns that problem Advanced manufacturing, med device, and biotech hiring trends in Arizona

3. 

   29 Jan 2026

   The profitability pyramid: Taking a staffing firm from $4M losing money to $3M with $400K profit

   Shane Glavin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaneglavinmba/) built PowerCFO (https://www.linkedin.com/company/power-cfo/) after serving as CFO at LaborMAX Staffing, where he watched small agency owners at conferences celebrate rate wins that were actually bad deals. His profitability pyramid framework took one client from $4M in revenue operating in the red down to $3M in revenue with over $400K profit by strategically cutting unprofitable clients and fixing margin leakage most owners don't even know exists. The numbers tell the real story: 70-80% of staffing agencies use factoring. Only 5-10% operate on their own cash, meaning the vast majority are functionally working for their funding companies. Shane's diagnostic process reveals why. He audits three years of tax returns and internal financials, and in 10-15% of cases finds catastrophic errors. One client's bookkeeper had been reconciling bank deposits against AR instead of offsetting it, double-counting over $1M in revenue. That client paid $400K in excess federal taxes before Shane filed an amended return. These aren't edge cases. They're symptoms of an industry flying blind on horrific data while making strategic decisions off symptoms instead of diagnosing root problems. The seven layer profitability pyramid builds sequentially: you cannot move to layer two before mastering layer one. Layer one establishes timely, accurate monthly financial reviews and 13-week cash projections. Layer two implements weekly flash reports tracking the KPIs that actually matter. Layer three focuses on identifying real problems versus symptoms. Layers four through seven cover solution selection, execution, process adherence, and measurement. The firms that follow this framework aren't just profitable. They're acquisition-ready, with diversified client bases, documented margins by client, and operations that don't depend on the owner as a single point of failure. Topics discussed: The seven layer profitability pyramid that must be built sequentially, starting with monthly financials and 13-week cash projections Why only 5-10% of staffing agencies operate on their own cash while 70-80% depend on factoring relationships The double-counted revenue error that cost one client $400K in overpaid federal taxes before amended returns How the $4M to $3M revenue case study worked: strategically cutting unprofitable clients to convert margin to cash Client concentration risk killing valuations: why 70% revenue dependence on one client makes a firm nearly unsellable The margin leakage diagnosis: three core metrics of revenue, margin depth beyond surface level, and actual cash flow Weekly flash reports as baseline requirement, not advanced practice, for competitive operational advantage Root problem identification versus symptom chasing: why layer three of the pyramid focuses on real issue diagnosis Acquisition readiness factors: client diversification, margin spread by client, and reducing owner dependency as bottleneck The 13% technology waste pattern: unused software burning margin because owners chase shiny tools without strategic vetting Listen to more episodes: Apple (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humans-of-staffing/id1797164983) Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/4huU43yvns4lSUHUABtdN2?si=fcdadcb790aa4e26) YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeqX1NdJRjc8mMVQZmOyg0G1_3HjqLz3-)

4. 

   20 Nov 2025

   Tidewater's Jay Prock On Ship Repair Staffing: Why On-Site Coordinators Are Still Beating Automation

   Jay Prock of Tidewater Staffing shares how prioritizing on-site coordinators and safety measures in ship repair staffing fosters worker loyalty and high healthcare benefit participation, which is an interview.

5. 

   7 Nov 2025

   Instant Teams' Liza Rodewald On Staffing Military Spouses And Women Veterans For CX Roles

   CEO Liza Rodewald discusses how Instant Teams staffs military spouses and women veterans for customer experience roles by building a supportive community, creating multiple revenue streams, and leveraging AI training, in an interview.

6. 

   16 Oct 2025

   WSI’s Chloe Ryan On The Change Management Failure In RPO Implementations

   Chloe Ryan of WSI discusses the critical role of change management in RPO implementations, highlighting common failure points and shifts in market dynamics, in this interview.

7. 

   2 Oct 2025

   Gary E. Benedik on the 22-Persona Behavioral Mapping System Replacing Traditional Hiring

   Gary E. Benedik describes Avenica's HAALO assessment, which maps candidates to behavioral personas, replacing traditional resume screening with data-driven objective compatibility scores in this interview with Sammy and TJ.

8. 

   18 Sept 2025

   HootRecruit's David Windley on Why Human-in-the-Loop Design Prevents AI Recruiting Bias

   HootRecruit's David Windley details how human-in-the-loop design prevents AI recruiting bias by keeping humans in control of hiring decisions, ensuring fair and reliable candidate sourcing in this interview.

9. 

   26 Aug 2025

   Horizontal Talent’s Jeremy Langevin On How AI Can't Replace Storytelling and Empathy in Recruiting

   Host [Host Name] interviews Jeremy Langevin, CEO of Horizontal Talent, exploring how AI enhances recruiting by handling pre-screening while recruiters focus on essential human skills like empathy and storytelling.

10. 

    24 Jul 2025

    TerraFirma Marketing’s Jay Mattern on Why Private Equity Can't Run Your Staffing Firm

    Jay Mattern, CEO of TerraFirma Marketing, recounts his experience with private equity, highlighting the pitfalls of investor-led management in staffing and underscoring the importance of founder-led operational expertise for sustainable growth in this interview.

11. 

    18 Jun 2025

    Peoplease's Stu Churchill on PEO Partnership Red Flags

    Stu Churchill of Peoplease informs Sammy and TJ about co-employment models, including pay-as-you-go workers compensation and field safety specialization, that help staffing agencies expand geographically without compliance complexity in this interview.

12. 

    22 May 2025

    Teem’s Cory Pinegar on How the Dental Industry Is 20 Years Behind in Business Technology

    The staffing industry has undergone significant transformation, but few have approached it with the unique perspective of Cory Pinegar, Founder of Teem. In this episode of Humans of Staffing, Cory shares how a chance opportunity to clean out a closet for $500 led to acquiring a struggling dental service division for just $1. From those humble beginnings — where making payroll sometimes depended on collecting from a single difficult client — he’s built a global staffing operation that now maintains a stringent 0.4% acceptance rate to ensure quality. What makes Cory’s approach revolutionary is his insight into healthcare staffing challenges: dentists receive only about two weeks of business training during four years of dental school, leading to emotional rather than data-driven decisions. Teem addresses this by providing comprehensive performance dashboards that transform perceived ”busyness” into measurable value, showing exactly how many calls were answered and appointments scheduled. Although focusing initially on dental practices, Pinegar has strategically expanded into optometry and veterinary markets, creating sustainable staffing solutions that bridge cultural gaps and deliver consistent results in an industry where reliability trumps cost savings. Topics Discussed: - Transforming a struggling quarter-million-dollar service division into a multimillion-dollar operation serving thousands of dental practices, highlighting the importance of recognizing opportunity in unexpected places. - Despite being extremely knowledgeable clinically, dental practitioners receive just two weeks of business training during four years of dental school, creating a significant disconnect between clinical and operational excellence that creates market opportunities. - The dramatic shift from less than 10% private equity ownership in dental practices eight years ago to over 25% today, and how rising interest rates have slowed acquisition trends that once projected to reach 35% market penetration. - How implementation of performance tracking dashboards provides dental practice owners with unprecedented visibility into metrics like calls answered, appointments scheduled, and insurance verifications, replacing ”busyness” perception with measurable value. - The evolution from outsourcing merely for cost reduction to strategic staffing for reliability and loyalty, with a rigorous vetting process that selects just 0.4% of applicants. - Rejecting the ”us versus AI” mentality in favor of integrating AI as a productivity multiplier for human workers while preserving the human connection clients still demand, particularly in healthcare settings requiring trust and empathy. - Growing a business organically with a focus on solving real customer problems rather than pursuing the ”pump and dump” model prevalent in venture-backed startups, with clear pillars: hiring exceptional people, providing thorough training, ensuring value visibility, and AI enablement. - Strategically focusing on regions where regulatory complexity and bilingual requirements create higher demand for staffing solutions, particularly in states like California, Texas, and Florida where labor costs and compliance burdens are highest. - Creating intentional but organic momentum in healthcare verticals where decision-makers exhibit herd mentality, focusing on penetrating the crucial early-adopter segment that influences the broader market. - Democratizing access to international talent that was previously available only to large corporations, providing complete infrastructure including employer of record services, compliance management, and performance analytics.

13. 

    8 May 2025

    Jobvious’ Brad Beach on Monetizing Your Professional Network With Staffing Referrals

    Staffing industry margins are under unprecedented pressure, and Brad Beach, Founder & CEO of Jobvious & Tailored Management, has responded by creating a platform that fundamentally reimagines the economics of talent acquisition. After 30 years witnessing staffing agencies squeezed between MSP fees, shrinking markups, and intensifying competition, Brad launched a referral-based platform that compensates ”network champions” with 10% of a placed candidate’s hourly wage for the entire duration of their assignment. This approach doesn’t just create significant passive income opportunities; it taps into the 85% of qualified talent not actively searching job boards while simultaneously reducing recruiting costs. In this episode of Humans of Staffing, Brad tells Sammy and TJ the entrepreneurial journey that led to this innovation, his ”free to fail” leadership philosophy that fosters organizational creativity, and his predictions about the future of contingent labor — including why he believes MSPs are facing extinction. With clients increasingly seeking global talent solutions and digital transformation reshaping traditional staffing models, Brad offers invaluable insights for anyone navigating the rapidly evolving future of work. Topics Discussed: - How Brad’s incentive-based referral platform creates annuity-like income streams for network members while accessing passive talent not found on traditional job boards. - Why traditional models with 75+ vendors competing for requisitions at 6-7% submission-to-hire ratios have become financially unsustainable. - Building an autonomous ”free to fail” organizational culture that encourages innovation by empowering employees to question established processes without fear of repercussion. - Why most internal referral programs fail to drive meaningful results and how ongoing percentage-based compensation creates far stronger motivation than one-time bonuses. - The strategic shift toward global contingent workforce solutions, with Brad seeing more international staffing requests in the past six months than the previous 15 years combined. - Why direct sourcing initiatives often disappoint despite their theoretical appeal, and how they often recreate the old ”vendor on premise” model without acknowledging it. - How artificial intelligence will reshape staffing operations while still requiring human judgment for candidate-client relationship management and complex placement decisions. - The emerging trend of enterprises bringing contingent labor management in-house as MSPs struggle to demonstrate continuing value in the modern staffing ecosystem. - Creating sustainable vendor relationships through transparency rather than constantly adding suppliers. Listen to more episodes: Apple Spotify YouTube Website

14. 

    24 Apr 2025

    Meritus Capital’s Adam Forbes on Funding Your Staffing Agency Without Personal Guarantees

    The precarious balance in staffing can shift in an instant — a single unexpected order for 100 workers by tomorrow morning could spell either tremendous opportunity or financial disaster. In this eye-opening episode of Humans of Staffing, Sammy and TJ dive deep with Adam Forbes, SVP of Strategic Partnerships at Meritus Capital, who reveals the financial machinery that powers successful staffing agencies. From his dramatic origin story of walking into a dark office to find his employer shutting down with 400 workers in the field, to building his own agency from those ashes, Adam shares how accounts receivable factoring transformed his approach to staffing finance. This conversation exposes the hidden cash flow challenges that traditional banks simply don’t understand, where staffing agencies must pay workers weekly while waiting 30-60 days for client payments. Topics Discussed: - The unique cash flow architecture of staffing businesses that creates systemic vulnerability when agencies must meet weekly payroll obligations while waiting 30-60 days for client payments, creating a funding gap traditional banks are structurally unable to address. - How accounts receivable factoring creates immediate liquidity by advancing up to 95% of invoice value upon creation, allowing staffing agencies to scale operations without capital constraints while basing funding decisions on client creditworthiness rather than agency assets. - Strategic approaches to client creditworthiness evaluation combining automated data analysis through Dun & Bradstreet and Experian with targeted human follow-up to identify shell companies and bankruptcy patterns that technology alone might miss. - Building financial resilience through disciplined reserve management by treating the 5% factoring holdback as untouchable emergency funds rather than operational capital, creating protection against client defaults without relying on personal assets. - The entrepreneurial accessibility of staffing compared to other industries where launching requires minimal capital when backed by factoring partners, versus franchise models demanding $500,000+ upfront investment plus personal guarantees. - Identifying and avoiding predatory client patterns through partnerships with funding companies that maintain intelligence on companies using shell entities and strategic bankruptcies to exploit staffing agencies with no intention of paying. - Using factoring as a competitive advantage in time-sensitive opportunities by eliminating funding delays that plague traditionally-financed competitors, enabling instant deployment when clients need urgent workforce scaling. - The counter-cyclical business potential of staffing agencies that can thrive in both economic upturns and downturns by helping companies shift between permanent and temporary workforce strategies as economic conditions fluctuate. Listen to more episodes: Apple Spotify YouTube

15. 

    3 Apr 2025

    First Staffing Group’s Juliana Bojorquez on How Preparation Powers Expansion

    Juliana Bojorquez, CEO, transformed from a receptionist in a staffing agency to building First Staffing Group into a thriving enterprise, with five locations serving Southern California and Texas in just five years. In this episode of Humans of Staffing, she reveals how reaching a career ceiling at previous employers sparked her entrepreneurial journey, the specific methodologies behind her rigorous client qualification process, and how maintaining financial reserves helped her company navigate the volatile 2020-2024 business climate when many competitors struggled with cash flow. With 15 years of industry experience before launching her own agency during the pandemic, Juliana walks Sammy and TJ through her unique approach to leadership where she remains available to her team 24/7, the importance of professional presentation in an increasingly casual industry, and how her comprehensive pre-sales process includes researching X-mod ratings to eliminate high-risk prospects before making initial contact. She also shares insights on current immigration policy impacts on the labor market, particularly in agriculture where some clients have reduced operations from seven days to four due to workforce shortages. Topics Discussed: - The challenges of maintaining staffing agency growth through rigorous client pre-qualification rather than pursuing any available opportunity, and a methodology of canvassing areas, running X-mod reports through workers’ comp, and researching prospects before initial contact to eliminate high-risk accounts. - The evolution of pricing strategies in the staffing industry as unsustainable markup compression threatens stability, and the need for industry-wide standardization based on workers’ comp codes while refusing to work with clients seeking only the lowest possible rates. - How strategic financial reserves function as both safety net and growth engine for staffing agencies via implementing cash policies that enable self-funding payroll when credit limits are reached. - The competitive advantage of maintaining professional standards in an increasingly casual industry, including creating immediate credibility through consistent branded attire at every client interaction, establishing clear business boundaries that lead to higher-quality relationships. - Navigating the operational impacts of immigration policy shifts across the staffing supply chain, such as produce suppliers reducing from seven-day to four-day operations due to upstream agricultural labor shortages affecting downstream logistics clients. - The implementation of targeted sales team structures where high-performing branch managers share sales responsibilities rather than dedicated representatives, allowing maintenance of growth through relationship-based selling even during economic volatility. - Using data-driven candidate sourcing strategies to overcome technology limitations, including critical inefficiencies in current platforms that lack proper qualification capabilities and waste hundreds in ad spend on fundamentally mismatched candidates for specialized roles.

16. 

    20 Mar 2025

    MDRN Staffing's Edgar Mota on How Military Discipline Built a Blueprint for Success

    Edgar Mota, Owner of MDRN Staffing immediately fell in love with staffing because he was helping people. A sense of being in service to others was something he yearned for from his time in the US Army. In this episode of Humans of Staffing, Edgar takes Sammy and TJ through his full journey, from hitting rock bottom after his deployment to discovering his passion for staffing, and an angel investor’s unexpected offer to launch a staffing firm just before COVID. Military discipline became Edgar’s business superpower, including through the sobering reality of client bankruptcies and his current data-driven approach testing every sales script and content piece on rapid two-week cycles. Topics Discussed: - How Edgar’s military deployment in Iraq and subsequent struggle to find stable employment led him to discover a passion for helping others through staffing. - Transparent communication during challenges, including how staffing agencies often disappear when they can’t fill orders, whereas his team prioritizes immediate communication about shortfalls, resulting in stronger client relationships. - The shift from organic growth during COVID to a data-driven sales approach tracking specific metrics like content watch time and cold call script performance on two-week testing cycles. - How Edgar’s team achieves 100 prospect touches daily through a mix of LinkedIn messages and cold calls, versus the traditional in-person approach that yielded only 10-15 daily interactions — and that seems to have become offputting. - Early adoption of AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude for sales enablement, content creation, and resume screening, with specific prompts developed and distributed to staff for consistent workflows. - Implementing systems to reduce decision fatigue in both personal and professional contexts, from wearing all-black clothing to choosing CrossFit for its pre-planned workouts, allowing mental bandwidth to focus on critical business decisions. Listen to more episodes: Apple Spotify YouTube Website

17. 

    6 Mar 2025

    Voyage Employer Services’ Daniel Beltran on Compliance as Competitive Edge

    How can a staffing agency steady itself in a Wild-West-type situation? In this episode of Humans of Staffing, Sammy and TJ dive deep with a rapidly growing staffing firm specializing in light industrial workforce management in California’s challenging regulatory environment. Daniel reveals how Voyage differentiates itself in the Wild West of staffing through superior compliance protocols and workforce management technology while competitors race to the bottom on margins. Facing California’s notoriously low markup rates, Voyage carved out a competitive advantage by helping clients navigate complex regulations while building sophisticated timekeeping and workforce technology integrations. Daniel shares candid insights on the industry’s future, particularly how AI-powered recruiting automation will transform staffing economics, while offering a masterclass in the three critical metrics that have guided Voyage’s growth to 800 employees and $700,000 in weekly payroll. Topics Discussed: - The three critical metrics to track religiously: order fulfillment rates, weekly cash flow against factoring advance rates, and active claims management. - How surviving a devastating $2.3 million PAGA lawsuit became a defining moment that shaped Daniel’s resilient leadership approach. - The practical implementation of AI in staffing operations, particularly in recruiting and candidate screening, to remain competitive in California’s compressed margin environment. - The challenges of California’s staffing landscape, where no governing agency establishes industry standards, creating an environment where compliance-focused agencies struggle to compete against price-cutting operators. - How forgiveness became Daniel’s entrepreneurial superpower, enabling him to reset daily despite setbacks and maintain forward momentum when others would collapse. - The role of sales expertise in staffing entrepreneurship, and why Daniel recommends working at an established agency before launching your own company.

18. 

    18 Feb 2025

    Dynasty Employment Solutions’ Miguel Angel Estrada Valencia on How Client Portal Analytics Cut Time-to-Fill by 40%

    In this episode of Humans of Staffing, Miguel Angel Estrada Valencia, President of Dynasty Employment Solutions, provides a fresh Gen-Z perspective on modernizing the staffing industry through technology and transparency. As a tech-native leader who built his career through innovative approaches to sales and operations, Angel shares how he's leveraging social media, AI, and digital transformation to reshape traditional staffing models while maintaining the crucial human element that drives success in the industry. The episode provides senior staffing leaders with actionable frameworks for modernizing their operations while navigating complex regulatory environments and maintaining competitive advantages through technology adoption. Humans of Staffing brings you conversations with industry professionals — from agency owners and HR leaders to experienced temp workers and industry innovators — exploring the technology, trends, and human elements shaping the future of staffing. Topics Discussed: An innovative approach to candidate verification that combines AI pre-screening with strategic social media outreach, resulting in 30-40% reduction in DNU candidates while maintaining a high-volume talent pipeline of 100-200 daily applications per branch. How Dynasty's implementation of full-access client portals with real-time analytics has transformed client relationships while improving time-to-fill metrics. Detailed strategies for maintaining compliance amid evolving immigration regulations, including specific techniques for protecting both client and worker interests through systematic E-Verify implementation and documentation processes. A data-driven framework for AI implementation in staffing operations, with specific insights on which processes yield highest ROI for automation (candidate screening, compliance checks) versus those requiring human oversight (final evaluations, client relationships). How Dynasty leverages platform-specific content strategies across social channels to target distinct candidate pools, including specific examples of successful TikTok campaigns that drive Gen-Z recruitment rates 3x higher than traditional job boards. The technical architecture enabling Dynasty's multi-state expansion, including specific compliance automation tools and centralized data management systems that maintain consistency across state lines while adapting to local regulations. A systematic approach to market differentiation through technology enablement, moving beyond traditional markup competition to demonstrate value through transparent analytics, automated compliance tracking, and integrated workforce management solutions. Real-world examples of how integrated compliance and verification systems create competitive advantages in enterprise client acquisition, particularly in highly regulated industries and federal contract opportunities

Who has been a guest on Humans of Staffing

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Jay Prock
• Liza Rodewald
• Chloe Ryan
• Gary E Benedik
• David Windley

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

113,700

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 29 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

13

Social presence

0

YouTube

82

Engagement

32