In this episode, Eli sits down with Kevin to talk about the lesson that shaped everything that came after: standing outside a car dealership at 19 years old, holding the biggest commission check he'd ever earned, and feeling nothing. That moment sent him walking away from a job he was good at, and it's the reason money was never allowed to become the driving force behind anything he built afterward.

Kevin talks candidly about the early years of forcing growth by taking on any client that would keep the lights on, and the shift a few years back toward saying no to work that didn't fit, a decision that made both his clients and his employees happier. They also get into what it's like running a business through actual earthquakes and typhoons, the ongoing struggle of stepping back and letting a strong team lead instead of jumping in himself, and the honest answer to what's keeping him up at night: finding a real, repeatable way to generate leads.

For anyone building a business across two countries, or anyone learning the hard way that forcing growth rarely works, this one's worth your time.

Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kevin-thompson-900470a

In this episode, Eli sits down with Nick to talk about what happened when Potere Search narrowed its focus to headhunting for scale-up companies, and why that decision turned into the most important one he's made in almost nine years running the business. Nick shares the origin of his "why," a phone call from his very first placement that reframed what recruiting actually means to him, and explains the unusual way his company measures success: not by seats filled, but by whether the person is actually in their dream job and whether the business sees real impact from the hire.

They also get into the mistake of hiring great people and giving them zero structure, the CEO forum that helped Nick get honest about not knowing what he was doing, and the playbook his team spent two years building and proving before scaling it. Nick talks candidly about the tension between growing into new markets and staying present for his young family, and the patience he wishes he'd had earlier in the journey.

For anyone wrestling with whether to specialize or stay broad, or anyone building a business around more than just the transaction, this one's worth your time.

NICK'S BIO: Nick Morrison is the CEO of Potere Search, an executive search firm known as the trusted headhunter for scale-ups, typically helping companies grow from 50 million to 500 million in revenue. After five years of running a broader business, including HR outsourcing and two SaaS products, Nick made the decision to specialize entirely in scale-up recruiting, a shift that has defined the company's growth ever since. Potere Search now has 11 recruiters and measures its success not by placements made, but by whether each hire is genuinely in their dream job and the measurable impact they have on the business. Nick is currently leading the company's expansion beyond its home base in Phoenix into new markets.

Connect with Nick on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/poterenick

Paul Azzaro spent decades on Wall Street as a bond salesman before buying into a staffing company at 59, in an industry he says is built on a model of failure: high volume, high turnover, low expectations. He decided to build something different instead.

In this episode, Eli sits down with Paul to talk about the platinum rule, treating people the way they want to be treated, and how that principle reshaped every part of his business, All Purpose Staffing. Paul explains why his markups are often lower than competitors even though his retention rates are higher, and how his team's high-touch communication style, checking in when a worker misses a shift, following up when hours don't match a paycheck, has become the actual differentiator in an industry that's stopped expecting much from itself.

Paul talks candidly about learning the hard way that entrepreneurs need mentors, why he uses AI as an enhancement to recruiting rather than a replacement for it, and the advice he'd give anyone starting this kind of business: know your numbers, and expect the unexpected to be bigger than you think.

For anyone building a service business in an industry with a bad reputation, or anyone wondering whether raising the bar is worth the risk of disappointing people, this one's worth your time.

PAUL'S BIO: Paul Azzaro is the co-owner of All Purpose Staffing (APS), a Jacksonville-based staffing company serving industries including warehouse, waste management, and custodial services. Before entering the staffing industry six years ago, Paul spent his career on Wall Street as a bond salesman and portfolio manager. Under his leadership, APS has built a model centered on treating temporary and contract workers as employees rather than commodities, resulting in retention rates and markups that outperform industry norms. The company was recently named to the Jacksonville Business Journal's Fast 50 list of the region's fastest-growing companies.

Connect with Nick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-azzaro-4891078/ Learn more about All Purpose Staffing: allpurposestaff.com

In this episode, Eli sits down with Jose to talk about what actually drives him: a competitive streak that follows him from the gym straight into the boardroom, and a refusal to let anyone claim they never had a shot. Jose talks candidly about calling out the excuse that opportunity was never available, insisting instead that the difference is who chooses to take it.

They also get into how Jose's "each one teach one" philosophy shapes his leadership, why he'd rather be the least knowledgeable person in the room than the smartest, and the mentor who once had to bring his ego back down to earth early in his career. Jose shares the advice he'd give his younger self: slow down, be patient, and trust that the goal will come. He also opens up about how he finds that stillness today, through prayer, silence, and quiet moments with the people he loves.

For anyone who's ever needed a reminder that drive and patience aren't opposites, this one's worth your time.

JOSE'S BIO: Jose Viltres is the Chief Operating Officer of Superb Staffing Solutions, bringing 26 years of experience in the staffing and recruiting industry. He oversees all core functions of the company, including recruiting, account management, HR, quality management, contracts, and sales, with a track record of driving exponential growth. Before his career in staffing, Jose spent 11 years as a football coach, a role that shaped much of how he thinks about competition, discipline, and leadership today. He credits much of his early growth to a two-decade mentorship at a staffing company in New York City, where he learned the business from the ground up.

Connect with Jose on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jose-viltres-b4b65b1b0 

In this episode, Eli sits down with Matthew to talk about what success actually looks like when you stop chasing a number and start chasing the ripple effect of a great placement. Matthew talks through the scrappy way he landed a full stack engineer for a family office client he had no prior experience placing for, by partnering with someone who could handle the technical vetting while he handled the rest.

They also get into the biggest unlock of Matthew's last 12 months: building entire teams for clients instead of placing people one at a time, and watching those hires interact in ways that create something bigger than the sum of the parts. Matthew talks candidly about the shift from figuring out how to say yes to survive, to now figuring out how to say yes to grow, whether that means niche roles he's never placed before or stepping into marketing and public visibility for the first time.

For anyone building a referral-based business who's wondering when to make the leap into something more scaled, this one's worth your time.

MATTHEW'S BIO: Matthew Samoohi is the founder of Scalesmartly, an international recruiting agency that places senior-level talent, including graphic designers, software engineers, and directors of operations, for US companies looking to scale without US-level costs. He got his start in international hiring a decade ago, placing his first overseas virtual assistant for a travel agency after a conversation with a friend at a business conference. Since then he's placed over 100 different roles across countries like Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, and the Philippines. Matthew runs his business on referrals and repeat clients, and is now focused on growing beyond that boutique model into something more publicly known.

Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matthew-samoohi-17926299

In this episode, Eli sits down with Alexandra to unpack the moment that changed how she ran her business: a client who didn't pay for three months of work, $70,000 in the hole, and her decision to pay her team anyway because they'd done the work regardless. From there, they get into why she now turns away clients who aren't a fit even when the money would help, and the lesson that took her a decade to learn, that you can only move as fast as your slowest teammate.

Alexandra also talks candidly about AI as both a competitor and a tool her team trains on for six months straight, and the model she's built at UniTriTeam that treats retention and education, not just cost savings, as the real value she offers clients.

For anyone building a business that depends on people they'll never meet in person, or anyone wrestling with when to say no to a client, this one's worth your time. 

ALEXANDRA'S BIO: Alexandra Gerritsen is the CEO and co-founder of UniTriTeam, a staffing company connecting healthcare and clinical research companies in the US with talent from around the world. Before launching UniTriTeam with her business partner Jenna Lynch, Alexandra spent two decades as a chief operating officer and president across a range of industries, at one point leading global hiring of 500 people a month for a single organization.

She started UniTriTeam after watching talented people get treated poorly by the staffing agencies she used to work through, and decided she could build something better. Today UniTriTeam employs about 65 people across more than 20 countries, crossed $1 million in revenue in 2025, and is on track to hit $4.25 million within three years. Alexandra is also an executive coach and the author of the upcoming book Please, Thank You, and I'm Sorry.

Connect with Alexandra on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexandragerritsen

In this episode, Eli sits down with David to understand what drives a person who has already “won” by most definitions to keep building. The answer is ADHD, a love of the start, and an inability to let a good problem go unsolved. David now runs multiple companies, including SmartWork and SmartUp, all focused on solving operational and sales inefficiencies in the supply chain space and beyond.

The conversation gets into how David built every company he’s ever owned on the same foundation: 40 to 50 phone calls a day. Not DMs. Not email sequences. Phone calls. In an era when most people hide behind technology, David’s willingness to pick up the phone has been his edge for three decades.

They also get into what he got wrong early on, trusting too fast, making promises he couldn’t keep, leading every conversation as if it was going to be the best possible outcome. And how a shift toward listening, a skill he still works on daily, changed the trajectory of his businesses and the quality of his relationships. His father told him the hardest part of business wouldn’t be making money. It would be managing people. He didn’t fully believe him until he found out for himself.

For anyone who has sold something, or is building something they hope to sell one day, or just wants to understand what it looks like when someone genuinely loves the work more than the outcome, this one’s worth your time.

DAVID'S BIO David Kraitzick is a serial entrepreneur and sales & operations executive with over 30 years of experience in the supply chain and logistics space. He spent 15 years building a truck brokerage company to hundreds of millions in revenue before selling it in a nine-figure exit right before COVID, a move he describes as being "the luckiest guy in the world." After about two weeks of retirement, he was back at it.

Today David is CEO of SmartWork and Director of Sales at SmartUp, two companies focused on solving sales and operational inefficiencies in supply chain and beyond. He also has his hands in commercial cleaning, AI, and education, all built on a network three decades in the making. He runs it all the same way he always has: with an intense approach to business, a philosophy built on relationships over everything, and somewhere between 40 and 50 phone calls a day.

Connect with David on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/david-kraitzick-2426939 Subscribe so you don't miss future episodes going behind the scenes with the owners of recruiting and staffing firms.

But this episode goes way deeper than tactics. Greg gets honest about why he walked away from a company he helped build, how his definition of success completely changed, and what it actually looks like to build a business around your life instead of the other way around. If you own a recruiting firm and you are working hard but not seeing the margins to match, this one is for you.

GREG'S BIO Greg Fischer is the founder and CEO of Well-Oiled Machine, an agency that helps recruiting and staffing firms scale by hiring elite international recruiters. Before launching Well-Oiled Machine, Greg spent a decade growing a recruiting agency to $4.2M in gross profit and $1.4M in operating income, with 18 of 38 team members being international hires handling everything from sourcing and recruiting to back-office admin and sales.

After 18 months of trial and error figuring out how to hire offshore recruiters the right way, Greg cracked the code. Now he helps other agency owners get it right from day one without the headaches.

Find Greg on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/offshoreisasuperpower/

Subscribe so you don't miss future episodes going behind the scenes with the owners of recruiting and staffing firms.