Over the past 24 years, I’ve read thousands of resumes, interviewed hundreds of people, and hired across multiple companies. I thought I had a ton of experience — until I met Cecilia and Victoria. I’m in awe.
Why? Because Cecilia and Victoria are true experts at sourcing new team members. The other day, I did a quick calculation: between them, it’s easily over 40,000 interviews throughout their careers. That’s an incredible amount of experience.
And I’m not saying this because they are part of my team, but because I’ve seen firsthand how much hiring has changed over the past 24 months — more than it did in the previous 24 years. Hiring hasn’t gotten easier. Quite the opposite.
I think this is one of the biggest challenges small companies face today: finding the right people in a sea of opportunities. Getting hiring right determines the success of any business. Get it right, and the business grows. Get it wrong, and it stagnates.
Here are three timeless techniques Cecilia and Victoria use when interviewing candidates after scanning thousands of applications:
1. Details that hurt
Anyone can talk about wins. The real test is whether they can tell the story behind them in vivid detail — what really happened, who was involved, and what the friction was. They even ask small things like what the weather was like during a specific event to test authenticity.
2. Process over polish
They ask candidates to walk through how they did something, step by step. Real experience is a little messy. Made-up experience sounds like bullet points. They look for the small missteps and corrections that prove genuine experience.
3. The pause
Real memory makes people stop and think. Over-rehearsed answers don’t. When on a video interview, do the eyes move slightly as they recall, or do they stay fixed? That’s a subtle but powerful signal.
These are fundamentals in a hiring process that has only gotten more complex in recent months. But they remain the foundation — even in a world of a thousand resumes and AI-polished applications.
-
The Freedom Test: Can Your Business Run Without You?
I barely checked my email for the past two weeks and drastically reduced my workload. It’s summer, and I’ve been traveling through Europe. On my way to Bulgaria, I had breakfast with Janet Bell, who happened to be here as well. Janet and I have known each other for years, going back to our time in OPWIL (Office Products Women in Leadership).
Even though so much has changed around us, our connection was instant. We enjoyed coffee in the sun and talked about the changes AI is bringing to the office supply space.
That conversation reminded me of something I’ve come to appreciate deeply: as business owners, we need to build companies that can run without us. If my business can’t operate while I’m away, while I’m traveling, then it’s time to redesign the system.
Here’s what made that possible for me:
✔️ Delegation rooted in trust
✔️ Systems that carry the weight
✔️ People who show up and take ownershipIt sounds so obvious and even banal, yet it took me years to get right. And I see so many business owners who know this, yet still struggle to find the right people who allow them to let go.
This trip gave me gratitude for the freedom I’ve been able to build.
Please follow and like us: -
Cheaper Help to Aligned Help: The Story Behind Staff4Half
I thought I needed cheaper help. What I really needed was aligned help.
Back when I was running my California-based office supply business, Gorilla Stationers, payroll was my biggest expense and compliance headaches never seemed to stop. Despite paying top dollar, I couldn’t always count on the work getting done right. So I did what every cost-conscious entrepreneur eventually does: I hired offshore.
The Philippines made sense, great people, affordable rates. But then came the 2 a.m. Zoom calls. Not for me, but for my team abroad. I could hear the exhaustion in their voices, even when they smiled through it. The 12-hour time difference between the Philippines and the U.S. made me wonder: is this really how I want to grow, by making people labor through their nights? It felt unethical.
I didn’t want just cheap help. I wanted team members who could have a healthy work-life balance that worked for them and for me. And that shouldn’t be limited to my U.S. team.
That dilemma was still on my mind when I flew to Buenos Aires for an EO event. What I found surprised me:
✔️ U.S. time-zone alignment
✔️ A cost advantage compared to U.S. salaries
✔️ And a European-style culture of ownership and pride in workSo I decided to give it a try. I hired a VA to help me with my admin. That one hire turned into two. Then five. They helped me grow Gorilla Stationers while building a healthier team.
As I shared my experience, the inquiries started:
“Where did you find this person?”
“Can you help me get someone like that?”And just like that, Staff4Half was born, from solving my own talent problem in a way that finally felt aligned with my values, my clients, and my team.
If you’re tired of trading cost for quality, or ethics for output, I’ve been there. There’s a better way to build.
Please follow and like us:
