How to Hire and Be Hired – Introducing Leese – Part 2

I have regularly spoken about how we build this business – we add bits on as we need them. This is a story about both hiring and being hired but there is more to it than that – I break the learning down a bit at the end because I think there are lessons for us all here.  

I was getting frustrated with the amount of administration work that I was doing, and the amount that Kim was doing. She was getting weighed down by the work load and finding that there were not enough hours in her day. And so we thought “let’s share an assistant”.

We went to the market in all the normal ways and soon had a pile of CV’s coming in from Trade Me. Kim and I had a pay expectation, and part of the deal would be that the successful candidate would be Auckland based, so we could easily meet up in person on a regular basis. 

In the mix, a CV came directly to Kim’s inbox. It was less a CV and more a page or two of clever digital design overflowing with skills and personality. Location: Amberley, North Canterbury. It went in the bin. 

Kim and I conducted a round of interviews from the shortlisted CV’s and met some great candidates. We narrowed the selection down to two. But I was not sold yet and so I do what I do when I am not sold yet…

I procrastinate and drop into a pit of decision fatigue.

The other problem was that I had an unresolved loop going in my head. ‘What say we don’t really need to meet in person and we open up to the rest of the country – then we can consider Leese’.

So I did the other thing that I do when I have a problem – get Kim to solve it. “Kim – can you give Leese Rogers a call and sus her out?”

The situation was getting dire, we had one favourite candidate to offer a job to and I was floundering about a person outside the job description who I wanted to interview. 

Kim came back from her chat with Leese and it was not without problems. Leese was very happy at Bayleys managing an in-house gift store and doing a whole lot of other stuff, and she was not local.

But Kim was impressed. We decided we would conduct an interview. And asked the other top pick to give us more time. 

I would like to say that the rest is history but the rest took weeks. Of course Leese interviewed super well. She had a bunch of skills we needed but was also clearly not the administrator we were looking for – she was more. She was someone who had the capabilities to grab ideas and run, and help build and grow our company. 

So I made her an offer based on our salary expectations, and I was summarily rejected. Not enough money, not enough hours. 

So we held off the other potential candidate and I increased the offer. I think that Leese must have read Never Split The Difference (by Chris Voss) because she nearly killed me in these negotiations. 

I was seeking advice, I was running numbers, I was very stressed. 

I remember one conversation with Leese as I was negotiating. “Well”, she said, “that rate at those hours won’t cover my mortgage.”

This reminded me that this was not just about what I was trying to achieve. Leese had requirements that she needed to be met before she could accept a role – it wasn’t just about perceived value and amount of time that the role entailed. 

Leese told me what she needed, but before I agreed I even had a colleague in another industry ‘guarantee to offer Leese a job’ if the money proved to be too much or the salary caused undue pressure to me. 

Clearly we got there in the end. Leese felt secure enough in the offer to leave her very stable job, with the benefit of cutting a two hour plus daily commute. And we got a high-level executive assistant who has become an essential piece of our business.  

Let’s just tease out some of the learning on both sides of the table here though. 

Starting with Leese, she made an impression by doing things a bit differently. 

Make Things Personal: 

When we back-tracked, we realised the application had come in directly to Kim via email. Leese had skipped Trademe and immediately showed initiative and a directly personal approach to her hiring – and this started to build a picture. 

Stand Out: 

Leese’s application did not contain your typical templated style CV. It has design elements, and was laid out more like a poster or a webpage – and while I can’t remember all the details the image of the page has stuck in my head. It left me wanting to find out more, as it alluded to a more interesting person – a more interesting person with design flair. 

Negotiate from a Place of Strength:

Leese also came from a place of strength in her negotiation with me. She was happy where she was, she had lots of autonomy and control in an area of the business that she had built. Her main issue was the commute. Leese had to overcome the stability of a role in a big established company for a small, young company with no real defined role. 

It gave her a strong position to commence negotiations. 

From my side of the table, I was mainly concerned with being able to bridge the budget gap, keep my promises and create a stable role, and of course hire someone capable and personable. 

If you find someone great, do what you can to work with them:

Kim and I were on the verge of burnout, we were at a place where if I didn’t make a hire things would start to collapse. And I think that if someone says they are at the verge of burnout they are already burning out. This problem had to be solved. We had found someone with skills over and above what we were looking for who would fit in with the team. 

We had to take the opportunity. 

I can’t emphasise more that if you want to grow you have to be prepared to step out of your comfort zone when opportunities present themselves. This was one of those moments, and the growth and the completion of projects that we have accomplished over the past year simply would not have happened to the extent it has without Leese pushing the boundaries of her presentation and us being prepared to see the opportunity and seize it. 

So to wrap up, this story is about more than just filling a role — it’s about recognising when the job spec needs to evolve to meet the person, not the other way around. It’s about trusting instincts, backing your people, and being willing to shift gears when the right person shows up (even if it was not where and when you were expecting it). We didn’t just hire an assistant; we invested in someone who’s helped shape what we’re building. And that only happened because we were open to possibility, even when it was inconvenient. The admin problem got solved — but more importantly, we added another great human to the team. 

And that’s the bit that has made the difference.