Growing up, our dinner table was always full of quintessentially British discussions around politics, finance and business. My father was a ‘turnaround director’, which means he was sent into companies to turn things around when things weren’t going well. 

These dinner table conversations often highlighted just how important people were to the success of companies. But I’d be absolutely kidding you if I said I knew then and there I wanted to work in any type of role around talent or recruitment. 

I went to University to study Ancient History and Archaeology, before going on to do a Masters in International Relations. It was a fascination with the military that led me to those fields. Looking back now, the fascination was really about how groups of individuals can work together to achieve something remarkable. 

Recruitment is ultimately about people – it’s about having a genuine interest in wanting to help people get great jobs, and to help companies hire great people. For the majority of people these days, a job is more than just a way to make money – it’s an expression of who they want to be and how they want to be in the world.

Some people say that recruitment is transactional. In my view, only bad recruitment is transactional – there’s no way of sugarcoating that. Great recruiters understand that they have a duty to take care of people’s careers in their day to day, and not just see things as a target.

People are important in all companies, but especially in startups. Without the bureaucracy buffers, finding the right people that suit the unique culture and situation of each business, can make or break exceptional products. I feel extraordinarily privileged to be working with startups at evp to help find exceptional people.