Sam Miller

We help Recruiters Build their brand and get more Clients and Candidates Approaching Them. 👉 New Training: The Inbound Academy - Message me for more details 🚀 £3.5 Million Generated for Clients 🚀

Recruiters Business Owners 
If you have 5000+ connections on LinkedIn
You could be winning IMMEDIATE business




A lot of recruiters don't think twice about their connections on LinkedIn

But the truth is your connections arn't just a number

They’re filled with dormant business relationships waiting to be rekindled.

Think about it...

Those hundreds of coffee meetings you've had over the years? They're still connected to you.

The clients you worked with 2-3 years ago? They're still following your updates.

Those fantastic candidates who weren't quite ready to move? They're still watching your content.

The problem is, that most recruiters aren't leveraging this effectively.

They're posting sporadically, with no real strategy or purpose.

I'm here to change that

If you're ready to start utilising your network on LinkedIn 

Then come and try out our free trial...

We’ll write you two world-class pieces of content designed to get maximum engagement in your niche 

Here are some results recruiters have had on our free trial: 

- Won $30K worth of business (Money in the bank 2 months later) 
- Hundreds of thousands of impressions 
- More warm conversations with decision-makers and candidates 

Just from TWO posts. 

Oh and let me say this again….It's FREE! 

Interested? 

Check out the featured section below or visit our visit!

Director

▶︎HERE'S WHAT WE DO: I help Companies Struggling to Stand Out In A Competitive Market By helping them To Be Seen by More Customers And Speak to More Decision Makers



I interviewed a recruiter who's billing $2.4 Million 
He makes a CLEAR distinction between these two things
A Placebale Candidate VS a Closeable Candidate...




Here’s where recruiters get caught out

They spend weeks selling a brilliant candidate to a client… 
Only to discover, at the offer stage, that the candidate:

• Was “just seeing what’s out there.”
• Was waiting for a counteroffer
• Had no real reason to leave
• Needed to interview everywhere before deciding
• Was never emotionally ready to move
  
Placeable candidates look great on paper. 
They’ve done the job. 
They interview well. 
Clients love them.

And yet… nothing happens.
Why? 
No Urgency to move. 

Closable candidates are different.
They don’t just 𝘧𝘪𝘵 the role, they’re actually prepared to leave what they’re doing now.

Great recruiters don’t just ask “𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘣?”

They ask things like:
• “What problem are you trying to solve by leaving?”
• “Could your current employer fix that?”
• “If the right offer was in front of you tomorrow, would you take it?”
• “What would stop you saying yes?”

Because placeability gets interviews. 
Closability gets offers accepted.

And clients don’t pay recruiters to run interviews.
They pay them to close.

Full Podcast in the comments below....

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We Interview the top 1% of recruiters and share their PROVEN strategies to Win More Placements. 100+ episodes with top billers: from $500k to $2.5 Million producers.

I interviewed a recruiter who's billing $539K 
on average, he only works 6 hours a day 
Here are the 2 BD tactics he swears by....



1. MPC marketing via email and LinkedIn
2. Job-opening approach (pitching a candidate directly against an open role) 

He makes sure he does 10 new business activities every single day (50 a week) 

That's it...

No AI 
No Fancy Automation system 
No mass outreach

Just giving the clients what they want
Which is........ great candidates. 

With this simple formula
He's able to bill half a million dollars a year 
While only working 6 hours a day 

Its a fantastic reminder to every recruiter 

MASTER the fundamentals 

Because they will always work 
And they are simpilist path to making good money. 

<FULL PODCAST IN THE COMMENTS BELOW>

I spoke to a recruiter who was laid off in Jan 2024 
She sold her LA apartment and decided to travel the world
6 months later, she closed $200k of business...



Yep...

Laid off in Jan 2024 

6 months later...

• Running her own business 
• Traveling the world 
• Recruiting in a brand new market (legal) 
• Closed $200k of business (money in the bank) 
• Living life on her terms 
• Having the most mind-blowing experiences 


Why am I sharing this with you? 

Well its Jan 2026 

Which means whatever happened last year — good or bad — is now locked in.

What isn’t locked in is where you’ll be by mid-year.

This story is useful not because of the outcome, but because of the timeline.

Six months, done properly, is enough to rebuild momentum.

If she can do it....so can you. 

If you want the full story and some inspiration

Full podcast in the comments below.

I interviewed a recruiter who's billed $750K+ for 30 years straight! here are 4 questions he will ask candidates to get consistent HOT leads......



1. “Out of curiosity, where else are you interviewing at the moment?”
→ Identifies 3–6 companies that are actively hiring right now

2. “That’s helpful — was that direct, or through a recruiter?”
→ Tells you whether the company already pays fees (high-probability BD)

3. “And who did you actually speak with over there — hiring manager, HR, ops?”
→ Reveals the real decision-maker or buying influence

4. “Got it. And what triggered that hire — growth, a backfill, or something else?”
→ Explains urgency and hints at future roles coming behind it


Funny how some of the best BD tactics are the most simple. 

FULL PODCAST IN THE COMMENTS BELOW

I spoke to a recruiter who's billing $700K
She sends every prospect a LOOM video before the call
Her show-up rate is now 100%! Here's how it works...




I'm sure every single recruiter can relate...

You've managed to get a response from a new potential client
You book a meeting in a calendar 
And then NO SHOW.....


This recruiter has an ingenious strategy to make sure this never happens again 

12-24 hours before the meeting begins, she sends a Loom video to the prospect 

Here's what the video says...

“Hey [Name] — looking forward to our meeting.  
Based on what you shared about [role/problem], here are 1–2 thoughts on how I’d approach it. 
<Share thoughts> 
We’ll dig in properly on the call. See you at [time].”

Why it works 
It does three things instantly:

1. Signals respect for their time: You’re not “another vendor.” You did work before you got paid.
   
2. Creates micro-commitment: They’ve now engaged with you (even passively). Much harder to ghost.
   
3. Sets a serious tone: It quietly communicates, “This isn’t a random sales chat. This matters.”


Since implementing this strategy, Julia has had a 100% show rate with every new potential client call. 

Want more details? 

Check out the full podcast in the comments below.

This guy started a recruitment side hustle and billed $200K (while holding down a full-time SaaS job) 
Here's the numbers he did over a 4 year period




2021: $100k (while employed)
2022: $200k (while employed)
2023: $250k (first year full-time)
2025: $539k (Second year full-time)

Here’s the honest part that people need to hear, though...

In 2023 when Jeffrey Zabrin decided to go full-time into recruitment
he expected to do $400k in his first year. 

Double the amount of time so double the billings right?

Wrong. 

He only hit $250k. 

He was frustrated and extremely deflated

There was no overnight hockey stick growth that he was expecting to see

But he kept going....

What actually moved the needle from $250k → $539k+ wasn’t a new tool or market timing.

It was two very unsexy things.

1) Compounding niche momentum
After a few years in the same niche, something changes.
You stop “introducing yourself” and start becoming the person.
Clients come back. Candidates come back. Conversations get shorter. Trust is already there.

It doesn’t feel dramatic day-to-day…
But year-to-year, it compounds fast.

2) He deliberately upped outbound again
This is the part people miss.

Even with repeat clients, didn’t coast.
He consciously increased activity to around 10 new business touches per day.

Not spam.
Intentional outreach, every single day.

The takeaway?

Growth isn’t linear.
Quitting your job doesn’t guarantee a jump.
Momentum + consistent outbound beats motivation every time.

FULL PODCAST IN THE COMMENTS BELOW

I interviewed a recruiter who's billing £850K 
He uses CVs to gather market intelligence on companies
Then uses it in his pitch to win more clients... 




Most recruiters look at a CV and think:
“Can I place this person?”

He looks at a CV and asks something different:
“What does this tell me about the market?”

To Craig, a CV isn’t just a candidate profile.
It’s evidence.

A real-world map of how companies actually hire, not how job specs say they hire.

He doesn’t skim CVs.
He strips them line by line.

- Tech stack.
- Tools used.
- Versions.
- Environments.
- System scale.
- Team size.
- Reporting lines.
- Business context.

One CV is interesting.
Ten similar CVs is intelligence.

He groups them into patterns or “avatars”.

Think things like:
• Java engineers from tier-1 banks
• Quants moving from sell-side to buy-side
• Backend engineers jumping from scale-ups to hedge funds

Each group tells a story.

- Where companies really source talent from.
- Which backgrounds convert
- What’s considered a “safe” hire vs a risky one.

And here’s where it gets powerful.

When he speaks to clients, he doesn’t ask:
“So… what are you looking for?”

He already knows.

Instead, he says:
“Most teams like yours hire people who’ve done X, Y, and Z. Does that sound right?”

Clients feel understood.
They feel challenged (in a good way).
They feel like they're speaking to an expert. 

And that’s ONE reason why he bills what he does.

FULL PODCAST IN THE COMMENTS BELOW

I interviewed a recruiter who billed $1.8 Million
He uses a simple 3-2-1 commenting strategy to win clients on LinkedIn. Here's how it works...

I interviewed a recruiter who billed $1M in his second year of recruitment! And guess what? He worked on any role in any niche. As long as there was demand. 






Everyone tells recruiters the same thing:

“Pick a niche. Go an inch wide and a mile deep.”

One of the best billers I’ve spoken to recently didn’t do that.

He’s built multiple $1m+ years in recruitment
without locking himself into one vertical.

His rule is simple:

If there’s demand, I’ll work it.

What makes this work isn’t randomness, it’s fundamentals.

Once you’ve learned recruitment properly (especially in a hard market), you realise something:

Most roles boil down to the same question:

What problem is this hire meant to solve?

Sales, marketing, product, engineering, different languages, same mechanics.

Where people get this wrong is thinking “no niche” means “no focus”.

It doesn’t.

It means:
– following demand
– backing strong candidates
– not turning away good business because it’s “outside the lane”

Sometimes the most profitable niche…

…is demand itself.

FULL PODCAST IN THE COMMENTS BELOW

I spoke to a recruiter who billed $2.4 Million 
He places Internal talent acquisition for free 
So he can be fed specific roles in the future...





This move is GOLD

But context matters. 

Here's when to use it...

You’ve made 3–6 placements already

The company is:
- 25–150 employees
- Growing fast
- Complaining about agency spend

You hear 𝘢𝘯𝘺 version of:
“We’re thinking of hiring internal”
“We need to get costs down”

Instead of walking away and saying, "We had our run, on to the next one." 

That’s your moment to secure long-term business 

Here's what you say...

“Honestly, at your stage, continuing to rely only on agencies doesn’t make sense long term.
If I were in your shoes, I’d hire an internal recruiter.
And if you want, I’ll help you do that for free.”
 

If they ask 𝘸𝘩𝘺, you say:
 
“Because if I place the right internal recruiter,  they’ll understand how agencies actually work,  they won’t waste time fighting the market,  and when they inevitably need agency help again, I’d rather be the person they trust.”


On your first call with the internal:
 
“I’m not here to compete with you.
You own the core hiring.  I’m here for:
• niche roles
• urgent spikes
• confidential searches
When you need help, I’ll be faster and easier than starting from scratch.”
 
This creates alliance, not friction.

Try it out. 
If you get it right, it could create a fountain of business for the long term. 

<FULL PODCAST IN THE COMMENTS BELOW>

I spoke to a recruiter who's billing $500K
His business is doing $5 Million with a team of 10
Here's how he uses lead magnets to win business

Had a sales call with a recruitment business owner
He said he wants his team to start posting content
Because he knows he's leaving money on the table




Here’s what he told me…

“Sam, I’ve got a team of 7 recruiters. They’re brilliant at what they do.
They know their market inside out, they care about delivery, and clients genuinely like working with them.

If I could somehow get that across through content, I know we’d win more business… I just don’t know where to start....and I don’t want them posting rubbish or coming across cringe or salesy."

So this is what we did.

Instead of turning them into ‘LinkedIn influencers’…

We took what they already say on calls with candidates and clients
And turned that into posts.

No trends.
No dancing on camera

Just:
– What they’re seeing in the market
– What candidates are actually asking them
– What hiring managers keep getting wrong

We did this exact process with a manager of a recruitment firm over in the US
The manager had never posted before.
In the first month, he generated 1.5M impressions.
3 booked meetings with the exact type of clients they want.

That’s why we offer a free trial.

We write 2 free posts for you or one of your team.
You see the traction.
You decide if it’s worth continuing.

If you're interested, the link is in the comments below

I spoke to a recruiter who built a $1 Million desk 
He generated 20 warm leads with one LinkedIn post
Here's how he did it (So you can copy it for free)

Recruitment business owners....
If you're the sole breadwinner of the business
Here are 4 signs that things need to change






1. Pipeline drops the moment you stop hunting
Take a week off and new roles dry up.
Not because the market changed, but because 𝘺𝘰𝘶 weren’t selling.

2. Most new jobs still come from your network
Your consultants deliver well…
But the work almost always starts with 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 relationships.

3.  Hiring more people feels risky
Not exciting.
Because more heads = more pressure on 𝘺𝘰𝘶 to bring in work.

4.  You’re the sole breadwinner
Everyone knows it.
If you stop winning, growth stops.

Over the last 12 months, we’ve worked with dozens of founders in that exact position.

Here’s what changed for them...

Instead of chasing every conversation manually, they started showing up consistently 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 being online all day.

Their network stopped going quiet when they took a week off.

Past clients and candidates started reaching out first, already warmed up.

Not because they suddenly became “content creators”.
But because their experience, opinions, and market insight were finally visible when they weren’t in the room.

Behind the scenes, this is what we actually do:

We handle the heavy lifting.
We turn what you already know into content that sounds like 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
We distribute it consistently so it compounds.
The result we hear most often?

“Conversations feel easier.”
“People already know what we do.”
“My pipeline doesn’t disappear when I step back.”

If you want to see how it works, we’re running a free trial.

Link’s in the comments.

Spoke to a recruitment business owner last week. 
12 years in business. Great delivery team.
But all new work still comes from him networking.




Me: “After 12 years, you’re still the main source of new business?”

Him: “Yeah. If I’m not out there networking, it’s a quiet month. There’s no real marketing system behind it.”
 
Me: “So growth only happens if you keep pushing?”

Him: “Pretty much. You just hope someone needs you.”

Me: “What would actually take the pressure off?”

Him: “Honestly? One new client a month would be massive.”

Then he said something I hear all the time:
 
“I don’t want to post for the sake of posting.” 
“I don’t want to come across cringe.” 
“And I’m not doing TikTok dance videos.”
 
Me: “Good. You don’t need any of that. You just need content that speaks to decision-makers.”

So I made him this offer:
 
I’ll write 2 LinkedIn posts for free.  Targeted. Intentional. Built to attract the right clients, not random likes.

If they create traction, we work together.  
If they don’t, we part ways as friends.

Zero risk.  All the pressure is on me.
 
If you run a recruitment business and you’re looking to add a more predictable flow of the right client conversations alongside what already works

Check out the Link in the comments below....

This recruiter has spent $12.5K with us over 5 months.
Last night he told me he secured $100K of new business
That’s a 700% return on investment…




And that’s JUST the direct Inbound he's had

Alongside that, he’s had:

- Candidates reaching out directly (that's he's gone to place) 
- Senior sales reps engaging with his content
- Conversations that used to start cold, now starting warm

If we did another 5 months, spent another $12.5K, and he closed just one more deal like this…

He’d have $200K in revenue on $25K spent.

That’s a consistent 700% ROI over the year.

This is not unrealistic.

We see this kind of compounding effect all the time once visibility kicks in.

Nothing clever here.
Just consistent visibility With the right content To the right audience.

What makes this even more interesting is how it started….

He originally came through our free trial.
We wrote him 2 free posts.
We got some early traction, he could see the potential, and he decided to stick with it.

Five months later, the content’s doing what it usually does… compounding.

If you're a recruitment business owner and you want to experience results like the client above, Come and try us out for free. You have absolutely nothing to lose And everything to gain.

Link in the comments below 👇

Just started working with a recruitment consultant
The CEO wanted him to start building more pipeline
Here's the results we've had so far...






We’ve been posting twice a week for 3 weeks.

Post 01: 3,000
Post 02: 5,000
Post 03: 110,000
Post 04: 96,000
Post 05: 50,000
Post 06: 65,000

Before working with us, his average impressions per post were 900.

And in just 3 weeks, we’ve generated 300,000+ impressions.

I know what you might be thinking…

“Great Sam, impressions are cool.
But what about tangible ROI?”

Here’s where it gets interesting.

He places senior sales leaders and commercial talent into life sciences & pharma companies.

Since posting Dozens of decision-makers and plenty of high-quality candidates have been liking and engaging with his content.

He’s followed up with warm intro messages.

And he’s already booked 2 solid calls with new potential clients.

Is that earth-shattering?

No.

But those 2 conversations could easily turn into $50k–$150k+ in fees.

Not bad for:

6 posts
And a handful of follow-up messages

If you’re a recruitment business owner and want to test our system for free,
check out the free trial in the comments

Recruiters, if people are ghosting your messages
And no one is reaching out to you after posting content
It's probably because of your offer. let me explain..

“I don’t need more leads. I need better ones.".... That’s what a recruitment business owner told me. She's billing $500K and managing a team of 10 full desk recruiters




She’s been booking calls consistently for months.
Calendar looks full.

But then she leaned in and said:

“Sam… 90% of them are tyre kickers.”

"That’s draining," I remember thinking.

Not because she’s failing.
She’s not. (She's smashing it)

But because every bad call still costs:
– time
– energy
– momentum

And at that level, wasted conversations hurt more than no conversations.

I asked how people were finding her.

“Mostly outbound,” she said.
“They don’t really know me before the call.”

Which made sense to me.

When people book calls cold:
They’re curious, not committed.
Interested, not ready.

Typically, the call requires more explanation and convincing.

I said:
“If I could show you for free how to flip that, so people book calls already knowing who you are and why you’re relevant, would you try it?”

She didn’t hesitate.

We invited her into our 2-week free trial.

We helped her publish a couple of sharp LinkedIn posts.
Nothing fancy. Just clear positioning to the right people.
They racked up 40,000+ impressions in her niche

Within days:
→ More people knew who she was
→ Key decision makers were liking her content
→ 2 fantastic calls booked with serious potential clients

You don’t need more leads.
You need fewer, better ones.

If you’re booking calls but sick of tyre kickers

You can try it for free, just like she did.

Links in the comments below.

This recruitment business owner closes £45K deals
After one month of working with us
He’s now got 2 of those conversations lined up






 “I don’t want to be a thought leader. I just need the right people to notice me.”
That's the first thing he said to me when we spoke. 

Which makes sense.

He’s already very good at what he does.  
He just wasn’t very visible to the people who matter.

In the last month, his LinkedIn content reached just over 300,000 impressions.

That visibility is now turning into £45k conversations with the right clients.

That’s basically our job.
Take what already works and make it visible in the right rooms.

When we first spoke, I didn’t pitch him a long contract.
Or tell him to give me 10K upfront….

I said:
I’ll write 2 LinkedIn posts for you, free.

Posts built around:
* how you actually get results
* The problems your clients are facing
* Why you’re the obvious solution
 
You can post them, see how it lands, and then decide if it’s worth continuing.

If it works, we carry on. If it doesn’t, we part ways as friends.
No obligation. All the pressure is on me.

If you run a recruitment business , and you're interested in seeing the results for yourself 

Check out the link in the comments below…

Hey, I’m Kadri 👋🏼

I help companies hire sales + commercial leaders who actually move the needle
and help candidates make real career decisions, not panic jumps.

Right now, most hiring feels like chaos in a blazer:
rushed interviews, unclear expectations, random offers, “we’ll circle back” that never happens.

I sit in the middle of all that… on purpose.

I’m a sales + leadership recruiter focused on medtech / healthcare and other high-stakes sales roles.

I spend my days talking to:

→ top reps who quietly outgrew their companies
→ VPs who are tired of sifting through “forwarded resumes”
→ leaders trying to build real teams, not revolving doors

Because of that, here’s what I actually bring to the table:

→ Real market intel from 100+ weekly convos with top performers and hiring leaders
→ Candid breakdowns of what great commercial talent really looks like (not just what the JD says)
→ Field stories from the messy middle of hiring, the part nobody posts, but everyone feels
→ Straight-to-the-point guidance for both candidates and hiring teams
→ High-touch recruiting that feels like a partnership, not a transaction

If you’re a company, I can help you:

- Hire sales + sales leaders who drive revenue and stay
- Build a pipeline that isn’t built on prayers and job-board luck
- Protect your time, your brand, and your sanity in the hiring process

If you’re a candidate, I can help you:

- Get clear on what you actually want (not just what pays a little more)
- Position yourself as a standout in competitive markets
- Ask better questions, read red flags, and stop settling for “it’s fine, I guess”

At the end of the day, I’m not here to “fill roles.”
I’m here to give people peace of mind about the decisions they’re making, on both sides of the table.

📩 DM me here on LinkedIn
or email: klumsden@thinkingahead.com

We’ll figure out where you’re stuck
and get you moving again, fast.

Kadri Lumsden

I did something illegal in hustle culture.

I forgot I had a job.

Like, genuinely forgot.

Jan 5 apparently means “back to work.”
News to me. Welcome back, I guess.

Right before Christmas I told someone, 

“I'm closing all loose ends. Might actually take time off.''

She looked at me and said:
“Are you really going to though?”

Fair. Historically? I lie to myself.

But... 

Drum roll please:

I surprised myself.

Past two weeks I’ve done almost nothing.
And I don’t feel bad about it. 
At all.

Who am I?
A regulated adult??

• i didn’t check my inbox “just in case”
• i didn’t feel guilty for being unreachable
• i didn’t spiral from doing nothing
• it didn’t bore my nervous system
(for the most part. i'm still a human.)

Turns out resting before crashing is a thing.

This wasn’t “burnout recovery.”
This was intentional, nothing.
Pause on purpose.

And yeah, it felt damn good.

Here’s the mic-drop truth we all know but pretend we don’t:

• the world does NOT need me “on” 24/7
• nothing broke while I rested
• some things actually feel clearer now

Looks like I got my first win of the year.
Not productivity. Not momentum.
Permission.

Let’s go. Bring it on.


What about you, did you actually take time off over the holidays, or did you just pretend to?
______

p.s. when Estonia looks like this you drop everything and go outside. Non-negotiable.

Sales & Leadership Recruiter | Engaging good people in good conversations

$325k wasn’t enough to keep him.

Not a headline.
Not a trend.
A real conversation I had.

He was making ~$325k.
Consistently.
Base + variable.

And still leaving.

Why?

• 401k match cut
• R&D killed
• Missed targets - again

At that point, the question stopped being 
'how much can I make?' and became 
'how long until this breaks?'

My first thought?
Should be enough money to tolerate a lot.

But it wasn’t.

And he’s not the only one.

Hearing this more and more lately.

At some point,
money stops working as a band-aid.

The lazy take is:
''People are just chasing more money.''

The real reason?

- they want predictable targets
- leadership that doesn’t change the rules mid-quarter
- a strategy that survives past the next board meeting

They want to work for a business that actually knows where it’s going.

No comp plan is worth constant whiplash.

Walking away from “great pay” isn’t entitlement.
It’s pattern recognition.

Curious, what was the moment you realized the money wasn’t worth it anymore?

The week Nashville iced me in. 🛼 ❄️ 

Came for work. Had meetings. Real ones. In-person ones. The kind that reminds you why you like the people you work with. Annual wrap-up. Smart humans. Real conversations. Learning from the best. Celebrating the best. Remote teams hitting different when they’re not tiny boxes on a screen.

Then came the rest of it. Honky-tonks. More country music than she’s had all year. And just when she thought it was time to go home, Nashville said: ‘‘what if… ice rink?’’ Flights canceled. Then canceled again. Then still canceled.

Yes, she’s from Estonia. No, this is not how we ice.


This week’s live roles:

🛼 Junior Territory Sales Rep (medical device)
 – Omaha, NE
 – $70k base + quarterly bonus guarantee
 – OTE $110k

🛼 Territory Sales Rep (fintech)
 – Columbus, OH
 – $72k+ base (flexible)
 – OTE north of $100k, uncapped

p.s. day 3 of trying to get home. let’s hope today is the day.

Every company says they hire A-players.

Candidates know who’s lying.

“We only hire A-players.”

A candidate said that.
Then chuckled.

“Every company says that.
Then you walk in and think…
how did these people get here?”

Brutal.
Accurate.

Saying you hire A-players is easy.
Living it is not.

Candidates notice this fast.
They don’t read your careers page.
They read the room.

Who’s sharp.
Who’s coasting.
Who’s being carried.

Once they realize they’re surrounded by B-players, they don’t argue.

They disengage.
Then they leave.

If you want A-players, the bar has to exist everywhere.

Who you hire.
Who you keep.
Who you let coast.

Otherwise, just say it out loud:
“we’re a B-player environment, and that’s what we’re optimizing for.”

Honestly?
That level of clarity would be refreshing.

Because A-players always notice.
Always.

👇 So, where does the bar actually break- hiring or retention?

apparently i’ve been running on fumes for 5 months.

yesterday my gremlin started kindergarten.

which means i survived:
full-time mom
full-time work
full-time time-zone acrobat
(part-time keeping my sanity whole - lol)

trying to be present at home
while being “on” for clients late at night.

too much tv. 
late bedtimes.
hello mom guilt, my toxic little friend.

“it’s only a few months,” i said.

it took way more out of me than i thought.

i handled it.
mostly.
i think.

but yesterday... 
it shifted.

he walked in happy.
confident.
ready.
(didn’t want to leave when i picked him up)

and i walked back into my day with space.

space to think.
space to breathe.
space to be me, again.

it's OKAY!!!

you can love your kid 
and
love getting parts of yourself back.

both can exist.
neither makes you a bad parent.

new chapter.
for both of us.

anyone else love their kids and love getting parts of themselves back? asking for a friend. 


p.s. this is me pretending i know how to use my free time wisely.

This weekend was brought to me by carbs and snow. 🥐❄️

Coffee + a cinnamon roll date with my little rascal to start. Then skiing. First proper time back in a while and did just over 10 km (6 miles). Didn’t fall once. Basically ready for a marathon. And yes, the ski clothes still fit. Small but meaningful win.

Sunday was ice skating. Which actually meant gremilin sitting on a seal for an hour, while i pushed him in circles, taking direction like “faster. faster.” Wrapped it up with buns because Estonia has officially declared bun season open. And I respect the law.


This week’s live roles:

🥐 Junior Territory Sales Rep (medical device)
 – Omaha, NE
 – $70k base + quarterly bonus guarantee
 – OTE $110k

🥐 Territory Sales Rep (fintech)
 – columbus, oh
 – $72k+ base (flexible)
 – OTE north of $100k, uncapped

p.s. curious? shoot me a “🥐” and i’ll send details.

Here’s to a full week ahead. Momentum. Travel. And at least one really good cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll.

10 years ago, today

i almost died,
on a sailing trip.

i knew nothing about sailing.
or boats.
or what i was agreeing to, apparently.

tampa → mexico.
6–7 weeks, allegedly.

in my head:
sunbathing. journaling. reading books.
living my best life.

LOL.

six hours in:

storm.
violent storm.
two days of seasickness.

(my main contribution was throwing 
up and apologizing to the ocean.)

also, surprise...

i wasn’t a guest.
i was crew.

no one mentioned that part.
(probably because i didn’t ask.)

no onboarding.
no “here’s what success looks like.”
just: here’s the wheel, don’t crash us.

then another storm.
ripped the mizzen mast clean off.
(like it changed its mind about being attached.)

after that, everything broke.
engine. fuel. rigging.
all of it.

then silence.

just drifting.
middle of the caribbean.

the 6–7 week trip lasted eight days.
we got shipwrecked.
rescued near the cayman islands.

not exactly what i thought i signed up for.
but unforgettable.

right after?
i swore i’d never get on a sailing boat again.

ten years later?
yeah. i’d still say yes.

just with better questions first. i guess.

happy anniversary to me, for surviving, again.


what’s your “this is not what i thought it would be” story?


p.s. this smile did not survive the week.

January 7th and i already feel late.

(late to what?? no idea. vibes only.)

Which is impressive, considering the year started 5 minutes ago.

Half of us are planning our best year ever.

The other half is staring into space,
wondering if it’s too late to start over.

Both valid.

Reality check:
first full week. wednesday.
everyone’s either locked in, burnt out, or lying.

This is not a reinvention week.
It’s a re-enter society week.
(without losing our minds)

Personally,
i’m just relearning how to function after the holidays.

Today’s agenda:
drink water
do one thing
don’t spiral

anyway...

Midweek counts.
January counts.

Carry on.

One word to describe this week?

________

14°F and SUNNY today?? in January, Estonia gets very little sun, averaging around 1 hour of actual sunshine per day. so when it shows up, you clock in.

If your routines are slipping right now, 

this is why.

Two days left in January. 
A.K.A. the moment the halo fully evaporates.

The motivation high wears off. 
Routines get wobbly. 
Old habits start creeping back in like, 
''hey, remember me?”

Not failure.
Biology.

Novelty wears off. 
Habits aren’t quite built yet. 
Life applies pressure.

This is the part nobody really plans for.

January didn’t give me a fresh start. I wish. 
It gave me a mirror instead and went, 
“yoo… you might wanna look at this.”

Because my life is… a lot right now.

New logistics. New routines. 
Getting my kid into kindergarten. 
Building my workday around an 8-hour time difference. 
Being intentional about who I talk to, when, and why. 

etc. etc. etc.

And doing all of it… alone.

Before anyone jumps in. No! This isn’t a discipline issue. 
I’m good at showing up.

What January exposed wasn’t a lack of motivation.

It was a load.

When I work, I work.
When I’m with my son, I’m with my son.

That part is clear.

What’s messy is the in-between. 

The constant recalibrating. 
The feeling that time just disappears. 
Calling this “temporary” while living it every day.

Here’s what January actually taught me:

You don’t need more motivation when your life is changing.
You need honesty about the season you’re in.

Because if I repeated the last few weeks for a year, some things would grow fast. Others would quietly fall apart.

And that’s not a trade I’m willing to make.

So before February starts, I’m asking myself one real question:

Am I building my days for the life I’m in right now?

or 

The one I keep telling myself I’ll get back to “soon”?

Because change doesn’t start with a new month. It starts when you stop lying to yourself about what this season requires.

Does this sound familiar… or is it just me?


about the pic: this is what “i made it home” looks like after getting iced into nashville for days, traveling for almost 20 hours, nearly missing my last flight, and realizing i have no keys and a dead phone.

“if your first question about a sales role is ‘what’s the salary’, you’re not getting a response.”

I saw this take yesterday.

I get the frustration. 

recruiting is chaos
inboxes are wild
time is limited

but i don’t think it’s that simple.

Salary is a valid question.

Not because someone is lazy or unserious, but because time is limited on both sides.

If the range is way off, 
why waste anyone’s time?

Honestly, if comp were clearer upfront,
that question probably wouldn’t even come first.

For me, the issue isn’t that they ask.
it’s how they ask and what comes after.

curious where you land on this:
👉 dealbreaker or reasonable question?

let’s hear it.

This weekend was winter in Estonia at full volume. ❄️ 🛷 Snow tubing with my parents, crispy air, frozen cheeks, the kind of laughing that makes you forget you can’t feel your toes. 

And yes, obviously, Ash Wednesday buns happened. The gremlin has been whisper-manifesting “i want buns” for a full week, and when a 3-year-old is that committed, you don’t fight it. 

New week. New month. And I’m 99% sure there’s still whipped cream on my coat.

Happy February, and let’s gooo.


This week’s live roles:

❄️ Junior Territory Sales Rep (medical device)
 – Omaha, NE
 – $70k base + quarterly bonus guarantee
 – OTE $110k

❄️ Territory Sales Rep (fintech)
 – columbus, oh
 – $72k+ base (flexible)
 – OTE north of $100k, uncapped

The boarding pass says “delayed,” my soul says “home,” and Nashville says “lol no.” 

I’m in airport limbo, emotionally sponsored by the weather app and false hope.

Calendar says meetings, reality says snow day. Which is it?

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Kadri Lumsden

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Sam Miller's LinkedIn Performance

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