Andrea P.

Strategic Brand Designer | Fashion Brand Owner + Creative Director | Podcaster

I spend my days as the brand designer at a startup where I conceptualize ideas and create designs that push the brand forward.

After hours:

🍏 I'm building Andrea Pascual (my fashion brand), where I focus on limited-quantity, superb quality accessories and leather goods

🍏 I'm creator and host of my podcast, Sushi Fridays, where I share stories about style, culture, biz, and design from the POV of creative entrepreneurs

🍏 I work with community-first brands to design their strategic visual identities

Send me a message to get in touch.

Founder & Strategic Brand Designer

Say “Cool Eye” out loud and it sounds like “Kulay” — the Filipino word for “colour.”  Our studio is named Cool Eye because we dream in colour, we design in colour, and we work with diverse entrepreneurs.

Notable clients:
☀️ Bank of Montreal for Elevate Festival
☀️ M&A Ventures Group
☀️ Untapped Investing
☀️ New Money Social Club
☀️ Resume By Nico

Tools:
📱 Illustrator
📱 Photoshop
📱 InDesign
📱 Lightroom
📱 Figma
📱 ConvertKit
📱 Notion
📱 Procreate
📱 Squarespace
📱 Instagram
📱 TikTok
📱 LinkedIn

Calling all design peeps in my network!
I can refer you to the hiring manager for these roles:

⭐ UX Researcher
📍 Toronto, Canada - Hybrid
💵 $140K - $160K

⭐ Sr. Product Designer
📍 Toronto, Canada - Hybrid
💵 $180K - $200K

If you think you could be a fit, DM me and I will share the deets.

I know about these roles because I'm part of the Twill network, where we help our friends/network/community get fast-tracked to their next role. There are also a ton of other roles in Engineering, and some in Sales and Growth. Let me know if you want me to share. 🙂

Andrea Pascual

Brand Designer, Cool Eye ⭐️ Owner & Creative Director, Andrea Pascual Fashion Brand ⭐️ Creator & Host, Sushi Fridays The Podcast

Build right. Hire right. Rebel forever.

I'm a fractional Head of Talent for Series A-C startups and defense contractors. I build recruiting infrastructure companies own forever, ATS workflows, sourcing frameworks, scorecards, pipelines; then close critical hires in under 30 days.

My path wasn't traditional: TGI Fridays → booking bands → managing tours → 14 years in recruiting. It taught me to spot talent fast, sell with conviction, and treat every search like representation. I operate like an agent, take care of both sides, protect the brand, close the deal.

Currently: Fractional Head of Talent at EarthDaily Federal (geospatial intelligence, defense). Board member at Underground Admins.

Author: Head and Heart: Winning the AI Recruiting War

richie@rebeltalentsystems.com | rebeltalentsystems.com

Richie Lampani

I’m Richie. I’m a recruiter. I'm doing one of THESE posts... A REINTRODUCTION for the linkedin purists that adore these posts. i gained 48 followers since the last one so I thought it was time. 


I’ve been doing this for 14+ years and I still love it, which either means I’m dedicated or slightly unhinged. Probably both.

I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan really closer to Grand Haven, on the west side near Lake Michigan. Before I ever touched a résumé, I ran music venues and booked bands. That world teaches you how to read people fast, work in chaos, and build something out of nothing. Turns out that’s just recruiting with a louder soundtrack.

My music and recruiting career took me to NYC, then to Chicago. 

I’m based in Atlanta now. I run Rebel Talent Systems. Currently that's Fractional Head of Talent at EarthDaily Federal, building their recruiting systems from scratch, filling critical roles, and making it a turnkey operation on the recruiting end. 

Open to the right fractional clients alongside that.

I also hold a board position at Underground Admins, an HR agency that I brought recruiting to. I do some recruiting for them but agency is a weird world right now. 

What’s new:
I have a book coming out March 31st called Unfinished Rooms: Why Great Employees Keep One Foot Out the Door. It’s about the moments people decide to leave and how those decisions usually get made long before anyone notices. Not in the exit interview. In the first interview. If you’ve ever lost someone you thought was locked in and wondered what actually happened, this book answers that. It’s not a culture manifesto or a retention playbook. It’s about causality.

I also write a newsletter called Rebel Built. 7,000+ subscribers, no ads, no funnels(I mean i promote my book and website, but not like a whole masterclass or anything). Just ideas about hiring, leadership, and the weird psychology of work. If you like what I post here, the newsletter goes deeper. 

Most days I work on systems and hiring at EarthDaily Federal, recruit for them and a few other long-term Underground Admins clients, and spend the rest of my hours building things, books, tools, and ideas for people who actually care about doing this right.

If you’re new here, welcome. I post a lot of meme's.

If you’ve been around a while, thanks for sticking with me.

Say hi. Drop a follow. Tell me what you’re building.

Maybe we can build something together.

Richie 🙂

Fractional Head of Talent | Series A-C Startups & Defense | Author & Talent Strategist | Former TGI Fridays Flair Champ

Sooooo... after all of my kicking and screaming, I think I’ve landed in the “hire for attitude, train for skills” camp

but with a twist.
Not vibes based hiring.

Not “culture fit” as a cop out.
I mean hiring for how someone thinks, then proving they can actually learn what the role really demands.

What consistently works for me:

💡 Hire the person who asks precise questions instead of pretending to know everything.

💡 Hire the person who can explain a real mistake, what they changed, and how they measure “better” now.

💡Hire the person who has shown they can learn fast in messy, ambiguous environments, not just recite clean textbook answers.

I’ve interviewed literal geniuses for one company and had them rejected because they had 1 year of AWS instead of the 2 needed and 8 years of Azure.

Got the rejection.

Turned around and placed the same person with a manager who wasn’t obsessed with ticking every box and cared more about talent and attitude.

That manager thanked me for knowing what I was doing.
Because let’s be honest;

Whoever hired Spider Man did not say:
“Does he have 5 years of web slinging experience?”

“Oh… only 4.5? Let’s keep looking.”

They saw trajectory, judgment, and upside and built around it.

Important disclaimer:
Some companies absolutely have to follow OFCCP rules and enforce minimum qualifications.

In those environments, flexibility is limited and that is reality.
I am saying when you do not have to, maybe flex.

Most hiring failures come from mindset, adaptability, and judgment, not from a missing skill that could have been trained.

At the same time, roughly half of technical skills go stale within a few years.

Betting purely on box checking is a short term play.

That is exactly how we operate at EarthDaily Federal.

One of the first things our VP of Engineering said to me was:
“Look, we hire skilled people. But I am looking for talent and attitude first.”
Then comes the part most companies skip: structure.

➡️ Clear expectations in the first 30, 60, 90 days.

➡️ A real training plan.

➡️ A named human accountable for leveling them up.

“Attitude” without a system is gambling.

“Skills” without the right mindset burns out fast.
The real sweet spot:
Mindset that fits the work

evidence they can learn

a system that actually trains them.
I will not be going back to the other side.

This is the way.

REMOTE GovCon Sales roles - 3 total. Get some. Share. Tag people. 

EarthDaily Federal is beginning to stand up two critical growth functions.

These are not experimental seats. These are structure, leverage, and execution roles.

Director of Strategic Partnerships
Owns the partner ecosystem end to end. Identification, alignment, structuring, and clean handoff into delivery.

No logo collecting.

No “strategic conversations” that die in contracting.

These partnerships have to convert into real work and survive legal, finance, and delivery.

Director of Sales Execution (Deal Closer)

Late-stage execution only. This is not pipeline generation.

You take approved opportunities and move them across the line. Pricing, OTAs, SOWs, MSAs, internal approvals, timelines, and a clean handoff to delivery. Precision matters.

Both roles report into growth leadership.

Real authority. Real accountability.

I’m starting exploratory conversations now. No hard hiring timeline yet. Likely next quarter. This is mutual fact-finding for both sides.
_____________________________________________________________________
Separate search. Discreet client via Underground Admins.

Head of Defense Sales
This one is live and interviewing immediately.

Series B. Commercially proven. Highly respected in the data encryption space. Now building their DoD function the right way.

This is a build-from-zero mandate.

You own defense GTM, pipeline creation, partner strategy, and closing. You are building the motion, not inheriting one. Strategy, capture, relationships, and execution all sit with you.

Senior IC to start, with a clear path to building the team.

Strong base (~$200k) plus meaningful upside.

Remote-friendly, preference for defense hubs.

If you’ve actually built and closed in DoD and want to stand something up properly, this is a serious opportunity.

All three roles require deep networks selling software or adjacent tech into DoD.

US citizenship required. Clearance history strongly preferred.
If you’re a fit, DM me.
If you know someone who is, make the introduction.
Sorry agencies I'm all good on the help on these. No 3rd or 4th parties.

Fractional Head of Talent | Series A-C Startups & Defense | Author & Talent Strategist

No offense but i don't care what you thought of the Superbowl or the Halftime show. Here's what I do care about...


I am looking for people with podcasts, relevant to HR and Hiring Psychology, that will read my book "Unfinished Rooms" and tell me what they think. 

The rules are (Read This Before you ask)
If you want an early copy, here’s the deal:
You read it. All of it.
Skimming and “great thoughts!” emails don’t count. If you don’t finish, don’t bother.
You give real feedback.
Notes, pushback, disagreement, questions, margin comments.
If nothing annoyed you, you didn’t read closely enough.
You’re willing to say where I’m wrong.
This is not a hype squad. I want clarity, not compliments.
You’re open to a live conversation.
Podcast, panel, roundtable, recorded discussion or Linkedin Posts
If you won’t stand behind your opinions publicly, this isn’t for you.
You keep it private until launch.
No excerpts, screenshots, summaries, or “subtle posting.”
Respect the work.
You have actual HR or Ops scar tissue.
If you’ve never had to clean up a hiring mess, this won’t land anyway.
You understand this is not consensus-driven.
I’m not trying to offend, but I’m also not trying to be safe.

-------------------------------------------------

I am looking for Customer Success, Sales, Product, Engineers, GIS, etc that have some experience with DoD or startups, that can be cleared, to talk to.

Also, this is an image of a late night Caprese that I made living in Weehawken NJ after I got home from work in NYC.

Looking for a few HR and Ops heavy hitters to sanity check something for me.

I’ve been working on a new book about psychology in hiring. It started as a section in Head and Heart and grew so much I had to give it its own name and spin it out. It’s scheduled to drop on March 31st.

This time, I want to really promote it, conversations, podcasts, panels, the whole thing. I’m proud of Head and Heart, but I feel a different kind of love for this one.

If you’re in HR or Operations and want an early read, I’d love your feedback.

DM me if you’re open to reviewing it and chatting about the ideas live with me on yours or my podcast.

(the reason I'm not asking recruiters is I am one and I know we all read at a 5th grade level at best. No shade)

(just kidding if you're a recruiter and want to read it early and will give notes, I'll send it to you if you send me your SAT/ACT scores)

I once got fired from a job I didn't even like for being “maniacal.”


Not late.

Not incompetent.

Not toxic.

Maniacal.

Translation: I moved too fast, asked too many hard questions, and kept fixing things no one had formally scheduled to be fixed.

In my defense, there were problems.

In their defense, I probably looked like a caffeinated consultant who had just discovered Slack.

There is such a thing as being overqualified.

There is also such a thing as being three steps ahead of an organization that is still debating step one.

And yes, there is such a thing as needing to dial it down from “operational reformer” to “employed adult.”

Here is the part no one tells you:
Sometimes you are not wrong about the work.
You are just wrong for the room.

If you are in a place where:
Hard questions get labeled “maniacal.”
Fixing obvious problems is treated like a threat.
Speed is praised in decks and punished in practice.
You are not a culture fit.
You are a future fit, trapped in a past tense company.

So before you internalize that feedback as “too intense” or “too much,” ask a better question:
Is the problem my ambition, or is the problem that this room was never built to hold it?

Because sometimes you are wrong.
Sometimes you do need to slow down, listen more, and stop trying to refactor the entire org chart in week three.

And sometimes you are right, you are early, and you are still extremely annoying about it.

But if you keep getting punished for seeing what is obviously broken, the lesson is not “stop seeing.”

The lesson is “find a better room, or at least one that understands your brand of crazy"

I learned a bit of both and have not considered working for Outback Steakhouse since. Nor will I again.

I mean, this is the raddest recruiter merch ever. Thanks for the idea Victor DeJesus

Also if you're in the cleared/GovCon space, you should follow him and these peole....

Jessica 🌿🌙 Reynolds (ft. MHRM, MBA)
Aaron H.
Amy Israeli
Matt Schwope
Sean Vary
Sean Jönsson
Amanda Davis
Marisol Maloney
Kristin M.


and many more in my network. I can honestly say I've been working the cleared space for a while now and even with everything in the job market being screwy, we've ALWAYS had open roles.

New Edition - The Effort it Takes to Ruin a New Hire.

They’re already leaving. Not because of comp bands, or remote policy, or your latest engagement initiative. They’re leaving because of what their brai

Open article: The Great Resignation Doesn't Hold A Candle to What's Next...  by Richie Lampani • 8 min read

The Great Resignation Doesn't Hold A Candle to What's Next...

Looking for some test subjects for a very intense psychological experiment - reading..

Early Preview Rules (Read This Before You Ask)

If you want an early copy, here’s the deal:
-You read it. All of it.
-Skimming and “great thoughts!” emails don’t count. If you don’t finish, don’t bother.
-You give real feedback.
-Notes, pushback, disagreement, questions, margin comments.
-If nothing annoyed you, you didn’t read closely enough. This is a relationship/pysch theory I stole for hiring. not to mention i'm annoying as a hobby.
-You’re willing to say where I’m wrong.
-This is not a hype squad. I want clarity, not compliments.
-You’re open to a live conversation.
-Podcast, panel, roundtable, recorded discussion or Linkedin Posts
-If you won’t stand behind your opinions publicly, this isn’t for you.
-You keep it private until launch.
-No excerpts, screenshots, summaries, or “subtle posting.”
Respect the work.

You have actual HR or Ops scar tissue. I would love to get HR in on this. I think it is a great theory that can help with offer acceptance through retention.

If you’ve never had to clean up a hiring mess, this won’t land anyway. 

You understand this is not consensus-driven.

I’m not trying to offend, but I’m also not trying to be safe.

If that still sounds fun, let me know!

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The Battle

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