Unemployed to $6K Deals: 21-Year-Old Builds a Recruitment Business
In this interview, Mohammed Adris talks with Raquel, a 21‑year‑old South African who went from months of unemployment to founding a recruitment agency that places South African talent in UK and US roles. Raquel recounts her early struggles—dropping out of a finance degree, lacking a car, and failing to secure remote work—leading her to explore various online‑money ideas such as e‑commerce, agency services, and TikTok growth, all of which fell short due to limited capital and confidence. A part‑time assistant role recruiting actors sparked her interest in recruitment, and a free five‑hour YouTube course by Mohammed provided the technical foundation. She started charging a modest R5,000 per placement, later shifting to a 20 % fee of the candidate’s first annual salary or a flat $6,000 fee after gaining confidence from the training and seeing high‑fee structures in Mohammed’s own business. Raquel describes early challenges: cold‑calling, rude prospects, feeling overwhelmed by AI‑focused content, and being the only young woman in a male‑dominated coaching group. The supportive community, weekly calls, and Mohammed’s patient mentorship were pivotal in her progress. She has completed one placement, signed four contracts within seven weeks, and aims for consistent $20K‑per‑month revenue, hiring virtual assistants or recruiters, and eventually building a team. Her family is supportive but does not fully grasp the distinction between recruitment and HR. Reflecting on the journey, she would have leveraged her existing network earlier and consumed training content more incrementally. The interview highlights her resilience, evolving pricing strategy, the value of mentorship, and her long‑term vision of leading a recruitment firm.
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I was struggling to find a job myself here in South Africa, and I was like, there's no ways. I had no job experience, no nothing. I don't have a car. I was like basically doing nothing for like 8 months. So that was like the dark period of my life. I worked for someone as an assistant part-time, and she asked me to recruit actors. I had about like 15 people or something, and she was really impressed. So she's like, you already have something here with recruitment. I didn't even know what recruitment was. I thought recruitment was more like HR, like only people with HR degrees, they can only do recruitments. Then I found your YouTube channel and that's how I learned everything. I started at like R5,000 for the one placement. That's like very low. I charge 20% of their annual salary, their first annual salary, or a flat fee of R6,000. $100,000 depending on the role. I watched your course. I saw like how much recruiters actually make and I was like, oh, like people actually pay that amount of money. I've made one final placement. I've signed 4 contracts so far. Now I don't really care if someone's rude to me, cause I just know that I'm not speaking to the right person and there's always the next phone call. Just the support on the group, that was very valuable to me. You were very patient. You saw potential in me. To be honest, before I met you, I was actually looking at other coaches in the recruitment space, and I think you are the best in the coaching. You take exactly what you're using in your business and you give it to us. So you know that it works. You literally do like help us step by step.
So welcome everyone. I'm joined here today with Raquel, and I'm excited to be sharing a few more details and insights into her story. Joining recruitment. Rakel, would you mind giving a little bit of an introduction into who you are, what you do?
So I'm from South Africa. I'm 21 years old. I started my career in social media management as a South African working for international companies. And then I saw there was a demand for South African talents because South Africans really struggle to find jobs overseas. So before I met Mohammed Adris, I was doing placements on the side. Helping South Africans find overseas opportunities. And I met Mohammed, and now I have a recruitment business helping South Africans get jobs in the UK and US.
Amazing. I want to go into a little bit of detail about your journey throughout the process as well. Yeah. You know, before you actually— we spoke and you started your whole journey in recruitment, what was prompting you to even start a recruitment business? Because you're brand new into this.
Yeah. So I was struggling to find a job myself here in South Africa. So I had no job experience, no nothing. So I was on LinkedIn applying for remote roles as a customer service rep, trying to just get a remote job in like anywhere. And I was struggling and I was like, there's no ways. It was 2024 at the time. Everyone's talking about these remote jobs. How come I can't get a remote job? And I was trying to get a remote job because I don't have a car. So a remote job to work from home would be beneficial for me. So I was struggling to find that. Eventually I did find an opportunity overseas. And then I started like learning how to get overseas jobs, which South Africans don't really know about. And I just wanted to help South Africans get remote jobs.
Okay. So that's where it started. And so that led you into recruitment. Did you try anything else? Cause like there's two different challenges. One is your motivation to help people in South Africa. And the other one is your own circumstances, which was trying to find a job. You kind of like blended both of them together here. Was there anything else that happened like along the way before you even took the first step? Meaning like, did you consider other jobs? Did you consider other business ideas? Like what was going through your head?
Oh yes, 100%. So when I couldn't find a job, I would go on YouTube and I would search how to make money online. So then I found Iman Gadzhi and all of that stuff. So I was planning on starting an e-com store. I bought products, everything, but it didn't work out because I didn't have enough money for like the advertising, the ads. So then I found like agency type of business where you offer a service and then you get paid. But at the time I was like, how am I going to get clients? Like I never really thought that I was capable of getting clients through that way. That was like a limiting belief of mine. But then I found a South African that was working with overseas clients, making them go viral on TikTok. And he basically trained me. And that's how I learned how to go viral on TikTok. And then I would start getting clients through there. I worked with UK, US, Canada clients.
Amazing. Okay, cool. That's how you got there. You know, in that moment of you going through the whole idea of, okay, should I do recruitment? Should I do social media management? Should I do this e-com thing? And you going back and forth on all of these things, how did you feel in that moment? Just describe to me what that was like.
I was so lost. I was like, what am I going to do for the rest of my life? Because, okay, I did social media management, but it wasn't my passion. I thought it was boring. Okay, I'm good at it, but I don't see myself doing this for the rest of my life. It's just something I stumbled upon to make money. So that's what I was doing. But then I found recruitment. I actually worked for someone as an assistant. Actually, I forgot to mention this. I worked for someone as an assistant part-time and she asked me to recruit actors for her. So she has a podcast business in Canada and she asked me to recruit for actors on a Friday. On Monday I had about like 15 people or something and she was really impressed. She said she's had a few other assistants before and they only were able to find like 2 or 3 people and I found 15 and I interviewed them already and everything was done. So she's like, you already have something here with recruitment. That's where it sparked the idea for recruitment. I forgot to mention that. But yeah, that's where I learned more about recruitment. I didn't even know what recruitment was, to be honest. Like I didn't even know. I thought recruitment was more like HR, like only people with HR degrees, they can only do recruitments. So yeah, I never thought about it like that, but then I started researching recruitment while I was still a social media manager, started doing it by myself, and then I found your YouTube channel and that's how I learned everything.
Amazing. Okay, cool. That sounds like quite a journey that you went through. Were there any like really, really dark or challenging days? That you remember really well in that moment?
In the moment of recruiting or which day? So I finished high school 2022. I went to university 2023. I was studying finance and then I had to leave university because of financial issues. I dropped out and then I didn't have a car. I didn't have experience, anything to my name. So I was trying to find a job. I couldn't find a job. I was like basically doing nothing for like 8 months. So that was like the dark period of my life. Eventually I found social media management, then it built into recruitment. And yeah, I couldn't be more happier now. Like, I definitely think finance was not for me, but at the time I was like, what am I going to do with my life? Because now I can't get a degree. And here in South Africa, like, if you don't have a degree, the jobs are like not good here. It's really hard to find a job in South Africa without a degree. So yeah, that was my dark days.
Okay. They were the dark days. They're behind you now. How do you feel about the future from here on?
I'm excited.
Okay. In what way?
I've always had like this vision of me being the boss lady, like leading a group of people. I really want a team of people that I feel they like my family. I definitely want to lead people and like give them opportunities in a space. I do enjoy recruitment, like everything I've been doing so far, it doesn't even feel like a job, but like to get paid for just introducing someone, that doesn't actually feel like a job for me. It's so cool. Yeah. In finance, like I was good at finance, but I didn't enjoy it at all. This, I'm learning every single day. I'm getting better. I can see that I'm getting better every day, improving, and I've been enjoying it so far.
Brilliant. And I want to go into that in a little bit more detail. How did you find me?
On YouTube, your 5-hour free course. On how to start a recruitment business.
Tell everybody to watch that. Okay. Were you going to buy a course before you watched that?
I was. I was looking at other people that offered a recruitment course, but then I found yours and I was like, oh, this is for free and it's like so much value. But I wasn't confident enough to like charge a big fee. I just didn't have that confidence. So I was charging smaller fees. I started at like 5,000 Rand for the one placement. That's like very low.
What's 5,000 Rand in USD and GBP? $300. Wow. Okay. So about £250 and something similar in the euros range. Okay. But what are you charging now?
I charge 20% of their annual salary, their first annual salary, or a flat fee of $6,000 depending on the role.
So you've increased your prices by, what does that work out to? 200% or 2,000%, whatever it is. Yeah. Where did you get the confidence to do that from?
From learning from you. So I watched your course, I saw like how much recruiters actually make and I was like, oh, like people actually pay that amount of money to find someone. At first I was like, no one's gonna like pay a 21-year-old 20%. But then I saw that you have to offer value, like why you charge that amount. You have to explain why, and then yeah, it just goes from there.
Okay. Okay. That's another big shift. Obviously you mentioned my training, but more specifically, what, what was it that you covered in the training that made you think, okay, cool, this actually makes sense?
I saw like the structure of your business. Like you have lots of people working under you that are charging those high fees. I didn't know at the time that recruiters charged such a high fee. So it just opened my eyes to say, oh, I can charge a lot more if I find the right clients. And you helped me find the right clients. So now I'm comfortable with charging 20% because I'm like basically working with millionaires right now in e-com space.
Hey, and what about considering your recruitment, like want to get into it, your desire for it, did you ever consider getting a job in recruitment as opposed to starting your own business?
No, I didn't really think about that because I hated applying for jobs. I just didn't want to go through that process again. I always wanted to have my own business. That was my dream to have my own business, my own thing.
Okay. So then when you went through a load of my content, you joined my school group as well and you went through more content in there. Eventually you pulled the trigger and said, okay, cool, we're going to get going. And was there a deciding moment where you thought, okay, cool, he said the right thing, or that was the thing that made me think Mohammed is a person who's going to help me with the business?
Just on the call, you were very patient. You would explain everything. It's not like you were trying to sell me something like Straight away, I've been on sales calls where people are like, you need to pay right now, but you are very understanding. You listen to my story. I could see that you saw potential in me, which was very nice.
I think it's worth mentioning that we must have spoken about 7 or 8 months ago prior. And, um, and I said, now's not the right time. And I pushed you back a little bit. Was that disheartening at all? And did you understand why I said that?
No, I was still new. I was still working in social media management. I hardly done any placements myself, so I I barely knew about recruitment and I know that you only work with experienced recruiters. So I knew at the time, like I was still new and I still have a lot to learn. So it wasn't disheartening at all. It's just—
I think it's worth clarifying. I do work with people who are new. I just have some conditions associated with that. One of them being that the 5-hour course, they just gotta watch it basically. It just helps if they've implemented everything, then that makes it so much more easier because now at least they've done some training and got some momentum in going. If somebody's starting with me and they haven't got a bank account or a company registered or anything like that. It's not that I can't help them, it's just it adds an extra 1 or 2 week lag in terms of the progress. So it's not that I don't help, it's just my preference is somebody actually gets the groundwork, the first 2 weeks worth of groundwork done, because you don't need my help to do that.
Oh yeah.
You know, once you joined, what were your thoughts going through the program? Like, first impressions?
Very overwhelmed. I was like, I'm just a 21-year-old girl and like all these men are on this group and I'm like You're the only one?
Only a woman in the group?
Yeah, but it's mostly men. Mostly men. A lot older than me. So I was like, how am I going to do all of this?
And yeah, they're all messaging you asking you, how do you do this?
Yes. Before this, I actually gave social media advice to Stijn and he was very impressed. He's like, I've never thought about it that way. So I'm actually giving people advice now. So yeah.
Amazing. You've been very warmly welcomed into the group and I'm sure it will continue that way as well. Okay, cool. So you were nervous at the start and overwhelmed. Is that with the information or just like you felt out of place?
So there was no one from South Africa specifically. I know Liesl is from South Africa, but everyone was mostly from like Europe or UK, the US, but not really from South Africa or Africa. A lot older than me, more experienced and yeah. And then also watching the course. I saw like all these AI things and I was like, how am I going to build an AI thing? And I was like, I was very overwhelmed. I was like, how am I going to do this? But it was actually not too bad when I was building it.
And how did that feeling of overwhelm disappear?
When I started actually doing it and just following you step by step. So I had like 2 tabs open, your video on the one side and then the actual platform, and I would just follow along. And it was fine. So it wasn't too bad.
Okay. Has that completely disappeared now? Because obviously there's a journey ahead in terms of your goals for the business and the ambitions and everything else. But has the overwhelm now completely disappeared? Like you feel a lot more certain, sure, and you don't feel out of place? Or do you still feel like that at times?
No, I feel, I feel good. I'm confident in my business, in my niche, in what I'm offering. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I don't feel out of place. I feel like I'm in the right place.
How many placements have you made so far?
I've made one final one. And then tonight I'm having a meeting with my clients. He chose 4 candidates that I've sent and hopefully it goes well and that goes through. But I've signed 4 contracts so far. So one contract is finalized and then the 3, I'm just doing placements so far for them.
Correct me if I'm wrong, it's in about 7 weeks it's taken you? One placement. And then maybe a second, but we're gonna find out pretty soon. Okay.
So I started beginning of Feb, so yeah, about 7 weeks.
Yeah. Okay. Uh, along the way, were there any moments of doubt where you felt like, okay, cool, this, I mean, it's still several weeks from the moment that you started. Was there any moments along the way where you felt like, hang on a second, I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing. I don't know if this is gonna work or have I done the wrong thing in starting this? Was there any moment where you felt like that?
Es, in the beginning when I started doing my outreach. I was getting a lot of like, some people were interested, some people would just say no, especially I was doing cold calling at the time and like some people were rude and I was like, what am I doing with my life? Because some people were so rude to me. And I was like, how am I gonna just get one yes? And it took me a few weeks, but now I have 4 yeses, so it's working so far. But I was overwhelmed in the beginning with like the amount of people that were just a bit rude.
Was that before you started working with me? You were layering cold calling on top of everything?
I was layering cold calling, so I would send a voice notes on LinkedIn and then I would also call them. So yeah, I was layering on top of that.
Okay, cool. When you do all of that, then I can see why it was a little bit more intense. And when you put all of that together, along the way you had people who were negative towards you, weren't very welcoming and so on. And then you felt like, okay, cool, I'm not sure if I've if I've done the right thing. Now you've got 4 yeses. What does that look like going forward? So now 6 weeks of it has got you 4 yeses. What do the next 6 to 12 weeks look like as well?
Hopefully 4 more yeses. Now I don't really care if someone's rude to me. It's just onto the next person. Like I've realized there's so many recruitment businesses, so many people that I can speak to. You just need to find the right person. So it doesn't even bother me anymore that someone's rude or not interested, cause I just know that I'm not speaking to the right person and there's always the next phone call they are friendly or interested or whatever.
What about your goals long term? Has that changed?
No, when I started your coaching, I did want a full-time career in recruitment. I want a business that's successful in recruitment, and I think I definitely can build that. At the time, I didn't realize how my niche was so valuable. I think I have a really valuable niche and service offering. So I'm very, very confident in that, and I definitely want from there, I want recruiters on my team. I'm only 21, so I still have many, many more years to go and more to build. So I'm really happy that I started so young at 21, cuz I feel like I have an early start at everything.
I'm excited for you. I'm excited for you. So you've mentioned a few times that you're really young. What do your family think about what you're doing?
My family, my parents, so they're Portuguese. My dad, he can speak English, but not really well. My mom doesn't really understand what recruitment is. She thinks it's HR, and I'm like, Mom, it's not HR, it's recruitment. It's like a different thing. To be honest, they don't really understand what I'm doing, but yeah, they are impressed with what I have been able to achieve and like my fees. They were already impressed when I found the whole social media management thing and like making money from America, but now I want to take it to the next level and build something bigger. And yeah, they are supportive. They just don't really know what I'm doing.
Okay, makes sense. You know, if you consider what you know now, if you were to start the entire process all over again, starting your recruitment business literally from scratch, what would you change? What would you do differently?
When I was a social media manager, I worked with international clients and I didn't go straight to the people that I already knew. I would have gone straight to my network and asked if they would be interested in hiring someone. That's something I would change in the beginning.
And now you've done that and you found some success there?
Yeah.
Okay, good. Has there been any, I mean, we still have a long way to go in terms of your joint journey and growth of the business, but has there been any part of the process that really stood out to you where you felt like, okay, cool, this bit was really, really helpful? And what was that? Besides the price and realizing what you can charge.
Just the support on the group. So the one day I had a call with Mohammed Adris, and he gave me so much advice. That actually like really opened my eyes to say, I should have been doing it this way. So it's the support that actually really stood out to me, like having the calls every week. That was very helpful because I can ask whatever I want and I can also learn from other people that are on different stages of their business. That was very valuable to me.
Okay, good. So yeah, I'm sure for those listening can tell it's a, it's a very supportive network. Imagine there's somebody watching this who might be on the fence of working with me. And they're thinking, you know, I'm not too sure if it's this, and, you know, I can now use AI to figure out everything that I need and everything else relating to it. What would you say to that person who might be on the fence right now?
To be honest, before I met you, I was actually looking at other coaches in the recruitment space, and I think you are the best in the coaching. Like, I'm not biased or anything, but like—
I think it's worth saying this is not something that I had planned for somebody to say, but I appreciate you saying that. Can you explain why?
Like, Just the way you, in your coaching, your coaching sessions, your videos, you just explain everything. You take exactly what you're using in your business and you give it to us. So you know that it works and you're not like gatekeeping anything. Also the weekly calls, it starts at 6 o'clock sometimes, but sometimes you go, it's supposed to be 1 hour and 30 minutes, but you go 2 hours or 3 hours until the problem is solved. You help everyone until everyone's fine with their businesses. So the amount of time you spend with us. It is very valuable. You can tell you actually want us to succeed in our businesses and it's not just selling us a course. You want us to build something and you, you literally do like help us step by step.
I appreciate that. I kind of took that on from my own experiences because I've had several coaches previously as well. And I've been in situations where, okay, cool, there's an hour or an hour and a half allotted and somebody has a really deep question that takes 45 minutes to answer. And now we've only got 15 minutes left to ask answer the questions of the other 20 people that are waiting. And in that situation, not everybody gets the relevant support that they need. We just, we just make sure that basically nobody leaves the call unless every single question has been answered. And that's just the rule. So I'm glad you recognize the support that's being offered. Just going back at it, is there anything that you did along the way, either during working with me or even before that you think, you know what, I wish I never did that?
In the beginning, in one of your videos, you're like, don't watch all the videos at once. And I did. So I watched all the videos in one go without implementing anything. And then that's why I also think I felt so overwhelmed because I was watching you do all these AI things and I'm like, how am I going to do this? Where I should have just taken it step by step and built from there. So that's what I would have changed. That's the only thing.
Okay. I'm glad you gave that feedback. And yeah, like you said, I always say to everyone, like, don't go through absolutely everything. Go through the thing that is most relevant, apply, the next bit makes sense. And okay, cool. That makes sense. So tell me, I'm hoping that we're going to have this conversation again in 6 to 12 months' time and we're going to have a completely different picture or image of the growth and phase of the journey of your business. But tell me what's next in terms of priorities for you and your business.
Building a stable income. So I'm doing placements here and there, but like I want consistent $20K months. I think I definitely can achieve that with your systems. In 6 to 12 months, maybe Maybe an employee, like a virtual assistant or even a recruiter. Yeah. Cool.
Exciting times ahead then. We just completed Q1 of 2026. And for anybody who's watching, if you want to get an update from Raquel in Q4 in 2026, then just comment Q4 2026 below. Obviously you'll see the video and you'll see the updates on there as well. So anybody who wants to see it, let me know. And I'm thinking about doing the same. Like you mentioned some of the names of the people that we're working with who, uh, some are on YouTube, some haven't been. Some are welcome to as well. And I think we should get some updates as well, because there's a journey ahead. And I think it's worth bringing that example back, which is you considered e-com, and the way that the e-com business works is very different to recruitment. Recruitment is, I'm going to say, a longer sales cycle, pays a lot more as well, in one chunky go. E-com is smaller margins, shorter sales cycles, and you can almost get like a dopamine hit from getting a sale within 24 hours. In recruitment, that's probably not going to happen. It can take a few weeks, and it can be disheartening in the, in the earlier stages. But, you know, I can, I can see you, you're smiling now. And I can tell that you're a lot more confident in the business as well. And the way that you're going to grow it, I suppose if you can do it remotely from South Africa, then anybody in the UK, Europe, US, Canada, anywhere in the world. Yeah, there you go. So cool. Is there anything else that you want to add before we wrap this up?
No, that's all I have to say.
Brilliant. I appreciate you, all of your kind words as well. It means a lot. And I'm glad that you're finding all the support that you need. And I'm excited to hear about what's going to happen for the next phases of growth in your business as well. And I'm looking forward to supporting you with it as well.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
No worries. Take care, Raquel.
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