From professional athlete to 7-figure recruitment business owner, Paul Warner’s journey is quite unique. In this interview, you’ll learn how Paul has gone from a part-time solo recruiter billing $90K per year to building a team that bills over $1M per annum in just three years.
Paul shared his incredible story and breaks down the key factors that he believes contribute to increasing billings by 10x in 3 years including:
- His business model and business development strategies
- How to create a psychologically safe workplace environment to empower your staff
- His passion for hiring the next generation of recruiters – the Gen Z’s.
Paul founded Tamarack Recruiting in 2018 as a lifestyle business that could support his other career as a professional cyclist. He leveraged AI and other technology to allow him to connect companies and candidates quickly in the few hours he had to work between races and traveling. In 2020, the pandemic brought the cycling circuit to a halt, and Paul shifted his focus to scaling his staffing agency.
Episode Outline and Highlights
- [01:49] How Paul started recruiting while being involved in competitive sports.
- [09:12] What moved Paul to start his own business?
- [13:35] Transitioning from a lifestyle business to a high-growth recruitment business.
- [27:45] Tamarack recruiting’s secret sauce to repeat businesses – two key pointers.
- [32:31] From 90k to 1m+ annual billing in 3 years – Paul’s insight on what contributed to this success.
- [34:11] Paul shares their business model and development strategies.
- [39:16] Why Paul is passionate about hiring Gen-Z recruiters and his standards for hiring people.
- [53:33] What it means to empower your people to be successful.
- [1:01:10] After growing to seven people, what is next for Tamarack?
Tamarack’s Key Game Changers
Tamarack recruiting’s growth is so rapid, I really wanted to hear from Paul about the ‘secret sauce’ to their success. From billing 90k to 1m+ in just three years within the pandemic is surely an accomplishment and a feat that thousands of recruiting companies could have not easily achieved. What I observed is his successful sales engine and volumes of repeat businesses.
For this to happen, they had to keep on consistently delivering. What are the game changes that enable them to do so? Paul mentioned two things:
- Creating an emotionally and mentally safe environment to work in means their staff treats clients enormously well.
- When they take a job order, they go into a deep-level discussion with the hiring manager to fully understand their hiring needs.
Paul later on shared how they empower their employees, his passion for hiring Gen-Zs, and business development strategies contribute to their rapid growth.
What Tamarack’s Business Model and Business Development Look Like
Paul shared that they have a dedicated business development resource. The main focus of the BD resource is to set appointments. They are running email campaigns, LinkedIn campaigns, and cold calling campaigns simultaneously.
Once an agreement is signed, they then execute it with a sourcer, the account recruiting manager, and a designated recruiter to work on the process. For Paul, having these three minds work together is a game-changer that enhances the process and brings a better recruitment experience for the hiring manager.
The Passion for Managing Gen-Z Recruiters and Empowering People
“I have decided to go with the growth model of bringing kids fresh out of college to teach them our process and procedures.” Paul’s passion of hiring fresh graduates stemmed from his own experience coming out of college and he felt really vulnerable entering the workforce. He felt that his true potential was not realized especially when he was not treated well, e.g. being yelled at.
This inspired him to create a psychologically safe environment in his organization, even for young people. He is also focused on empowering his employees. The results? He feels that his team is motivated to work ten times harder. He wants to give them an experience that launches them into their professional career, especially for recruitment.
You will pick up golden nuggets in this part of our conversation – actual examples of young people joining their organization full time and doing really well. Paul has clarity on what motivates people – it is not just money but the feeling that you truly care.
