Want to know what it’s REALLY like moving from a huge corporate agency to a boutique?

In this episode of The 1% Better Recruitment Podcast, I’m joined by Joe West from Insite Recruitment — ex-Michael Page Director, now helping build something special in the boutique world.

We dive into:
✅ How big corporate training creates (and limits) recruiters
✅ The key differences between corporate vs boutique agency life
✅ Why top-down coaching is the missing piece for most recruitment teams
✅ The 3 traits Joe looks for when hiring future top performers
✅ How to adapt your style if you’re NOT naturally commercial
✅ What recruitment KPIs actually drive results — and which are total BS

If you’re serious about mastering recruitment, whether you’re a consultant, leader, or owner — you’re going to love this one.

Follow the podcast for more no-fluff, high-impact recruitment conversations!

If you're serious about getting 1% better every day in recruitment — this is unmissable.⏲ Timestamps:00:00 – Intro01:35 – Meet Joe West & his journey from Michael Page to Insite06:24 – Big agency vs boutique: what actually changes10:58 – Top-down coaching mindset explained15:43 – Why most recruiters don’t want training (and how to reframe it)21:19 – Coaching high performers vs rookies27:15 – Why bad managers kill good training31:01 – Creating a coaching-first culture35:40 – How to coach someone with low commercial acumen42:11 – Building training that actually lands46:52 – Traits of top recruiters (resilience, curiosity, agility)52:25 – Coaching someone who “just doesn’t get it”58:44 – Teaching better questioning & commercial awareness1:05:20 – Real talk on KPIs, retention & ownership1:09:44 – How founders sabotage performance with ego1:14:07 – Joe’s 3 core traits to hire on1:19:50 – The power of analysing your own performance1:23:01 – Joe’s definition of getting 1% better🔗 Connect with Joe West on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joewestinsite/🔗 Connect with Charles Kyriakou on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1📰 Subscribe to the newsletter - https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7244346543967731712🎙️ Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1PercentBetterRecPod🎧 Follow on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1-better-recruitment-podcast/id1775201502📲 Follow Charles on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charles.kyriakou?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

In this episode of The 1% Better Recruitment Podcast, I’m joined by the incredible Amy Hambleton, Director at RedLaw — one of the UK’s leading legal recruitment firms. 🚀

We dive deep into:

✅ What it really takes to bill 7 figures annually in legal recruitment

✅ How to succeed in long sales cycles (think 6–18 months)

✅ The 3 core traits Amy looks for in high-performing recruiters

✅ Why mastering the basics will always beat chasing shiny hacks

✅ How to stop “pestering clients” and start adding value

✅ Balancing business ownership, billing, and being a parent

Amy also shares powerful reframes around confidence, client conversations, valuing your time, and how she transitioned from being a risk-averse lawyer to one of the most respected recruiters in her space.

This episode is packed with mindset shifts, practical tactics, and high-performance habits for recruiters and recruitment leaders.

If you want to elevate how you think, sell, and lead in recruitment — this one's for you.

⏲ Timestamps:00:00 – Intro

01:32 – Meet Amy Hambleton & RedLaw

05:40 – Working high-fee, long-cycle roles

09:55 – What traits do great recruiters really have?

14:28 – Why “the basics” still win

20:01 – How to build pipeline confidence

24:11 – Mindset shifts to get more retained work

29:08 – Overcoming limiting beliefs (you’re not pestering!)

34:44 – Cold calling, tone, and building trust

39:29 – Why voice notes work better than DMs

42:18 – How Amy built a 7-figure desk

46:12 – The discipline of focusing on what matters

50:27 – The reality of running a business as a mum

56:02 – Setting boundaries and sustainable habits

59:55 – Empowering women in recruitment

1:03:11 – Beliefs, behaviours & building momentum

1:08:04 – Amy’s definition of getting 1% better

1:10:22 – What are “the basics” in recruitment?

🔗 Connect with Amy Hambleton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyhambleton/

🔗 Connect with Charles Kyriakou on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1

🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter - https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7244346543967731712/

🎙️ Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46LjJfw0Y4IVJwnigCdxJX

🎧 Follow on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1-better-recruitment-podcast/id1775201502

Subscribe for more no-fluff, high-impact recruitment advice! 🔥💼

Want to master cold outreach, smash cold calls, and grow your personal brand? 🚀 Emily White from SourceWhale shares her full playbook: 9-step BD flows, killer cold call tips, email tactics, and how TikTok is winning her business.

Full Episode Description:
In this episode of The 1% Better Recruitment Podcast, I’m joined by the brilliant Emily White from SourceWhale — or as some of you might know her, The Queen of TikTok! 👸🏻

We dive deep into:
✅ How Emily structures her cold outreach to land more meetings
✅ Why data-driven sales processes beat “winging it” every time
✅ Real-world strategies for cold calling success (and overcoming call fear)
✅ Building a personal brand on TikTok and LinkedIn to warm up your market
✅ How to be hyper-focused with your time and automate the right tasks
✅ Why recruiters NEED to spend more time on the phone — and how to make it easier

Emily also shares her full 9-step BD outreach process, her email writing tips (spoiler: stop saying "Hope you're well!"), how to turn "not hiring" objections into opportunities, and how she’s smashing it on TikTok while still driving real revenue!

This episode is packed with tactical advice you can action immediately — if you're serious about getting 1% better every day in recruitment, this is unmissable.

⏲ Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction00:22 - Emily’s Background01:25 - First Impressions of Sourcewell03:07 - Topics We'll Cover04:57 - Structuring Cold Outreach09:05 - How Many Emails in a Campaign?09:12 - What Goes Into a Cold Email12:05 - The F-Shape Email Format Explained14:31 - Why "Hope You're Well" Should Go17:00 - How to Personalize When Clients Aren’t Active20:18 - High-Volume Spec Out Email Strategy25:55 - Cold Call Openers That Work29:31 - Essential Questions to Ask on a Cold Call31:02 - Common Objections and How to Handle Them37:47 - Why Recruiters Fear the Phone40:14 - Handling Rejection in Recruitment44:00 - Learning From Listening to Other Recruiters45:55 - Office vs Remote for Rookie Recruiters48:30 - Only Do What Humans Can Do (Automation Talk)51:08 - AI Tools That Are Changing Sales53:10 - What a Dialer System Looks Like55:16 - Starting a Personal Brand on TikTok57:54 - How Personal Branding Warms Up Cold Calls1:01:05 - Three Posts a Week Strategy for Recruiters1:04:00 - The Hardest Part: Staying Consistent1:06:28 - How do you get 1% better in recruitment?

🔗 Connect with Emily White on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-white-sw/ 🔗 Connect with Charles on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1 📲 Follow her on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@recruitmentsecrets?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc📲 Follow Charles on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charles.kyriakou?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc🎙️Follow on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/46LjJfw0Y4IVJwnigCdxJX?si=921bf1a780ae48d8 Follow on Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1-better-recruitment-podcast/id1775201502Subscribe for more no-fluff, high-impact recruitment advice! 🔥🚀

Will Pringle is the Managing Director of BigBlue, a recruitment business that specialises in the design & build construction market. He was promoted to Managing Director at a young age after showing both leadership qualities and consistently billing over £500k per year.

In 2024, he managed to do 65 perm placements whilst managing the entire business...

Topics we discussed:

- How he manages to consistently bill £500k whilst managing the business

- The mindset of a half million pound biller

- Habits for success

- Tips, tricks and techniques to be a high performer

🔗 Go and follow Will on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-pringle-74ab76112/

🔗 Keep up to date with Charles - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1 & Subscribe to the monthly newsletter!!

#topbiller #highperformance #recruitment #recruitmentleader #recruitmentpodcast #1percentbetter #millionpoundbiller #highperformer #managingdirector #recruitmenttips

Amy started her consultancy business in Nov 23, where she helps develop 'accidental managers' into commercial leaders that build engaged, high performing, and profitable teams.

Since we both set up our businesses at the same time, we would regularly jump on a Zoom to catch up and help each other out, but this time we got to record an episode which you are going to love!

P.S Unfortunately, Amy's video cut out with 20 minutes to go... No idea why, I could see her on the call the whole time, but when editing, her video vanished?!

Topics we discussed:

- Creating a coaching culture.

- Finding the balance between high challenge and high care.

- Transition from biller to leader.

- Understanding how neuroscience affects how we lead

- Differences between management, leadership & coaching

🔗 Go and follow Amy on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyrebeccawilliams/

#femaleempowerment #femalefounders #femalefounder #recruitment #recruitmentpodcast #1percentbetter #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipcoaching #businesstips #neuroscience #coaching #mindset

🔗 Keep up to date with Charles - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1 & Subscribe to the monthly newsletter!!

Helen is a recruitment entrepreneur, coach, mum, and half-iron woman who empowers female founders in recruitment.

Topics we discussed:

- The reality of growing, scaling, and exiting—and why she chose a different path

- How to ditch the traditional recruitment model and build a business on your own terms

- The mindset shifts that help women take the leap into entrepreneurship

- Practical strategies for revenue growth, leadership, and work-life balance

🔗 Go and follow Helen on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenplumridge1/

#femaleempowerment #femalefounders #femalefounder #recruitment #recruitmentpodcast #1percentbetter

Keep up to date with Charles - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1/

Subscribe to the monthly newsletter!!

Alex Arnot is LinkedIn's number 1 recommended board advisor, who sits on the board for 30+ companies and has successfully exited 25+ companies.

Topics we discussed:

• What you look for in a recruitment business that has potential 
• How can recruitment businesses scale effectively and sustainably? 
• What are the great companies doing, and why are some of them failing?

• What do 'million-pound billers do?'
• How mentorship at all levels is useful.
• Continuous learning and your personal SWOT analysis.

Go and follow Alex on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/alexarnot

LIVE FROM THE RECRUITMENT AGENCY EXPO IN LONDON!

Dom is an Ex-Arcitecht and now a high-performing recruiter within the construction space at Quest Personnel, who has successfully built up 4 new desks from scratch.

We talked about:

- Building a new desk

- Will the desk actually work?

- Looking at the data.

- The candidate strategy, headhunting strategies, differenciating from other agencies.

- How to best to take candidates to market and how to best add value to clients.

- How you are going to start from scratch.

Huge Thank you to TenRecs Software, go check them out and use code: CharlesTen to get a VIP discount.

www.tenrecs.co.uk

LIVE FROM THE RECRUITMENT AGENCY EXPO IN LONDON!

We talked about:

- Contract recruitment

- AI

- Candidate acquisition

- Business Development

- How to lead gen

- How to into and pitch

- And a lot more about recruitment

But more importantly we spent the other half of the podcast talking about:

- Mental Health

- Wellbeing

- ADHD

- Fear and Anxiety

- Men opening up and talking

- How we have combatted depression

- Authenticity and Vulnerabilty

It was just two men talking openly live on stage at an expo, as if we were chatting in the pub. There wasn’t any format, or planned outcomes. We just let go and surrendered to what we were thinking and feeling right there and then This is how a podcast should be. Raw conversations like this need to be championed not diminished or demeaned.

Huge Thank you to TenRecs Software, go check them out and use code: CharlesTen to get a VIP discount.

https://tenrecs.co.uk/

Today is a special episode, because the man on this episode is the person who gave me my certification in NLP and helped shape my life, business, career, and many more things.

Topics discussed:

- Intro to Ricky, his background, and what he does today.

- What is NLP, and how can it be utilized in recruitment?

- What specific techniques work well for recruiters and vice versa for leaders?

- How can you use NLP to win new business and influence humans?

- What are 'hypnotic language patterns' and how can people use this in and out of recruitment? (Thinking about recruiter's perspective and business owner's perspective)

There has been a lot of confusion over the years regarding Neuro Linguistic Programming, what it is, how it works, and whether it works. In this episode, we get into what it is and how you can utilize it in your day-to-day life and in your business/career.