Giig It A Rest

A Giig Hire Production Featuring - Luke Pitkin, Andy Sturgess & James Hardy

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New Episodes Every Thursday. Get to know the humans behind the Giig Hire brand. Giig It A Rest is a lighthearted podcast following the Startup journey of the Giig Hire product Since 2020 we have been bootstrapping a SaaS platform and wanted to give you a chance to get to know the humans behind the software. :)

1d ago

#83 - Surviving 207 Miles on a Bike & Our Plans With Claude AI

Welcome back to the pod! We did it. We officially completed the massive 207-mile "Chase the Sun" charity cycle across England, raising over £3,200 for Say it with a Smile.In this episode, we unpack the absolute delirium of spending 13 hours on a bike. We talk about our scariest moments on the road, hitting a physical wall outside a Co-op in Bristol, and the overwhelming emotional relief of finally crossing the finish line before sunset.Once we shake off the cycling fatigue, we dive back into the recruitment tech world. We talk about the recent wave of feature requests hitting the Giig inbox, and why we are taking a serious look at integrating Claude AI directly into the platform to automate workflows and act as a digital assistant for recruiters.We also debrief on the recent Team Conference, discuss the highs and lows of being bootstrapped solo founders, and touch on why tracking the actual ROI of your tech stack is so critical for growing agencies.Finally, we crack open Lee's Lunchbox, which sparks a funny (and slightly competitive) conversation with the question: What is the next big challenge? We debate the realities of stepping up to Iron Man distances and whether a head-to-head Olympic triathlon is on the cards for next year.Enjoy the episode!Links & Resources:🚴‍♂️ Support our £10k Goal for 'Say it with a Smile': https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/say-it-with-a-smile-1#🤖 Check out Giig: https://giighire.com/
Jul 9

#82 - Bootstrapped vs. VC Funding & Preparing for a 15-Hour Cycle

Welcome back to the pod! With the massive 200-mile "Chase the Sun" charity cycle only days away, the nerves are officially setting in.First up, we give a quick update on our fundraising for Say it with a Smile (we are over the £1,600 mark!) and break down our completely untested strategy for surviving a 15-hour day on the saddle.We then jump into a debrief of the recent team conference. We talk about the feeling of wanting to "kick on" and grow the business faster, and contrast the grind of being a bootstrapped SaaS company against tech startups running on VC funding.The conversation moves into product updates and how feature requests (like custom fields and AI integrations) seem to hit the Giig inbox in massive waves. We also take a quick detour to talk about our newfound obsession with Clarkson's Farm and the brilliant editing tricks they use.Finally, we dip into Lee's Lunchbox for a moment of reflection: What is the one thing you have improved on the most in the last year? This leads to a great chat about the importance of continuous learning, why old-school recruitment training was often lacking, and the memories of making our very first placements in the industry.Enjoy the episode, and wish us luck on the bikes!Links & Resources:🚴‍♂️ Support our £10k Goal for 'Say it with a Smile': https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/say-it-with-a-smile-1#📈 Check out Giig: https://giighire.com/
Jul 2

#81 - Naz Harrison & Charles Kyriakou - Milo

Welcome back to the pod! This week, we are joined by Charles Kuryaku and Naz Harrison, the brilliant recruitment coaches behind Milo! A brand new AI-driven recruitment co-pilot.This episode is an absolute masterclass for anyone interested in Learning & Development (L&D), recruitment tech, or the gritty reality of building a SaaS business from scratch.Charles and Naz talk us through their early days in the recruitment trenches and how they made the leap into L&D. They tackle the old-school industry stigma that L&D professionals are just "failed salespeople" and explain why one-to-one coaching delivers a massively higher ROI than just sticking consultants in a classroom to watch videos.We then get deep into the startup journey. The boys open up about the brutal reality of being non-technical founders trying to build an AI product. They share the absolute nightmare scenario of having their original tech partners lock them out of their prototype just minutes before a major investor pitch and how they managed to completely turn it around, secure cash investors, and find a technical co-founder who shares their vision.Plus, we cover:Why they are building an active desktop "co-pilot" instead of a boring library of training videos.The importance of using "The Mom Test" to get brutal, honest market validation.A hilarious, highly awkward story about the cultural differences of trying to cold-call and headhunt in Germany.If you are a recruitment founder, an L&D professional, or someone thinking about launching your own tech product, you need to hear this one. Enjoy!Links & Resources:🤖 Check out Milo: https://www.linkedin.com/company/m-i-l-o/📈 Check out Giig: https://giighire.com/
Jun 25

#80 - Becky Kitson - Kitson Associates

Welcome back to the pod! This week, we hit a massive milestone. After 80 episodes, we finally have an actual Giig user in the studio: the brilliant Becky Kitson from Kitson Associates!To celebrate, we are officially in fancy dress (safety first, obviously), and this episode is an absolute rollercoaster. In this episode there is something for everyone! In Becky’s own words, she is a great all rounder... First, we get into Becky's journey into recruitment, moving from being a debt advisor to starting out in a freezing cold, high-pressure agency, and eventually breaking out on her own to build Kitson Associates. She talks about the realities of being a solo founder, the isolation that comes with the job, and why she leans into the "small business" narrative when pitching to clients.But this episode isn't just about recruitment. We take a massive detour into Becky’s property investments, including her wild experiences managing an HMO, finding some questionable items left behind by tenants, and the unbelievable story of accidentally renting her first house out to a brothel.We also get serious for a moment. Becky talks passionately about the lack of women in construction, the discrimination pregnant women still face from hiring managers, and why 70% of her job currently involves acting as a counsellor for burnt-out senior executives in the construction industry.Finally, we dip into Lee's Lunchbox to answer a question left by Jeremy Snell: What is the number one thing in recruitment that pisses you off, that you would make illegal if you could?This is one of the funniest, deepest, and most chaotic episodes we’ve ever recorded. Enjoy!Links & Resources:🏗️ Connect with Becky Kitson: https://kitsonassociates.co.uk/📈 Check out Giig: https://giighire.com/
Jun 18

#79 - Launching the Giig Inbox, The 333km Cycle & Getting A 1955 Driving License

Welcome back to the pod! This week is a proper catch-up episode as the lads prepare for the upcoming team conference and get stuck into some massive product updates. First up, "Lee's Legs" delivers some fantastic news—the fundraising for Say it with a Smile has officially hit £1,120! Andy talks about the massive 15-hour training weeks leading up to his grueling 207-mile cycle, while Luke contemplates turning up to a dementia charity event dressed in full Lycra. We then get into the chaos of the weekend. Luke recounts a complicated, multi-stop treasure hunt he built for Lucy’s birthday (which required AI and some questionable grid-reference advice from his dad) and talks about supporting his mum during her recent triathlon. Andy shares an update on his Gran and reveals the unbelievable things they found while clearing out her old office—including his Grandad’s provisional driving license from 1955 and a genuine treasure map complete with coordinates! Finally, the recruitment tech chat is back! We break down the massive new email launch for the Giig CRM. If you are a user, you now have a fully integrated global inbox, bulk email sending with tracking, and the ability to choose whether you send formatted, redacted, or original CVs directly from the platform. We wrap things up with Lee's Lunchbox, tackling the ultimate philosophical question: If you could ask a higher power one question, what would it be? Enjoy the episode! Links & Resources: 🚴‍♂️ Support our £10k Goal for 'Say it with a Smile': https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/say-it-with-a-smile-1# 📈 Check out the new Giig Inbox features: https://giighire.com/
Jun 11

#78 - Jeremy Snell - Your People Engine

Welcome back to the pod! This week, we have our very first returning guest. We're back on the farm!!! We took the studio on the road and headed back up north for another chin wag with Mr Jeremy Snell (if you missed his first appearance, go back and check out Episode 31!). We kick things off with an update on farm life, bottle-feeding lambs at 2:00 AM, and his adventures at the secret "Pink Umbrella" society at Glastonbury. I also decided to roll out another highly questionable AI-generated quiz—this time, guessing famous movie quotes. I feel like I peaked with the first quiz and maybe should have left it but oh well these things happen. But when we do finally get around to the recruitment chat, Jeremy brings gold. We dive deep into his massive business transition, rebranding from Rookie to Recruiter to his shiny new platform, Your People Engine. He breaks down why he completely overhauled his tech stack, why he refuses to lock agencies into 12-month software contracts, and why he’s highly skeptical of the new "vibe coding" trend. He also shares some of his top-tier storytelling tactics for sales, including the legendary "Yellow Paint" strategy for uncovering hidden money in a client's supply chain. Plus, we cover: A wild medical tangent about surgery for sweaty hands. An unbelievable interview story involving a candidate, a roof rack, and a bungee cord. Lee’s Lunchbox: If we had to permanently live as an animal, what would we be? They always say it's hard to record a second album but I felt like this was a cracker filled with laughs, farm animals, and genuinely brilliant recruitment L&D advice. Enjoy! Links & Resources: 🚜 Check out Your People Engine: https://yourpeopleengine.com/ 📈 Check out Giig: https://giighire.com/
Jun 4

#77 - The £10k Charity Kick-Off, Hercules & The Fairy Dress Costume

It’s another massive, unedited update on the pod this week, where we manage to completely bin the recruitment chat for the majority of the episode. First up, the serious news: we are officially off to the races with our fundraising for the Say it with a Smile dementia charity, and "Lee’s Legs" has a big announcement regarding the current stats and total. Andy breaks down the terrifying £10,000 target the charity set him and reveals what he’s actually aiming for. We also discuss our upcoming team conference workshop and debate whether Andy standing in the corner in his tri-suit and goggles will help our conversion rate. Once we finish updating you on the miles Andy is putting in, we get SMUTTY. We cover everything from "human centipedes" and Snickers adverts to why Luke energy-crashed hard after 40 miles on our last cycle. The main segment is dedicated to Lucy’s massive 30th birthday party. We discuss the creative dress code and reveal our costumes: Andy is Hercules, a bunch of guests are forming The Flintstones, and Luke has spent an uncomfortable amount of cash to dress up as Ginda the Good Witch from Wicked, complete with a very tight tiara. Finally, we dip back into Lee’s Lunchbox for an I'm A Celeb special: if we were in the final, what would our three-course bush tucker victory meals be? Hint: one of them involves eating prawn tails but absolutely NO guts. Enjoy! Show Notes: * 🚴‍♂️ Please Donate to 'Say it with a Smile' here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/say-it-with-a-smile-1#
May 28

#76 - Rohit Kapoor - Paiger

This week on the pod, we are joined by Rohit Kapoor, the Co-Founder of the recruitment business development platform, Paiger.This episode came out of the gates quick.... Rohit definitely brings the energy, which could be something to do with the Ginger and Turmeric drink that he bowled in with.After 20 minutes of chatting about barbershops and waxing, Rohit takes us right back to his early days, sharing his completely unfiltered journey from dropping out of a university building surveying course to landing his first recruitment job by randomly flipping through the Yellow Pages. We discuss the grind of his early recruitment days, the pivotal moment he moved to Broadbean, and the drive that ultimately led him and Darren to build Paiger from the ground up starting off in a shed. But this episode is far from your standard corporate founder interview.Along with his journey, we also cover off his family life including: his mum working in the money-counting dome at Securitas, his dad ultra fit dad (Jim) who's doing triathlons on the daily and how he was called up to deliver his son at home back in the madness of the COVID days... This ones energetic to say the least.. Enjoy x

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Creator

A Giig Hire Production Featuring - Luke Pitkin, Andy Sturgess & James Hardy
Years Active

2024 - 2026
Episodes

83
Rating

Explicit
Show Website

Giig It A Rest

Giig It A Rest

#83 - Surviving 207 Miles on a Bike & Our Plans With Claude AI

#82 - Bootstrapped vs. VC Funding & Preparing for a 15-Hour Cycle

#81 - Naz Harrison & Charles Kyriakou - Milo

#80 - Becky Kitson - Kitson Associates

#79 - Launching the Giig Inbox, The 333km Cycle & Getting A 1955 Driving License

#78 - Jeremy Snell - Your People Engine

#77 - The £10k Charity Kick-Off, Hercules & The Fairy Dress Costume

#76 - Rohit Kapoor - Paiger

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