Podcast Summary: Shiny New Clients!

Episode: The Hiring Mistake I Made 6 Times in a Row (Avoid This at All Costs)

Host: Jenna Harding (Warriner)
Date: November 24, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Jenna Harding dives into one of her most embarrassing hiring experiences as a business owner and reveals the costly hiring mistake she made repeatedly: focusing all hires on delivery roles instead of bringing in support for operations, admin, and growth. Jenna provides practical strategies for evaluating what to outsource, actionable frameworks (automate, eliminate, delegate), and candid advice on hiring for diversity of skills and perspectives—not clones of yourself.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jenna’s Embarrassing Hiring Mix-Up ([00:30–04:50])

• Story of the mix-up: Jenna recounts a pivotal moment when, two years into business, she mistakenly interviewed a potential client (not a candidate) for a social media writer role.
  • She realized, mid-interview, that the woman wasn’t lacking in skills but was actually seeking Jenna’s social media management services.
  • Quote:

    "It was at that moment that I realized I was supposed to be conducting a sales call, and this was someone who was applying to have me manage their social media, not applying to get the job as the writer. This was a perfect lead for my social media management services." ([03:45])

  • The story sets up how hiring mishaps can point to deeper issues in how you approach team building.

2. The Real Hiring Mistake: All Delivery, No Support ([04:50–09:00])

• Jenna’s recurring hiring error: Building a team solely around delivery (writers, graphic designers, photographers), leaving herself to handle all admin, marketing, sales, and operations.
  • She acknowledges her tendency to micromanage outsourced deliverables, often redoing work to maintain quality—or as she admits, “reviewing all the content before it got to the client.”
  • The insight: Building only a delivery-focused team keeps you stuck in the day-to-day grind.
  • An outside coach helped her see that she was “every other role in the business,” aside from actual client work.

3. The Shift: Building a Self-Sustaining Team ([09:00–10:40])

• With the right hires in place, Jenna managed to take a three-week vacation—business still ran and earned money while she was away.
  • Quote:

    “I just went on vacation for three weeks and we made like $20,000 while I was gone... sales were coming in, other people were handling the sales conversations, onboarding, and tech. So much of the business is being run by other highly capable people, not just the delivery.” ([09:25])

4. Solopreneur Advice: The First Hire ([10:40–14:00])

• Framework for planning your first hire:
  • Track your week and scrutinize where your time actually goes (not just what feels stressful).
    • “A lot of the time we think we're busy because our brains are busy. So we think that a task is stressful or going to take a long time.”
  • Separate tasks into:
    • Automate: Can tech do it for you?
    • Eliminate: Is it even necessary?
    • Delegate: What’s repeatable and easy to hand off?
  • Example: Automating receipt organization—a simple, repeatable task perfect for a VA.
  • Quote:

    "Repeatable tasks are going to be the first, easiest thing to delegate to a virtual assistant or VA or some sort of an assistant. And they don't need to come into your business full time... just a couple hours a week." ([12:50])

  • Repeat this process for all admin, sales, and marketing support before focusing on only client delivery.

5. Experience vs. Skill: What to Look for in a Hire ([14:00–17:30])

• Key insight: Experience isn’t everything—prioritize skills.
  • Jenna hired someone with TV network experience (producing virtual table reads) who’d never been in online business. The person excelled in producing fast-paced, engaging group coaching calls.
  • Quote:

    "They'd never worked in online business... but they did work for a big Canadian, like, TV network that hosted robust online meetings. Turns out she knew how to use Zoom better than I did and had all these cool things we could, we could do with it to make the calls even better." ([15:40])

  • Often, the right skill—even from a different industry—can be more valuable than direct experience.

6. Hiring for Diversity of Thought and Experience ([17:30–21:00])

• Jenna stresses the value and business impact of hiring people different from yourself—not just clones.
  • On diversity:

    “If two people come to me and they're both equally qualified and they both have all the skills that I need and one is just like me … it behooves me and my business and my client base to hire someone who has a different perspective and who's had a different life experience.” ([18:30])

  • Personal example: Her program manager Marissa is a mother of four, offering maternal empathy and superior client support skills which Jenna herself doesn’t have.
  • “Ideally, the people you hire are going to be better at that role than you would be at that role. And that's how you really know you've nailed it.” ([20:45])

7. Parting Motivation & Final Advice ([21:00–23:00])

• Hiring, especially your first or non-delivery hires, is always scary but ultimately liberating.
• Quote:

  “I don't think I ever really believed that we would get to this point in the business where it can just do that, where I can step away and it can run smoothly. It's goals. It's fantastic. And it's out there for you, too, if this is what you want.” ([22:30])

• Encourages listeners to believe in the potential of their business and team—even if it feels risky at the outset.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I was supposed to be conducting a sales call, and this was someone who was applying to work with me to have me manage their social media, not applying to get the job as the writer.” ([03:45])
• “Building a team to help me deliver the actual product... I was still doing so much work. Like that was actually the easy part. The delivery was the easy part.” ([08:20])
• “Repeatable tasks are going to be the first, easiest thing to delegate to a virtual assistant... just a couple hours a week.” ([12:50])
• “Turns out she knew how to use Zoom better than I did and had all these cool things we could... do to make the calls even better.” ([15:40])
• “Ideally, the people you hire are going to be better at that role than you would be at that role. And that's how you really know you've nailed it.” ([20:45])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening anecdote and hiring mistake: [00:30–04:50]
• Team composition error: [04:50–09:00]
• Business running while away: [09:00–10:40]
• Solopreneur time & first hire advice: [10:40–14:00]
• Skills-based hiring story: [14:00–17:30]
• Diversity and fit: [17:30–21:00]
• Closing encouragement and key lesson: [21:00–23:00]

Takeaways

• Don’t just hire people to take over client work—support roles are essential for scaling.
• Evaluate tasks for automation, elimination, and delegation; focus on handing off repeatable admin.
• Prioritize skill over experience; diverse backgrounds bring unique value.
• Your first hires—even part-time—can be game-changing.
• Building a team that runs the business can give you freedom and space to grow.

For service-based entrepreneurs and solo business owners, Jenna’s candid insights and actionable guidance help demystify one of the most intimidating parts of growth: smart, strategic hiring.