What if you could run your recruiting firm on autopilot while launching an entirely new business? Brian Gabay has mastered this balance his 5-person PR recruiting team makes placements without his involvement while he builds a tech startup that solves recruiters’ biggest time drains.
Brian is the founder of Brian Simon Associates (BSA), a boutique recruiting firm specializing in PR and marketing. Since launching in 2016, he’s built systems that transformed his business from requiring his constant attention to running independently. This freedom allowed him to launch Arrange AI, a scheduling tool that eliminates the interview coordination that consumes 70% of recruiters’ administrative time.
In this episode, Brian reveals the exact framework: why getting your entire team on client calls changes everything, his counterintuitive “hire two people” strategy, and the mindset shift required to step away from daily operations. You’ll also discover how surviving a six-month placement drought taught him the resilience needed to juggle multiple ventures lessons forged while recruiting a kidney donor for his father and winning a house on reality TV.
Episode Outline and Highlights
- [7:19] The reality TV opportunity that tested his commitment
- [8:11] How recruiting a kidney donor taught him about resilience
- [19:50] Why placed candidates are your best source of new business
- [20:27] Daily LinkedIn habit: One new connection PLUS one reconnection
- [23:40] Surviving 5-6 months without a placement
- [26:14] The 6-month cash cushion rule for going solo
- [36:35] Counterintuitive hiring: “If you like two people, hire them both”
- [44:27] Why 70% of recruiting time is wasted on scheduling
- [50:18] The game-changer: Getting your entire team on client calls
- [52:58] The goal achieved: “Placements happen without me”
The System That Creates Freedom
Brian’s journey to building a self-running business wasn’t immediate. After nearly three years as a solo operator, he made the leap to hiring but his first attempts taught hard lessons. When he discovered an employee wasn’t responding to candidate emails, he could have retreated to doing everything himself. Instead, he refined his approach.
“Out of 10 people, if there’s two you really like and you’re on the fence, hire both of them. If one doesn’t work out, you still got a really good one in your corner.”
The real transformation came from one fundamental change in how he structured client relationships:
“The biggest thing is having them involved in all the client calls. In the past, it would just be me on intro calls… Now if it’s a new business call, it’s all five of us on the call. They get to meet the client, ask their own questions, take their own notes… I’ve seen the ownership kick in.”
The Client Call Revolution
The breakthrough came from reimagining client relationships:
“The biggest thing is having them involved in all the client calls. In the past, it would just be me on intro calls talking. Now if it’s a new business call, it’s all five of us on the call. They get to meet the client, ask their own questions, take their own notes… I’ve seen the ownership kick in.”
This single change transformed everything. Team members developed direct client relationships, took ownership of accounts, and started closing deals independently. “BSA has been running on autopilot… Sometimes, placements are made and I’m not involved at all.”
The 6-Month Rule
For recruiters considering independence, Brian offers practical wisdom:
“I saved enough to pay my rent for about six months. That was my cushion… I need to make a placement within six months. If I can’t make a placement in six months, then maybe this is not for me.”
His systematic thinking extends to leaving your current employer: “Have a transparent conversation… Even if these are connections you made yourself, it still was created while you were under someone else’s umbrella. Leave on good terms. Do it the right way.”
Today, Brian has achieved what many recruitment business owners dream of: “Everyone’s operating like me at this point… Sometimes there’s placements being made and I’m not involved at all.”
