# Hiring and talent: what operators said this week

What founders and executives say about hiring right now.

Updated 2026-10-29. Source: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/topics/hiring

> "the best thing for both of us if I hired a CEO alongside me right that was not my husband"
- Rachel Zoe on Aspire with Emma Grede, 2026-10-27, at 1:01:58. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/dbe3eacc78526525

> "my picks and my curations were converting like 100x. So that was what I was hired to do a lot."
- Rachel Zoe on Aspire with Emma Grede, 2026-10-27, at 12:11. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/8612b64e68e3172d

> "I would say if I had a tip for anybody, like hire a VA or actually just outsource where you need to."
- Emilie Wilcox on Her Big Leap with Sarah Janzen, 2026-10-26, at 44:32. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/adec775c5ef41b74

> "If this person applied for this job today, knowing everything I know now, would I hire them? And if the answer's no, then you know what the decision is that you need to make."
- Chrissy Myers on Level Up Claims, 2026-10-21, at 24:11. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/6334e8311e7b3153

> "In fact, 75.5% of former interns who convert to full-time jobs are still with their employer after one year, compared with just 51.5% of other hires."
- Maddie Herring on The Iced Coffee Hour, 2026-10-26, at 6:05. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/6674acf00a7c6c6d

> "we just did a big ad campaign and we hired a celebrity. We talked about being your, you know, being your best friend and really tried to go a different angle where we, we appealed to the humanity of people, not just agents and brands, you know, AI."
- Jamie Domenici on MarTech Podcast ™ // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth, 2026-10-26, at 37:42. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/07401dff66e65ec9

> "Start by asking for the candidate's previous boss's name, and ask them to spell it out fully for you."
- Ryan Lozanis on Future Firm Accounting Podcast, 2026-10-22, at 5:43. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/a504454adaa69d31

> "the likelihood of getting measurable impact is five times less for the employee that has a lot of AI tools, but very weak strategic guidance"
- Vincien Borchene on The So What from BCG, 2026-10-21, at 14:56. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/aef066bd23f2f4dd

> "I do a coffee with coffee with Neela once a quarter where I just open it up to everybody. And it's like, who, you know, questions. And I'm very candid, like questions on the firm direction."
- Neela Hummel on Financial Advisor Success, 2026-10-27, at 1:25:37. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/b72d49a5d354c079

> "we organized the inventory, sold it to our employees, sold it to our customers at a discount. We raised quite a bit of cash that way"
- Rich Ashton on Your Business Growth Podcast, 2026-10-27, at 5:09. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/9ff337abf85ddcce

> "we were losing $500 a house the way we were doing it. And that is a business where you don't do it with employees. You do it with subcontract labor. And we were not set up to do that. So we just couldn't compete. And we got out of that business pretty early"
- Rich Ashton on Your Business Growth Podcast, 2026-10-27, at 6:08. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/7d87a8e01f6c8597

> "For a company between zero employees and 20, the only laws that apply are health and safety. When you get to 21, all of them do."
- Eric Schmidt (proposal to European policymakers) on In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen, 2026-10-21, at 29:49. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/6cf723a1a99b9970