As CEO of 1 At Bat Media, I lead a team that helps eCommerce brands accelerate their growth and maximize customer retention through data-driven strategies in paid media and email marketing. With over a decade of experience, I’ve had the privilege of working with brands that generate annual sales as high as $250 million in various exciting niches.

Key areas of expertise include:

	•	Paid Media (Social & Search)
	•	Email Marketing (Klaviyo Partner)
	•	Influencer Management
	•	eCommerce Growth Consulting
	•	Shopify CRO

Let’s connect if you’re looking to scale your eCommerce brand and optimize marketing strategies for profitability.

Travis McEwan

🚨 HIRING - 4 Roles Open: Our team at 1 At Bat Media is growing fast, and we're hiring for a number of key roles as we continue to scale.

We're a performance-first eCommerce growth agency working with world class DTC brands across North America.

4 positions we're currently hiring for -  eCommerce + performance marketing experience required:

- Paid Media Specialist (Meta + Google)
- Email Marketing Specialist (Klaviyo)
- Copywriter (Ads + Emails)
- Client Success Coordinator

If this is you (or someone you know), apply at the application links in the comment section below.

CEO @ 1 At Bat Media | A Shopify Plus eCommerce Growth Agency

Joel Brody

Ethical Recruitment Leader | Mid to executive-level placement | Helping Qualified Candidates Grow Their Careers by Matching Them with Thriving Companies

Six months. That’s how long a construction firm searched for their next Director of Operations.

Hundreds of resumes. Dozens of interviews. Zero results.

When the CEO finally called me, he was exhausted. The business was growing, but without the right leader in place, he was stuck in the weeds, running operations himself instead of focusing on scaling the company.

Here’s what happened next: I clarified the role, tapped into my hidden network, and within six weeks placed the leader they’d been chasing for half a year. That hire streamlined operations, stabilized the team, and gave the CEO his time back.

This is what I do.
I help mid-market and growth-stage businesses—in construction, real estate, healthcare, and e-commerce—find the executives and senior managers who can turn chaos into clarity and growth into something sustainable.

Not by flooding inboxes with résumés.
Not by recycling candidates who happen to be “looking.”
But through our Right-Fit Recruiting Method™️: deep discovery, targeted headhunting, and cultural alignment that ensures leaders don’t just stick, they scale with you.

Here’s why clients come back:

8 years recruiting across industries that don’t tolerate mistakes

92% retention rate at the 12-month mark for senior hires

A reputation as a trusted advisor to CEOs and founders who are serious about growth

One client put it best:
“Joel didn’t just send resumes, he delivered the leader we’d been searching for. His process saved us months of wasted time and gave us the confidence to scale.”

At the end of the day, I’m not just a recruiter. I’m a headhunter.
I don’t stop until the right leader is in the seat.
I don’t just fill roles, I help companies build futures.

Outside of work, you’ll find me with my family and involved in my community. That same people-first mindset drives everything I do: relationships first, results always.

Looking to make your next senior hire the right one? Let’s talk about how we can find your perfect fit.

Executive Level Recruiter

Sometimes the candidate who feels like the perfect “cultural fit”…
is the one who ends up causing the most damage.

Here’s the story.

A company once interviewed a candidate — let’s call her Esther.
Charming.
Warm.
Polished.
Instant connection with the team.

After the interview, every manager said the same thing:
“She’s exactly like us. She’ll fit right in.”

And that was the problem.

She fit too well.
Same communication style.
Same conflict avoidance.
Same habit of staying “busy” instead of prioritizing impact.

But because she made everyone comfortable, nobody questioned it.
They hired her in a heartbeat.

Meanwhile, the other candidate — Moshe — challenged their assumptions, showed gaps in their workflow, and asked uncomfortable questions.
They rejected him for being “not a fit.”

Fast-forward six months.

The team was stuck in the same cycles.
Deadlines slipping.
Accountability unclear.
No one pushing the pace or raising the bar.

And here’s the twist:
Esther hadn’t done anything wrong.
She simply reinforced what was already broken.

Because “fit” doesn’t fix culture.
It repeats culture.

When the company called me back, they said something I’ll never forget:
“We hired the person who felt easy… not the person who would have made us better.”

That’s when it landed for them —
Cultural fit isn’t about comfort.
It’s about evolution.

And at Mai Placement, this is why we don’t chase “fit.”
We chase alignment with the future state of the business —
not the familiar patterns that keep companies stuck.

The hire who feels comfortable today
might be the one who caps your growth tomorrow.

The hire who stretches you
is usually the one who takes you where you’re trying to go.

—

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭?
If you want to see more
𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 🔔 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞!
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭

By the time you fire someone “for performance,”
the damage is usually already done.

I’ve seen this play out too many times at Mai Placement to ignore it.

Leaders hide behind labels like performance, culture, or office politics
when the real issue was never addressed early, clearly, or with respect.

So instead of honest conversations,
pressure builds.
Tension rises.
The environment turns toxic.

And eventually, the employee is pushed out —
not coached,
not supported,
not given clarity.

Here’s the part most leaders underestimate:
That person will move on.

In a few months, they’ll land somewhere healthier.
They’ll rebuild confidence.
They’ll do good work again.

But they will never forget how they were treated.

They’ll remember the raised voices.
The public embarrassment.
The silence when they asked for guidance.
The moments where ego replaced empathy.

A toxic environment doesn’t just hurt feelings.
It kills trust.
It drains productivity.
It turns capable people into survivors who are just trying to get through the day.

And even if they never say a word about it publicly,
they carry it with them.

Leadership power doesn’t come with a license to strip someone of dignity.
And performance management without humanity isn’t leadership —
it’s avoidance with authority.

At Mai Placement, we believe how you exit people
says just as much about your culture
as how you hire them.

Because reputations aren’t built in the wins.
They’re built in the hard moments leaders would rather rush through.

—

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭?
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𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 🔔 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞!
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭

It always makes me smile when someone messages me saying,
“I know that post was about me… just wanted to explain.”

Here’s the reality:
If I ever reference a situation, it’s almost never recent.
Details are changed, timelines are blurred, and identities are unrecognizable.

Because the point isn’t the person.
It’s the pattern.

After years inside hiring rooms, leadership meetings, and candidate conversations at Mai Placement, one thing has become obvious:

The same behaviors repeat everywhere.
The same blind spots.
The same leadership mistakes.
The same hiring lessons.

Different people.
Different companies.
Same themes.

So if a post hits close to home, it’s not because I wrote about you.
It’s because the experience is universal.

Business has patterns.
Leadership has patterns.
Human behavior has patterns.

And my goal isn’t to call anyone out —
it’s to reflect the real, messy, predictable dynamics we all navigate.

Because when something feels “too accurate”…
that’s not exposure.
That’s recognition.
That’s truth doing what truth always does:
It shows you a mirror.

—

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭?
If you want to see more
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𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭

Sometimes the interview doesn’t expose the candidate.
It exposes the company.

Here’s the story.

A client brought us a strong candidate — we’ll call him Moshe — for a leadership role.
Experienced.
Grounded.
Clear communicator.
Exactly the kind of operator who moves organizations forward.

He walks into the interview… and within 30 minutes, the truth shows up.

Not about him.
About them.

Three leaders in the room.
All talking over each other.
Contradicting priorities.
No unified vision.
No clear answer to his simplest question:
“What does success look like in this role?”

And when Moshe politely pushed for clarity, one of the leaders snapped:
“We need someone who just gets it without asking so many questions.”

There it was.
The mask dropped.

This wasn’t a talent issue.
This was a culture issue.

A culture that avoided clarity.
A culture that punished accountability.
A culture where asking for direction was seen as confrontation.

After the interview, the company said:
“We’re not sure he’s a cultural fit.”

But the truth was the opposite.
He didn’t match their dysfunction —
and that’s exactly why they needed someone like him.

At Mai Placement, we’ve seen this again and again:
The interview isn’t just an evaluation of the candidate.
It’s a mirror for leadership.

And when a culture is shaky, unclear, or divided —
a great candidate will feel it instantly.

The question isn’t
“Is the candidate right for us?”
It’s also
“Are we a place where great talent can actually succeed?”

Because the strongest candidates aren’t scared of big roles.
They’re scared of environments where success is impossible.

If your culture can’t pass the interview…
your hiring problem isn’t the pipeline —
it’s the reflection.

—

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭?
If you want to see more
𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 🔔 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞!
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭

Sometimes the biggest red flag in a hiring process…
isn’t the candidate.
It’s the leadership team they interview with.

Here’s the story.

A company brought us a candidate for a senior role — we’ll call her Esther.
Impressive background.
Measured communicator.
Calm under pressure.
The kind of leader who doesn’t flinch when things get messy.

She walks into the final-round panel…
and asks the simplest question a leader can ask:

“What decisions will I have authority over in this role?”

You would think that’s straightforward.
It wasn’t.

One executive said,
“You’ll have full ownership.”

Another executive cut him off with,
“Well… you’ll run things by us first.”

A third added,
“It really depends on the week.”

Esther didn’t say a word.
She didn’t need to.

The leadership gap had already exposed itself.

No alignment.
No clarity.
No trust.
No unified direction.

After the interview, the CEO said:
“She seemed hesitant.
I’m not sure she’s strong enough for the role.”

But that wasn’t the truth.
Her hesitation wasn’t weakness.
It was awareness.

She realized she was interviewing for a title —
not actual authority.

At Mai Placement, we see this all the time:
Companies want strong leaders…
but their structure only supports followers.

If your executives can’t agree on who owns what,
you don’t have a talent problem —
you have a leadership architecture problem.

Great candidates don’t fear responsibility.
They fear stepping into roles where accountability exists without authority.

Esther declined the offer.
Not because she wasn’t capable —
but because she was smart.

And that’s the lesson:
Before you ask whether the candidate is right for the role,
ask whether the role is actually ready for a real leader.

Because top talent won’t walk into confusion.
And they definitely won’t stay in it.

—

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭?
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𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭

The Lie About “Cultural Fit”

Most companies say they’re hiring for “cultural fit.”
But what they really mean is:
“hire someone who won’t disrupt the status quo.”

That’s not culture.
That’s comfort.

At Mai Placement, we see the impact every day:
Companies hire for sameness → performance dips.
They hire for alignment → performance explodes.

Because cultural fit isn’t about personality.
It’s about behavior, values, and how someone makes decisions under pressure.

If your culture rewards accountability, honesty, and speed…
and you hire a brilliant operator who avoids conflict and needs layers of approval —
that’s not a fit.

Cultural fit isn’t soft.
It’s strategy.
And it’s one of the strongest predictors of long-term success.

—

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭?
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𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭

The Candidate Who Saved the Company From Itself

Every once in a while, a candidate shows up not to fit the culture…
but to expose what the culture could become.

This is that story.

A high-growth company came to us overwhelmed — scaling fast, burning out leaders, losing top performers.
They thought they needed “another operator.”

What they actually needed was a reset.

Enter Moshe — a candidate unlike anyone on their team.
Direct.
Thoughtful.
Deeply aligned with outcomes, not politics.
A calm operator with a systems mind.

In the interview, he didn’t try to impress them.
He asked the questions no one else thought to ask:

“What’s breaking your team today?”
“What accountability structure protects your priorities?”
“What decisions are slowing down execution?”
“How do you handle misalignment at the leadership level?”

By the time he finished, the executives weren’t evaluating him anymore.
They were evaluating themselves.

And here’s the twist:
Before Moshe even got the offer, the CEO pulled me aside and said,
“We learned more about our leadership gaps in one hour with him than in the last year.”

That’s the moment I knew —
this wasn’t a candidate who fit their culture.
This was a candidate who REVEALED their culture.
And, more importantly,
who could elevate it.

They hired him.

Six months later:
• turnover down
• clarity up
• execution faster
• leadership healthier
• the entire team communicating with purpose, not panic

He didn’t save the company.
He saved the culture from repeating its own patterns.

And that’s why at Mai Placement, we don’t just look for hires.
We look for inflection points —
leaders who shift the trajectory of a business,
not just fill a seat.

Because the right hire doesn’t join your culture.
They transform it.

—

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭?
If you want to see more
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𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭

If you cannot explain your value, your number is meaningless

One of the most common questions candidates struggle with is
Why do you believe you are worth this salary?

Silence usually follows.
Or vague answers about experience, loyalty, or effort.

That is not value.
That is history.

At Mai Placement, strong candidates do not talk about time spent.
They talk about impact delivered.

They explain
what they owned
what they fixed
what they built
what changed because they were there.

Weak candidates hide behind titles.
Strong candidates explain outcomes.

If you cannot clearly articulate your value
the market will not guess for you.

Compensation follows clarity.
Not confidence.
Not hope.

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭?
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𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭

Most companies don’t have a hiring problem.
They have a culture problem they keep trying to hire their way out of.

And after years inside boardrooms, leadership searches, and executive interviews at Mai Placement, here’s the truth no one wants to say out loud:

“Cultural fit” is the laziest concept in hiring.
It’s vague.
It’s misused.
And half the time, it’s an excuse for avoiding hard conversations about leadership, alignment, and accountability.

I’ve seen it all:

• Companies rejecting powerhouse candidates because they asked real questions.
• Teams hiring “nice” instead of hiring effective.
• Leaders confusing comfort with capability.
• Panels mistaking dysfunction for “not a fit.”
• Cultures so unclear that a candidate exposes the cracks in 20 minutes.

And the punchline?
The best hires often look NOTHING like “cultural fit.”
They’re the ones who challenge you.
Who force clarity.
Who raise standards.
Who reveal the structure you think you have versus the structure you actually run on.

Meanwhile, the so-called “perfect fit” is often the one who blends in…
right into the very patterns that are holding the company back.

Cultural fit doesn’t scale.
Cultural clarity does.

And when companies finally understand this difference, everything changes:

• retention stabilizes
• execution speeds up
• accountability strengthens
• leaders actually lead
• the culture becomes intentional instead of accidental

This is why at Mai Placement, we don’t hire for fit.
We hire for alignment with the culture you’re trying to build — not the one you’re stuck in.

The candidate who tells you the truth in the interview?
Hire them.

The one who exposes the gaps you’ve been ignoring?
Hire them.

The one who forces leadership to get aligned before they walk in the door?
Hire them.

Because the right hire doesn’t mirror your culture.
They elevate it.
And the wrong hire doesn’t disrupt your culture.
They reinforce it.

Most leaders don’t have a talent shortage.
They have a truth shortage.

And great talent will always feel that first.

—

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭?
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𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭

Experience is not the same as impact

Ten years in a role does not automatically equal seniority.
It means you were present.

What matters is progression.
Scope.
Decision making.
Ownership.

I see candidates with long resumes who never owned outcomes.
And others with fewer years who carried real responsibility.

The market knows the difference.
That is why some people plateau
while others accelerate.

At Mai Placement, we do not count years.
We evaluate impact.

Because experience without results is comfort.
And comfort does not command premium pay.

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭?
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𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭

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The Battle

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