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What happens when a sixth-grade teacher trades lesson plans for hiring plans? For Jim Conti, it launched a career that took him from Sprout Social to dScout and now to Hyde Park Venture Partners, where he supports more than 60 portfolio companies on talent strategy.

In this episode of Beyond the Hire, Jim shares his journey from the classroom to venture capital and the lessons he’s learned along the way. We dig into why teachers often make incredible hires, how authenticity can set candidates apart, and why networking is more powerful than any job description. 

Whether you’re a job seeker navigating your next move, a founder building an early-stage team, or a talent leader scaling culture, Jim’s story is a masterclass in following your passions, staying true to yourself, and creating opportunities where none exist.

About Jim Conti:

Jim Conti is the Talent Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners and has been with the firm since 2021. In this role, Jim provides strategic talent support and consulting to the firm's portfolio of companies. Prior to Hyde Park Venture Partners, Jim served as head of people at dscout and Sprout Social — both Chicago-based software startups. In these roles, Jim built, grew, and oversaw teams across recruitment, talent management, DEI, culture, HR, and benefits strategy. The impact of this work is seen in awards from Glassdoor, Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago, and Built in Chicago.

Follow Jim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/contijc/

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In this episode of Beyond the Hire, we sit down with Matt Green, co-founder and CRO of Sales Assembly, to unpack his journey from wealth management to tech sales to building one of the most trusted enablement and training communities for go-to-market teams.

Matt shares how a layoff, a little luck, and a lot of listening led him to co-create Sales Assembly. We dig into the difference between community and curation, what gifting mishaps can teach you about stakeholder relationships, and why showing up (physically and virtually) is the secret to building a powerful network.

If you’ve ever wondered how to turn a career curveball into a launchpad, or how Sales Assembly became a must-have for growing GTM teams, this one’s for you. 

About Matt Green:

Matt is the Co-Founder and CRO of Sales Assembly, a skills training platform that supports the go-to-market teams of hundreds of the ecosystem's most prominent tech companies.

Matt began his career in wealth management and investment banking, before moving into the world of tech sales leadership.

He is married with a 13 year old son, and spends his spare time planning random international trips for he and his family.

Follow Matt on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matthewcorneliusgreen

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In this episode of Beyond the Hire, we sit down with Matt Green, co-founder and CRO of Sales Assembly, to unpack his journey from wealth management to tech sales to building one of the most trusted enablement and training communities for go-to-market teams.

Matt shares how a layoff, a little luck, and a lot of listening led him to co-create Sales Assembly. We dig into the difference between community and curation, what gifting mishaps can teach you about stakeholder relationships, and why showing up (physically and virtually) is the secret to building a powerful network.

If you’ve ever wondered how to turn a career curveball into a launchpad, or how Sales Assembly became a must-have for growing GTM teams, this one’s for you.

About Matt Green:

Matt is the Co-Founder and CRO of Sales Assembly, a skills training platform that supports the go-to-market teams of hundreds of the ecosystem's most prominent tech companies.

Matt began his career in wealth management and investment banking, before moving into the world of tech sales leadership.

He is married with a 13 year old son, and spends his spare time planning random international trips for he and his family.

Follow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcorneliusgreen/

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In this special Before the Hire edition of Beyond the Hire, we flip the script. Instead of talking to CROs and sales leaders, we go straight to the source: the recruiters who help get them there.

Betts veterans Melissa Hirsch and Cassie Zaffanella join us to break down what really matters when you’re job hunting—from CV and LinkedIn tips to red flags (like over-designing your resume… or farting on a screening call). They share how to stand out in a crowded market, how to work with a recruiter the right way, and the one question you should always be ready to answer.

Whether you’ve been laid off, are ready to make a move, or just want a peek behind the recruiting curtain—this is the episode for you.

About Melissa Hirsch:

Melissa Hirsch is a seasoned recruiter with a track record of helping early-stage SaaS companies scale at the enterprise level. As a Principal Recruiter who's been with Betts for 10 years, she’s worn many hats—from recruiting coordinator to senior strategic partner. 

Follow Melissa on LinkedIn

About Cassie Zaffanella:

Cassie Zaffanela brings over a decade of experience in the tech industry and was one of the founding Executive Recruiters at Betts, where she played a key role in building out the department.

Follow Cassie on LinkedIn

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Lily Gibbens joins Beyond the Hire to share how she built a decade-long career at Cerner (later acquired by Oracle) and why she eventually made the leap to a much smaller startup environment. She breaks down the differences between big-company bureaucracy and startup speed, what she looks for in candidates, and the advice she gives to job seekers unsure of their next move.
You’ll hear:

• How she grew her career internally at Cerner and navigated an Oracle acquisition
• What hiring red flags (and green flags) she pays attention to
• The resume mistakes she sees too often—and how to avoid them
• How to decide whether to stay in a role or move on
• What changed most when she left a 20k+ org for a 30-person company

This episode is packed with honest, tactical advice on standing out in the hiring process and building a people-first career.

About Lily Gibbens:

Lily Gibbens began her career at a 10-person agency, where she quickly learned the value of structure, communication, and wearing many hats. She then spent nearly a decade at Cerner, eventually leading large-scale HR programs following the company’s acquisition by Oracle. Her roles spanned HR business partnership, learning design, and engineering culture, supporting teams of up to 10,000 employees. Today, Lily leads HR and recruiting for two early-stage edtech companies backed by a private equity firm—owning everything from hiring and onboarding to performance, benefits, and culture. She’s passionate about bringing clarity to chaos and building people programs that make work better.

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No BS. All real talk.

This week on Beyond the Hire, we’re joined by Carol Malakasis, founder of MarketPull, a GTM consulting agency helping seed and Series A startups hit their first $1M in revenue.

Carol’s path from selling goat cheese to scaling SaaS teams is anything but ordinary—and her no-nonsense approach to startup sales is exactly what early-stage founders need to hear.

Tune in to hear:
– The #1 mistake founders make when hiring their first AE
– When to shift from founder-led sales to building a sales team
– Why repeatable process > “hustle”
– What candidates get wrong in early-stage interviews (and how to stand out)
– How to know if a startup job is legit—or a red flag waiting to happen

If you're a founder building out your first GTM motion, or a candidate looking to thrive in an early-stage startup, this one’s a masterclass.

About Carol Malakasis:
Carol Malakasis is the founder of MarketPull, a go-to-market consulting agency that helps seed and Series A startups build scalable sales processes and close their first million in revenue. With a career that began in CPG and evolved into tech sales, Carol has led high-volume sales teams, hired hundreds of reps, and now partners directly with founders to turn early traction into repeatable growth.

Follow Carol on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolmalakasis/

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This week on Beyond the Hire, we sit down with Michelle Vitus, CEO and founder of Slate, a B2B coaching platform built to help people navigate what’s next. Before founding Slate, Michelle was a VP at Wells Fargo, held business development roles at two startups, and earned her MBA from Stanford. But it was getting laid off that sparked her next big move—and led her to build a company that now supports thousands through career transitions.

Tune in to hear:

– The unexpected value of a layoff
 – Why “telling your story” can sometimes be more important than job titles
 – What hiring looks like when you bootstrap a company from the ground up
 – The mindset and metrics Michelle used to stay (or walk) at each phase of growth
 – The power of thoughtfully timed career pivots (and how to plan for them)

Michelle’s story is packed with honest advice, real-world lessons, and a roadmap for anyone considering their next chapter. Don’t miss it.

About Michelle Vitus:
Michelle is the Founder and CEO of Slate, a B2B coaching platform that helps organizations invest in their people—whether they’re growing into bigger roles or navigating what’s next. Before starting Slate, Michelle built her career in business development at two startups and spent several years as a VP in commercial banking at Wells Fargo. She holds an MBA from Stanford and a finance degree from the University of Minnesota. These days, she’s passionate about increasing the access, scale and impact of coaching.

Follow Michelle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellevitus/

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What does it really take to pivot your career—more than once—and land in a role that feels like a perfect fit?

In this episode of Beyond the Hire, we sit down with Dr. Heather Doshay, Partner and Head of Talent at SignalFire. Heather takes us through her incredible journey from university administration to tech startups to venture capital, sharing the lessons she’s learned through three major career reinventions.

We dive into:

• How to break into tech when you’re coming from a non-traditional background
• What most people get wrong about changing careers (and how to do it right)
•  How to build an authentic network that opens doors
•  Why “culture” has officially overtaken “bad managers” as the top reason people leave jobs
• The power of knowing when a role has outgrown you—and how to find your next one with intention

Whether you're hiring, job searching, or just trying to figure out your next step, this episode is packed with real talk and tactical advice. 

About Dr. Heather Doshay:
Dr. Heather Doshay is a Partner and the Head of Talent at SignalFire, an early-stage venture capital fund with approximately 3B in assets under management, where she uses her nearly 20 years experience as a people and talent executive, leadership professor, and university administrator to expertly guide startups to success. 

Prior to SignalFire, Heather held key People and Talent leadership roles at Webflow, RainforestQA, Hired, and taught Organizational Leadership at the University of San Francisco. She was honored as a top Talent Operator on the 2020 Anchor List and Top Women Leader in SaaS in the 2018 SaaS Report. You can find her work published in Entrepreneur, Forbes, Thrive Global, and VentureBeat.

Follow Heather on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshay/

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How do you turn a family emergency into a foundation for career resilience, find the perfect role fit at a global firm, break barriers as the lone woman on senior sales teams, and still leap into hypergrowth at startup? We weren't sure which is why we asked our latest guest.

In this episode of Beyond the Hire, we sit down with Jennifer Penn, VP of North American Sales at Talent Neuron, to unpack how she navigated her son’s life‑threatening stroke, chose an individual contributor role at Gartner for flexibility, stood out (and stood strong) as the only woman on Workday’s senior sales team, embraced the startup whirlwind at Eightfold, and ultimately found her career sweet spot at TalentNeuron.

In this episode, we cover:

•  How Jen supported her son through a massive brain hemorrhage and stroke, then built a blow‑out year at Gartner while managing 10 weekly therapy appointments.
• Why she declined her first leadership offer at Gartner to balance family priorities—and how that patience paid off.
• Lessons learned as the only woman on senior sales teams at Gartner and Workday, and why culture carriers matter.
• The risks, rewards, and rapid learning curve of joining high‑growth Eightfold after a decade in enterprise services.
• What made TalentNeuron the ideal next step, and how to recognize the culture and values that align with your career.

Join hosts Sandra Polak & Ayse Yasas from Betts Recruiting as they explore the strategies, sacrifices, and serendipity that fuel a modern sales leader’s rise.

About Jennifer Penn:
Jennifer Penn is the Vice President of North American Sales for Talent Neuron based in Atlanta, Georgia. With over 25 years of experience driving innovative and complex sales strategies—and seeing them through execution—she has developed an expertise in building high‑performing senior sales teams. Her passion for talent emerged in her early days of leadership and continued to blossom as an Executive Recruiter for Russell Reynolds. She spent the last six years of her career at Workday, Eightfold, and now Talent Neuron.

Follow Jen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-penn-4310183/

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What does it take to build a high-performing GTM team in today’s competitive tech landscape?

In this episode of Beyond the Hire, we sit down with Megan Conlon, Head of Talent Acquisition at Miter and former talent leader at Miro, to explore the art of intentional hiring in hyper-growth environments. Megan shares her firsthand experience navigating the complexities of scaling teams globally, balancing speed with quality, and identifying the traits that make candidates stand out in a competitive tech landscape. With insights drawn from 15 years of recruiting across industries—and her own career pivot to a smaller company that better aligned with her lifestyle—she offers a fresh perspective on hiring teams and why mentorship is key for career growth and the importance of building a strong network.

In this episode, we cover:

• How Miter prioritizes intentional hiring to balance speed and quality while scaling teams effectively.
• The key factors to consider when deciding between joining a startup or an established company for your next career move.
• Why mentorship is a game-changer for career growth and how leaders can foster meaningful mentor relationships.
• The emerging trends reshaping hiring in tech and how companies can stay ahead in attracting top talent.

Join hosts Sandra Polak & Ayse Yasas from Betts Recruiting as they explore the future of hiring, leadership, and building teams that succeed.

About Megan Conlon:
Megan is a seasoned talent acquisition leader with 15 years of experience across hospitality, financial services, and SaaS technology. She has led global teams across AMER, LATAM, EMEA, and JAPAC, building high-performing teams at companies like Miro and Miter. Megan’s leadership philosophy centers on radical candor and situational leadership, empowering teams to grow while aligning personal and professional goals.

Follow Megan Conlon on LinkedIn here!