Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the True Life Podcast. I hope everybody is having a beautiful day. I hope the sun is shining and the birds are singing and the wind is at your back. I want to welcome everybody back to the True Life Podcast, where we delve into the depths of human experience and enlightenment, guided by the wisdom of the extraordinary individuals. I am your host, George Monti. And today, I have the distinct pleasure of welcoming Julia Arpag. As my esteemed guest, Julia's journey is a testament to the transformative power of faith and passion. As co-founder of Aligned Recruitment alongside the remarkable Alana Thomas, Julia's commitment to people and her unwavering faith in God have been the driving force behind her remarkable career. With a career spanning nearly two decades in recruitment, Julia's expertise extends far beyond merely filling roles. It's about crafting A-player teams that catalyze peak performance and drive organizational excellence. By day, Julia is immersed in the exhilarating world of high-growth tech companies, shaping top-tier teams and fostering genuine partnerships with clients. By night, she finds solace and joy in the embrace of her loving family, all while advocating fervently for her clients and candidates. Join us as we embark on a profound journey of introspection and enlightenment guided by Julia's unparalleled authenticity and wisdom Together, let's explore the intersection of faith, passion, and professional excellence and discover the true essence of what it means to live a purpose-driven life. Julia, thank you for being here today. How are you? Oh my gosh, thank you for having me. That was the most epic intro I've ever gotten. I loved every second of it. Thank you. I'm stoked you're here. You've been doing quite a bit of work and not only helping people, but being very honest about your journey along the way. And I was kind of hoping we could explore that a little bit before we explore what you're doing. Maybe you could just give people a background on the journey and some of the trials and tribulations and victories that you've had. Oh my gosh, I would love to. Yeah. So the crazy, crazy backstory on me. I, like you said, have worked in recruitment for a long time. And then just nine months ago when I was five weeks postpartum with my youngest son, my former company laid me off. So I had to make some choices real quick. So the good news is I was very, very fortunate that I got several job offers right away. So for me, it was more a question of which opportunity do I take than, oh crap, I don't have any opportunities. So that's why I decided to co-found Aligned Recruitment with Alana Thomas, who you mentioned earlier. One of those offers was from her asking me to come on board here. And that was basically a way to say yes to all the job offers because a lot of them became clients of ours right away. So we hit the ground running nine months ago and have never looked back. It's amazing to me. Was there a moment when that happened? You're talking shortly after postpartum. A lot of people's identity is wrapped up in what they do. Was there a moment for you where there was like a little bit of an identity crisis? Like, oh man, this happened to me now. I can't believe this. What about my relationships? Who am I? Was there any of that that happened? To be honest, no. And you referenced this in your intro. My faith in God is very much foundational for me. So my identity is actually that I'm a Christian. So to be honest, I wasn't even upset. I know that sounds crazy, but I was like, oh, great. Okay, we'll do something else then. I really wasn't. I kind of had this crazy piece about it. I think it's imperative to have that, you know, and it's, but I also think it speaks volumes and it can be a changing, it can be life changing for people when they lose a job or when they're looking for a new job. Have you noticed some of that questioning happening in the, maybe the people that you're helping? Oh, absolutely. And I, it's funny. So I'm here in Atlanta and I'm part of a tech founder community up at Atlanta Tech Village. We meet together. So we actually just had lunch there today. And a lot of the founders there had similar catalysts. Either they were laid off or there was some huge shift in their company that they no longer resonated with. So yes, I think becoming an entrepreneur has a lot to do with, there's something in the corporate world that happens that you just cannot abide, or maybe it wasn't a choice. Like in my case, when you get laid off or fired, and you just make some lemonade out of those lemons. So yeah, to answer your question, I do talk to a lot of candidates who are on a journey of introspection, like, okay, this unexpected thing happened. What do I do now? What's my next step? And I love that. I very much recommend career coaching to any and all of my candidates who are kind of unsure. Because I'm a recruiter, right? Like I pair candidates with opportunities. But if you don't know what opportunities you want, I do think you should take a step back and do that kind of self-analysis before you jump into the job market. I'm so stoked to hear that. You know, on some levels you can look at scripture and whether it's biblical scripture or some people turn more to Eastern philosophy or some poets like Rumi or perhaps different religions. But I think there's something to be said in scripture or books like the story of Job or, you know, losing everything is a test to find if you're worth anything. And, you know, I think that there's a, there's a certain power and people on some level, I think you should be proud of being fired. If you stood up for what you believed in and you did the right thing, I guess it'd be a badge of honor. Like, Hey, congratulations. You stood up for something. You know what? Come right over here. I got something for you. Is that too crazy? What do you think? It's crazy, but I, there's all these different reasons you get fired right so if you got fired because yeah you stood up for something you believe in you took a stance you your integrity wouldn't allow you to go along with something that was inappropriate yes that is a badge of honor I'll be honest I talked to some candidates who got fired because they were underperforming like they weren't doing the job they were they were hired for so in that case I wouldn't say it's a badge of honor but that's a good point it really could be either way Yeah. Well, I'm just curious. It seems to be, I've talked to some people in the tech startup and there, there seems to be a few lines that connect to some of the things you're talking about. One is faith. Like you have to have almost an eternal optimism in founding something or believing in something when no one else will. And I think that there's a, there's a streak of rebellion. Like, no, I'm doing it the way I want to do it. And this is the right way. And here's the reason why. Right. Yeah. Every single founder I talked to has a massive streak of rebellion and massive it's not slight it's it's in there it's intense yes yeah yep what do you attribute like is that is that something a streak that you have in yourself are you oh yeah I've always had a problem with authority it's bad not that I've ever like been to prison let me be clear it's not it's not that yes ever since I was a kid I would just get so annoyed what what really makes me mad is when is when I am told something that I disagree with. Like when someone's like, this is just the way it is. You just have to do this. I'm like, but why? And if there's not a good reason or if I don't respect the person who's telling me that that's what I have to do, I have a really hard time submitting to that authority. Like, for example, I got fired from a job way back in 2018, I want to say. My boss... we had that relationship. Like she would tell me to do something and I would be like, great, no problem. And then I would do it and she wouldn't like the way I had done it. Or there'd be a lot of pushback about, you know, me saying, hey, I'm a recruiter. All I need to do my job is my phone and my computer. Can I work from home a little bit? And they were just like, absolutely not. That's not the way we do things here. So That kind of culture, I can't abide. I haven't worked in an office since then. That was my last office job. I've been remote for the last six years because of that. I value autonomy over basically anything else, which I think is the case for a lot of founders. Yeah, I would agree. I think it brings up this question of alignment. People seem to succeed in places where they're aligned at. Maybe you could speak to this idea of people being aligned. Yeah, no, I love that. So that's actually why we named Aligned Recruitment Aligned Recruitment. Because we do very much believe in that. Like it's easy to just chuck someone into a job. It's way harder to actually find alignment between a company and a leader and an employee. That is so much harder. And then for my co-founder and I, as we started this business, we're both Christian. So our faith was a huge part of that. And we're both young moms. Our family is a huge part of why we do what we do, wanting to provide for them, wanting to build a life that we believe in and are passionate about. So I very much believe in whole life integration and alignment across every single category. When I think of recruitment, I think of behavior analysis. You have to be able to really read people in a way that is beyond a one-sheeter or a resume. You have to be able to listen to people's words, have some visual fluency, understand goals and ambitions. If you could speak to your ability, how have you refined those goals? How have you refined those particular abilities in yourself to find and match people to the right people? It's an important thing. Yes. No, that's such a good question. So as a recruiter, you definitely should be listening more than you're talking. Like there is an element where you do have to explain the job, explain the company, make sure it's a good fit. But I pretty much ask questions my entire conversation with candidates. I'm not normally pitching them or trying to convince them to take the job. I'm mostly just listening and trying to understand what they're looking for and what they've done in the past. So that's huge. And then like you said, emotional intelligence is key for basically every job. Like even if you're in a more technical position, like let's say you're a product owner or a software engineer, you do still need to have emotional intelligence to interact with your team and with your clients. And so that is a huge piece of what I do is kind of reading how are they communicating with me because that will show me basically how they would communicate with that company. So that's huge. Absolutely. Yeah, it's a great point. A lot of times people talk about a work-life balance. And there's a few questions I want to ask in this particular domain. First off, is there such thing as a work-life balance or is it more of your life's work? Like maybe you can fit in there somewhere, right? That's kind of an interesting concept, right? Yeah, yeah. Well, I think it's... Gosh, I have so many opinions about this. I don't even know where to start. Okay. So for me, I, I used to so struggle with this. I would get so depressed early in my career because I was like, man, I would love to do work that I love. Like I would love it if I, you know, that, that sentence, what is the quote? Um, love your work and you'll never work a day in your life, something like that. And I've actually shifted my perspective. So I actually believe that any meaningful work will be hard at some point. So I think the reality is anything you do, even if you love it, will feel like work. So I think there is an element in which there needs to be a work-rest rhythm. So if you're working all the time, I don't think you're honoring your spirit, your relationships. But if you're resting all the time, you're not doing what you were put on earth to do, which was to contribute and to make the world a better place. So I actually do believe in work-life balance. I do believe in doing work that you care about and that you think matters. But I also believe in taking a lot of time for me to be with your family and and just really invest in the things that matter to you outside of the thing that gets you money at the end of the day. Yeah, it's an interesting concept. We've got Mark Davis, who is a recruiter himself and an incredible individual, especially in the world of plant medicine and cannabis. Mark, thanks for joining us today. He's got a question. He says, Julia, what are your thoughts about AI and chat GPT and recruitment? Here it is, a big topic these days. Yeah, that's a good question, Mark. So AI has been here for a very long time, right? Like AI is the thing that allows us to search for the right candidates in LinkedIn Recruiter or allows us to evaluate resumes using an applicant tracking system. So I think the fact that ChatGPT and other tools are here now, I really think just makes our job easier. Will it replace some of the more administrative tasks of recruitment? God, I hope so. No one likes doing those anyway, so I would love for those to be replaced. And as far as the personal aspect, like what we were just talking about, as far as the communication, the emotional intelligence, like actually vetting the person you're speaking with, that human touch, the need for that will literally never go away. So I think there'll just be a marriage of increasing AI capabilities, but also the need for human to human interaction and recruitment. Yeah, it's a great point. And I'm hopeful that AI becomes the incredible tool that it's been and it levels the playing field for so many more people. And this kind of leads to another question I'm thinking about. It seems today, if we look at demographics, like there's this giant group of boomers that are kind of finding their new life or retiring. And then you have these Gen Xers that may have been part of the legacy system that maybe doesn't have like sort of the new school stuff like this. How do you see the job market changing? From the eyes of a recruiter and you see this new world kind of budding, this new technological world, how do you see the marriage of the legacy system and this new system that's happening together in the eyes of a recruiter? That's a good question. Um, I think it's honestly individual. I, I get your point that generationally there, you know, people have grown up with different access to technology, different experiences with it. So I totally hear that. But what I have found is that there are some Gen Xers who are way more tech savvy than a lot of millennials I know, or a lot of Gen Zers I know. So at some point it's kind of a decision that you make, right? Like I, I hired an executive coach when I first started to launch recruitment and she's God, she'll kill me. Either a Gen X or a Boomer. I don't even know. One of those two. Right. But she has made herself very tech savvy. When she first started her first recruitment business 25 years ago, the way that she grew it is completely different from how she grows it now. But she's learned and adapted. So I think it's the same as any time in history, right? There's always going to be new systems and ideas and technologies. And if you can adapt, you'll thrive. And if you don't, you won't. Yeah, that's kind of technical Darwinism on some level, right? Yeah, honestly, yes. Yes, it literally is though. Like you will get left behind. And I've posted about this on LinkedIn. I'm the first to admit, I'm a late joiner to basically anything technical. Like I didn't get my first iPhone until 2012, right? And they'd been out for almost 10 years at that point. So I'm all for... Not just jumping on every tech bandwagon just because it's popular, just because you think you should. I think technology actually has taken a lot away from us. And I actually really do believe in... prioritizing face-to-face time as much as possible. We have really strict screen rules in my house, much to the chagrin of my two teenage foster sons. They think we're crazy strict, but I'm like, I promise you it'll make your life better if you are not addicted to screens. So I do think there are a lot of things to be said for being hesitant to just infiltrate your life with whatever new technology is available, but there is a degree to which you have to be able to adapt or else you just won't be successful. Yeah, what are some of the things that you think technology is taking away from us? Oh my gosh. So many things. I mean, I think it's, it's designed to be addictive, right? Like social media is designed to be addictive and it's very successful at that. Like I know so many people sit in a restaurant, right? There's so many people just sitting on their phones instead of talking to the person across the table from them. And I think technology, like it gave us the gift of being able to access anyone at any time, but now it makes us feel like we need to make ourselves accessible to anyone at any time. So we can never just focus. We can never just be. I know it's really hard for people, myself included, to put my phone down and just do focused work, right? Like I always have notifications going off. There's always dinging happening. Like you have to be so intentional to just block all of that out so that you can be present with whatever project you're working on or whatever person you're with. Yeah, it's a great point. In my house, my daughter, we have a kind of rule where we have screen time, but there's a difference in consuming and creating. And I think that when you're actually creating things, even though you're on the screen, at least you're not consuming them and taking it in a passive way. You're being part of the conversation, right? So you're giving back and you're seeing on some level what your actions look like to other people. It's a whole other sort of visual fluency that we're kind of moving into. Yeah, that's actually a really good distinction. I think I'm going to steal that from you. My 13-year-old foster son just started a YouTube channel, so he'll be thrilled for me to say, hey, I love that you're a creator. This is extra screen time. Yeah, and I think it forces them to see – with another lens through this relationship. Like in relationships with people we meet, people we love, people we work with, sometimes we can see ourselves in a different way. And I think when you create content, you're beginning to see yourself almost in a third person point of view, where you can judge, where you can see yourself without judgment on some level. It's an interesting concept. What's your take on that? What do you think? i I totally resonate with that I think that's fair to say and and I do think as far as the communication options that technology has given us I'm all for it like the fact that you and I are talking right now is thanks to technology right like you're in hawaii I'm in atlanta I'm very grateful to have opportunities like this My entire family lives in different states or across the world. My sister is in Thailand. My brother is in Madrid. And I would never be able to speak to them if this didn't exist. So, no, I definitely think there's a lot of benefit to using it as a creative platform, using it as a communication platform. I totally agree with that. With... Congratulations on having your family on so many cool places. It seems like that opens up so many doors, not only to culture and ideas, but also potential work environments. Is that something that you have noticed in recruiting is that you have a much wider field to choose from? Maybe you can have digital nomads or you can have people from different countries or states that can apply for jobs all around the world. Is that something that you've noticed in the world of recruitment? Yeah. So my clients who are open to working with remote candidates, they have a much bigger pool to choose from than my clients who are like, no, they need to be based in this city or this area. There are still some companies where their work is still physical, right? Like it does need to happen in a physical place. So I do get the need for in-person work and people who work from that actual office. But yeah, there's a way bigger candidate pool if you can pull from the whole world versus one little town for sure. Is there a difference in the way in which, say, like a tech company in Madrid is looking for qualifications versus a tech company in Atlanta? Oh, that's such a good question. I wish I could answer it. All of my companies are based in the U.S. But if anyone listening is in Madrid, please tell us about the tech environment in Madrid. I'd be very curious to hear about it. I've noticed a few sort of changes that I've seen happening and I'm curious to get your take on them. One of them is that people leaving the workforce, maybe for like, say someone's worked in the workforce, 10, 15 years, some companies are beginning to see that as equivalent to like a bachelor's or people that have been in the workforce for 30 years, looking at that as an equivalent or a master. Sometimes when you look at the different job descriptions, they're saying, do you have a bachelor's or equivalent? And some companies are beginning to use, you have 10 years of lived experience as a, you know, as a mentor instructor at a fortune 500 company. That's pretty much a communications degree. Come on over here. Are you noticing that too? And finding individuals in that same sort of aspect? Yes. Most of my clients do not require any kind of degree or that you went to any specific school, which I think is fantastic. I love that we're moving in the direction where college really is optional, obviously not for all jobs, but especially in tech. I mean, I think it's amazing that all of these bootcamps are popping up where you can, in six months, you can learn how to be a software developer or work in software sales. I think that's incredible. And I love the opportunity kind of like leveling the playing field that's happening right now. Yeah, I think it speaks to this idea of lived experience and AI and all these things coming together that do level the playing field. And they make it more competitive. They make it richer. They make it more distinct. If you could speak to that a little bit more. Yeah, no, I think that's amazing. So I'm... I went to college, full disclosure. And to me, it was always kind of like the only option. Like it never would have occurred to me not to go. All of my siblings went. My parents both have master's degrees. It wasn't like there was pressure. It was more just like, well, what else would you do? So I just love that now – that's not necessarily the case. Like if, if you're not a, if you're not a strong student or B, if you just don't want to be in school for longer, you don't have to be like, I like that you have more choices. And I mean, to kind of speak to your point about, um, Do you need to have the lived experience, quote unquote? I've even seen some flexibility with that. Like, I think that's the best practice is when you can hire like, yes, your candidate typically does have to have some technical aptitudes and experiences. But but whenever you can kind of flex on some requirements to find the person who's going to be the right fit for your specific company and your culture, I think that's when you're the most competitive as a company. I heard a really good phrase that I like from Lloyd Lobo. He's a really cool fintech guy. And we were having a long conversation and he's in the middle of our conversation. We were talking about economy and money and all these things. And he just stopped and said, you know what, George, I want you to learn this phrase relationships with the new currency. What are your thoughts on that? Oh my gosh. I love that. I couldn't agree with that more. What did you think of that when he said that? I did. I had to pause for a minute and I just took it all in and I was like, Hasn't it? It's kind of always been that way. The one thing I disagree with is the new currency. I think eternal currency. Right. But we've forgotten it on some level. I know for me, even though we were taught that as kids, like, you know, the golden rule, do you want to others you would do to yourself, like we have this idea of relationship, but It's very easy to get caught up when you're searching. Maybe this is a lack of faith. Maybe this is a lack of something spiritual or bigger, but it's easy to get caught up in defining yourself with what you have. And I think at that point in time, you forget about relationships. I think that's totally fair. I think that comes down to... So I very much subscribe to the minimalism movement. I just posted on LinkedIn yesterday, actually, my husband and I have always saved 50% of our income, no matter what income level we were at at the time. And the reason for that is because I think it's so easy. The same way you can get addicted to screens, you can get addicted to buying, like to consuming. And you're... for the moment feel like they're satiated by you receiving something new or buying something new, but they're actually not. Like that hole is still there. So I wholeheartedly agree with him and I live by that sentence, I would say. Yeah. It's funny when you start getting into the language and the words and meanings, you know, we, we, sometimes we buy things and we call them possessions. We have all these possessions, but possession usually is something out of a horror film. Something that takes over you. You know what I mean? And on some level, your possessions kind of possess you. Absolutely. I completely agree with that. I completely agree with that. And I mean, obviously both of us are like people in the world. Like we both have like podcast mics, for example. So we obviously have possessions. But I think that's such a good point. Like it's about your posture towards that item. Like how much does that mean to you? What is the hold that it has on you? And I think it's so, gosh, I mean, every piece of data that's ever been pulled on this shows that you're happier when you're investing in experiences and relationships than when you're investing in things. So I very much subscribe to that. Yeah, it's an interesting concept. I, we're in the process of moving here from from Hawaii to California. And one of the things I really love is books. And I used to have like this incredible library, like behind me, you can see like one book, he's got like five, and they were all full. My wife's like, we're not taking any of these books. We're not taking we're going minimal, George. And I'm like, we are? She's like, yes. I'm like, okay. She's like, how come you can't get rid of this book? I'm like, that's a first edition. I'm like, I care. She's like, why do you care? But, but it led to this incredible discussion. The reason I bring it up is that it's a great exercise in letting go. And I think when people let go, they find freedom, whether you're letting go of a possession, whether you're letting go of an idea and identity, letting go an identity. Yeah. I mean, Take it from there. What do you think? No, I totally agree with you. Well, wait, I'm curious. Why are you moving from Hawaii? That sounds like a paradise. Why would you leave Hawaii? That's insane. Well, I feel I'm in a position where my faith is being tested. I was recently escorted out of my job of 26 years for standing up for what I believe in. Okay. And it's an exercise in letting go. And I'm much like you. I believe that... The world has plans for you. And when you do something that you wholeheartedly believe in, you test it. You wanna live this life? Let's see how much you wanna live this life. You wanna spend more time with your family? Okay, here you go, let's see. You wanted this, right? What you gonna do? And so for me, I'm in a process of redefining who I am and figuring out why I live the way I did. And I think I've been given an opportunity to live a better life than I've ever imagined if I'm willing to have faith and take a chance in it. And that means doing things that I want to do, standing up for my words, spending more time with my family, moving back closer to be with family, stop being alone, stop having all these possessions. And so, and a lot of times, like all these conversations I've been having on my podcast are so cathartic for me. So- Thank you for being a part of it. Oh, that's so cool. I love to hear that. And thank you for sharing that. That's so gosh, that, that makes more sense now while you were asking like, well, what if someone got fired? I don't have any skin in this game, but just hypothetically imagine this happened. Oh, that's so funny. I love it. Okay. Well, good for you. I love that you're, you're taking a gift and not, you know, having kind of a victim mindset about it. I think that's so beautiful, George, and really cool that you're doing that. Um, but, but yeah, it's funny. My, my husband's more like you, like in, in your, in your description of your wife being like, get rid of these books. That's me. I'm like, why do we have anything like that? So I want an RV. Like my ideal would be to sell the house. sell everything we own and just cram our whole family into an RV and just wander around the country. That would be my ideal. My husband is like, absolutely not. He's like, I need our hot tub. I need our sofa. I need all the things that make my life comfortable, which I get to an extent. You want your home to feel homey. I do understand that. But he would be the one that would be like, no, I need that first edition book. We can't possibly give that away. I get it. I get it. It's interesting. It forces you to drill down on what you value and why you value it. And some of the things I have found is that people, myself included, and a lot of people that I talk to, the things that we value usually have an emotional tie to them, whether it's a memory, whether it is an experience. But you don't have to let that memory or experience go by letting that object go. And in fact, letting go of that object or possession may even strengthen that memory because now you no longer have that sort of tangible tie to it. You don't need it. You have it here. You take a picture of it. Yeah, I completely agree with that. It doesn't have to weaken the memory of the relationship. Yeah, I totally agree with that. When you talk about What's your idea on schooling for the future? Like you have young kids and if you were to have an RV, what would you just do some homeschooling or what? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I've planned this whole thing out. Okay, let me hear it. Let's hear about it. I've got this whole vision. So that's actually part of, like I said, you know, aligned recruiting, alignment, like this business is part of this whole vision. And I really believe in, building not only what I'm building at the business, but what the business then allows my family to do. So I'll be honest, we've hit the ground running with this business. Like in just eight months in business, we've closed half a million in revenue. Like I'm very grateful and we've been so, so blessed. And it's allowed me to dream for the business and for my family and say, okay, what is actually an ideal way to build our life? Like what ideally would this look like? So for me, to answer your schooling question, I was homeschooled until I was in third grade and I loved it. Like I had such a fabulous time. I, it was crazy. You can fit so much more schooling time in when you're homeschooled. So when I started going to public school in third grade, I came home and I was, I didn't know it, but I was a total jerk. I was like, mom, these kids are so dumb. Like, why don't they know anything? Which is like an indictment on me. Like I was not gracious, but it really is crazy how much more you can fit into a day when you're teaching two kids versus, you know, 30. So- Yeah, I would love to be able to homeschool my kids. I would love to be able to continue to run Aligned Recruitment. This is hopefully a lifelong endeavor for me. I really, really am passionate about what we're building here and what we're doing. And I would love to kind of build a family life that can walk hand in hand with it. And I have the flexibility to do it remotely, to support my clients and my team, and to be there with my family. So that's my ideal. I will say I have two foster sons and they're in eighth grade and they would kill me if I pulled them out of school and shoved them in an RV. They would say, no, ma'am. So our plan is to graduate them from high school and then maybe revisit this dream. It's fascinating to think about the way in which education is done through different families. In your opinion, are the parents the best teachers? Oh, I think it's so individual. Like I love our public school system down here. So I have no issues with it at all. It's not like I want to pull my kids out in the future because I think it's not a good system. I just want physical flexibility. Like I want to be locationally completely independent. That's my motivator. So no, I would actually say the best teachers for the kids – are the best teachers for the kids like in your specific family is it the parent is it the teacher is it some kind of homeschool pod like what happened back during covid where like neighborhoods would get together and their kids would all be taught by a tutor I think it's so individual to be honest It's fascinating to me to think about the way in which education can happen and is happening. And it's sort of like language, the same way our language changes on a daily basis. You know, like different words are defined differently now. So too is education. And with education comes dreams. Do you think that the way you were allowed to dream when you started this company has changed the way you see yourself in the world? Like you mentioned, you were allowed to dream now. Maybe you can unpack that a little bit. Yeah, yeah. yeah honestly I i never I never really thought I would start a company like that was not really something I considered I mean I i I had like fleetingly thought of it like wow it'd be really cool if I could just I don't know make all the money like right like I knew at my last company how much we charged our clients and then I knew how much I was making and I was like this doesn't make any sense there's a lot of money missing in the middle here right So because of that, I did start to think about the financial implications of going out on my own, but I was like, oh God, it'd be so much work. You have to get an LLC and get a website. It just all seemed so insurmountable to me. I was like, not worth it. I'll revisit that after my kids are older or whatever period you make up in your head when things are getting easier. So I'm so grateful that I got laid off because it kicked me out of the nest. Like I would not have started this nearly as soon and maybe not ever if I hadn't kind of had to. And yeah, it's opened up a totally new dimension of me dreaming what's possible for my career, for my family, for the legacy that I'm leaving on earth. Yes. All of that. I'm so, so grateful. so stoked to hear it and I it reminds me of an earlier part of the conversation where you had spoken about asking your previous employee like why are we doing that and it seems to me that why the question why is the antecedent that potentially gives you the Oh, I don't know, the power or the initiative or the drive or the beginning. Maybe the question why is the antecedent to the dream, which is the power that allowed you to start your own company. What do you think about that? Oh, I definitely think that's true. Like I said, I mean, just in my last role where I got laid off from, again, just looking at our finances where I was like – why are we charging clients that much? But this is what my salary is. Why are we doing that? So yeah, I totally agree with that. I think asking the question why is probably what's initiated every single decision anyone's ever made ever. So yeah, I think that's totally foundational. Can we tie that into your faith? Like when you look back now and you go, man, I started asking these questions, why? And then I started asking, why not me? Do you see that as a plan for like, hey, maybe there's a plan for me. Maybe this is laid out in a way. Oh, that's funny. So my theology is unique in the Christian realm and that I actually, well, maybe not other Christians believe this too, but I very specifically believe hold in one hand god is completely in control like 100 like predeterminate everything on the other hand we are completely 100 accountable for our actions I think both those things are true I think they're both true at the exact same time I know it sounds paradoxical but from reading scripture and from living my life I see no other explanation for what does or doesn't happen like I right because I could have gone any direction I could have taken one of those six job offers, right? And I could have been like, oh, okay, well, this is a fine life too. Like, thank you, whoever employer for giving me this opportunity. And so the fact that I decided to take this route, I think that God's hand is over it. And I think he's given our business a ton of favor, but I think he would give any decision I made favor as long as I'm walking with him. That is honestly what I believe about life in Christ. I love it. It brings up this another, there's another word that I have been hearing a lot and I've been toying with, and it's this idea of dimensions. Like you live in a different dimension than you did five years ago. Maybe you can see when you dream, you see in a different dimension. And I'm wondering if you could just play along with me for a little bit and help me think about dimension. Let's talk about dimensions for a little bit. Does everybody have an opportunity? Yeah. So I've heard it said, I'm assuming you do like affirmations and meditation and stuff like that. Right. All of it. Yeah. So I really like the word vibration. Like you vibrate at a higher frequency or a lower frequency. So I've been listening to the Ed Milet podcast recently and he talks a lot about vibrations and he talks about specifically as you level up and as your vibration grows onto a higher and higher frequency, it's going to be alienating to the people who are at a lower frequency. Like they're used to being a certain person and having a certain ethos and identity and Even though your core self is still the same, you are leveling up as a human, as a person, as a being. And so, yes, there is definitely a shift and a change. And, yeah, to use your language, a totally new dimension that you exist in. I love it. Yeah. It's fascinating to see. Yeah. I don't think it matters what word you use. Like I like dimensions and I've been using it more. You call it growth. You call it belief. You can call it whatever you want to call it, but you see the world differently when you begin to grow in a different way. And like, that's where the, all of a sudden there's these opportunities that were probably always there. You just never saw them before, but you can, you can read, um, biographies or you can watch documentaries and you can actually see the growth in people. And you can hear them talk about this magical thing of like, why all of a sudden these things started happening to me. It's like, I see it in this conversation with you and you're like, you know what, George, all of a sudden I was allowed to dream in this way. Like I get goosebumps when I think about that, being allowed to dream in a different way. Like that's a different dimension. It is a different dimension. Is that what you feel like happened to you when you lost your last role? And now that you're kind of in this new exploration phase, like, do you feel like you're on that new dimension or not yet? Yeah, without a doubt. Like I have seen so much, but it didn't come easy. Like there was a real period of self-contemplation where my relationships that were with the people began to die. And it's like, oh my gosh. You know, and sometimes I think that beginning anew means getting rid of the old. And that's a hard position for people to be in. People get stuck there. I know people that were where I was and they stayed there and they tried to go back. You can never go back. But that's part of the beauty of it. But you have to embrace it. You can't go back. I'm sorry. You have to sit with that for a little bit because it's tough. And you do need to grieve it. I do hear that. I hear sometimes in the founder community, you just get over it. Whatever. It's fine. Move on. Yeah. I'm like, okay, now you have all this unhealed trauma that's just going to slow you down. So no, actually take a beat, grieve it. But yes, then you do. The only way out is through. You have to keep moving forward. That's the best way that the only way out is doing it. I believe the world, God talks to us and there's signs everywhere. You know, you can see them in nature. You can see them in your relationships. And I, when I, when I talk on this podcast, I always tell people when they tell me, Oh, I got fired on my congratulations. Congratulations, man. Oh, you just left that relationship. Yeah. I want to high five you and give you a hug right now. Like this is your chance. Like, I had a friend of mine that called me and he was in a really tight spot and he was in a bad relationship and he had just left and he was like living in his car. He's a fireman, but he was living in his car. And he's like, Jordan, I don't know what to do. And I'm like, dude, congratulations, man. What are you talking about? I lost everything. And I'm like, you lost everything that wasn't important to you. Do you understand that? Like you have an opportunity right now to start over, clean slate, draw the picture that you've always wanted, man. You know, people would die for that. There's people in the hospital. banging on the gurney for one more day and you got it right now. Like, I feel like that's all of our lives if we're willing to see it that way. And it's different dimensions, Julia. I'm with you. I'm totally with you. I completely agree. I'm here for it. Let's talk a little bit more about relationships and finding the right fit for people. Do you look back on, on your lived experience to help people be aligned in the recruitment business? Hmm. Gosh, yeah. I mean, I think when I first started recruiting, I just kind of saw it as like holes to fill. You know what I mean? I was like, oh, this team needs a data analyst, so I'll go find a data analyst. Like I didn't really think as much as I do now. about the culture fit, the personality fit, the alignment, right? The fact that this is a whole person. This is not a data analyst. This is like Henry who has a dog and lives in Oklahoma. You know what I mean? There's like a whole person that I'm considering now. So at the beginning, no. At the beginning, I was just like, how do you even do this job? What do you do? How do you find candidates? How do you plug them in? And now that I'm so comfortable with the technical side of it, I can go deeper and kind of get a better sense of what would actually fulfill my candidates and what would actually fulfill my clients and make their companies or help their companies stay good places to work. Without giving up like the secret sauce or the like tools and tricks, you use like Hootsuite or you go to people's LinkedIn files. Is there some sort of like way to- I give away the secret sauce. So I literally gave a talk last week where I was like, hey guys, this is exactly how I recruit. Okay, good. There you go. Bye. I very much believe in abundance. And as I give, that's what I'm here to do. I'm here to share. I'm here to give. And honestly, what typically happens is people are like, man, that sounds really complicated. Can I just pay you to do that for me? And I'm like, yeah, for sure. So all that being said, tech stack, I mean, LinkedIn, obviously, is where you'll go to find most of your candidates. You definitely should get LinkedIn Recruiter. You definitely need to get LinkedIn Sales Navigator because that'll help you find your clients. And then as far as your applicant tracking system, you can do something as simple as Breezy. That's what we use. There's way more expensive ones that you can buy, but I don't know why. You should not do that. I do not recommend it. So get a simple applicant tracking system. Get some candidate sourcing tools like LinkedIn Recruiter, like I said. You might need an Indeed license, something like that. But that's basically it. You need a phone and a computer and a couple tools, and you can do this. In the world of like the startup community right now, maybe it's because of the circles in which you're working or it seems like there's so much excitement there. Do you think we're at a pivotal point in time where all these startups are beginning to be the seeds for the next multinational corporations or are these startups maybe in the process of being bought out later or is that the goal or what do you think is the relationship there? Oh, that's a good question. A lot of the companies that I work with don't necessarily want to scale to be massive. Like that's typically not their goal. I would say what I think is amazing is that with as many layoffs that have been happening in tech for the past couple of years, I think it's made more companies prioritize profitability. Like I think there used to be this focus on like, just get as much VC funding as possible. Let's just like load money onto the ship, throw it at people, throw it at products. Like let's go on these like lavish vacations, like as a, as a team, right? Like the whole team to Costa Rica, which is fine. Like I think there's benefit to celebrating together and physically being together. But what I see a lot now is focus has shifted to profitability as opposed to gosh, just, just getting more and more funding and, and throwing money at problems instead of throwing strategies or problems. Yeah. Would you say that a lot of the companies you work for are lifestyle companies or that you're recruiting for? As in it's like typically like a single founder who's just kind of trying to like build a life that works for them and their family and they're looking for a couple of hires. More like the vision of their company is for their employees to live a life that is balanced and sort of not so much, hey, I want you to work every single weekend. You know what I mean by that? Like not focus on productive numbers and profitability as much as creating a great product or service. Are those two things unbreakable? I would say it's both. No, I would say it's both. I mean, obviously as a founder, your number one goal is to sustain your company, right? So you're making sure that the people that you're hiring are going to help you do that. But really the only way to keep people on your team is to treat them well. And so to your point, that does typically not include working every weekend or working late at night. I just interviewed a candidate today actually who is interviewing for jobs because his current employer has him on sales calls until 11 o'clock at night. And so the companies that do that are eventually just going to lose their best talent. Yeah. Yeah. The Pareto principle, right? Sometimes people in positions, especially it seems multinational corporations, they're so far removed from the people that are producing great things for them that they just see them as a number. You know, when it's like, hey, this person is this, but really that person's crushing it for you. And maybe they're not getting the recognition they need. It's interesting. I agree. Well, that's why we actually focus specifically on working with really small companies. So our largest client is 200 employees. And that was very intentional. We only target companies that are either one of our companies is just a founder. And she's right now hiring her first ever software engineer. So I love working with small or early stage startups like that. And then up to, like I said, about the 200 mark. where there is still very much that focus. Like everyone still knows each other. It's very much like a human experience and human interaction. That's the kind of culture that we want to build. What have you noticed about, it seems to me that like the word fractional seems to be all over the place now. There's all these teams of people. There's a fractional CFO, a fractional software. There's all these fractional people moving around. What is your take on fractional? Wait, that's so funny, George. I literally was on a fractional podcast yesterday where it's run by these two guys who are fractional, I forget, marketing, something like that. And so they have on different fractional company leaders. So it's so funny that you asked that. I love it. I mean, it's what we do, right? Like we are fractional recruitment. Like we come alongside companies who don't want to hire a full-time in-house recruiter and we take on that work for them. So same thing as, you know, if you don't want to hire an internal CFO, you work with someone who... either gives you three months of their time or 10 hours a week or however you work out your contract. So no, I think it makes so much sense, especially for small companies who either don't have the budget or don't have the need to actually hire someone full-time in-house. I think it's an amazing, amazing model. yeah and I think it what is your take on the way fractional leadership works with existing relationships in in in businesses in your in your experience yeah that's a good question so to to really function at a high level it needs to be integrated like for your fractional consultant to actually move the needle with your business they do need to be around the table of those executive level decisions so with one of our clients, the 200 employee client, we are on their daily standup with their entire leadership team. Like the president of the company, the CFO, like we know all of those people very, very well. Cause we're on those calls every single day and really aware of everything happening at the company. So if you have a fractional consultant at your company, they really should be part of those conversations. So they actually can support you and move the needle for you and what you're trying to build. See, this is where I think the recruiter, someone like yourself, really needs to understand behavior. Because if you're going to bring in somebody to sit at those meetings, to hear all the dreams and hopes and desires, like you could be like, Julia, why are you bringing this knucklehead George over here? This guy, you know what I mean? Yes. Oh, I know. And that's happened to me, right? Where I've presented this candidate who I love, and then the client is like, I hated them. Like, what were you thinking? This definitely happened to me for sure. So there are times that I missed the mark or we just interpreted the same person totally differently. Like I experienced them in a totally different light than someone else did. So it happens. We're human, you know? Does your relationship with the person change? Like, did they not trust you anymore? Like if you bring in someone like that or how does that affect your relationship? Yeah, no, I, I am amazed that. So first of all, my track record is, is is typically that doesn't happen right like that's that's a one-off I build trust through all the times that that doesn't happen um and then I think what what helps too is that I ask a lot of questions like if I missed a mark I'm like okay thank you for that feedback like tell me what you saw that you didn't like or tell me what you didn't see that you would have liked to see So I'm always approaching it from a place of curiosity. I'm not offended. I'm not defensive. My posture is very much like, hey, thank you so much for the feedback. Tell me how we could do this better next time. So honestly, no, it really hasn't broken trust for me. Are the questions that you ask the candidates the same questions you ask yourself? It sounds a lot like that's your thought process. That's your inner dialogue. If something happens, that's like, Julia, you did this. Is your inner dialogue that you ask and treat yourself the same way in which you ask the questions to potential clients or people coming in? That's a good question. Are you asking if I'm gentle with myself or if I'm a jerk to myself? Yes, I am. It depends, right? Like every human, I try to be gracious to myself because beating myself up isn't productive. Like it doesn't move me to the level I want to be on. But there are definitely times that I beat myself up where I'm frustrated with myself. I'm like, why did you do that? Or you did that wrong? Or you should have handled that better. So that's the inner dialogue. That's not productive. It's not helpful. It doesn't actually accomplish what I want it to. So I I try to correct it and to be heavier on the grace. Yeah, we all do that. I know that I struggle with that as well. If I make a mistake, especially if you have a family and you do something that affects your family, that can be something that really weighs you down. But you have to find a way to answer that. And it's very easily, I think, people that have inner dialogue to have like a negative feedback loop. Or maybe you could share some tips or tricks that you do when you find yourself in a situation that is – Maybe, you know, whether it's prayer or whether it's journaling or maybe you take an ayahuasca trip with the family, you know, what are some things that you do to like help yourself get back? I just load up all four boys. It's so easy. Yeah, no problem. I love that. So for me, yes, I am. I'm one of those crazy people who wakes up at 430 every single morning because I need that alone time. I need to pray. I need to journal. I need to read the Bible. That is absolutely a must for me. My youngest is still really little. He's just nine months old. So there's some mornings I don't wake up because he was up a lot the night before or whatever the case may be. But as a as a rule, I typically am up early so I can make sure I get that time because it helps me like proactively be in a more positive, grace filled mindset as opposed to like reactively going into my day where like I'm up, the kids are up, like we already got to move. There's no time for contemplation or kind of setting the level that I want to operate at that day. But then if it does happen, like if I do something that I regretted or spoke in a way that I didn't want to or did something I didn't want to do, what helps me in the moment is honestly I'm an external processor. So my husband is my absolute best friend. So he is such a great confidant. I tell him everything. And he is a very, very helpful sounding board. So that's something I would honestly recommend to your audience, like finding that best friend, that spouse, that partner that you can kind of process with. Yeah. Thanks for sharing. I know it's kind of a personal question. I appreciate you saying, and we're on the level. We're good. Yeah. I, it's interesting when you talk about partners, how imperative it is to have a partner with whom you can share and trust and understand and move forward together, like shared goals and shared sacrifice or the foundation of any sort of winning relationship. Maybe you could speak to the ideas of sacrifice and shared goals. Oh, I would love to. Yeah. My husband and I very much feel like we're on mission together. That is very much the ethos of our marriage. we were crazy people who got engaged after knowing each other for six months and then we got married six months later and here we are we're doing okay so I feel good about it but we've been married for almost 10 years and we have like I mentioned we have our two young um sons and then we also have our two foster sons and that was a big shift in our marriage when we decided to become foster parents because it's the hardest thing I've ever done far and away way harder than starting a company oh yeah way harder So that was amazing to be partnered with someone who saw the same vision, who said, hey, there are millions of kids who don't have safe homes. What can we do about that? And the fact that we both cared about that and then we both were passionate enough to do something about it was kind of the catalyst for this new kind of season of our marriage where it is such a missional journey that we're on together now. So that as things have progressed in our careers, we've maintained that mindset. Like we're in this together. We're each other's partners. We're cheering for one another. We're on mission together. We have the same vision for our family. So that's been huge. It's awesome. I love that you did that. Maybe you could speak a little bit to the idea of. How do you look at the actions you do in this world? Do you see yourself moving on a path, like the stone thrown into a calm pond of water that creates ripples? Do you see the actions you're doing now that are going to generate prosperity for other people later in life? Is that how you see your mission moving forward? Or is there like an ethos or some sort of a philosophy that you follow that you can share with everybody? Yeah. I really hope the things I'm doing now impact people. That's what keeps me going. I'm like, hopefully this will be worth it. Yeah. No, I do feel very strongly about breaking generational patterns. I feel very strongly about bringing hope and restoration to families that have historically not experienced it, right? Like our foster sons, their mom was in foster care. Well, it makes sense to her because when they took foster care, right? So to be part of breaking that chain I feel very strongly about. And then, yeah, creating what will hopefully be generations of, of success and prosperity for my family is also something that I'm, I'm really hoping to build and really feeling, um, passionate about. And that's what I love about recruiting in tech too, is that tech is typically very high paying. So I'm changing the lives of the people that I'm recruiting. I'm giving their family a new story and giving their family a new dream of what could be possible. So again, alignment, it's all connected. It's all connected. Yeah, you take it even one step further and you can say that tech changes the life of everybody and can totally change generational trauma or patterns for everybody else by leveling the playing field, which we talked about earlier. In some ways, it's just these ripples that come off that stone. It's amazing to think of. Yeah. Julia, we're coming up on an hour right here and it's flown by so fast. You're amazing to talk to. I really appreciate you coming on here and being really forthright and talking about some personal issues and some goals and some dreams. But before I let you go, where can people find you? What do you have coming up and what are you excited about? Oh, thank you for asking. So people can find me on our website, alignedrecruitment.com. You can email me at julia at alignedrecruitment.com. And I'm on LinkedIn. Obviously, I'm a recruiter. So I'm on LinkedIn all the time. I'm actually the only Julia Arpag on LinkedIn. So you'll be able to find me there. And then what am I looking forward to? I love that question. So like I mentioned, we've hit half a million in revenue. And I'm... cautiously optimistic that we'll be at a million before the end of the year so I'm I really feel strongly about what we're building here and the fact that we are very intentional people motivated recruiters and we're not just people that are in it for the commission check I think the reason we've been successful is because people can can see our authenticity so that's what I'm looking forward to I think those are your questions, right? Did I answer them right? Yeah, you answered them all perfect. And shout out to Thomas Hutchison who says, awesome discussion. It's going to be tough. It's got to be tough working with high emotions and lots of different energies, but I think you do it well. Thank you. And thank you, Thomas, for commenting. Yes, it's tough, but so rewarding and so fun. I wouldn't do anything else. Okay, well, hang on briefly afterwards. I just want to talk to you briefly afterwards. But to everybody who hung out with us today, I hope you have a beautiful day. I hope you realize your life is a miracle and that you can live in another dimension if you're willing to take the chances. And life is beautiful. Go out there and have a beautiful day. That's all we got, ladies and gentlemen. Aloha.