Episode 118: EA Clarke — Fixing Broken Hiring with Storytelling and Values

In Episode 118 of the Localization Fireside Chat, I sit down with EA Clarke, founder of Pivot + Edge, to explore why traditional hiring is broken and how storytelling can fix it.

With 30+ years of recruitment and startup experience, EA has seen firsthand how the wrong hires can derail growth and how the right story can attract the right people. From his early days at Mitel to raising nearly $40M and building sales from scratch, EA shares why companies need to stop cold-calling candidates and start marketing like they mean it.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why recruiting is really a storytelling challenge
• How culture fit and shared values outweigh credentials alone
• Why startup hiring caps out after 10–15 people and how to scale beyond it
• How Pivot + Edge uses marketing-first recruiting to attract talent
• Where AI fits into recruiting and why humans must stay in control

Chapters 0:00 Welcome and intro 3:15 EA Clarke’s story from HR to startup executive 7:00 Lessons from NetActive and the dot-com era 12:00 Why values and culture beat resumes 16:00 The role of employer brand in attracting talent 21:00 Marketing-first recruiting explained 27:00 Using storytelling to attract candidates and customers 36:00 Startup vs enterprise hiring challenges 39:00 AI in recruiting: help or hype? 45:00 Key takeaways for leaders

Watch & Listen 🎥 YouTube: [insert link after upload] 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5OoURgc29R31XPGzOWL9iX 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/localization-fireside-chat/id1688770183

More from Robin Ayoub 📝 Blog: https://www.robinayoub.blog 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinayoub/ 📩 Email: rsayoub@gmail.com

Connect with EA Clarke & Pivot + Edge 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eaclarke/ 🌐 Website: https://pivotandedge.com

⚠️ Disclaimer: The Localization Fireside Chat is a personal project. Views shared are those of the host and guests. Content is not sponsored, not an endorsement, and does not represent any organization or affiliation.