Today, Laura Johnson is joined by Simon Bernadino, Founder of Lab17 and talent acquisition specialist.

When Simon took on his first role as a retail store manager at 21, he met a colleague and friend with the right connections to help him kickstart his career. Being introduced to the GM of a media company, Simon had his first taste of the business world and confirmed his interest in sales. Following this, Simon took a six month trip to London which turned into four years and the beginning of his recruitment journey. Explaining that the same friend introduced him to a global SAP recruitment agency, Simon admits that he found his skill for talent acquisition by falling into it.

With a taste for recruitment and the prerequisite of enjoying meeting new people, Simon continued on this path, exploring agency and in-house work before going on to found his own company, Lab17. Simon worked at a boutique recruitment agency before transitioning to the in-house talent acquisition team at Spotify.

With a wealth of experience in different recruitment environments, Simon founded Lab17 with his childhood friend and business partner, Nick Ingall. With Lab17, Simon and Nick were able to fuse their interest in tech with their desire to shift away from the traditional recruitment model. Describing Lab17 as more of a Talent Acquisition Consultancy, Simon explains that it was founded as a lifestyle business and adapts to a new partnership model.

“You have to have a genuine curiosity about tech and product development and actually attach yourself to the mission of an organization that you're actually interested in.”

Simon has an authentic interest in what he does and identifies this as the key to being successful in business. In terms of the best career advice he has been given, Simon expresses a similar notion, encouraging people never to outsource motivation.

“I never want to rely on pressure from peers or family or social media or just the world to motivate me to want to do something.”

Simon’s experiences with mentors have been outside of business, instead drawing parallels between the lessons he has learnt through his football coaches. Expanding his mentality on and off the pitch, he explains how invaluable lessons are learnt when dedicating yourself to a passion project.

“Find things that you’re passionate about and make sure you dedicate time to them.”

To hear more from Simon, listen to the latest episode of Strivin and Thrivin now!