Logan Merrick

Headhunting the top 1% Philippine eCommerce talent 🥇 Strategic & Key hires ♟️ Zero ongoing fees 🤝 150+ hires, specialising in eCommerce & Saas 📦 3x Founder, building a life-first biz with my wife 👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻

I wasted $74K on recruiters who promised "top talent"

And got nothing but empty promises.

I spent 9 years building an eCommerce brand.

Scaled fast.
And built a team (in PH)

But finding elite Philippine eCommerce talent?
Incredibly hard.

Recruiters kept pitching “top 1% candidates" and sending the same recycled resumes from job boards.

→ No DTC experience.
→ No ownership mindset.
→ No strategic thinking.

After one particularly frustrating hire, I realised the recruiter problem was two-fold:

1. They didn’t understand eCommerce.
Because they’d never run ads, built a funnel, or scaled a brand.

2. They sourced from job boards.
But the best talent isn't there.

So I was forced to build our recruiting process internally.

We headhunted our own team, hired a General Manager (also in the Philippines) and turned the business into an elite eCommerce operation.

In 2023, a friend called me on Zoom.

He was in a tight spot.

Overworked.
Constantly sick.
Bottlenecking his business.

And all because he couldn't find reliable eComm talent.
(It's a common problem)

He’d been hiring freelancers from job platforms, but he was getting no where.

Low-quality work.
High turnover.
No trust.

We helped him out, as a friend.
And filled his 5 roles in 5 weeks.

Changed his business. Gave him his life back.

Needless to say, he was ecstatic.

He referred 2 friends. They referred more.
Referrals kept scaling.

Suddenly... we were an agency.
Booked for weeks in advance.
By 7-8 figure eComm brands.

And in 2024, I sold my eComm brand to a large US company, to focus on building Wilbound with my wife (Melani Merrick).

And here's why it works:

1) We have deep eCommerce understanding. Paid media, creatives, email, Shopify, accounting, inventory. We know eCommerce, intimately.

2) We don't use job boards. We manually review 1650+ profiles per role by proactively engaging with talent from top universities, and who’ve worked at elite eComm brands, aggregators & DTC agencies, etc.

High-volume headhunting. (Executive Search)

Because the best hires don’t come from job boards. They come from putting in the work to actually find them.

Want to hire eComm operators in the Philippines? Let's chat.

Co-founder & Managing Director

Sitting Pretty is an innovative Women's Beauty product e-commerce and distribution company.

We specialize in an innovative hair extension method called The Halo which offers women a natural looking, secure and easy to use hair extension that doesn’t damage their own hair.

As Managing Director of Sitting Pretty I drive the strategic vision and activities to achieve the phenomenal growth of the company that have been achieved to date.

We are challenging the “ticky-tacky” stigma of hair extensions with a brand lead strategy focused on positive product imagery, lifestyle and natural beauty.

At 23, I built a $3.5M agency.

But I tried way too hard, and lost it all.

I worked like a maniac:

→ 96 hr weeks (brutal)
→ 7 days straight (no life)
→ Regular burnout (normal)

Completely miserable. Depressed even.

But I wanted to "win". 
So I kept pushing.

That's until it collapsed... and I lost everything:

My $3.5M business; lost
My 6 figure income; gone
My personal brand; destroyed
My emotional state; completely f—ked

All because I was chasing someone else's idea of success.

From childhood we're taught to compete for the same things.
But no one teaches us to discover our uniqueness.

The thing that makes you, YOU.

That’s your f—king superpower.

It’s your lens on the world.
Your strengths, quirks, passions.
The thing no one can copy.

I lost everything. But not THIS.

Instead I embraced it.

And everything changed for me:

→ Scaled a $3.1m ARR brand on 5 hrs a week
→ Found and married an amazing woman
→ Co-founded Wilbound with her
→ And created an epic life

Not by doing things "the right way"
But by doing them MY way.

And no one can compete with that.

Because no one is me.
Just as no one is you.

Here's my point of view:

Your uniqueness isn’t just allowed. It's your advantage.

So build what you think is cool. However big or small. As long as it's YOU.

Does that ring true for you too?

Headhunting top 1% of Philippine talent 🥇 Hard-to-reach, strategic hires ♟️ Zero ongoing fees 🤝 150+ hires, specialising in eCom & Saas 📦 3x Founder, building a life-first biz with my wife 👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻

This week, I hit 15,000 followers.

But I still don’t know what I’m doing.

When I started, I thought 1000 followers would be the moment it all clicked.

Then 5000 felt like the magic number.

At 10,000, I was sure I’d finally “made it.”

But here I am at 15,000, still wondering if my next post will flop.

Some posts land. Others don’t.

Sometimes I feel like I’m onto something.

Other times I question what I’m even doing.

What keeps me going isn’t the follower count.

It’s creating content I actually enjoy and connecting with people I genuinely like.

And just showing up, trying to add value in my own way.

To everyone who’s followed and engaged: thank you. 
It means the world.

And to my wife, who has to engage with my content,
you're the best!

I’m still figuring this out, one post at a time.

And maybe that’s exactly how it should be?

We took the last 10 days off. No work.

And our business didn’t skip a beat.

We were moving from Europe → New Zealand.
Plus, we just onboarded 8 new clients.

Worst possible time to disappear? (probably)

But here’s what happened:

→ Our team stepped up
→ Made decisions without us
→ Caught issues I would’ve missed
→ With zero fires when we returned

And I'm so f—ing proud!

Because when you step away, you finally get to see what you’ve built.

Your team take ownership.
Make calls they’d usually defer.
Find solutions instead of asking.

And most founders never discover this.

They’re just too busy being “essential” to realise they’re holding their team back.

I used to be that founder. 96hrs/week.
Until my business collapsed.

Because I was the bottleneck.

And I learned that taking breaks isn’t lazy. It’s strategic.

It reveals how capable your team really is.

My challenge?

Take a week off. Completely.
Your team might surprise you.

When did you last take real time off?

In 2016, a $751K client walked into my office.

And I told him to f—k off.

(Well, not exactly. But kind of)

He wanted my dev agency for a big project. And it was tempting.

But in the onboarding meeting:

→ He insulted my team
→ Made weird 'suicide jokes'
→ Made my Business Analyst cry
→ Demanded I fire her for being "too soft"

The meeting was a trainwreck.

That night I kept thinking about how much of the $751k would end up in my pocket.

"Maybe it'll get better."
"Was it really that bad?"

But it was.

So the next morning I called him:
"Sorry, we're not moving forward."

When my team heard about it, you could literally feel the relief in the air.

There were even some tears.

And it dawned on me... 
"Damn, I nearly sold out my team. For money"

I'm still a little ashamed to admit that. But it's the truth.

What would you have done:
Taken the money, or walked away?

In 2012, I tried to force my way to success.

And lost my $3.5M business.

> started my first company in 2012
> worked 96hr a week (hustle-hustle)
> hired anyone who made me feel like a "boss"
> reinvested everything into growth
> burnout was just part of doing business
> ran into financial trouble in 2017
> liquidated and lost $3.5M (inevitable)
> started over. bootstrapped an ecom brand
> got lucky (thank f—k!!!)
> learned to build systems + hire great people
> worked only 5-10 hrs a week
> scaled to $3.1M ARR (exited in 2024)

Not sure if this makes you want to start a business, or run for the hills, but that's the raw truth of what happened.

Are you building your business by forcing it? Or enabling it?

In 2016, I made a great hire. Felicia.

But 4 days later, I let her go.

Felicia was eager and very smart.
This was her dream job.

We connected instantly; two Swedes in Australia.

And she'd quit her stable job to join my startup.

Mon: She dove straight in.
Tue: Already adding value.
Wed: Team loved her energy.
Thu: Emergency meeting with my accountant.

"Cut costs NOW or you're done in 45 days."

My stomach dropped.

I'd been on a hiring spree.
Playing startup founder.
Ignoring the numbers.

That afternoon, I called Felicia in.
"I'm so sorry. We have to let you go."

Her face went white.
"Are you fkng serious?" (fair response)

She'd quit her job for this.
And I'd driven her into unemployment.

(Good luck explaining that at your next interview.)

I felt like a total dick.
Because I was.

I'd completely failed her.

That lesson hit me like a punch in the guts:

Hiring isn't just finding talent. It's taking responsibility for someone's livelihood.

They bet their career on you.
So you better be sure you can deliver.

I wasn't. And Felicia paid the price.

Have you ever betrayed someone who put their trust in you?

I used to work 96 hrs a week.

Now I work 4 hrs a day + earn 2x more.

On Monday, I had a call with a friend who runs a global ad agency.

He told me:

"Logan, I've made so many expensive mistakes. Because I pushed too hard, too fast. The key I learned, is to slow down."

I knew exactly what he meant.

When my company crashed in 2017, I lost 92 employees. $3.5M ARR. And everything else.

And sitting in the wreckage, I finally understood:

"Longer working hours is a poor substitute for leverage."

Like a surgeon using a hammer instead of a scalpel.
Sure, it might work, but it's far from ideal...

More hours doesn't mean more output.

It means more mistakes, blind spots, rework, burnout.

Now I focus on leverage instead:

→ Systems that run without me
→ Mentors to shortcut the learnings
→ Team who decides better than I would
→ Clients who stay for years (not months)

4 hrs a day.

Because I stopped using the hammer.
And learned to build with precision.

What are you pushing too hard on right now?

Most people think fast growth means rich.

But it actually means poor.

Our $100M ARR eComm client asked if we have a referral program. (we don't)

Think about that.

A $100M company. 4-5x yearly growth.
And the CEO's asking about referral fees (to make $200).

Here's the reality:

He works 90+ hr a week.
And he's rich af on paper.
But can't pay himself properly.

Meanwhile, my wife and I run a sub-$1m ARR agency. 

Not sexy. Not a unicorn.

But we work 4hr a day.
And live very comfortably.

Fast growth sounds cool. I've done it. And trust me, it's really not all that.

Is fast growth really what you want?

For years, I tried to build communities.

But it never worked. And I just learned why.

Dylan Hey and I just had Pepe Villatoro on the WinningFriendsPodcast.com.

He's the co-founder of Fuckup Nights, a global community of over 1 million active members.

And he said something that stung:

"If you're building community just to sell more... that's not a community. That's an audience."

Fck. That was exactly what I'd been doing.

He said, real communities need:

1. A cause that actually matters
2. People who genuinely care about each other

I failed because I didn't actually give a sht.
I only cared about revenue growth.

And people could smell it.

Pepe built a global movement because he actually cares.

He wants to free people from the stigma of failure. Something that shaped his own life.

The full conversation goes deeper:

→ Turning failure into triumph
→ Building movements that matter
→ Designing a meaningful life

🎧 Watch the episode here:

→ YouTube: https://lnkd.in/dq9crsQy
→ Spotify: https://lnkd.in/diUb3Gh7
→ Apple: https://lnkd.in/drq-icsY

Made me wonder: How many of us are building community, versus just trying to sell sht?

We built our 6-figure agency completely backwards.

51 clients in 18 mos, with ZERO cold emails.

Most agencies start with outreach.
We started with a story.

Because we wanted to build a business that didn’t rely on desperately chasing people, like a "humble servant".

One that attracted them instead.
Because that's REAL leverage.

18 months later:

↳ 51 paying clients
↳ Booked 6 wks ahead
↳ 45+ hot leads p/month

Here’s what moved the needle:

---

1. A story that sells

This is everything.

I spent weeks sharpening this 30 sec story:

“I built a 7-figure eComm brand.
Hired my team in the Philippines.
But finding top 1% talent was brutal.
So we built our own system.
And sold the company.
Now I help other founders do the same.”

This story closes deals. Why?

I've lived their exact problem.
And I'm uniquely qualified to solve theirs.

→ What story are you telling clients?

---

2. Reactivated my network

I reached out to old business contacts
(WhatsApp, email, Messenger)

No pitch. Just catching up + sharing what I was building.

Half became clients.
The rest referred others who did.

→ There’s gold in your contacts list.
---

3. Always at capacity

We’ve been booked out since day one.

Why?

Scarcity creates perceived value:
“If it’s booked out, it must be good.”


→ Don't fake it, but plan your pipeline accordingly.

---

4. Made referrals obvious

We focus on delivering exceptional outcomes.
(and make sure clients know it)

At business dinners, founders talk about what’s working.
We made sure it's us they're talking about.

Result? 96.4% referral rate.

→ Are your clients proud to talk about you?


---

5. LinkedIn posting

I’ve spent 5 figures so far, working with coaches like Matt Barker and Kyle Campion.

To crack the "LinkedIn code".

Because I knew winning on LinkedIn would generate more leverage than any other activity.

→ Are you doing the same?


---

6. Making friends

No cold DMs. Just real connections.

I comment on posts I actually like. Chat in DMs. Build relationships.

Now, friends send me leads.
(And I send business back.)

11+ leads a month from this alone.

→ Are you cold pitching, or building friendships on LinkedIn?

---

7. Web page that sells

Our site's lean.

Explains exactly what we do (and don’t).
With tons of social proof.

Even LLMs crawl it and send leads our way.

And has friction (quiz-form) to deter tyre-kickers.

→ Friction is like cat-nip for high quality leads.

---

That's it. No fancy funnels.
No complex systems.

Just 7 things done consistently.

And I manage all this with just a few hours a week.

Which of these haven't you tried yet?

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