Joel Lalgee

A Decent Recruiter To Follow. Recruiting Is No Joke Podcast Host

With a decade in recruiting, I now partner with companies worldwide to recruit top GTM talent

What I do:

I help companies find talent.
From AE's to Revops to CRO's and VP of sales, we have access to the best talent.

I help companies with social media.
With an audience of nearly 1 million and millions of views, I know how to tell your story and attract the right people.

I emcee and speak at events.
Podcast host, keynote speaker, and global stage regular, I love sharing fresh perspectives on recruitment, leadership, and the future of work.

Outside the office, I’m a proud dad of three, a devoted husband, and a big believer in the power of recruitment to change lives and businesses.

Want more?
Let’s connect. Whether you’re hiring, building your brand, I’m always up for a real conversation.

Joel@therealestrecruiter.com - Brand deals PR

Founder

Contract recruiting
Marketing consulting/strategy
Podcast host

Milestone

Acquisition Firm Specializing in Early Childhood Education

I lead the operational and cultural transformation of a portfolio of early childhood centers, guiding multi-site teams through growth, compliance, and continuous improvement. My mandate: align performance, people, and purpose to drive sustainable results.

As a strategic operator and learning leader, I focus on scalable systems, empowered teams, and environments where both children and staff thrive. I partner cross-functionally to strengthen profitability, elevate educational quality, and embed strong leadership practices at every level.

⸻

Key Impact Areas:

🔹 Strategic Growth & Profitability
Led regional turnaround and growth initiatives, driving revenue acceleration, cost efficiency, and EBITDA improvements across high-variance markets.

🔹 Operational Excellence
Implemented systems and SOPs to streamline workflows, improve compliance, and ensure consistent execution across diverse locations.

🔹 Leadership Development & L&D Strategy
Designed and delivered customized director trainings, ongoing coaching labs, and onboarding systems to build leadership capacity and retain top talent.

🔹 Cultural Transformation
Restored trust and performance in underperforming centers through coaching, values-aligned leadership, and trauma-informed organizational practices.

🔹 Enrollment & Brand Positioning
Launched grassroots campaigns, local partnerships, and strategic promos that led to double-digit enrollment growth in targeted centers.

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Notable Results:
	•	Spearheaded turnaround of high-risk centers by rebuilding trust, stabilizing staffing, and restoring community confidence
	•	Created and facilitated The Leaders Lab — a weekly executive training and coaching forum for directors
	•	Developed strategic proposals and presentation decks for C-suite and ownership to advocate for capital investments and operational shifts
	•	Built a reputation as a trusted advisor to senior leadership and emerging talent alike

Regional Director of Operations

The Learning Experience

Strategic regional leader overseeing a $30M portfolio of 15 early childhood centers across Florida. Blending operational rigor with people-centered leadership, I drove measurable gains in profitability, customer experience, and leadership development.

My core focus: scaling sustainable, high-performing organizations through aligned leadership, streamlined systems, and learning strategies that stick.

⸻

Highlights:

✔ Achieved 100% utilization in mature schools within 6 months, maximizing revenue and operational efficiency through strategic enrollment and staffing alignment
✔ Designed and delivered the “Be Awesome” Tour & Customer Experience Training — a scalable, instructor-led program that improved conversion rates, team confidence, and customer satisfaction
✔ Developed internal leaders through coaching, accountability systems, and real-time data dashboards, resulting in 10 “Center of Excellence” winners and 6 “Elite” honorees
✔ Led cross-functional initiatives to strengthen brand consistency, operational KPIs, and employee engagement across 15 diverse markets
✔ Implemented data-driven business strategies to improve retention, optimize labor, and align center-level execution with regional growth goals

⸻

Focus Areas:
	•	Multi-site operations & team development
	•	Learning & development (L&D) program design
	•	KPI-driven leadership accountability
	•	Change management & performance improvement
	•	Cross-functional collaboration (marketing, finance, HR)

Regional Manager

The Florida Center for Early Childhood

Serve as a member of Senior Leadership to promote the agency’s mission, vision, and strategic plan.
♦ Oversight of early childhood education sites, including financials, risk management, quality, and development.
♦ Create and oversee program budget. Manage expenses and accounts receivable including invoicing and parent fee schedules, other third-party billing, and grants. Monitor program budget and participate in fundraising and grant writing activities.
♦ Oversee student enrollment and retention through implementation of Enrollment Committee, Interdisciplinary Staffings & Family Engagement, and Goodness of Fit policy.
♦ Provide direct, on-site supervision to Starfish Academy Site Directors. Develop training plans for Site Directors to achieve competency milestones 
Build leadership team cohesion, promote program consistency and quality, performance, and program planning.
♦ Support to Site Directors to train and support teachers to implement core components of the Starfish Academy Inclusion Model (Family Engagement, Teacher Development, Quality Improvement, Strengths-based, Individualized & Inclusive, and Collaborative and Multidisciplinary).

Program/client needs, policy and procedures, curriculum, and engage staff in program planning. Monitor compliance to standards set forth by applicable regulating bodies (DCF, AHCA,
NAC, COA, ASHA, and other contract requirements).
Monitor service delivery and success to promote each child’s gains in developmental, cognitive, physical, educational, behavioral, and emotional development in the least restrictive environment.
Create a fiscally vibrant and sustainable department by executing strong financial targets, revenue generation and monitoring

Director of Education

RJS Global LLC

I launched RJS Global to help organizations build stronger leaders, more effective teams, and scalable systems for long-term growth. Through tailored consulting and coaching, I served over 800 clients across sectors—tech, healthcare, law, finance, education—delivering measurable improvements in leadership performance, team engagement, and operational efficiency.

Learning & Development + Leadership Strategy
• Designed and facilitated live and virtual leadership & personal development training programs rooted in adult learning principles
• Integrated assessments such as Gallup Strengths, DISC, EQ, PI, Enneagram, and MBTI to strengthen self-awareness and team dynamics
• Created cultural health assessments to diagnose retention risks, performance gaps, and leadership blind spots

Business + Operational Consulting
• Led C-suite strategy sessions on succession planning, talent development, and market positioning
• Advised startups and mid-sized companies on operational restructuring, leadership pipelines, and change readiness
• Developed cross-functional frameworks for improved accountability, collaboration, and communication

Coaching + Community Building
• Built and led MasterMind groups and executive coaching cohorts with 99% engagement over 3+ years
• Hired and managed fractional support teams across projects (marketing, operations, finance)

My consulting philosophy: measurable outcomes + deep human alignment.
I combine data-driven insights with intuitive leadership development to help people and organizations thrive.

CEO | Director of Operations | Consultant | Executive Coach

Bright Horizons

For three years, I created a culture of possibility and shared vision, always illuminating the what-if factor and empowering people. I executed a company rebrand, infusing a futuristic plan of growth and success. I also turned around two early education facilities for this Fortune 500 organization with a 20 person management team, 800 clients, and 200 direct reports. I focused on directing GE Healthcare’s program, pivoting from a PR crisis. I also conducted a transformation in quality and finances, ensuring reaccreditation.  In more detail, I recrafted the company culture, executed strong staff development and succession planning, re-prioritized customer satisfaction, and elevated client experience. I leveraged assessment data to build and implement a people first strategy of diversity, support, inclusivity, engagement, passion and purpose. I also ensured the strategy aligned with the organization's goals, values, mission, fiscal responsibilities and strategic growth objective. Furthermore, I designed a best-in-class team by identifying operational inefficiencies, poor staff fit, and workplace toxicity causes, and created and executed a change strategy based on data and corrective action. In this, I implemented a strong succession and development plan, identifying gaps and developing potential talent to load the pipeline. In another effort, I authored and executed monthly staff and client workshops for ongoing best practices training and development. I prioritized diversity and inclusion initiatives, including a “Men in Childcare” group. I also led Risk Management, Diversity, and Mentorship Committees. In addition, I implemented an effective and complete 360 feedback model for present capture and future planning. Finally, I achieved Top-10 Profit status out of 1000+ centers on budgets of $8 million.

Director

YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee

Here, I rescued and rejuvenated four child-care centers, three head-start centers, and 16 licensed before and after school programs with a total enrollment of 2500+ students. I directed a workforce of 230 employees (including 20 members of  supervisory staff), hiring staff directly and training management to hire employees.  In more specifics, I turned around the program in 90 days by connecting to the mission. I also assessed organizational needs using a comprehensive process soliciting input from a range of stakeholders and examined financial and operational inefficiencies. I transformed a troubled non-profit portfolio in the inner city of Milwaukee into a nationally accredited portfolio with best-in-class staff, curriculum, and community impact. In addition, I hired and retained top talented leadership, renewing accreditation through regulation and compliance. I clarified the service and recipients of 16 programs, skyrocketing enrollment within 9 months, increasing revenue from 65% to 100% enrollment with a waitlist of 350 families. Remarkably, I achieved national accreditation for 100% of centers vs. the 10% national average.  I also discovered a lack of formal performance metrics and responded by conceiving and implementing performance appraisals identifying areas of achieved excellence and areas of needed growth.  In another effort, I created a Risk Management manual and trainings to increase preparedness and safety throughout the portfolio. I also implemented an effective and complete 360 feedback model for present capture and future planning. In regard to budgets, I developed and oversaw 30M budgets. I also presented multi-million-dollar budgets at hearings with the CEO, CFO and Board of Directors

Varied 

I worked in Non Profit and for profit organizations starting including roles such as;  Director and Executive Director until 2012.  I am an expert in ECE Programming and accreditation, curriculum, training, staff development, workshop development, strategic planning, talent managment, succession planning, employee engagement, operations managment, program operations, fiscal managment, turnaround specialist, culture development, program operations, curriculum implementation, customer service operations, payroll, Human Resources management, onboarding

Executive Director

Strategic Leader | Culture Architect | Growth-Focused Execution + Learning Leader

I build high-performance teams, scalable systems, and cultures that stick.

As a senior leader in multi-site operations, I’ve led complex turnarounds, rebuilt reputations, increased margins, and stabilized teams in fast-paced, people-driven industries. My approach is direct, data-informed, and deeply human. I don’t micromanage—I build leaders.

I’ve been trusted with full P&L oversight, high-stakes transformations, and culture repair after periods of decline. My superpower is seeing both the macro and micro: aligning vision to execution, and people to outcomes.

What I’m known for:
	•	Fixing broken systems without breaking people
	•	Coaching leaders into confident, consistent decision-makers
	•	Designing and delivering leadership development experiences that drive retention and growth
	•	Turning chaos into clarity through smart operations and culture design
	•	Driving results that are both measurable and meaningful

Across my portfolio, I’ve improved EBITDA, stabilized labor costs, and increased retention by designing leadership pipelines, delivering high-impact training, and aligning culture with business goals. From rebuilding enrollment after reputational damage to restoring compliance under tight timelines, I lead with urgency, precision, and care.

My leadership is high-accountability and human-centered. I create systems and learning frameworks that clarify expectations, empower decision-making, and sustain performance long after the crisis has passed. I’m as comfortable in the boardroom as I am coaching a frontline leader through complexity.

Learning & Development Focus: Leadership program design, adult learning, executive coaching, culture onboarding, pipeline development, L&D strategy

I bring executive presence without ego, design-thinking without fluff, and a deep belief that culture and learning are the ultimate differentiators in any people-first business.

🧠 Certifications & Sector Lens (no change, still strong):

Certified Agile Leader | Certified Psych-Intuitive Coach
ENFP-A | CliftonStrengths: Maximizer, Relator, Activator | Predictive Index: Maverick
Multi-site operations  | People-first businesses

I’m seeking a senior leadership role focused on strategic growth, culture transformation, and leadership development. Strong preference for purpose-driven companies where culture is treated as a business asset.



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Joel Lalgee

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