Andy Weiss (00:32)
Hi friends, and welcome to this episode of Now Hiring, the podcast about talent, staffing, and recruiting brought to you by the good people at Ceipal. I'm your host, Andy Weiss, Chief Marketing Officer at Ceipal. And in this episode, I'm joined by Jordan Brown, CEO of Houston-based Recru. The team at Recru recently celebrated their fifth anniversary and had a stellar 2024. In my conversation with Jordan, we break down what he thinks led to the success of this past year and also how he's thinking about 2025.

We cover people, process, technology, and even a little bit of marketing. So without further ado, here's my chat with Jordan.

Andy Weiss (01:12)
Our guest today is Jordan Brown, Recru's CEO. And Jordan, I'd love for you to share with us Recru's kind of origin story and how you guys got to where you are today. And we'll use that as a jumping off point for a bunch of other good conversation.

Jordan Brown (01:29)
Thanks for having me, Andy. Excited to be here. Just a little background on myself. I got in the staffing business back in 2007. So I guess it's like 18 years now, I guess. So can't believe it's been that long, but it is. Coming out of college, didn't know anything about IT staffing. Just kind of wanted a sales job.

And I was fortunate to get on board with one of the largest and best in the business in IT staffing. So, um, ended up having a really good career there over 15 years, mostly at the branch kind of market level. And I did every job you could get right. Recruiter all the way up to managing director. I was a managing director there for about the last six years I was there and then, um, kind of exited out early 2022 and, came on board here to Recru in March of

Andy Weiss (02:23)
So Let's talk a bit about Recru. So it started in 2019 and just before COVID starting. So it's kind of an interesting time to start a business. I know you weren't on board at that point, but if you could just kind of walk us through kind of the origin of Recru and the thinking behind, hey, let's start a staffing firm the market is dramatically changing.

Jordan Brown (02:49)
I'm a believer that kind of fate brought me to, to Recru and be honest with you. And I, in fact, met one of the co-founders, Steven Geithert prior to him and his wife starting the company, Katie, uh, early on in 2019, I think it was like summer of 2019. We just so happen to have, uh, mutual connections. Two of my best friends knew Steven, uh, through, through work and variety of different things and they said, hey, you need to go meet with him and you guys can talk insights and maybe you can help give them some advice as they're about to start on this journey. And I said, yeah, sure, let's do it. So I went and him for a drink and they told him everything I know about the industry and what to look out for and told him good luck and thought, you know, that was it. And fast forward like six months later, I had moved into a new house with my wife and daughter.

I was out walking with my one year old at the time and just so happened to run into Stephen and find out that him and Katie and their one year old daughter at the time live five houses down from us. So pretty cool to kind of come full circle that way. And then, over time during COVID and 21, you know, we just became great friends and I had a front row seat to what they were doing.

They went through some very difficult times. They battled through it, but they came out on the right side of it. And we are here today because of everything they put into the business during those tough times.

Andy Weiss (04:18)
You touched on something really interesting in terms of your relationship with the two of them And I think it transcends a lot of recruiting and staffing. And that's the relationship side of the business.

Jordan Brown (04:33)
Yeah, 100%. And that was one of the deciding factors to come to Recru. Say, hey, I want to go do something with some friends of mine, some great friends of mine. I've always had kind of this entrepreneurial spirit. And to go do that with some other folks that have that same type of entrepreneurial spirit was a really big factor in deciding to leave.

Yeah.

Andy Weiss (04:53)
so you guys are based in Houston and from our prior conversations, You guys are deeply connected to the Texas economy and what's going on in the Houston and Texas area. How has your location helped shape the trajectory of the organization and its success to this point?

Jordan Brown (05:16)
it's been a contributing factor as to how successful we've been the last four five years, right? The economy here in Texas and specifically Houston where we are has been kind of shielded, I would say, from the more macroeconomic kind of uncertainty that's happened. Now, don't get me wrong, like I think there was definitely some uncertainty and some, how would you put it?

Cautious trepidation on like how you move forward just over the last at least in 24 But yeah, I mean we're blessed with some very strong stable industries here and energy and health care and consumer industrial and and so that's been a really big big factor in why we've had so much success over the last four or five years. I think as a leader, we're constantly looking at like, we have to diversify off of just Houston, right? And so we're excited that we opened up our Dallas market about three or four months ago. And so we now have operations there and excited to see what Recru can do to expand in that market as well.

Andy Weiss (06:20)
I want to unpack what you guys did in 2024, because I think that's a remarkable story. But before we get there, would like for you to share with us those early years leading up to 2024, what was that

Jordan Brown (06:38)
of the things that has stood out since Recru has started is just kind of this foundation they've built in terms of process, in terms of the focus on kind of quality of resource that we're providing to our customers.

That was one of the biggest things I heard when I came on board and I speak to customers early on. It's like, hey, what's the one thing you like working with Recru? And they all kind of pointed to just the quality that we provide. And I know a lot of firms out there, that's what they pride themselves on. But I think here it really holds true. And so that's something that I think helped guide us through 21 and 22 to see that growth is just building off that reputation.

I think number two, it's just, all about kind of the relationships and This is a relationship- oriented business. You don't, you're not going to be successful without really good relationships.

And that was another big factor that I saw when I came on board was, you know, like the relationships that our team is able to form not only with the customer, but also the consultant and how that transpires to success as an organization. think from a kind of a more capabilities or operational standpoint that I saw we kind of needed to shift when in 22 was just our reliance on direct hire business versus consulting contract temporary staffing. so.

of the goal that Steve and Katie and I came together and say hey we want to scale this organization I think we're going to best do that by kind of pivoting off the direct hire and going more towards kind of more that temporary contract staffing so so where we are today a lot more of our work is done on the temporary consulting side.

Andy Weiss (08:26)
from a balance or from a kind of diversification like what as you've shifted in from direct hire to adding more temp what's the balance like

Jordan Brown (08:35)
Yeah, so we're about 70%, 10%, 30 % direct hire. so it's still a big part of our business and I think it's gonna continue because it's a great service offering customers need and it usually leads to helping on the contract side down the road.

Andy Weiss (08:53)
So you touched on a little bit about kind of the process in the early days. As you were kind of exiting 2023 and you've gone from a startup organization to now building and growing, there continuity in that process or was the process kind of evolving?

Jordan Brown (09:14)
even before I got here into what I got, they've always had a good process and I think it was just slight tweaks. I think.

as a leader of an organization, your business continues to grow, like your process is going to change. It has to change to evolve to the changing kind of landscape, your clients buying habits, technology advancement, right? it's constantly changing, but I think as long as we stick to like the core foundation, we're going to, you know, we'll continue to evolve with, with the business.

Andy Weiss (09:45)
2024 was a remarkable year for you guys on a couple different fronts yet, you know growth when a lot of organizations didn't And it was your fifth anniversary. So if you were to kind of You know, us a read on on the year are you able to boil down why you were successful and why it was as other organizations were maybe going in a in a slower growth rate or a different direction, you had some momentum.

Jordan Brown (10:13)
know, second half of the year was probably the best part of 24 for us, right? So I think the first part, yeah, it got tough, right? And I've always learned that when times are tough, there's two things that have to happen. Number one, you go back to the basics, you go back to doing what got you to be successful. that's, that's number one. And then number two is you have to work harder as a, as a, as a person or as a company when times are tough. And so that's just kind of the mentality that, that we put in here at Recru. And I think that's something that really pays off for us.

When we started 24, we said, what's going to be the primary goal that's going to help propel our business forward? And we came up with the goal that if we go sign a certain number of accounts, we put a target up there. If we go do this, we're going to be successful.

excited to say that we did that, we exceeded it and it really paid off in 24. And I think it'll pay off even more here in 25. So not only did we have that kind of primary goal, we had focus areas underneath that. But at the end of the day, came down to that one goal and it worked.

Andy Weiss (11:21)
Congratulations on both the five year anniversary and a great year. So as you look at 25 then, how do you keep that momentum going? I'm guessing you have another big goal kind of laid out.

Jordan Brown (11:22)
Thanks. I think for us, it's two things really. And really three. guess we've talked a little bit about one of them. But number one, it's people. Right. This is a people driven business.

with the current team we have, it's about getting them better and developing them into highly productive individuals that can see the success that they want to go out and achieve and in turn help the company grow.

I think it's investing in them. think it's, you know, as a company scales, we have to continue to scale our hiring. So it's continuing to look at our hiring practices and our hiring roadmap and make sure we're focused in on that. then, you know, making sure when the people we do hire, they're the right people, right? And they have, they share the same values and goals that we, that we have here at Recru. Number two process, we've talked a lot about that. Like it's a constant thing that we're looking at day in and day out.

And then really three is the technology, right? It's changing so fast right now. I got asked the other day, what's the biggest thing that's changed since when you started in the industry to now? And that was easy, it was technology. The stuff I was using in 2007 to recruit is nowhere near what it is today. So we're looking at a lot of things there.

Andy Weiss (12:55)
you talked about two things, one developing people and the technology. So is there an overlap? of?

Jordan Brown (13:00)
Oh, it goes hand in hand, right? It goes hand in hand. Our goal is, you know, it's probably our number one focus is to get the technology in place to provide to our people to be as successful as they can be. So I think it's a symbiotic relationship, I guess you could say.

Andy Weiss (13:19)
as you look at the year, like, hey, we could hit this goal if... this and your job as CEO is trying to one to set those goals, but then also kind of help the organization navigate through those challenges and remove as many as possible. as you're thinking about those, what are some of those big rocks that you're trying to knock down for everyone?

Jordan Brown (13:46)
first off, it's fun having challenges, right? And I think it's different being in a small organization like that we're at, right? That's growing.

maybe then versus some of the bigger players, but the challenge is just different. And so that's what kind of gets me up every morning to go to go face. I think number one challenge for me as a leader and let's say Katie and Steven as well, it's just prioritizing our time, Because we're wearing multiple hats, the company our size, we're doing a lot of different things. And so I think that's one thing we realized coming into this year. It's like, let's do a great job of dividing and conquering.

and, attacking those, those challenges. And so, you know, if you look at our setup, like I think we're, we're well set up to go handle that, um, here in 25. So probably time and prioritization of that time is the biggest challenge. And then I think too, I think it's making sure our team adopts these changes that are coming,

Andy Weiss (14:43)
added Dallas, you've kind of evolved your product mix or your service mix, if you will. So there's some operational scalability challenges in there. So how are you navigating or maintaining that focus within your company culture as one, as you add another office?

Jordan Brown (15:04)
I think the number one thing that comes to mind is just communication. I think When you implement change, it's either communicated really well or it's not. And I think we try to pride ourselves on communicating the impacts of whatever we're doing and the initiatives that we have or the primary goal that we have, right? It's just making sure everybody's on board with that and it's fully.

fully aware of what we're trying to do. So I think that's one, our culture is very family first oriented. And I have young kids, and Katie have young kids, and we wanna be able to experience that.

know, amazing time, amazing phase in life. And we want our employees to feel the same way too. And so it's making sure that we continue that mentality as well. Cause I think this industry is such a grind. It's such hard work and it's day in and day out, lots to do, right? But I think there's a good balance that you can find between the two. So, you know, it's just maintaining that same family first culture.

Andy Weiss (16:25)
terms of your major priorities for 2025, are there things that, here's some milestones or some significant kind of points of focus that you have or goals that you guys have set that without.

without revealing your secret sauce that you could share.

Jordan Brown (16:44)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Well, think we could start from the operational kind of standpoint, right? That's a major focus for us. And in that, it's technology, it's marketing. Those are the two big ones. I think something that has definitely evolved as our headcount has grown, external headcount has grown. And so maybe what we did in the early stages of the company around consulting care, contractor care, we can't do anymore, right?

So we've got to adjust that. And I think that's going to be a big focus for us through the power of technology, through the power of marketing. And so those are some of the things that are top of mind right now from an operational standpoint. And then you can look at our teams. You look at our recruiting team and setting those targets and setting those goals to deliver the right amount of candidates, the quality amount of candidates to our customers.

put in the right amount of starts and hires for the year. And I think on the sales side, it's making sure that we're bringing in the right amount of business and tracking that. But then also, are we spending the right time with the right customers and who is that and really prioritizing their time.

Andy Weiss (18:03)
it strikes me that some of the things that you're wrestling with are a lot of things that your peers and competitors to a certain degree in this space are also wrestling with.

If you were to, if you could ask them like one question, like, hey, what's, what's your, what's your, what's your trick to this or, you know, what would that, what would that question be?

Jordan Brown (18:32)
That's a good one. I would say is, is How are you harnessing technology to move your business forward this year?

Right, because I think we can all learn from each other when it comes to that, right? And because I think there's a lot of unknowns out there and there's a lot of products out there that can do a lot of things. so, but I think every company is different in what they need and their processes is different. so, but learning from others in terms of technology adoption and what we've done in the last few months, just talking with some of the peers has been super helpful.

Andy Weiss (19:11)
with this emphasis on technology, how are you prioritizing the technology versus the people kind of ratio? like, there's a lot of hype around, regardless of industry or category, that technology can do this, that AI can do that. And there's this kind of balance of power or myth versus reality in terms of what

Jordan Brown (19:21)
Yeah.

Andy Weiss (19:39)
the hype machine says that the technology can do and what the reality is and you as the leader of an organization kind of sit at the forefront of that. So how are you as an organization navigating that?

Jordan Brown (19:53)
Well, I think one is just education first and foremost. And that's something that I've told myself, like, hey, this is a goal this year. It's like you need to educate yourself more and more on the technology side of the house,

first, if I had to prioritize it, you look at the current people you have. Let's get them all the systems that they need to be successful and achieve the goals that they want to go out and achieve here in 25. So I think that's number one. And then I think you have to start looking towards the future of what else is out there to help us.

Increase our business right increase our profitability increase our revenue so forth. So There's some really cool stuff out there. I think if I had to break it down into three main areas I'd say number one looking at what are our platforms we are using to source the top candidates out there, right? That's that's probably number one. That's what we're using on a day-to-day basis I think number two it's it's looking at our ATS and how do we continue to streamline that and Ceipal and and making that our go-to platform day in and day out that our recruiters and sales teams are using, And then I think number three, it's this like, what's coming with AI in terms of, you you have your chat GPTs and your co-pilots and you've seen a lot of those integrations, especially in Ceipal, right? But then also like adaptive AI and how can we deploy AI to help us go out and source better, help us screen candidates better.

Those are the things I think from an education standpoint that we're constantly going to be looking at.

Andy Weiss (21:30)
was going to ask you a five year question, but in the world of AI, think a five year kind of crystal ball question is a little ambitious. So I'm going to rephrase it and say, you and I are sitting down and we're celebrating the seven year anniversary of Recru And you're looking back over the last two years of hopefully growth and stuff. as you look back, where are you two years from now? And what do you think would have helped get you to where you guys are sitting

Jordan Brown (22:17)
Yeah, I mean, I have a five year plan. We have that written down, right? So, you know, but I think for us, it's we want to be in more markets than just two, right? So we want to continue to expand the Recru brand into multiple markets, right? So I think that's probably goal number one. I think number two,

With that comes continuing to hire great people in those markets and in here at our headquarters here in Houston. And then I think, you know, number three, it's just giving, building an organization that supports those people in those markets to go out and be super successful to continue to grow the brand. So I'd say those things.

Andy Weiss (23:02)
Well, so I've had you on the hot seat for a little bit. I'm going to take you off of it a little bit and ask you, know, we've been talking about technology and marketing and a lot of different kinds of things. What burning question are you wrestling with right now that maybe I or our audience can help you with?

Jordan Brown (23:08)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, no,

for sure. Well, I think like one of the things we're also expanding into is growing our investment into marketing, right? And you're a marketing guy. It's something that...

We've done it at a very surface level here, right? Good website, good LinkedIn presence, and that's about it, right? And so I think we see as we're at this kind of inflection point, the time is now to invest in more marketing efforts to build the brand of Recru. And so some of the things we're looking at is refreshing our website, increase social media presence, and so forth. And so.

when you've come in and helped companies take that next level that maybe have been at that inflection point, how critical has kind of the marketing, marketing angle been, not if maybe like a product standpoint, but maybe from a service standpoint, because that's what we do is provide a service.

Andy Weiss (24:24)
So the way I think about it is marketing at its best belongs in every conversation. it's marketing, as a marketer, I need to earn my seat at that table. But listening to you share the recruit story, and I was kind of deliberate in terms of asking you, or getting you to talk about kind of your origin. And... how you think about your organization internally and externally. And I think as you all map the next chapters in your evolution, that origin and the how and why.

people come to you, whether it's your, regardless of market segment, regardless of geography, what's the thing that sets Recru apart from any other organization? And you touched on some of those themes. And I think as we both kind of go back and listen to this conversation, some of those themes will naturally kind of pop up.

but there things around relationship, there's your process, there's your, you know, the attention that you give, it sounds like to each and every kind of opportunity, and that kind of hand holding piece, while it may or may not be necessarily unique to your organization, the way you make your customers or your clients feel in that process is important.

and that that comes through. And so at each of those individual touch points, whether it's on your website, whether it's any communication or collateral or whatever that you share or send out as part of a sales pitch or sales process, that thread and that story should come through.

And then social media, your LinkedIn presence and the post that you guys do, it's less about you as an organization and it's more about the people. And so I would encourage you, my takeaway for you in this conversation is in addition to kind of taking a look at the website and kind of how things come through, I would maybe start with LinkedIn and the social presence that

you know, all of you as individuals have because you all, a lot of you came through recruiting and staffing and you've got relationships with other organizations. And you know, what we all tend to buy from.

the people we know or from people and not brands. you look at Tim Cook's followers versus Apple's, you look at Elon Musk's versus Tesla's. They're just two examples, but those individuals, the heads of those organizations and on down the line have more followers and bigger networks than the brands do. And all the social channels are...

Jordan Brown (27:13)
Yeah.

Andy Weiss (27:40)
Their algorithms are set up to be more people focused than brand focus brands have just kind of inserted themselves into this mix and we try and pretend that brands take on personas and stuff, but that's Some marketing spin and speak around that but like think about your own presence and how can you amplify that and then Recru then comes in and reinforces that or Amplifies that but it's what Jordan's saying what you know what everyone else in the organization

 is saying and talking about and starting some conversation around around that. And so my challenge to you is to use that maybe as an initial kind of starting point and then jump off from from there. And I think a lot of other things will cascade. So is that making sense for you?

Jordan Brown (28:28)
Yeah, yeah, love that. I

love that approach.

Andy Weiss (28:32)
shifting it back to you, if you were to impart a piece of advice kind of for your peers, either starting out or scaling or kind of at a similar type of inflection point, what would that nugget of advice be and then why?

Jordan Brown (28:49)
Yeah, I'd say two things, right? And I think Katie and Stephen are great examples of this is Bet on yourself, right? If you're contemplating a decision to go start something like that, bet on yourself and take your shot. And I can't commend Steven and Katie enough for doing that, you know, to put it all out there and put everything they have in this business to get it off the ground.

and go through some of the tough times. We wouldn't be where we are today if it wasn't for what they decided to do. So I think one, it's like just take your shot, bet on yourself. And then I think number two, my mentality always is come to the office every day better than you were the day before. I mean, I'm sure everybody's heard that, but that's something I learned pretty early on when I got my first managerial job at my old firm. That's just the mentality I took.

And I think it's paid off. And I think it has like kind of that downstream effect in everything you do within your business, but also to the people that work with you. So that's usually the mentality that I take each and every day.

Andy Weiss (30:00)
Thank you Jordan for joining us on the Now Hiring podcast and sharing a lot of really cool insights. Be sure to connect with Recru and Jordan online and on their revamped and bolstered LinkedIn presence. And with that, we are "Now Hiring!"

Jordan Brown (30:13)
Yeah.

Thanks, Andy. See ya.