The Founding Story: From Blended Juices to XRecruiter, Losing Everything & Building 8020
In the first episode of the 8020 Podcast, Declan Kluver shares the full story behind the businesses, the success, the collapse and ultimately the mission that became 8020.
It starts with Blended Juices — a young bloke having a crack at his first business — before moving into recruitment, founding Blended Employment, and eventually launching XRecruiter.
What followed was a rocket ship.
XRecruiter grew by more than 2,400% in two years, becoming one of Australia's fastest-growing businesses. From the outside, everything looked like it was working.
Behind the scenes, the pressure was building.
Declan talks openly about overworking, losing perspective, experiencing a manic episode and eventually reaching the darkest period of his life, culminating in a suicide attempt that left him with life-changing injuries.
But the story doesn't finish there.
During the long road back, a new question emerged:
Who is actually looking after the person behind the business?
That question became 8020.
This episode is the story of where Declan came from, what business gave him, what it took from him, the lessons learned through rebuilding his life, and why he's now committed to helping founders build extraordinary businesses without sacrificing their health, relationships or themselves along the way.
This is the story behind 8020.
