🎧 The Elite Recruiter Podcast

Ready to Grow Your Recruiting Revenue in 2026? - Register NOW! 

The Sales & Business Development Recruiter Summit kicks off Jan 26 — and it’s 100% free to attend live. Join 30+ expert speakers as they reveal the exact tactics behind landing more clients, closing bigger deals, and scaling faster in 2026. If you’re serious about increasing billings, this is your blueprint. - https://bd-sales-recruiter-2026.heysummit.com/

Elite Recruiter Community has launched

Recruiters rarely have a place to learn, share and grow together. That’s why I created the Elite Recruiter Community. As a member, you’ll get:

• Unlimited replays of our AI Recruiting, Finish the Year Strong and Sales & BD summits.

• Bi‑weekly live roundtables covering billing strategies, sourcing, business development and more.

• Access to our Billers’ Club and split board – stay accountable and partner on deals.

• A trusted network of peers who understand your challenges.

👉 Pricing is $49/month.

Join Here: https://elite-recruiters.circle.so/checkout/elite-recruiter-community

LATEST EPISODES:

From Chaos to Clarity: The EOS Blueprint for Building a Recruiting Firm That Runs Without YouHey Elite Recruiters!

with Derek Pittak | 2-Part Elite Recruiter Podcast Series

Every recruiter hits a point where the business feels… heavy.
Too many fires. Too much noise. Too many decisions bottlenecked at the owner’s desk.

This week on The Elite Recruiter Podcast, I sat down with someone who knows that feeling better than almost anyone: Derek Pittak — former Department of Defense employee, former bank executive managing $125M in staffing vendors, and now a certified EOS Implementer who has helped over 40 recruiting firms build companies that run with structure, accountability, and focus.

This is one of the most important two-part conversations I’ve ever released.
If you own a recruiting firm, run a team, or hope to one day—these episodes might change the way you think about your business forever.

🎙️ Part 1 — From Chaos to Clarity

How Derek went from firing a $5M staffing vendor… to joining the recruiting world… to realizing how broken most firms really are.

In Part 1, Derek shares:

• His wild journey from the Pentagon → banking → staffing

• The phone call that pulled him into the recruiting industry

• What he discovered inside a $125M staffing portfolio (hint: chaos)

• Why most firms grow fast… and break faster

• How he stumbled onto EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System)

• And why EOS is the best framework he’s ever seen for recruiting companies

This episode is the story — the moment everything clicked for him.

🎧 Listen to Part 1: 

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcast: Link

YouTube: Link

🎙️ Part 2 — The 90-Day EOS Playbook

The step-by-step framework Derek used to transform 40+ staffing and recruiting firms.

If Part 1 is the spark, Part 2 is the blueprint.

In this episode, Derek breaks down:

• The 90-day system that reduces stress and increases performance

• How to build real processes without overwhelmingly long SOPs

• Why every successful firm becomes a training company

• Rocks, scorecards, to-dos, and issues — and how they work in recruiting

• How to create a vision your team actually believes in

• Why EOS sometimes fails (and what to do differently)

This is the episode firm owners will revisit again and again.

🎧 Listen to Part 2: 

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcast: Link

YouTube: Link

💬 One Line That Hit Me Hard

It’s the truth most owners feel but never say out loud.

🚀 Why This Series Matters

Recruiting firms don’t rise or fall on effort.
They rise or fall on systems, clarity, and accountability.

This 2-part series gives you a front-row seat to someone who has scaled, rebuilt, and transformed more staffing firms than anyone I’ve ever met.

If you’re ready to step out of the chaos and build a firm that runs without you — Derek shows you how.

Episode Sponsors!

Atlas combines your ATS and CRM in a single, AI-powered platform. It automates tagging and admin, syncs resumes and emails, and uses generative AI to create polished profiles and reports—so you can focus on relationships, not data entry. It also centralizes outreach, reports, and analytics with speed and simplicity.

Try it free or book a demo →https://recruitwithatlas.com/

🚀 Sponsorship: Pin – AI Recruiting Assistant Pin is your 24/7 AI recruiting assistant for sourcing, outreach, interview scheduling, and resume screening. It scans over 850M profiles, evaluates resumes with PhD-level precision, and engages candidates across email, LinkedIn, and SMS—plus tools for team collaboration and diversity hiring.

Start your free trial → https://www.pin.com/

Check out the full interview!

Scaling Your Recruiting & Staffing Firm: How Jon Davis Grew to $300M and Sold, Plus Lessons on Contracts, Relationships, and the Blueprint to Exit

If you’re ready to take your recruiting or staffing firm to new heights, this week’s episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast is one you don’t want to miss! Host Benjamin Mena sits down with industry expert Jon Davis, who shares how he helped build, scale, and a recruiting firm to $300 million and then sell it. Whether you’re an agency owner or running a desk solo, there’s a blueprint here for growth—and for building a business that’s actually sellable.

Here’s what you’ll learn in the episode:

1. The Power of Recurring Revenue
Jon Davis reveals why recurring contract revenue, not just direct placements, is the secret sauce for scaling AND selling your firm for a higher multiple. When his firm exited, over 80% of revenue was from contract staffing—giving it massive value to buyers.

2. Relationship-Driven Recruiting
While AI and tech are critical for speed, Jon Davis emphasizes that relationships and trust are irreplaceable. Technology should support—never replace—the human touch in client and candidate experience.

3. The Challenges & Rewards of Scaling
Discover the bumps along the way, like navigating rapid growth, shifting market demands, and documenting processes for a seamless sale. Jon Davis shares how his team continuously realigned to core values and kept culture strong through change.

4. Building for Sale (or Legacy)
It’s never too early to think about your exit plan—even if you just launched your firm. Learn what makes a firm “sticky” and attractive to buyers, including having a mix of contract and direct hire revenue streams. (Yes, you can sell a direct hire-only business…but recurring contractor revenue can boost your exit multiple 5 to 10x.)

Quick Wins for Recruiters & Owners:

• Start small: Offer contract staffing to your current trusted clients—chances are, they’re already placing contractors elsewhere.

• Don’t fear the unknown: Tools like Employer of Record services make launching contract staffing simpler and more accessible.

• Process matters: Invest time documenting core processes to future-proof your business.

• Build your tribe: Create a ‘board of directors’—trusted mentors and peers—to stay sane and thrive through ups and downs.

Resource Spotlight:
Check out Atlas 2.0, the AI-powered recruitment platform designed to help recruiters drive more placements, spend less time on admin, and grow revenue. Grab your exclusive podcast listener offer at recruitwithatlas.com.

Ready for more?
Don’t miss the upcoming Recruiter Sales and Business Development Summit (January 26, 2026)—the largest free live-streamed event to help you crush business development in 2026.

Listen to the full episode for actionable strategies, candid stories, and practical advice from the trenches of big-league staffing.

Check out the full interview!

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcast: Link

YouTube: Link

📈TRENDING TOPICS and THINGS I AM CURIOUS ABOUT

📲Recruiting Tool - Juicebox! Generative AI Powered Sourcing!

❓Thought of the week - Looking for a coach? I have a list of recruiting coaches here. If you have had a good experience with one of them, share in the comments so other people know: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-recruiting-coaches-2025-benjamin-mena-fmzge/?trackingId

Ready to Level Up?

Finish The Year Strong 2025 Oct 13th-17th - Registration is open - https://bd-sales-recruiter-2026.heysummit.com/

Join The Elite Recruiter Community: https://elite-recruiters.circle.so/checkout/elite-recruiter-community