EP318: Profitable & Balanced: Setting Up Solo - Natalie Wells, Financial Recruitment ExpertEP318: Profitable & Balanced: Setting Up Solo - Natalie Wells, Financial Recruitment Expert
The Recruiter's Recruitment Podcast
Conversation between host Lysha Holmes and financial recruiter Natalie Wells about building a profitable, balanced solo recruitment business instead of scaling to sell. They discuss defining personal success, focusing on SMEs and retained perm roles, and what skills are needed before going out alone.
30:58•6 Apr 2026
Profitable on Your Own Terms: Natalie Wells on Building a Solo Recruitment Business
Episode Overview
- Define what success means personally, including health, family, and relationships, rather than chasing a default “scale and sell” model.
- A solo, lifestyle-led recruitment business can be highly profitable, especially with low overheads and clear focus on perm-only, mostly retained work.
- Strong business development skills and comfort with SME clients are essential before leaving a corporate recruiter environment.
- Curiosity, asking the right questions, and challenging the initial brief help identify the role a business truly needs, not just the one they think they want.
- Using your own name in the business can reinforce a personal brand, especially in a market where you are already well known.
“I read a quote one day, and it said, jump and the net will appear.”
What drives someone to seek a career that fits life, rather than the other way round? This conversation between host Lysha Holmes and financial recruitment expert Natalie Wells is all about that question, especially for recruiters toying with the idea of going solo.
With nearly three decades in finance recruitment and nine years running her own one-person agency, Natalie shares how she moved from a big corporate career at Michael Page to founding "Natalie Wells Recruitment" as a deliberate lifestyle business. She talks about long rural commutes, pre-pandemic presenteeism, and the moment she realised her corporate role was "not my future".
A careers coach, lots of analysis, and a simple line pushed her over the edge: "I read a quote one day, and it said, jump and the net will appear." You’ll hear why she chose to stay solo, to use her own name, and to focus on profitable, perm-only, largely retained work with SMEs.
Natalie explains how deeply understanding owner-managed businesses, asking better questions, and being genuinely curious allows her to spot what they actually need – often a first or more commercial finance director – rather than just filling the role they think they want. There’s no glossy “scale and sell” story here. Instead, Natalie and Lysha talk openly about defining what success means personally, protecting health and relationships, and building balance (or as Lysha prefers, harmony) into work and life.
They also spell out who probably shouldn’t go solo yet – especially recruiters who haven’t learned to win SME business or who don’t enjoy walking into a room full of strangers. If you’re wondering whether to jump, this chat might help you work out what kind of net you actually want under you.
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