In this 15‑minute interview, recruitment veteran Kat Clancy shares her 13‑year career path, from starting in a boutique legal agency to founding Lunaria Partners. She discusses the biggest 2020 challenge—transitioning onboarding, training, and team management to a fully remote model—detailing how she adopted Zoom, conference‑call monitoring, Trello, and created written manuals. Kat offers a work‑from‑home productivity tip: structuring the day with a clear morning task. She explains how her firm wins business by positioning diversity as a core brand message and using tools like Mailchimp and Canva for polished outreach. Personal wellbeing is highlighted through her new hobby of dog ownership and daily walks. The conversation touches on team culture, preferring a Friday pint to celebrate weekly wins. Kat outlines a value‑first cold‑call strategy for long‑targeted clients, emphasizing research and offering expertise. Finally, she provides a goal‑setting framework for recruiters—clarify the ‘why’, break goals into bite‑size milestones, start with quick wins, create social accountability, and reward progress. The interview blends practical advice with personal anecdotes, aimed at recruiters navigating post‑pandemic challenges.
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Welcome to the Recruitment Mentors Podcast. My name is Hishem Azzouz, and today I'm joined by Kat Clancy. And this is another episode of the 15 Minutes with a Mentor series, which we're releasing in line with the launch of the Recruitment Mentors Community. And in this series, very simply, we're speaking to some of the mentors from inside the community, and we're asking them 7 questions in 15 minutes. So before I ask you the first question, Kat, if you could introduce yourself for those that may not know who you are, and then we'll get into it.
Okay. Hello, I'm Kat. Um, I have been in recruitment for 13 years. Um, I started at a boutique legal recruitment agency totally by accident, as I think most of us do. Um, but absolutely loved it. I started in the accounts team. Then moved to recruitment administrator and worked my way up to company director in 6 years. After that, I was there for about 2 or 3 years as director, moved to another boutique legal agency, set up a new team, new division, temp division, and then decided to do it on my own. So that's where Lunaria Partners was born. We are just over a year old. Great year to start a business, obviously. But it's definitely, it's been challenging but so rewarding. So that brings us up to date.
Awesome. So first question for you is, and it'll be interesting to hear this with what you just shared with us. So what has been your biggest challenge in 2020? How did you overcome it? And what did you learn from it?
So many challenges. I narrowed it down to sort of two big ones, but I think this is the one that hopefully will kind of resonate with a few people as well and be quite useful. For me, it was onboarding team members, training and managing remotely. And I think especially with my style before was much more immersive. So it was kind of on the desk listening to conversations at the end of phone calls saying, oh, you should say this or maybe try this next time or this is great. And very much kind of was all about being together on a desk. Obviously having someone start in the middle of a pandemic where everyone's in lockdown, that couldn't happen. So I found that really challenging to sort of completely rewire almost like 12 years of doing something the same way and actually do it in this new challenging environment. So something I had to do, which giving my age away slightly, is had to embrace new technology. So using even just conference calls to listen to phone calls and having the Zoom meetings and things like that. Being much better with things like Trello and other things like that, which I had never used before 6 months ago. And then I think the other part of that was for me, I'd always been much more about talking things through, but putting things down on paper, creating manuals, creating guides, which will hopefully, sort of going forward, as we've got a new person starting in a couple of weeks, will make that process a lot easier in the future.
Nice, nice. Thank you for sharing that. So, what working from home tip could you share with other recruiters listening to this that have has had a sort of massive impact on your own productivity?
So for me, it's structuring the day. And I think when you go to work, you have your start time, you usually have your 12:00, 2:00 is when you can take lunch and you know that you leave at a certain time. When you're at home, things do blur. And I think sometimes it's a bit harder to get going in the morning. Sometimes you can work through and realize you've not— I think there was a week I didn't leave the house. I was like, that's not good for anyone. So just kind of working out a structure that works for you. And then for me, the first thing I do in the morning, I set one task that I know I want done by 10 o'clock. And like a simpler task, I suppose. But then that really sets me up for the rest of the day working at home.
Nice. So what has been the most effective way for you to win business in the last 12 months?
Mm. So this actually kind of ties into my other binge because I had planned for my 1-year birthday was to host this in-person event and get all of my clients kind of back on board after restrictions. That couldn't happen. So it has definitely been sort of having to think a bit more creatively. But the thing that has worked is actually been our sort of branding and our message, which for us is very much diversity, sort of. So it's making sure we're constantly sort of being the leaders in the legal recruitment industry about what we're doing about it. And using things like Mailchimp and Canva and just creating like really slick looking materials to send out. And people love the message. So that's where I'm—
Amazing. That's awesome and great that you're doing that. So the next thing that I want to know is what habit or hobby did you start in 2020 that you're going to continue in 2021?
I don't know if this counts, but Is dog ownership, does that count as a hobby? Yeah, we can count that. Okay, thanks. So yes, I've wanted a puppy for about 10 years now, and finally it just kind of made sense being at home, being able to train it, give it a good life. So I suppose comes with that is walking, which I never did before, and I now love going for walks. So Um, so yes, that's my favorite.
So I want to know from you, what do you think is better, the first coffee in the morning or the first pint post-work on a Friday?
Friday. Yeah.
Yes.
Um, and you know, and I think why— so we, um, with my team, my last company, would always do The same as you do, actually, the end of the week wins. And I think that's such a nice time for me, is like, actually, do you know what? Something will have gone well this week. And I think just in our nature as recruiters, we like, you know, to— we're slightly competitive. We like to win. And so I think that kind of point on a Friday is that, oh, we've made it through the week. This has gone well. Let's celebrate.
Yeah, I love that. So this is a slightly different one, but I just want to sort of hear how you'd approach this scenario. So the scenario is a particular business that has been on your target client list for over a year, a long time. And during that time, there's been a number of touchpoints. They may have engaged with some of your content that you've been sort of sharing around diversity inclusion, or you may have sent a couple of emails and sent some of your emails through Mailchimp or whatever, right? But through your candidate network, you're able to get one of the hiring managers' contact details at this company. So you call that person, they pick up, they say, hello, who is this? And I want to hear how you would approach that or sort of what you'd sort of attempt to say and trying to get across in that first interaction.
Okay. So this is something I haven't done in a while. So very lucky, I suppose, just with having worked been in the same industry for such a long time, people stay in the legal industry as well, so the sort of network is there. But I would say it's adding value, and don't— I think they don't really care about you and who you are, it's what can you add value to them. Or there is another route, which is People like to help people. So, if you've got this line manager who, well, maybe I'll give you an example of something we're about to do, starting a role remotely. So, it could be more along the lines of, "Oh, great. Have you got some tips? I've seen you had 2 team members start. We're doing this series to help candidates because it's obviously really tough at the moment, and we'd really love your expertise to help put this together for them.
Nice.
Yeah, yeah. And then it just— the conversation just goes from there. They see you as you want to be seen, which is a knowledgeable market leader and actually helpful. And then that will really help strengthen the relationship.
Yeah, I really like that as well, bringing into sort of some sort of context or to showcase that you actually looked before you called and things like that, right? So that's, um, Really good. And that's been a really common theme, which I think is just fascinating, is this whole idea of giving more than you take, which is just super counterintuitive of what you used to get sort of told at the beginning of your career, right? You, Kat, comes off a business development call and the first question you get asked is, what did you get out of that call? Right? And I think this sort of thing that we're learning here is what would happen, or what would happen to people's careers, or how would they approach recruitment differently if that question instead was, what value did you offer on that call? Right. So I love that. So final question. I want you to sort of imagine I'm a recruiter. I've set my goals for 2021. I am motivated to have a better year than 2020. And I want sort of your advice to me on how can I give myself and the people listening to this to have the best possible chance of achieving the goals that we've set this year? What would you say to those people and me?
Okay, so I think the most important thing to start with is think of why. What's your why? Why have you set this goal? And make sure there's value in it for you to achieving it. So if you've got little interest in the outcome or they're irrelevant, then the chances of you putting the work in to make it happen are pretty slim. And that can be something sort of outside of work. It doesn't have to be kind of work-related just to have that reason why you've got that as your goal. Second tip would be to break the main goal down into smaller goals so they're more manageable and set those timeframes. So whether it's kind of weekly or monthly, whatever works for you. My third would be to start either the day or the week with the quickest or easiest win. Then I would say hold yourself accountable. And although some life coaches and things like that will say put your money behind it, of which story with my pt was told to buy an Audi R8 which he could not afford because that would make him work harder. I definitely do not recommend that. What I think does work well is Creating social pressure. So, yeah, I mean, nobody likes to look stupid in front of other people. So sometimes just by telling people that's what your goal is or posting it on social media or something that actually holds you accountable so that you can achieve that.
That's a great tip. Yeah, I do that with one of my friends. We sort of catch up every 2 weeks and sort of share what you want to achieve. And yeah, you're going to— if I said, yeah, I'm— this is sort of what I want to do, and then you go to that call and that you get asked, did you do it? And you say no, then you feel like I said, you feel silly, you feel awkward. It's like, oh shit, why didn't I do that?
Yes. And maybe that hour just before the phone call, you're like, oh my God, what can I do to get to that goal?
Exactly. No, so I love that. Amazing.
Yeah. And then final tip is reward yourself. Um, and I think For me, I've got a goal this week, and if I do it, I get a Nando's on Friday night. So, you know, I'm going to make sure I do it.
Yeah, I love that. Kat, that was 15 Minutes with a Mentor. Thank you.
