Have you ever wondered how a top-performing recruiter becomes a firm owner?
Katharine Wilcox, President of Resource Mosaic, shares her journey. After joining the firm in 2011, Katharine took over the business in 2022.
In this episode, she discusses her transition from director to owner, her challenges and the strategies that drove her success in executive search. Whether you’re a recruiter considering firm ownership or looking to boost your performance, Katharine’s insights on building trust, hustling, and executing in the competitive world of accounting and finance recruitment are not to be missed.
With a background in entertainment and accounting, Katharine boasts a proven track record of connecting top talent with growth opportunities. Katharine is a member of the Pinnacle Society, a fantastic group of recruiters who are among the top producers in the United States.
Episode Outline and Highlights
- [01:58] Katharine’s background in a talent agency and how she went into recruiting.
- [06:47] Discussion on how Katharine transitioned from being a director to becoming a business owner.
- [19:43] Building teams that drive company growth.
- [25:36] What is the secret to building trust with your clients and candidates?
- [32:25] Why Katharine loves MPC marketing and her process.
- [39:54] Initiating conversations with hard-to-reach roles.
- [47:04] What a support team looks like for big billers.
- [50:11] Quick Q&A on Katharine’s operational structure and business model.
- [52:55] Katharine reveals the biggest challenges she had to face as a recruiter.
Three Key Elements When Building Effective Teams to Drive Company Growth
One key highlight in my conversation with Katharine is how she builds trust with clients and candidates when building teams in key projects. She fondly recalls how her first hires eventually became CEO and CFO, which makes her extremely proud. “So if I get a certain number, hey, we’re looking for these, I just have to go find that soft skills, that personality, that desire, that career drive, whatever it is that they’re looking for that will help drive the company’s growth and change and hopefully last for a really long time.”
Katharine shared three critical elements when building an effective team that drives the company’s growth:
- Building trust – she emphasized the importance of understanding client needs and having honest conversations.
- Hustle – Katharine encourages showing up every day and committing to the craft.
- Delivery & Execution – Katharine values getting the job done quickly and efficiently.
She concluded, “ But, yeah, it’s, that combination of trust and hustle, delivery and execution is just such an important piece to what we do on a daily basis.”
Initiating Conversations with Hard-to-Reach Roles
Some recruiters struggle to reach hard-to-reach roles, such as CEOs and portfolio owners. This may only sometimes be the case for Katharine. When we discussed her approach to MPC Marketing, I learned that it enables her to connect with key roles like board members and CEOs. She shared a few tips on how she does this.
She shared that the caliber of talent will always get you the conversation. She thinks working with good talent (MPC) is important as it will likely get people interested. But this is not enough; you also need to get creative in getting your talent information across. She shared her conversation style to build trust, including using her personality and being genuine.
The other thing is the mindset. As we all know, doing campaigns is also a volume game. Katharine is very much aware of this: “A lot of people are never going to answer my phone or answer my calls. And I don’t take offense to it. Some people are just not going to like me. Right. They’re not going to want to work with me. I’m okay with that. So. But I’m going to keep trying. And you never know. Maybe I’ll break through at some point.”
Katharine Reveals Her Biggest Challenge
I love stories of resilient recruiters, so I had to hear about Katharine’s biggest challenges in her career. Most successful recruiters face the biggest challenges, and we can pick up nuggets of wisdom from their experience.
She shared how they were knocked out during COVID-19, but that did not stop her from working. She kept on talking to people, marketing candidates, and positioning herself. “So that was, you know, getting. Having the ability to continue to make those calls and show up, even though you’re hearing no for six, seven, eight months? It was hard.”
What motivated her to stay in the game and keep pushing? “It was simple. I just knew any day could be the day to make that break. Eventually. I knew the dam was going to break. Right. I knew that people had hiring needs. I knew that people were looking for jobs or were not happy in their current roles. And I just knew that if I showed up every single day and did what I do, that at some point it was going to pay off.”
