We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elizabeth Tufegdzich a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, thanks for joining us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

When I joined The Leadership Agency, I was the first employee aside from our Founder. I didn’t fully understand what I was getting into—what recruitment really involved or how startups operated. I had a steep learning curve ahead of me.

I believe building a team is about recognizing people’s potential and seeing the bigger picture. We often overcomplicate hiring, trying to fit everything neatly into a perfect box, but the best hires rarely happen that way.

As a company grows, scales, and pivots, specialization and skill set evolution are inevitable. But the fundamentals of hiring remain the same. If our Founder hadn’t taken a chance on me, we wouldn’t be business partners today. Hiring the first few team members wasn’t just easy; it led to some of the best hires we’ve ever made. Our second hire, after me, became a partner this year. We focused on potential, cultural fit, and adaptability—not poaching from competitors or finding parallel skills. We kept the interview process simple, limiting it to three steps. The final step was an opportunity for candidates to flip the script and ask our team anything.

I believe self-reflection builds self-awareness, which is key when building a diverse team. You have to be open-minded, stay true to your mission, and find people who are genuinely passionate about it. Set realistic expectations about earning potential, challenges, and the current state of the business.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The Leadership Agency specializes in recruiting exclusively for high-growth companies, from startups to scaleups. We’ve partnered with businesses at every stage, from pre-seed to pre-IPO. When we started, startups were an underserved market in recruitment—while most agencies were chasing big brands and budgets, we wanted to make a real impact.

Our mission has always been to work alongside Founders, Investors, and Leaders to help them build the most impressive companies of our generation. We’ve focused on putting startups on the map, spending our days championing our clients in the market by highlighting their investors, leadership, and mission.

What sets us apart is our adaptability, agility, and genuine care. We have a 98% success rate on roles filled, and 80% of our clients come back to work with us again. We’ve seen some clients grow from Series A funding to Series C, D, and even IPO.

I’m proud of how we’ve stayed true to who we are and pushed for change in the recruitment industry. We don’t follow the crowd or stick to tradition just for the sake of it. We do what makes sense, what elevates our work, and we’re never afraid to innovate or try new approaches.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Your reputation is everything. It’s a huge advantage when clients are happy and speak positively about you, but it can be daunting when things go wrong. The best way to build and protect your reputation is by acting with integrity—following through on what you promise, showing empathy, and setting clear boundaries. Not every business model will fit every client, and that’s okay. You need core principles that remain constant because you can’t be everything to everyone.

It’s important to find your people—your target market and audience—and then serve them exceptionally well. Turn them into your biggest advocates.

Consistency in your process is also key. When clients refer you, they’re putting their own reputation on the line. If they had a great experience for specific reasons, it’s crucial that your process remains consistent so every new client gets the same quality of service.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

The power of networking and asking for help. 10 years ago, I was not where I am today. I was confused about where I wanted to be in my career, and what my purpose was. Like many new grads, I thought marketing was the only business function that existed.

Luckily, I had a client who knew Jamie Savage (Hoobanoff) at the time. He had said she was the best in the business and would introduce me to her for some ‘free career therapy’. I had no idea she was about to launch a business but we clicked – she could’ve sold me anything. Her energy and vision were captivating.

That meeting opened the door to an opportunity to work with her, and from that moment, I never looked back.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.leadershipagency.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theleadershipagency/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-leadership-agency-/

Image Credits
PHOTO CREDIT: Tara Noelle / taranoelle.ca / @taranoellephoto