Hire, Lead, Chill — Building Businesses That Breathe with Shawn Day

In this energizing episode, I sit down with Shawn Day—serial entrepreneur, leadership expert, and co-founder of Hire Lead Chill—for a powerful conversation about the people side of business. From building and selling multiple companies to transforming the way service businesses recruit and retain top talent, Shawn shares what it really takes to lead with intention, hire with clarity, and build a business that doesn’t burn you out.

We talk about his journey through corporate, mortgage, cleaning, and now recruiting, and what he’s learned along the way about loyalty, connection, culture, and how the right people can bring you peace—not just profit.

🔥 Here’s what we cover:

Shawn’s Wild Entrepreneurial Ride

• From quitting corporate in 11 months to running a mortgage company and scaling a 40+ person cleaning business.
• How his exit led to building one of the most impactful recruiting platforms in home services—and what makes it different.

Why People Are Everything

• The origin of Hire Lead Chill—and why success without peace isn’t really success.
• Why your business can't thrive until you master hiring, leading, and culture (in that order).
• Why Shawn stays loyal to the people who have his back—and what that means in partnership and vision alignment.

The Power of Group Interviews

• How a “zero stress, no questions” group interview changed everything—and how it screens and attracts top performers.
• How Shawn frames core values as moral obligations and builds cultures that people want to belong to.
• What it means to hire for identity, not just skill.

Real Human Connection > Fancy Tools

• Why all the automation in the world can’t replace eye contact, trust, and sharing your story.
• What happens when you sit down for three hours with someone who just needs to be heard—and how those moments change lives (and businesses).

💬 Favorite Quotes:

“Hire the right people, lead them well, and build a culture they never want to leave. Then… chill.”

“Treat candidates the same way you’d treat a $300,000 client walking into your office.”

“It’s not about the tech. It’s about the people behind it.”

“The more successful you become, the more you must remember what it felt like when you weren’t.”

💡 Want to Reflect?

This week’s challenge:

What’s one thing you can do to remove people-related stress from your business—and build a culture you’d want to work in?

Whether it’s rethinking your interview process, reconnecting with your team, or defining what loyalty really looks like, now’s the time.

🙌 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to Unleash Your Unique Genius on Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite platform.
• Learn more about Shawn’s work at Hire Lead Chill.
• Want to build a team that brings peace, not pressure? Let’s talk about how Strategic Partners can help.