Whispered Hiring

In this episode of How I Hire, Andy Mowat speaks with Ejieme Eromosele, VP of Customer Growth at Quiq, about her systematic approach to evaluating three-dimensional candidate fit and her tactical frameworks for identifying transferable competencies in non-traditional hires. Drawing from her transition from management consulting at Accenture and PwC to customer experience leadership at The New York Times and now scaling customer success at a Series A startup, Ejieme reveals advanced hiring methodologies that prioritize core capabilities over industry experience. Topics discussed: How to evaluate three-dimensional candidate fit: role alignment, team maturity (process-builder vs. operator), and company stage matching—including the "machete vs. map" framework for identifying who thrives in ambiguous startup environments. Why you need three types of references for leadership hires: manager, peer, and direct report perspectives that reveal candidates who manage up brilliantly but "elbow and knife" their peers to get ahead. The "keep it real" pre-offer conversation that prevents misaligned hires—inspired by Ejieme's CEO taking her to lunch to honestly explain startup chaos before she joined, saving both parties from a costly mistake. How top candidates differentiate themselves by explaining your company through customer pain points rather than product features, plus Ejieme's go-to question: "Tell me about a time a customer changed your point of view." The onboarding template that accelerates cross-functional relationships by pre-mapping new hires to key stakeholders with specific conversation topics, turning generic coffee chats into strategic relationship building. How to identify transferable skills in atypical hires by focusing on core competencies (leadership, relationship development, business acumen) rather than industry experience—the approach that got Ejieme her first VP role in tech. Why AI is creating both smarter candidates and more hiring noise, plus tactical considerations for screening authenticity when candidates over-leverage AI research for interviews. Real-world case study of redesigning roles when AI eliminates 50% of tasks—how Ejieme is creating a hybrid AM/RevOps position and applying the "scale rules" principle for sustainable growth.   ABOUT YOUR HOST:  Andy Mowat has built GTM engines for top companies throughout his career. He led Revenue Operations and Demand Gen at four unicorns, including scaling from $10M to $100M ARR at both Upwork and Culture Amp, and helping guide Box and Carta through IPO scale. With a passion for connecting people, Andy has advised executives on their careers for years and launched Whispered to make searching for executive roles less intimidating.  Learn more about about Whispered: www.whispered.com Interact with AI Andy: www.whispered.com/whisper-search

In this episode of How I Hire, Andy Mowat speaks with Tim Geisenheimer, CRO at Hatch, about building high-performing outbound sales teams in the AI era. Drawing from his experience scaling revenue organizations at Twitter, Correlated, and now Hatch, Tim shares tactical frameworks for identifying candidates who thrive in phone-centric environments, conducting scientific reference checks, and managing complex interview processes. His insights reveal how successful CROs are adapting their hiring strategies while maintaining focus on fundamental sales fundamentals that AI hasn't disrupted. Topics discussed: Why cold calling remains the dominant channel for B2B enterprise sales despite AI advancement, and how to screen SDRs specifically for phone-centric roles rather than multi-channel generalists. The "stretch candidate" philosophy borrowed from Jason Lemkin—when to hire someone who hasn't seen your exact growth story before versus requiring proven pattern recognition at your stage and scale. How to conduct "back-channel" reference checks by intentionally seeking out former colleagues the candidate didn't recommend, and the specific questioning framework that removes hiring bias to focus on management optimization. The tactical approach to managing multiple candidates through lengthy interview processes—treating it like fundraising orchestration with transparent communication about timelines and decision points. Why the best senior candidates proactively reach out with personalized research about specific open roles, and how this simple outbound tactic works because so few executives actually do it. The intellectual curiosity framework for identifying early onboarding red flags—specifically looking for bias-to-action and self-directed learning within the first two weeks at fast-growing companies. How AI tools like ChatGPT's O3 have raised the baseline expectation for candidate research, making company and role preparation non-negotiable rather than impressive. The counterintuitive onboarding philosophy for 100-person startups that balances structured enablement with self-directed discovery, expecting new hires to schedule their own CEO meetings and cross-functional conversations. ABOUT YOUR HOST:  Andy Mowat has built GTM engines for top companies throughout his career. He led Revenue Operations and Demand Gen at four unicorns, including scaling from $10M to $100M ARR at both Upwork and Culture Amp, and helping guide Box and Carta through IPO scale. With a passion for connecting people, Andy has advised executives on their careers for years and launched Whispered to make searching for executive roles less intimidating.  Learn more about about Whispered: www.whispered.com Interact with AI Andy: www.whispered.com/whisper-search

In this episode of How I Hire, Andy Mowat speaks with Karrie Sanderson, Marketing Strategy/Chief of Staff at LiveRamp, about her distinctive approach to building exceptional marketing teams. Drawing from her diverse experience at leading brands including Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Pfizer, Smartsheet, and Typeform, Karrie shares frameworks for identifying talent gaps, evaluating candidates beyond traditional metrics, and navigating today's employer-friendly market. Her insights reveal how strength-based leadership can transform both hiring processes and team dynamics. Topics Discussed: How departures of senior talent create strategic opportunities to reassess organizational structure rather than simply backfilling the same role without evaluation. Why LiveRamp's "hungry, humble, smart" framework identifies candidates with the right balance of curiosity, humility, and emotional/organizational intelligence needed for senior roles. How Coca-Cola's strength-based team building methodology creates complementary leadership teams where diversity of strengths leads to more effective problem-solving and innovation. Why posting senior roles publicly can generate 2,000-3,000 applications, and the tactical approach to leveraging 8-12 specialized Slack communities as filtered talent pools. The critical importance of handling candidate rejections professionally, especially for senior roles where "ghosting" qualified candidates can damage employer brand in tight-knit industries. Why the traditional categorization of CMOs as brand, demand gen, or product marketing specialists creates an artificial framework that sets marketing leaders up for failure. How a "people first" onboarding strategy that invests 2-3 weeks in relationship building accelerates long-term performance despite seeming counterintuitive when roles have been vacant. Why passive candidates often make superior hires because they're "running to" rather than "running from" opportunities, and how to adjust evaluation criteria for their different engagement patterns. The diminishing value of case studies and take-home assignments when hiring senior executives in competitive markets, and more effective alternatives for assessing strategic thinking. ABOUT YOUR HOST:  Andy Mowat has built GTM engines for top companies throughout his career. He led Revenue Operations and Demand Gen at four unicorns, including scaling from $10M to $100M ARR at both Upwork and Culture Amp, and helping guide Box and Carta through IPO scale. With a passion for connecting people, Andy has advised executives on their careers for years and recently launched Whispered to make searching for executive roles less intimidating.  Learn more about about Whispered: www.whispered.com Interact with AI Andy: www.whispered.com/whisper-search