In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Spencer Peters, an account director at Hire Education who recruits for the education‑technology sector. Spencer shares a formative personal story about growing up in a 700‑person Indiana town and studying abroad in Rome, using the experience to illustrate that perceived size or background doesn’t limit achievement. He emphasizes that tenure is a key indicator of reliability for recruiters, warning against a “job‑hopping” mindset. Spencer highlights the universal value of persistent follow‑up, even after negative responses, as a driver of future opportunities. He reflects on his own delayed technical education, advising younger professionals to become more tech‑savvy early. Spencer recommends Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series, drawing lessons about the interconnectivity of actions, big‑data metaphors, and the importance of diverse friendships. He cites a P.T. Barnum quote—“the noblest art is that of making people happy”—as a guiding philosophy, despite not having a definitive key to happiness himself. Finally, he directs listeners to connect with him on LinkedIn using his name and company (Hire Education). The episode is sponsored by Authors Unite and recorded via Anchor.
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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 Spencer Peters with us. He's an account director at higher education and is recruiting in the education technology field. So welcome to the show, Spencer.
Hey Tyler, thanks for having me.
Of course, man, thanks for joining us, and we will dive in. The first question I have for you is is what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
So, tough one, but I think I grew up in a very small town, like a 700-person town in northern Indiana, and the first time I ever got out of it, I went to Rome, Italy. Got to study abroad when I was a college student, and you couldn't really get two more polar opposite trends on the scale there. And so, when I went over to Rome, I was told my first day of orientation that because I was from the smallest college in our cohort, I was from the smallest high school, I was from the smallest town that I wasn't going to feel comfortable here and most likely I was going to fail in anything I tried to do. Like, they told me that, and I didn't think that was the best way to start orientation, so I used it kind of as an anthem and a mantra to say, "Well, I'm going to make this city, you know, known like the back of my hand," and ultimately I was the person that knew pretty much every nook and cranny in Rome by the time I was done with it and even had to recreate a map for one of my senior seminars back in college. And so the underlying message I guess I put there is that nothing's ever too big or too small depending on your background for you to handle. And so I've always kind of taken that into every move of my life, whether I'm moving across the country or, you know, moving across the world, to say nothing's really too big anymore.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Since I'm a recruiter and most of the time I'm looking at people's backgrounds and, you know, definitely trying to find the right fit for the right companies, I think the biggest thing that I would say is tenure is key. Too many people in this kind of day and age, whether it's edtech like I work in or anything you do work in, it seems like there's always something new, better, flashier that we need to jump to, and eventually you're going to be labeled as someone that can't stick around, and no one's going to want to touch someone that can't stick around. So I would say the biggest piece of expectation would be tenure in my industry.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice, not necessarily industry-specific?
Yeah, regardless of the industry, I think the only way to be successful when you're conversing or talking or collaborating with other people is follow-up. You hear the old quote, "Fortune's in the follow-up," and usually that means people think that I heard something good, so I might as well talk to them again about something better. I'm talking about follow-up negative-wise, right? When people say no, when people say, you know, I don't want to talk to you, regardless of what industry you're in. If you keep on their radar, if you keep pinging them, pegging them, eventually something's going to happen and you're going to come to hopefully a moment that's going to be positive. So follow up, overall advice.
Yes, I love that, man. And honestly, I don't think I've ever— the reason like I love that so much, I just want to chime in, is because I don't think I've ever really heard it in that way as far as like follow up even if it's like negative. Like, like just keep going and turn that into a positive because what you normally hear is like follow up after a conference and things like that, which is also a very good thing. But even if it is a negative or it's a no, make sure that doesn't mean like it's done. You keep following up no matter what. So I think that's awesome. And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Get more technically savvy. I knew computers and video games and everything was going to be a big thing when I was growing up, but for some reason I always shied away from it in elementary school, high school, and I'm definitely behind the curve now. I'm learning finally, but I definitely wish I could go back and say, hey, you know, get on the computer, get on everything you can because this is the way the world works now.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
I'll let you know when I find that one.
Okay, sounds good. And what's the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
So I'm gonna have to kind of give a sub-answer here. It's actually a set of 3 books. It's called the Mistborn franchise. Probably the best book in it is the first one, Mistborn. It's by Brandon Sanderson. Check it out if you haven't. And the thing I guess I learned from it was the interconnectivity of everything, that regardless of what you do and whatever you think a vacuum is, it's gonna be known by someone somewhere. It's gonna affect something somewhere else. And I think that's a bigger kind of metaphor for big data now as well in the world we live in. And then the one kind of sub piece I'd learn on that too is the more diverse your friend group is, the more you're going to learn from being with your friends. And that was something I never had growing up, but now I do. And I think a big piece of that's actually what I learned from this one.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
Ah, the noblest art is that of making people happy. Which is funny because I don't have a key to happiness, but it's actually a P.T. Barnum quote, which I'm not sold on P.T. Barnum, but I definitely love the quote because everything we should do leads to happiness at the end of it.
Yes, I love that, man. Thank you so much for coming on, Spencer. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
I'd be a bad recruiter if you didn't find me on LinkedIn. So the easiest way to find me is Spencer Peters, and then If you throw my company name in, Hire Education, it's spelled H-I-R-E Education, you'll find me because there's only about 15 people that work here and I'm the only one named Spencer. Perfect.
Thanks again, man. We really appreciate it.
Hey, appreciate it, Tyler. Thanks. The podcast you just heard was recorded with Anchor.
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