Hire To Scale

INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Stewart Miller, founder of Livewire, a Dubai fitness content company, and creator of ARKHE, a performance and wellness club in Dubai Marina. Over 25 years he has built businesses in automotive, cycling, and fitness, including growing a bike business from 50 bikes in its first year to more than 100,000 a year and building Platform Studios into 4 clubs named the best boutique fitness clubs in the Middle East 4 years running. He recently hired around 40 people in 8 weeks, starting from a core team of about 6.

We talk about why he keeps only 5 people reporting to him, how he trusts that small core to do the hiring, and why the candidate carries more risk in an interview than the company does. Stewart explains why most of his content is made for his current and future team, how he tells candidates the hard parts of the job up front, and how he keeps standards consistent across locations by hiring for a shared mission where the coach is the guide and the client is the hero.

If you are growing fast and every hire still runs through you, this conversation shows how to build a small core team you trust to hire and hold the standard while you keep building.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• Why capping your direct reports at 5 gives each leader the time they need to hit their goals
• How to hire around 40 people quickly by trusting a small core team to make the calls
• Why the candidate takes on more risk in an interview than the company does
• How to use your social content to speak to your current and future team
• How to tell candidates the hard parts of the job before they say yes
• The difference between empathy and being soft when a team member is struggling
• How to plan an exit with someone who wants to leave so the door stays open for them to come back
• How to keep standards consistent across locations by hiring for a shared mission
• The difference between running a commoditized business on SOPs and running a value-based one

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Livewire – Stewart's Dubai company producing branded fitness content for gyms and platforms worldwide
• ARKHE – Stewart's performance and wellness club in Dubai Marina
• Jeff Bezos – the idea of starting from the end goal and working backwards

CONNECT WITH STEWART

Website: https://stewartmiller.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stewartmiller 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartmillerlw 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@moveamillionpeople 

Livewire: https://livewireproduction.com

Follow me on Instagram @stewartmiller.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here: METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP:

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/) 

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Matt Dixon, founder of Front Range Systems. Matt spent 26 years in tech as a software architect and fractional CTO, and today he builds operating systems for owners of $10M to $50M companies who have become the bottleneck in their own business. For one insurance client, his team took claims intake from 20 minutes per claim to 15 seconds.

We talk about why throwing people or software at a problem rarely fixes it, and how a rodeo company stopped hiring 3 seasonal temps once the actual process got a tool. Matt walks through how he decides what to systematize first, his Four Pillars of AI for rolling out new tools without making a team feel replaced, and the difference between influence and control when a founder finally starts letting go.

If your first instinct when the team is drowning is to post a job, this conversation gives you a way to check whether you need the hire or the system before you spend the money.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• The difference between the symptom and the problem when your team asks for another hire
• Why new hires and AI both amplify whatever process they walk into, good or bad
• How to decide what to systematize first using frequency, duration, and how much your team dislikes the task
• How to weigh the cost of building a system against the hours it gives back
• How to use the Four Pillars of AI to roll out new tools without backlash from your team
• Why starting with what AI will never touch is the fastest way to calm a team down
• How to take CRM updates off your salespeople's plate so they can spend the day on calls
• The difference between influence and control when you start letting go of decisions
• How to set your team up to make the call without you while you are on vacation

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Four Pillars of AI – Matt's workshop framework that sorts work into the no-go zone, throw over the wall, human in the loop, and the brain
• The Operating System Show – Matt's podcast where founders and executives share what broke in their company and what they rebuilt
• Jason Clark's TED Talk on change management – the four doors framework JP uses to explain what changes and what stays the same
• Dan Martell – the idea that a team member's mistake is the leader's to own, and decision budgets that grow with each level
• Alex Hormozi – the idea of getting the lesson without the scar
• Simon Sinek and Adam Grant – leadership authors JP read while building his first team
• The Five Love Languages – the book JP applies to how each employee likes to be recognized

CONNECT WITH MATT

Website: https://frontrangesystems.com 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fractionalctomatt

 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattdixon

Try Matt's free Hire to Scale calculator to see whether your next hire pays off: https://frontrangesystems.com/hire-to-scale

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here: METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/)

 Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Gino Vela, President of Bamboo CommTech in Miami and co-founder of Advent Fiber Optics and the AI venture studio Logos Catalyst. He got here by failing first: a design studio and a record label went under before he went back to work, rebuilt his mindset, and spent 11 years growing Bamboo into a network infrastructure company that has delivered more than 100 projects, most of them without him on site.

We talk about the 2 books he makes every candidate read before they get a first interview and what it tells him when they do not, the 4 90-day modules he runs every new hire through in their first year, and why he moves people to the job they are strongest at instead of coaching the one he hired them for. We also break down the Bamboo Philosophy (3 to 4 years of roots before anything shows above ground), how he plans his companies 5 moves ahead, and the Buy Back Your Time math that ended his 80-hour weeks.

If you are hiring fast because you need help now and wondering why nobody sticks, this conversation gives you a hiring filter, a 1-year training cadence, and a case for patience that holds up when revenue is tight.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• How to use 2 books as a hiring filter before the first interview, and what a candidate who skips them is telling you
• How to structure a new hire's first year as 4 90-day modules, from finding their strengths to leading others
• Why putting someone in the job they are strongest at beats coaching the job you hired them for
• The difference between hiring someone to fill a seat and hiring someone for the value they bring to the marketplace
• How to lead technicians in a trade you did not come from without pretending to be the expert
• Why the Bamboo Philosophy says growth you can see takes 3 to 4 years of roots you cannot
• How to answer "I can't afford 3 years on 1 person" when revenue is tight
• Why planning your next 5 moves matters more than this quarter's numbers
• Why 80-hour weeks were costing Gino the business, and the buyback math that changed it

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• The Bamboo Philosophy – Gino's model for building teams and companies: grow slow, build roots, then grow strong
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – the first of the 2 books every candidate reads before an interview
• The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy – the second required read; every action in the company compounds into value or loss
• Leadership Strategy and Tactics by Jocko Willink – the follow-up to Extreme Ownership that taught Gino to lead from the front, then step aside
• The ONE Thing by Gary Keller – focus first on the single activity that makes the business money
• Your Next Five Moves by Patrick Bet-David – plan the business 5 moves ahead instead of year to year
• Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell – the buyback ratio that ended Gino's 80-hour weeks
• Jim Rohn – the idea that you are paid for the value you bring to the marketplace, not for your time
• Bamboo CommTech – Gino's telecommunications and network infrastructure company
• Logos Catalyst – Gino's AI venture studio, which released 2 products this year including Prompted Printed, an AI graphic design tool with a free account
• The Art of the Entrepreneur – Gino's first book, with a foreword by Brian Tracy, planned for January

CONNECT WITH GINO

Website: https://ginovela.com/ I

nstagram: https://www.instagram.com/gthehumblebeast/

DM Gino the word LEARNING on Instagram to connect with him and follow the book release.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here: METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/)

 Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Tim Ferris, founder of Leadership Genius and author of Deal With Your Crap. Tim has spent more than 20 years as a leadership strategist and executive coach, with over 10,000 individual coaching conversations and thousands more hours in group facilitation, working with leaders from frontline managers through to CEOs and boards. He also burnt out twice before he turned 25, and that experience is the reason the book exists.

We talk about what Tim calls the work behind the work: the internal operating system that drives how a leader hires, delegates, and handles conflict. We break down why burnout is a symptom and not the problem, the 2 patterns he sees most often in leaders who cannot stop (the overdriver and parental inversion), how bias shows up in hiring when the same type of hire keeps failing at the 6-month mark, and how culture can be measured against a benchmark using the Human Synergistics model instead of a homemade survey. Tim also explains the difference between constructive, aggressive defensive, and passive defensive cultures, and why the aggressive ones win short term and crash later.

If you are a founder who feels like the only one working, keeps hiring people who do not last, or has a team that nods in meetings and changes nothing afterward, this conversation gives you a place to start looking that does not require a new hire or a new strategy.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• Why your behavior as a leader is never random, and where the patterns come from
• How to spot when your own bias is driving a hire that keeps failing on repeat
• Why burnout has more to do with what stopping means to you than with how many hours you work
• The difference between the overdriver pattern and parental inversion, and how each leads to burnout
• How a burnt-out leader disempowers the team long before they hit the wall
• Why a homemade culture survey is a waste of time without benchmark data
• The difference between constructive, aggressive defensive, and passive defensive cultures
• Why asking for feedback and doing nothing with it leaves people more cynical than not asking
• How to find the 1 problem that is yours to fix when the same issue keeps showing up on your team

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Deal With Your Crap – Tim's book, an end-to-end blueprint for identifying, dismantling, and replacing the protective patterns that hold leaders back
• Crap-O-Meter – Tim's free self-assessment covering the 6 most common protective patterns
• Human Synergistics – The benchmarked culture and leadership assessment tool Tim has used for 25 years, built on 40+ years of research and 12 behavioral styles
• Leadership Genius – Tim's coaching and culture transformation firm

CONNECT WITH TIM

Website: https://www.dealwithyourcrap.com.au 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timferris

 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tpferris/

Get the book and take the free Crap-O-Meter.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here: METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP: 

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/)

 Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Chris Mader, founder of MTA Consultancy, executive coach, EOS implementer, and author of Make the Adjustment. Chris spent 4 years chasing pro baseball after being drafted by the White Sox in the 49th round, then built a 25-year career in staffing, where he ran talent acquisition and training for North America at the world's largest HR services firm. Today he works with founder-led companies in the 5 to 30 million dollar range to help them grow and scale.

We break down what EOS actually looks like when you apply it to people instead of just process. Chris explains the difference between an accountability chart and an org chart, how the right people right seat exercise really works, and what to do when the exercise tells you somebody on your team isn't going to make it. He also shares his framework for giving hard feedback without damaging the relationship, and his take on the question every founder wrestles with: do I invest in training this person, or do I replace them?

If you have someone on your team who isn't performing and you can't tell whether it's a them problem or a you problem, this conversation will give you a way to find out.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• A beginner's explanation of EOS and why any company with 2 or more employees can run it
• The difference between an accountability chart and an org chart, and why one person has to own every number
• How to run the right people, right seat exercise, and what GWC (get it, want it, capable of doing it) really tests for
• Why 84% of your team will resist change, and how to manage a rollout so it actually sticks
• The change checklist, and why most companies start a new change before finishing the last one
• Feedback on the Fly, Chris's algorithm for correcting performance without judging the person
• How to tell a skill issue from a will issue, and when investing in training stops making sense
• Hire for character, train for skill: competency-based behavioral interviewing explained
• Why founders should let their team set their own goals and rocks
• The 10-80-10 rule for delegating something for the first time
• How to build a scorecard that avoids vanity metrics, and why your team should enter their numbers by hand
• Why the first week of onboarding should be designed as an experience, not a data dump
• Where intuition still beats automation when you're evaluating people

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System): The framework Chris implements, created by Gino Wickman, covering vision, traction, people, issues, and metrics
• The Accountability Chart: EOS tool that assigns one owner to every function so issues can be traced to a seat, not a person
• GWC (Get It, Want It, Capacity to Do It): The 3-part filter for evaluating whether someone is in the right seat
• Feedback on the Fly: Chris's coaching model. Timing is everything, facts before judgments, collaborate don't compete
• Skill vs. Will: A quick diagnostic for whether a performance gap is a training problem or a character problem
• The 10-80-10 Rule: Start the task with them, let them own the middle 80%, review the final 10% together
• Change Readiness Assessment: Chris's tool, built on Boston University diffusion theory research, for scoring how ready you actually are to change. Ask him for it directly
• Competency-Based Behavioral Interviewing: Interviewing for how a candidate thinks and behaves instead of what's on the resume
• The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman: The book that shaped Chris's view on where work can get done
• Turn the Ship Around! by L. David Marquet: On moving authority to where the information is
• Drive: What Motivates Us by Dan Pink: The RSA Animate video on autonomy, mastery, and purpose

CONNECT WITH CHRIS

• Website: https://www.mtaconsultancy.com/
• Instagram:   / chrismadermta  
• LinkedIn:   / chrismadermta  
• Make the Adjustment Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5dAAXTN...
• Make the Adjustment Podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
• Make the Adjustment (book): https://a.co/d/9CutByI
• Manager to Maverick, his coaching cohort for managers: https://www.mtaconsultancy.com/manage...
• Coach Mader AI, executive coaching on demand: https://www.mtaconsultancy.com/chris-...
• Work with Chris: https://www.mtaconsultancy.com/contact
  
  

GET MORE TIME BACK TO SCALE YOUR BUSINESS

• Start here: https://www.trymeteor.com/
• Download the VA Hiring Playbook: https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-MET...

CONNECT WITH JP

• Instagram:   / jp.forno  
• LinkedIn:   / jpforno 
  
  

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing t

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with JP Rinylo, founder of Starting Point Associates and the host of The Starting Point, a live coaching room for founders who want to suck less at sales. He spent 15 years in enterprise B2B sales and closed over $75 million personally across 5 companies as their first sales hire, and 3 of those companies went on to be acquired. We met through a business community a little under a year ago, and he hired his first executive assistant through METEOR, so he has been on both sides of the conversation we have here.

We break down why the first sales hire fails so often and what has to be true before you make it. JP explains the difference between the burden of sales and the burden of demand, why he opens every coaching session by calling sales a burden of leadership before it is a burden of the business, and where sales sits on the Martel Replacement Ladder as the last function you hand off. He also walks through the plan he built for a client with 12 years in business and revenue just south of $20 million who is hiring a salesperson for the first time, including who to hire, what the first 3 months look like, and which part of the offer to break off first.

If you are the only person in your company who can close a deal and you are hoping a sales hire will fix that, this conversation gives you the audit to run before you post the role.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• How to tell whether your business is ready for a sales hire or just tired of selling
• Why a commission-only offer sinks a first sales hire inside 3 months
• The difference between the burden of sales and the burden of demand, and which one you can actually outsource
• How to get clear on what you sell, who buys it, and what a rep is allowed to offer before you write the job description
• Why a customer success person from your own industry can outperform a seasoned closer as your first hire
• How to structure a 3-month shadow period so a new rep learns why your clients buy, not just what you sell
• Why the clarity you owe a new hire is the clarity you have not given yourself yet
• The difference between mastering a function and making it operational enough to delegate
• How to decide which stage of your sales cycle to hand off first

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• The Starting Point – JP Rinylo's live coaching room for founders and owner-operators, running every Tuesday at 1:30 Eastern
• The Martel Replacement Ladder – the delegation order JP references in the episode: administrative first, delivery and operations second, then marketing, with sales last
• Good to Great by Jim Collins – the source of the right people on the boat idea they use to talk about when a team should specialize

CONNECT WITH JP RINYLO

Website: https://www.startingpointassociates.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jprinylo

Follow him on Instagram and DM me the word ROOM and I'll send you details on The Starting Point.

----------

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here: METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP: 

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Brandon Smith, co-founder and CEO of New Vision Projects, an award-winning custom home builder and renovation company in Delta, BC, and the founder of Trade Up Coaching. Brandon barely finished high school, got fired from McDonald's, and started in construction pushing a broom on a job site. By 23 he owned 2 houses. Sixteen years later he runs a construction company and coaches renovation contractors trying to get from 1 or 2 million to 5 million and beyond.

We talk about the trap almost every founder falls into. You're working 70 or 80 hour weeks, the revenue is there but the profit isn't, and every decision still runs through you. Brandon walks through the mindset shift that broke him out of it, why hiring people who are better than you is the whole game, and how to decide which tasks to hand off first. He also gets into how you keep culture consistent across a core team and a rotating group of contractors, why core values fail when they're just words on a wall, and where AI actually fits into a trades business.

If you're a founder who's become the bottleneck in your own company and you're not sure what to let go of first, this conversation gives you a place to start.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• How to decide which tasks to delegate first, and why the fastest to onboard usually beats the most important
• Why hiring below your own skill level keeps you stuck, and how Brandon flipped that mindset
• The question Brandon asks every contractor who thinks nobody can do the job like they can
• Why an early, lower-cost hire is asymmetric risk, and what you actually learn from making it
• How to build an onboarding experience instead of just handing someone a job description
• Why core values only work if the owner is visibly making decisions through them
• How to keep culture consistent when half your team is subcontractors who come and go
• How to run the buyback rate exercise on your own calendar to find what to outsource
• Why the skills that made you great at your craft become your ceiling as an owner
• Where AI is already changing trades businesses, and which work stays human for a long time
• How to spot drive and potential in someone whose resume or report card doesn't show it

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell – Brandon's recommendation for auditing your calendar, and the source of the buyback rate framework he walks through
• The Buyback Rate – Find the tasks in your week worth a quarter of your hourly rate or less, and outsource those first
• Brandon's 30-Day Onboarding Checklist – What he uses internally and with every coaching client. DM him "hire" on Instagram to get it
• Trade Up – The idea behind Brandon's coaching practice: trade the skills you have for the skills you need
• YELL (Youth Entrepreneurship Leadership Launchpad) – The high school entrepreneurship program Brandon has volunteered with for close to a decade
• Dr. Ken Keis – Personality and leadership assessment work Brandon is certified in and runs his whole team through. He was a guest on The Open Concept
• Red Seal Certification – The Canadian apprenticeship credential that started Brandon's career in the trades

CONNECT WITH BRANDON

Website: https://tradeupcoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildwithbsmith/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-smith-nvp/

New Vision Projects: https://newvisionprojects.com/

The Open Concept Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6lPo3hHrreDSuz6v4MhikA

DM Brandon "hire" on Instagram for his 30-day onboarding checklist, or "Trade Up" to talk about coaching.

GET MORE TIME BACK TO SCALE YOUR BUSINESS

Start here → https://www.trymeteor.com/

Download the VA Hiring Playbook: https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc68?pvs=74

Connect with JP:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
LinkedIn
Instagram

INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Jordin McEntire, Executive Coach and Fractional COO at the DEO (Dentist Entrepreneur Organization) and CEO of Entire Management. Jordin has spent 18 years in operations and management, running multi-location practices with some of the largest dental organizations in the country before building her own company helping businesses across industries scale through better systems, leadership, and talent development.

Most conversations about talent stop at hiring. This one starts where they end. We talk about what happens after you get people through the door: how to diagnose the health of your team and culture, how to build pay bands and career pathways so your people know exactly what growth looks like, and how to decide whether someone needs to be coached up or coached out.

Jordin also walks through her five performance levels for evaluating talent, how to have hard conversations (including letting people go) in a human way, her Heal-Deal-Do approach to change management, and why AI should be treated as an enhancement to your people, not a replacement.

If you have ever lost a great team member and didn't know why, or held on to a bad fit longer than you should have, this conversation gives you the frameworks to fix both.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• How to diagnose your company's talent and culture health beyond just the data
• How to build pay bands and pathways with clear entry, mid, and expert tiers
• Why seniority is not the same as competence, and how to break that trap
• The "skill vs. will" framework for putting the right person in the right seat
• Jordin's five performance levels for evaluating talent objectively
• When to coach someone up versus coach them out (and why you can't do both)
• How to fire someone in a human way so it never comes as a surprise
• The Heal-Deal-Do method for leading your team through change
• How to position AI as an enhancement for your team, not a replacement

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• The Talent Bank — Jordin's assessment framework for evaluating the health of your culture, retention, and compensation
• Pay Bands & Pathways — A tiered structure (entry, mid, expert) that gives every role clear KPIs, skills, and growth milestones
• Skill vs. Will Framework — A diagnostic for whether performance issues come from ability, motivation, or the environment
• The Five Performance Levels — New Enroll, Needs Improvement, Strong Contributor, Strong Contributor Well-Placed, and Strong Contributor Do More
• Heal, Deal, Do — Jordin's approach for working through the internal blockers that stop leaders from taking action
• "People don't quit hard, they quit unclear" — The retention principle behind clear roles, frequent check-ins, and honest conversations
• Never Lose a Customer Again by Joey Coleman — A book on designing customer experiences that create loyalty
• The DEO (Dentist Entrepreneur Organization) — Community, coaching, and resources for dental entrepreneurs
• Free Leadership Self-Assessment — Reach out to Jordin for the self-analysis tool she shares with new leaders

CONNECT WITH JORDIN

Website: https://www.entiremanagement.org/
LinkedIn (Jordin): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordin-mcentire/
LinkedIn (Entire Management): https://www.linkedin.com/company/entire-management/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordin.mcentire/
Dentists: Find Jordin at the DEO — https://deodentalgroup.com/

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here: METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
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In this episode, I sit down with Frank Lofaro, founder of Tank Recruiting and one of the sharpest talent partners I know for founders. Frank has helped companies hire hundreds of A-players, led recruiting for high-growth teams, and was part of a record-breaking $105M weekend launch built on the back of strong people and process.

We break down why most founders treat hiring like a last‑minute emergency instead of a core growth lever, and how to use Frank’s 7-step recruiting system to make your first five (and next fifty) hires without guessing. Frank walks through his talent / time / money audit, his driver–vehicle–fuel framework, and simple ways to treat recruiting like sales and marketing so you consistently attract better people.

If you’re a founder who’s out of time, drowning in work, and not sure who to hire next, this conversation will help you prioritize the right role, design a clear job, and move fast enough to close top talent before you lose them.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How to decide if your next move is a hire, a contractor, or just a process fix
• Frank’s 7-step recruiting roadmap: prioritize, define, referrals, launch, fishermen, evaluate, close
• How to run talent, time, and money audits so you design the right role instead of throwing bodies at problems
• How to write job descriptions that actually attract A-players (and why you should model bigger companies first)
• How to use 30-60-90 day plans to interview, onboard, and hold new hires accountable
• How to turn your network into a referral engine with simple scripts and smart bonus structures
• Why hiring velocity matters, and how to shrink your offer process from weeks to days with BAMFAM
• How to use gut instinct in hiring without letting bias wreck your decisions

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Talent / Time / Money Audit Framework
• Identify–Prioritize–Resolve problem funnel
• Driver–Vehicle–Fuel model for evaluating roles and leaders
• 30-60-90 Day Onboarding Plan
• BAMFAM (Book-A-Meeting-From-A-Meeting) principle for hiring speed
• Tank Recruiting – Frank’s recruiting firm for founders

CONNECT WITH FRANK

Instagram (personal): 
https://www.instagram.com/franklofaro/

Instagram (Tank Recruiting): 
https://www.instagram.com/tankrecruiting/

LinkedIn (Frank): 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-lofaro/

LinkedIn (Tank Recruiting): 
linkedin.com/company/tank-recruit/about/

GET MORE TIME BACK TO SCALE YOUR BUSINESS

Start here → 
https://www.trymeteor.com/

Download the VA Hiring Playbook:
https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74

Connect with JP:

Instagram: 
https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/

LinkedIn: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
LinkedIn
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INTRO

Hiring is one of the most important decisions a founder makes because the wrong person slows the business down and the right person unlocks the next level of growth. The problem is that most hiring processes are built on assumptions, first impressions, and gut feelings, which makes the entire thing feel like a coin toss instead of a system.

In this episode I break down why hiring feels unpredictable and what actually makes it predictable. I explain the difference between assumption based hiring and deduction based hiring, how to define exactly what you are looking for before you ever open a job post, and how to test for the behaviors that matter most. I also walk you through the two pillars that make up a reliable recruiting system so you can stop gambling on talent and start hiring with intention.

If you want a clear and practical way to think about recruiting, this episode gives you the foundation to build a process you can trust.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• Why most founders make hiring decisions with almost no real evidence.
• The difference between assumption based hiring and deduction based hiring and why it matters.
• How to define what “winning” looks like for a role before you begin recruiting.
• How to identify the biggest constraint in your business and use it to shape the role.
• How to design assessments that reveal real behavior instead of surface level signals.
• How to evaluate technical competence, culture fit, and job fit with clarity.
• A simple three step framework you can use to improve your next hire immediately.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Mads Faurholt Jorgensen TED Talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxjgL64czRY
  
  

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
LinkedIn
Instagram