Starting a recruitment business at 25 with just three years of experience takes serious courage. Haseena Mooncey did exactly that – and she’s built something special. On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast, I'm joined by Haseena Mooncey, co-founder of CHR Life Sciences, a modern boutique recruitment firm focused on niche roles across the UK, Ireland, and Europe. Haseena launched the business with a former boss as her co-founder, stepping into entrepreneurship with limited experience but a clear mindset and strong values. Her story is rare, especially as a young woman in recruitment. And it’s incredibly inspiring. In this episode, we discuss: What pushed her to take the leap from employee to business owner The early challenges of launching with limited experience The mindset needed to grow a global contract recruitment business Balancing a modern outlook with traditional values in how she builds her team If you’re in your 20s and thinking about starting your own business - or you're just looking for a story that proves age and experience don't define success, this episode is one to tune into. Watch the full conversation live on my LinkedIn this Wednesday at 12 pm or search The RAG wherever you get your podcasts! Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Haseena Mooncey and CHR Life Sciences 03:00 The journey of starting a business at 25 06:03 Navigating early challenges and building a network 09:05 The decision to transition from employee to entrepreneur 12:05 Establishing CHR Life Sciences and initial struggles 14:56 First deals and market expansion 18:11 Building a business from the ground up 20:54 Reflections on growth and future aspirations 22:00 Building relationships in recruitment 24:32 Navigating market changes and opportunities 26:06 The challenges of remote work and team dynamics 28:06 The importance of hiring and team growth 30:20 Learning from experience: hiring strategies 32:32 The impact of market fluctuations on business 36:52 Managing stress and maintaining team morale 44:54 Building a values-driven recruitment company 48:13 The role of AI in recruitment 50:22 Pharmaceutical industry insights 52:31 Navigating the future of work 55:23 Life goals and work-life balance 01:00:13 The importance of relationships in recruitment -------------------------------------------------------------------- Episode Sponsor: Atlas Your memory isn’t perfect. So Atlas remembers everything for you. Atlas is an end-to-end recruitment platform built for the AI generation. It automates your admin so you can focus on the business tasks that matter. How many conversations do you have every day? With clients. Candidates. Your team. Service providers. Now how many of those conversations can you recall with 100% accuracy? How many hours a week do you spend making notes to try and retain as much as possible? And how much is still getting lost along the way? Traditional CRM systems weren’t built for the type of recruitment business you’re running right now. They were built to rely on the structured, tagged, categorised, and formal data you could feed it. Manual processes that needed you to input specific information, based on specific questions and answers. But what about all the other conversations you’re having every single day? Atlas isn’t an ATS or a CRM. It’s an Intelligent Business Platform that helps you perform 10X better than you could on your own. How? By removing all your low value tasks, acting as your perfect memory, and providing highly relevant recommendations to impact your performance. Learn more about the power of Atlas – and take advantage of
