Episode Details

Charlie Saffro started CS Recruiting by accident. Pregnant with her third child, out of a job overnight, doing free matchmaking from the school carpool line in Chicago. Her first placement fee was $1,200 with a year-long guarantee.

Sixteen years later, she had built a $5 million logistics and supply chain recruitment firm with 48 employees at its peak. Inc. Best Workplaces honouree. TEDx speaker. A brand built entirely on the idea that business is personal.

Then the market turned. Three brutal years, 2022 to 2024, forced her to halve the team. On Thanksgiving 2024, she took a walk with her husband and said the words out loud for the first time: "I'm done."

She sold CS Recruiting on December 1st 2025. The same year her oldest son left for college. Within weeks, the woman who had been needed by everyone suddenly wasn't needed by anyone.

"Who am I without these titles? Who am I if I'm not in charge of my kids, if I'm not in charge of my team?"

This week on The RAG Podcast, Charlie opens up about the reality of selling a recruitment business and what comes after.

We cover:

How an advertising career in downtown Chicago accidentally led to a logistics recruitment firm

Why her first big client needed 200 hires and she had zero recruiters

How personal branding on LinkedIn generated more business than any marketing budget

The moment on Thanksgiving that triggered the decision to sell after 16 years

What it actually takes to sell a recruitment business that carries your name

Why she describes life after the exit as "grieving"

The parallel between sending your kid to college and handing over your company

How she navigates being an employee inside someone else's business after being a founder

What she wishes someone had told her before she signed the deal

So many recruitment founders think about selling one day. Very few actually do it. And almost nobody talks about what happens after the champagne stops flowing.

If you have ever wondered what it really feels like to sell the business you built from nothing, to hand over the team you hired and the brand you created, this episode is the most honest answer you will hear.

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Episode Sponsor: Hoxo

Every recruitment founder is investing in LinkedIn. Spending thousands on Recruiter licences. Building connections. Posting content. Growing networks. But here's the question almost no one can answer: How much revenue is LinkedIn actually bri