The Hiring Room Podcast

The Hiring Room is a podcast about people strategy, profit, and smarter hiring systems.

Executive recruiter and host Renee Beckman sits down with real leaders for real talk about what actually works in high-stakes hiring: building stronger teams, leading with clarity, developing real bench strength, and turning people strategy into profit.

If you own the hires, the headcount, or the P&L, this room is for you.

How an FBI Analyst Uses Intuition in Career Decisions

Roughly 70% of professionals say they’ve ignored their gut at some point in their career and regretted it.

But what if intuition isn’t just a feeling?

In this episode of The Hiring ...Room, I sit down with former FBI intelligence analyst turned career coach, Adam Dickinson, to discuss the intersection of logic, intuition, and career decisions.

Adam spent more than 15 years in the FBI analyzing information and making high-stakes decisions. Today, he helps professionals navigate career pivots by combining structured thinking with what he calls an “internal GPS.”

We discuss:
• How intuition and logic work together
• Why fear influences career decisions
• What “gut instinct” really means
• Meditation, self-awareness, and career alignment
• The role AI may play in human decision-making
• Why so many professionals feel disconnected from work

Whether you’re considering a career change, feeling stuck, or questioning your next move, this conversation offers a different perspective on how we make decisions.

⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – What are Akashic Records?
02:35 – How heartbreak changed Adam’s path
05:00 – FBI myths vs reality
08:00 – Meditation, Joe Dispenza & spirituality
16:00 – Healing, intuition, and self-awareness
25:00 – How Adam became an Akashic Records practitioner
29:00 – Career coaching for former federal employees
31:00 – Adam’s “Interlogic” framework
41:00 – AI, intuition, and the future of humanity
46:00 – Hiring, gut instinct & decision-making
58:00 – Fear, intuition, and career choices
1:07:00 – Final thoughts on trusting yourself

About the Host
Renee Beckman is the Founder of MSeed, where she partners with growth-stage and mid-market companies to build disciplined, repeatable hiring systems.

With over two decades in executive search and talent strategy, Renee has interviewed thousands of professionals and built leadership teams across industries. Through her SearchOS methodology, she helps organizations reduce costly hiring mistakes and create structured hiring ecosystems that drive long-term performance.

Learn more at:
http://www.mseed.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-beckman/Show More

How an FBI Analyst Uses Intuition in Career Decisions

HR Leader: Why You Don’t Know What’s Happening On Your Team

Why are leaders constantly surprised when employees disengage or leave?

In this episode of The Hiring Room, Renee sits down with Pooja Bhatt, a former enterprise HR leader, to break down ...one of the biggest blindspots in leadership. Leaders think they understand their team when they do not.

After 20 years in talent strategy and leadership development, Pooja shares what actually happens inside organizations when managers rely on assumptions instead of consistent communication, feedback, and structured hiring processes.

This conversation shows where things break down, starting with the interview process and continuing into performance management. It also explains why most leaders miss the signals that are right in front of them.

They discuss:

Why leaders do not actually know what is happening on their team
How poor hiring processes create long term retention problems
Why performance management fails in most organizations
The difference between managing and coaching
How lack of feedback loops leads to disengagement
Where AI can help surface what leaders miss

If you have ever been surprised by an employee leaving or performance issues appearing out of nowhere, this episode explains why.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro and how Renee met Pooja
02:00 20 years at IBM and career transition
05:00 Coaching versus managing in large organizations
07:30 AI in performance management
10:30 Why performance reviews do not work
13:00 The leadership blindspot
15:30 Hiring and retention connection
18:00 Metrics leaders rely on and what they miss
21:00 Leadership behaviors that impact teams
24:00 Why managers miss what is happening
28:00 Generational dynamics at work
32:00 Coaching early career professionals
36:00 Broken hiring processes
40:00 Candidate versus company disconnect
45:00 Career pivots and wine venture
52:00 Advice for HR leaders
56:00 Why hiring is broken
59:00 Retention starts at the interview
01:03:00 Final thoughts

About the Host

Renee Beckman is the Founder of MSeed, where she partners with growth stage and mid market companies to build disciplined, repeatable hiring systems.

With over two decades in executive search and talent strategy, Renee has interviewed thousands of professionals and built leadership teams across industries. Through her SearchOS methodology, she helps organizations reduce costly hiring mistakes and create structured hiring ecosystems that drive long term performance.

Learn more at:
http://www.mseed.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-beckmanShow More

How He Built and Exited 2 Staffing Firms

What does it really take to build a company, scale teams, and exit successfully more than once?

In this episode of The Hiring Room, Renee Beckman sits down with longtime mentor ...David “DJ” Jackson to discuss building two successful staffing companies, leading large sales teams, and why he eventually chose to leave the industry after decades of success.

They also discuss what separates great managers from average ones, why most companies promote the wrong people, the lost art of recruiting, AI in staffing, and what founders get wrong when scaling teams.

If you’re a founder, leader, recruiter, sales manager, or entrepreneur, this episode is packed with practical lessons.

What You’ll Learn
How DJ helped build and sell two companies
Why some founders leave after success
What great managers do differently
Why top producers often fail as leaders
The lost art of recruiting and hiring
Why accountability drives performance
How AI is changing staffing and recruiting
What founders miss when scaling teams
Timestamps

00:00 Intro
00:12 Building two successful exits
00:43 How DJ got into staffing accidentally
03:31 Why staffing was such a grind
04:18 Building a fast-growing company
09:31 Why startup environments are special
12:38 Why DJ left staffing after success
13:20 Why relationships still win business
15:35 Why recruiting is broken today
18:16 Why corporate hiring feels broken
22:20 The lost art of training recruiters
27:24 Why founders struggle to scale sales
28:41 Why firms don’t train people anymore
29:41 Order takers vs order makers
30:22 AI in recruiting and hiring
38:40 Why Monster never replaced recruiters
45:25 DJ’s leadership reputation
47:15 Why one-size-fits-all management fails
49:34 Toughest people to manage
50:18 How great leaders adapt to each person
53:25 Why accountability matters
56:13 Why top producers fail in management
59:52 If he started a staffing firm today
1:00:40 Biggest software competitors today
1:01:25 Final thoughts

About the Host

Renee Beckman is the Founder of MSeed, where she helps growth-stage and mid-market companies build disciplined, repeatable hiring systems.

With over two decades in executive search and talent strategy, Renee has interviewed thousands of professionals and built leadership teams across industries. Through her SearchOS methodology, she helps organizations reduce costly hiring mistakes and improve long-term performance.

Learn more at:
http://www.mseed.com
linkedin.com/in/renee-beckmanShow More

Why Sales Teams Fail After Hiring

Hiring great people is only the beginning.

In this episode of The Hiring Room, Renee Beckman sits down with Beth Mastre to discuss why many sales teams still fail after hiring, ...and what leaders often miss once new people join the organization.

They cover accountability, coaching, management mistakes, hiring salespeople who interview well but underperform, and why clear expectations matter more than most companies realize. Beth also shares how modern outreach has changed, why pitching no longer works, and what top-performing sales organizations do differently.

If you lead a sales team, hire revenue talent, or want stronger performance from your people, this episode is packed with practical insight.

What You’ll Learn
Why hiring alone doesn’t fix sales problems
Why top performers often fail as managers
The accountability gap hurting teams
How to set clearer expectations after hiring
Why some hires interview well but miss results
Why pitching prospects no longer works
How great leaders coach performance
Timestamps

00:00 Intro
00:22 Why selling is harder now
01:17 What buyers want today
02:01 Why pitching turns people off
02:58 The FOMO outreach framework
05:05 Timing and priority in sales
07:31 Why value requires conversation
09:35 Why context matters in hiring
13:20 Why AI outreach often fails
16:34 Case study: email changes that booked meetings
21:08 Beth’s business model today
25:27 Why managing teams is exhausting
27:05 The 3 buckets of accountability
28:56 Why companies struggle with leadership
30:05 Hiring mistakes companies repeat
33:30 The hidden cost of turnover
34:28 Setting expectations before hiring
37:05 Why hiring salespeople is difficult
38:03 Office hours for managers
47:17 Why selling changed after 2008
54:05 Protecting time as a leader
55:43 Why sales is harder than people think
56:03 Worst sales email examples
1:03:57 Final advice for leaders

About the Host

Renee Beckman is the Founder of MSeed, where she helps growth-stage and mid-market companies build disciplined, repeatable hiring systems.

With over two decades in executive search and talent strategy, Renee has interviewed thousands of professionals and helped companies build stronger leadership teams. Through her SearchOS methodology, she helps organizations reduce costly hiring mistakes and improve long-term performance.

Learn more at:
http://www.mseed.com

linkedin.com/in/renee-beckmanShow More

April 17, 2026

You Already Have a Personal Brand (Here’s Why It Matters)

Most people think personal branding is something you might need someday.

But the reality is, you already have one.

The question is whether you’re building it intentionally… or leaving it to chance.

And ...for Brad Hughes, that realization wasn’t about posting content for the sake of it, but about creating leverage.

In this episode of The Hiring Room, Renee Beckman sits down with Brad Hughes to break down how personal brand works today, and how it translates into something much bigger.

Because this conversation doesn’t stay at branding.
It quickly moves into how visibility creates real relationships, how those relationships turn into opportunity, and how that ultimately impacts hiring, leadership, and business growth.

Brad shares how he’s building and scaling a multi-location dental platform, what he’s learned about leadership and culture, and why most people misunderstand what it takes to grow a business.
________________________________________
Timestamps
00:00 – You already have a personal brand
00:34 – Why personal brand is leverage
01:00 – Building a community vs chasing views
02:00 – Why Renee started the podcast
03:15 – The truth about social media growth
04:30 – Why consistency beats quick wins
05:30 – Platform differences (LinkedIn vs Instagram vs TikTok)
07:00 – Using content to build relationships and opportunity
08:30 – Leadership, culture, and hiring philosophy
10:30 – From practitioner to business builder
12:30 – The problem with commoditization
14:30 – What strong leadership actually looks like
18:30 – Scaling through people and partnerships
23:30 – Evolving the business model
27:00 – How Brad evaluates and acquires practices
31:00 – Why alignment matters more than the deal
35:00 – Small business owner vs entrepreneur mindset
40:00 – Hiring, complacency, and performance standards
45:00 – Competition, mindset, and personal drive
________________________________________
About the Guest – Brad Hughes
Brad Hughes is a dentist and entrepreneur focused on building and scaling high-performing dental practices.

He is the founder of a growing multi-location platform and has taken a leadership-driven approach to expansion—prioritizing culture, accountability, and developing partner doctors within each practice.
Brad is also known for his focus on personal brand as a form of leverage, using content and social media to build relationships, attract talent, and create long-term business opportunities.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bdhughesdds/
________________________________________
About the Host – Renee Beckman
Renee Beckman is the Founder of MSeed Search, where she partners with growth-stage and mid-market companies to build disciplined, repeatable hiring systems.

With over two decades in executive search and talent strategy, Renee has interviewed thousands of professionals and built leadership teams across industries. Through her SearchOS methodology, she helps organizations reduce costly hiring mistakes and create structured hiring ecosystems that drive long-term performance.

Learn more at:
http://www.mseed.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-beckman/Show More

AI Can’t Replace Accountants! #podcast #accountingsoftware

They raised $100M to automate accounting. It still failed. Here’s why.

In this episode of The Hiring Room, Renee Beckman sits down with Hunter Scott, Partner at StrataCloud, to unpack what really happens when you try to automate an entire function, ...and why it doesn’t work the way people think it will.

Hunter shares his experience inside a venture-backed startup that raised over $100 million to automate accounting… and why it ultimately fell short. The conversation goes deeper than technology into leadership, hiring, and the human judgment required to run a business.

They explore the evolution of AI in finance, the rise of fractional CFO services, and why the future of work is shifting toward interpretation.

This conversation covers:
• Why a $100M accounting automation startup failed
• The limits of AI in real business environments
• Why context and judgment still matter
• The rise of fractional CFO and finance teams
• How startups build culture and hire early teams
• What business owners should actually focus on
• The risk of over-relying on automation

If you’re a leader, founder, or operator trying to understand where AI fits—and where it doesn’t—this episode will challenge how you think about it.
________________________________________
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro and guest background
01:00 What StrataCloud does (fractional accounting + CFO)
03:00 Coaching finance leaders into CFO roles
05:30 Hunter’s early career and leap into entrepreneurship
07:30 Inside a $100M startup trying to automate accounting
10:00 Why automation alone didn’t work
12:00 The risk of losing foundational knowledge
15:00 How AI is changing accounting and finance
18:00 Why interpretation matters more than production
20:00 Lessons learned from startup culture and failure
23:00 The power of vision and alignment in companies
26:00 Hiring from networks and startup “alumni” effect
29:00 Building a business after failure
32:00 Fractional CFO model and market landscape
36:00 AI, context, and decision-making limitations
40:00 Why AI lacks business context
43:00 Real example of AI giving incomplete answers
47:00 Leadership, fear, and decision-making
51:00 Noise in the market and bad advice
55:00 Building a global team and culture
58:00 Final thoughts and advice for leaders

About the Host
Renee Beckman is the Founder of MSeed, where she partners with growth-stage and mid-market companies to build disciplined, repeatable hiring systems.
With over two decades in executive search and talent strategy, Renee has interviewed thousands of professionals and built leadership teams across industries. Through her SearchOS methodology, she helps organizations reduce costly hiring mistakes and create structured hiring ecosystems that drive long-term performance.
Learn more at:
http://www.mseed.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-beckman/

Reach out to Hunter Scott @ hunter@stratacloudaccountants.comShow More

AI won’t replace this!

March 31, 2026

The Hiring Room Podcast

How an FBI Analyst Uses Intuition in Career Decisions

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