Who Runs The Rec World‪?‬ Brogan Lees-Collier

In today’s episode, I was joined by Jill Bassett, Operations Director and Board Director of ManpowerGroup and Brand Leader for Talent Solutions.

Jill started her career journey off in the retail world and worked her way up to manage a number of different stores in the Sears Womenswear Group. After deciding she wanted to move into a new niche, but continue in management, Jill applied for a Branch Manager role at Manpower after seeing an advert in a retail magazine.

After taking a sideways career step to move into recruitment, Jill has had an incredibly successful career that has seen her progress from a Recruitment Consultant to a Board Director.

In today’s episode Jill talks about overcoming challenges that come with taking over new teams, and discusses how putting herself up for opportunities and continually pushing herself outside of her comfort zone has allowed her to continually progress her career. Jill also praises her team at Manpower for allowing her maternity leave to be smooth sailing, and compliments her supportive family unit for allowing her to juggle personal life with a demanding career.

In today’s episode, I was joined by Sam Smith, Vice President and Managing Director of KellyOCG.

Sam started her career journey in the Royal Air Force as a Mechanical Engineer- a job she had dreamed of and thought she would be in for life. After leaving the Forces, Sam fell into recruitment after using a recruitment agency to help her find a new role. Sam has now been in the industry for almost 20 years!

In this episode, Sam talks about the culture shock she faced when entering the world of recruitment. She speaks openly about having her son, and lessons learnt from juggling work and family life. Sam also touches upon the importance of staying true to yourself and gives tips on how to set up a healthy work life balance.

In today’s episode, I was joined by Melanie Forbes, Managing Director of APSCo Outsource.

Mel fell into the recruitment industry after stumbling into a Manpower branch on her local high street, looking for a change in career. A week later she was hired as a Recruitment Consultant and she has now been in the industry for over 30 years – with a focus on the outsourcing market.

In today’s episode Mel talks about being able to see the opportunity and progression recruitment was able to offer her, and discusses having some great male and female leaders to look up to throughout her career. She touches upon working part time whist she had her children, and talks about how having a really supportive network allowed both her and her husband, to build on their successful and demanding careers, whilst bringing up their children.

In today’s episode, I was joined by Michelle Watson, ex Managing Director of Michael Page & External Board Advisor.

After starting her career training to be an accountant and deciding she needed a change, Michelle walked into Michael Page looking for them to help her find the right switch in career, and walked out as a Part Qualified Recruiter! Michelle has now spent 25 years in the industry!

In this episode Michelle talk about her journey from corporate to consultancy.  She explains that having some strong male sponsors really helped her with her journey to become one of the first female Managing Directors at Michael Page, and talks about the difficulties of having children when both parents have thriving careers!

In today’s episode, I was joined by one to Watch, Lauren Bland, Principal Consultant at Degreeix Recruitment.

After spending a number of years working within the care industry, Lauren entered the world of recruitment after being head hunted by one of the Directors at DegreeSix. In less than 3 years, Lauren worked her way up from Associate Consultant to Principal Consultant and is now working towards management.

In this episode Lauren talks about how rocky her first year in recruitment really was, she speaks openly about struggling with mental health and having anxiety- regularly questioning if recruitment was for her. After overcoming these hurdles and having some great success, Lauren talks about how much she now loves her job and is keen to take her career in recruitment as far as it will go!

In today’s episode, I was joined by Donna Owen, Head of Sales at Vincere.

Donna unexpectedly fell into recruitment after answering a client call whilst working as an Accountant within a boutique recruitment agency! After having a successful career in recruitment, working both in agency and for herself, Donna was keen to join the tech sector after feeling constantly frustrated with the tech she was using. As Head of Sales at Vincere, Donna is now “weaponising recruiters through technology”, and helping out thousands who share her frustrations with the tech in the industry!

In this episode Donna talks about having some “kick arse” female role models throughout her career. She explains how she decided to work for herself when she had her first two children due to lack of flexibility in the workplace, and delves into how her success affected her first marriage, highlighting the importance of a supportive family unit.