The Breakthrough Hiring Show: Recruiting and Talent Acquisition Conversations
Welcome to The Breakthrough Hiring Show! We are on a mission to help leaders make hiring a competitive advantage.
Join our host, James Mackey, and guests as they discuss various topics, with episodes ranging from high-level thought leadership to the tactical implementation of process and technology.
You will learn how to:
- Shift your team’s culture to a talent-first organization.
- Develop a step-by-step guide to hiring and empowering top talent.
- Leverage data, process, and technology to achieve hiring success.
Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible!
Episodes
212 episodes
EP 211: Where Intuition Meets Pattern Recognition in Hiring
Nyala Khan grew up on an orchard farm in Northern California before navigating diverse environments across the U.S., shaping both her independence and her ability to read people. No...
EP 210: Curiosity, Excellence, and What It Takes to Build Strong Teams
From a multicultural upbringing to leading talent acquisition at Juniper Square, Felicia Menon has built her career around curiosity, storytelling, and a strong focus on people....
EP 209: Balancing AI, Automation and Human Connection
With a background in philosophy and logic, Polina Arkhipova approaches talent acquisition through clarity, structure, and continuous learning. At Monta, she’s exploring AI an...
EP 208: Turning AI Into a Strategic Engine for Talent
Daryl Escoto started with a mindset shaped by constant motion and perspective, and carried that into a career spanning Amazon, Microsoft, Uber, and now leading Talent Acquisition a...
EP 207: From Legal Training to Talent Strategy
Raised in a close Italian immigrant family, she grew up fascinated by people and what drives them. After a brief detour into law, she found her true calling in recruiting where she discovered that behavior often matters more than credentials. N...
EP 206: Where Parisian Roots Meet Intuitive Hiring
Victoire Marty grew up in Paris, surrounded by art, history, and a culture that values intuition, which later shaped her approach to hiring for potential rather than pedigree. A...
EP 205: Neat CVs Don’t Equal Potential, Look Beyond the Resume
Growing up as the oldest of five, Tristan Mackrory was a teacher long before the classroom, a dynamic that still shapes how he leads today. That path took him from teaching into talent ac...
EP 204: Scaling Yourself, Then Scaling the Business
Rona Shoaienia, grew up in Toronto after moving from Munich, and being surrounded by diverse cultures shaped how she sees people and potential. She studied psychology, traveled...
EP 203: How Competitive Sailing and Global Perspective Shape Creative Hiring
Growing up in a small NYC apartment taught him resilience early, but traveling through Brazil and South Africa reshaped how he sees people and the world. From competing in sailing across countries to living nomadically, those experiences shaped...
EP 202: The Difference Between Filling Roles and Building Teams
A bad environment can make someone shut down fast. The right one can change everything. Kenzie Hoelscher, Leading Recruiting at AssemblyAI, saw that shift early and it still shapes how sh...
EP 201: How Culture Quietly Shapes Every Career Decision
What if the way people think about jobs, risk, and “security” has less to do with personality and more to do with the country that raised them? In this episode, Alison Eastaway, VP of Pe...
EP 200: What Most TA Leaders Get Wrong About Influence
Gabrielle Mellon grew up in a big, competitive family that shaped her instinct to act, adapt, and figure things out fast. She carried that mindset into bold career moves and hi...
EP 199: Leading with Speed, Structure, and Self‑Awareness
Rebecca Palmer lived in multiple places growing up, an experience that taught her to adapt fast and focus on finishing what she starts. Those instincts now shape her work a...
EP 198: Why Context Matters More Than Hiring Templates
Esra Huseyinzadegan grew up in Istanbul, a city that quickly teaches you to adapt, question assumptions, and see the world from multiple perspectives. Those instincts carried her fro...
EP 197: This TA Power Couple Shares How They Raise the Bar to Excellence
Darien May, Head of Global Talent Acquisition at Eventbrite, and Jasmin May, Head of Talent at Verse, share how growin...
EP 196: From Equestrian Arenas to Scaling Teams
Emily Zahuta, Senior Director, Talent Acquisition at Horizon3.ai, highlights how a chaotic yet loving Bay Area upbringing and elite equestrian training shaped a builder’s mindset ...
EP 195: How to Succeed as the First Recruiter at a Startup
Shannan Farmer, Lead Talent Partner at Freshpaint, details a sharp first thirty days blueprint, from fast ATS upgrades to structured debriefs and centralized feedback, proving that disciplined...
EP 194: Leading with Respect and Direct Communication
Ashlye Hernandez, Executive Director of Global Talent Acquisition and Operations at nCino, examines how her path from rural North Carolina to executive leadership shaped a people-first ap...
EP 193: Building Credibility and Driving Impact in Talent Acquisition
Morgan Whyte, Senior Director, Global Head of TA and Employer Brand at Commvault, shows how early stability and unexpected family challenges forged her resilience and ownership mindset. She ou...
EP 192: Aligning Who You Are with How You Lead
Jaasiel Bulnes, VP of Global Talent Acquisition at Workiva, reveals how growing up amid Miami’s constant motion and being raised in an immigrant household shaped Jasi’s resilience, resour...
EP 191: Hiring Lessons from Mission Work and Global Service
Jeramy Keetch, Director of Talent Acquisition at Nerdy, traces how his Midwestern upbringing and global service experiences shaped his leadership philosophy, one rooted in empathy and adaptabili...
EP 190: A Philosophical Approach to Hiring and Team Design
Nicole Hirsch, Sr. Director of TA & People Operations at Lattice, explores how a foundation in philosophy and early leadership as an RA shaped her people-first approach. Nicole ...
EP 189: Empathy, Grit, and Leading Teams Through Crisis
Lauren Groshong, GTM Recruiting Leader at Vanta, shares how growing up with grit and humor was foundational to her leadership style. Lauren talks about her time leading business recruiti...