What if recruitment agency growth didn’t mean adding headcount? Helen Yarrow has spent over 30 years in recruitment—and for most of it, she felt like she was falling short of the industry’s definition of success. Why? Because she never scaled a big team. Despite launching her business 14 years ago and building a strong reputation in the B2B events space, she carried a sense that staying solo meant she hadn’t really “made it”. That belief stayed with her until her 50s. This week on The RAG Podcast, Helen shares how she finally let go of the pressure to scale, and found clarity in building a business that fits her life—not someone else’s idea of success. In this episode, we cover: - Her journey from Rec2Rec into B2B events recruitment - The realities of raising a family while running a business - The turning point that helped her stop chasing a model that didn’t feel right - Why staying solo might actually be the most powerful decision you can make If you’ve ever questioned whether bigger really means better, this one will resonate. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Helen Yarrow and Jackson Barnes 02:58 Helen's Journey into Recruitment 06:02 Career Progression and Challenges in Recruitment 09:11 Transitioning to Motherhood and Work-Life Balance 11:51 Establishing Jackson Barnes and Finding Clarity 15:07 The Shift to Conference and B2B Events Recruitment 17:52 The Role of Conference Producers 20:55 Building a Business Around Family Life 24:00 Reflections on Success and Team Building 34:51 Redefining Success in Business 37:12 The Journey of Solo Entrepreneurship 39:34 Reflections on Parenting and Work-Life Balance 42:57 The Importance of Self-Awareness 45:00 Navigating Parenting Challenges 50:20 The Impact of COVID-19 on Business 54:58 Finding Fulfillment in Work 01:01:12 Marketing as a Game Changer 01:03:43 Advice for Women in Recruitment 01:07:52 The Importance of Open Communication in the Workplace __________________________________________ Episode Sponsor: Untapped Untapped is THE market leader and go-to agency for finding and hiring tried-and-tested offshore talent into UK, US and Australian-based recruitment companies. They’re providing top-class TEAMMATES, NOT OUTSOURCES! We use Untapped for Hoxo’s own offshore hires, and it’s been a total game-changer for our team. No one else can compete with the quality of their network, their in-depth candidate assessment process or their time to hire. If hiring elite-level overseas talent into your business to boost sales and increase productivity whilst saving yourself a huge amount in employment costs isn’t on your radar for 2024, it should be! Untapped are hiring recruitment, sales, marketing and support staff into recruitment agencies of all shapes, sizes and specialisms globally and they are growing rapidly! Join the waiting list today so you don’t miss out on the next cohort of business-launching hiring projects. https://bit.ly/47GGdvZ __________________________________________ Episode sponsor: Hoxo Recruiters: are you sitting on a goldmine of LinkedIn connections without knowing how to turn them into real opportunities? Most recruiters spend hours every day on cold outreach and endless scrolling, hoping for replies that never come. But what if LinkedIn could work for you instead? The Hoxo 7-Day LinkedIn Challenge is a simple, step-by-step framework designed to help you: Identify warm leads already in your network Start meaningful conversations with potential clients and candidates—without feeling pushy Share content that gets noticed and builds trust – without spending hours...
