In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Freddy Hoegener, a master’s graduate in social entrepreneurship and co‑founder of Scope Recruiting. Hoegener shares a formative travel experience that revealed stark wealth disparities, prompting his commitment to social entrepreneurship. He discusses how rapid technological change—AI, automation, blockchain—has reshaped the skill sets businesses need, and explains why finding and retaining talent with these new capabilities is critical. Hoegener describes Scope Recruiting’s niche focus on supply‑chain and logistics operations, leveraging the team’s industry background to match candidates with corporate culture. He offers personal advice to his younger self about taking risks, outlines his view of happiness as a balance between work and life plus diverse relationships, and recommends the biography The Man Who Knew for its lessons on historical cycles. He concludes with a favorite quote about the importance of making choices, and provides his website and LinkedIn for contact.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Freddy Hogener with us. He has a master's in social entrepreneurship and is the co-founder of Scope Recruiting. So welcome to the show, man.
Hey Tyler.
Grateful to have you here. We'll jump into the first one, Freddy. The first one I have for you is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Spanish. Okay. Well, I was fortunate enough to have some great grandparents that took me on a cruise in Eastern Europe about 15 years ago. And I did a bike tour of that cruise ship in Beirut and drove through the most amazing downtown area I've ever seen with like Gucci, Versace, marble floor. In just the richest life you can imagine. And 5 minutes later down the road, we drove down a hill and all of a sudden I was in the middle of a slum where there were children sitting and playing in the dirt and trying to steal the water bottles off our bikes. And I had never seen the contrast of rich and poor as I had that day. And that really just opened my eyes that something isn't working quite right, and which led me down the road to study social entrepreneurship, which is a, a business that most and foremost is there to make money, but then also has a responsibility towards people and the planet. And yeah, really, that experience was an eye-opener for me.
And, uh, what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
So we are a recruiting business and we really see the challenges and the changes in the skill set that's required in today's economy. And everybody knows the economy and business is changing rapidly. We have AI, chatbots, automation, self-driving cars, blockchain, and really the skill The skill set you need today to be successful in business is vastly different than just 10 years ago. And finding those types of people that have that skill set and then to retain them and make sure they stay within your organization is absolutely vital to every business success.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So, you know, maybe we could go kind of niche, like tell us about your scope recruiting, like what's that all about?
Okay, so we are a niche recruiting firm that focuses on supply chain and logistics operations roles. And everybody here at Scope Recruiting has a supply chain and operations background, and that really allows us to identify excellent candidates that have that skill set that I just described and that are a match for your corporate culture and that can really succeed and drive your business. And given that we have an industry background here, that just allows us to be a little bit more honed in on to the needs of the hiring managers and being able to relate to candidates and making sure when we present candidates, they really have the qualifications to, to do well in the position you're hiring for.
Gotcha. And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Don't be afraid to take chances. I think, yeah, really trying and failing is always better than not trying.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
I think it's, for me, it's two aspects. One is balance, balance between private and professional life. And I think everybody can can make out what they want that to be for themselves. But finding that balance where you are happy is one important aspect. And then the other one for me is having relationships with a diverse group of people that have different opinions than myself, that challenge me and that just make me see things from a different perspective. And having those type of relationships, I think it's really important to understand other people and to enjoy diversity and be happy.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Um, recently I think the best book I read was The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan, and it's just a fascinating view behind the curtains of American politics over the last 30, 40 years. And really it made me realize a lot of things I thought were new and outrageous and unique to our time right now actually existed in some form or shape in the past already. And understanding that really history kind of repeats itself and that you can learn from, from what happened in the past and make more sense of today's landscape and maybe even able to predict a little bit what might happen in the future is valuable, valuable insight.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
I would say only making no choice is worse than making a bad choice, probably along the lines of my earlier answers, that really if you stand still and You're stuck and you don't make a decision. You don't even give yourself a chance to, to progress and to make something better. So yeah, I would say making no, no choice is, is better than making a bad choice. Sorry.
No, no, that's fine. I know what you mean. So making no choice is worse than making a bad choice. So you want to keep moving forward and continue to make choices rather than stay replacement. So thank you so much for coming on, man. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where is the best place for people to find and connect with you online?
You can come to our website, www.scoperecruiting.com, or add me on LinkedIn under Freddie Hogan. There aren't too many with my name.
Perfect, man. Thanks again for hopping on.
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