How to Bill $1.29 Million Without Sacrificing Family Life, with Emily Audibert

Emily Audibert billed $1.29 million in 2025. She did it while eight and a half months pregnant with her third child, living in a 750-square-foot cottage for six months during a home renovation with her husband, two young boys, and a 70-pound dog. Emily is the founder of EA Associates, a search firm specializing in go-to-market roles. The year before, she'd billed $800K. She knew she was capable of billing seven figures, but a bad RPO client was quietly eating the difference. She came home from a conference determined to make some changes, fired the client, worked with her sister, Amanda, to overhaul her processes and technology, and by spring had landed a major new contract. In this episode, Emily walks through that whole sequence, along with the early years of her career, including five failed attempts at the same CPA exam before she ever considered recruiting, and the moment she stopped copying her trainer's script and started sounding like herself on the phone. Today, she's off the phone by 4:30 most afternoons to be with her kids, and she explains exactly how her business is built to make that possible. In this episode, you'll discover: How to tell a good RPO from one that's quietly draining your business Why the type of contract you sign never fixes a role that's hard to fill What changed when Emily brought her sister on as her operations partner Why she spend nearly her whole day on the phone and almost nothing else The three things that took her from $80K to $390K in her second year Why a softer, more personal approach outperformed a memorized script The daily habits she leans on to stay calm during a demanding week How half her breakthrough year came from work she was already doing Episode highlights: 02:26 Life with three kids under five 08:13 How 2025 became her breakthrough year 09:01 The RPO client she fired 14:41 Failing the CPA exam five times before finding recruitment 21:54 From $80K to $390K in year two 26:46 Finding her own voice on the phone 46:04 Why hiring her sister as integrator changed everything 52:43 A great RPO versus one you should fire Podcast Partner: This episode is brought to you by Recruiterflow, the AI-first ATS and CRM built for recruitment agencies and search firms. recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow Free Resources: 7-Figure Freedom Scorecard: https://mark-rf1pexbm.scoreapp.com/ Book a Strategy Session: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ About Emily: Emily Audibert is the founder of EA Associates, a search firm specializing in go-to-market roles across marketing and sales. She began her career at Hobson Associates, trained under Danny Cahill, and has spent nearly 10 years in recruiting. She was inducted into the Pinnacle Society in 2025. That same year, she billed $1.29 million, up from $800K the year before. Connect with Emily: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyaudibert/ https://ea.associates/ Connect with Mark: Free 30-minute strategy call: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter so you never miss an episode.