In this episode of The Deal Factory, Jeff Harkness sits down with executive recruiter and talent advisor Rachel VanderPol to discuss what really drives employee retention, leadership, recruiting, and company growth. Rachel shares lessons from years of recruiting top talent across finance, legal, construction, SaaS, and professional services industries, while providing a behind-the-scenes look at how great companies attract and keep high performers.

From culture fit and leadership alignment to compensation, flexibility, and hiring mistakes, this conversation is packed with practical insights for business owners who want to build stronger teams and scale successfully.

Whether you're hiring your next executive, building a leadership team, or trying to understand why great employees leave, this episode provides a blueprint for recruiting and retaining exceptional talent.

Key Discussion Points

• Why employees leave companies even when compensation is competitive

• The importance of culture fit over technical qualifications

• How top recruiters identify great candidates

• The role leadership plays in employee retention

• Why compensation alone cannot solve hiring problems

• Work-from-home, flexibility, and today's workforce expectations

• Common hiring mistakes business owners make

• How to evaluate candidates beyond the résumé

• Lessons from elite athletes and high-performance environments

• Building teams that scale with your company

Chapters:

0:00 Intro

0:20 Meet Rachel VanderPol

2:01 Athlete to Executive Recruiter

4:41 Growing Up Around Hall of Fame Excellence

8:10 Why Employees Really Leave

11:24 Culture Fit vs Skill Set

15:00 Why Employer Branding Matters

16:10 How Recruiters Vet Candidates

19:10 Recruiting Across Multiple Industries

22:35 Hiring for Potential vs Perfection

23:35 How to Spot Candidate Red Flags

26:25 Compensation and Retention

30:25 Work-Life Balance vs Flexibility

35:05 Learning From Hiring Mistakes

37:10 Mentorship and High Achievement

39:10 Building a Business While Raising a Family

42:45 Parenting, Sports, and Leadership Lessons

45:05 Rachel's Recruiting Philosophy

47:00 AI vs Human Recruiting

48:15 Final Thoughts

A lot of business owners think private equity means losing control, sacrificing culture, and putting profits ahead of people. What if the exact opposite could be true?

In this episode of The Deal Factory, Jeff Harkness sits down with Chester Buczynski and Mike Montenaro to unpack the formation of the YardMaster Big Lakes platform backed by Unity Partners.

The conversation explores the realities of private equity partnerships, employee ownership, scaling through acquisitions, leadership development, and building a culture that creates transformational wealth for employees at every level.

From Chester's journey starting a landscape company with no money and a vision, to Mike's path through decades of leadership in the green industry, this episode offers a candid look at what it really takes to build, scale, and grow a business beyond traditional limits.

Most importantly, they challenge some of the biggest myths in business—proving that growth, culture, people, and profitability don't have to compete with one another.

Key Discussion Points

• Why Yard Master and Big Lakes partnered with Unity Partners

• The biggest misconceptions about private equity

• How employee ownership changes company culture

• Building leadership teams capable of scaling

• The importance of intentional communication during acquisitions

• Integrating multiple companies without losing culture

• Creating transformational wealth for employees

• Why growth creates opportunity for everyone

• Leadership, mentorship, and succession planning

• Thinking bigger about what's possible in the green industry

Most people think the hard part of a deal is getting to the closing table.

It’s not.

The real challenge begins the moment the paperwork is signed.

In this episode of The Deal Factory, Jeff Harkness sits down with 3PG Advisors’ Ed Bates for a deep dive into one of the most overlooked — and most critical — parts of mergers & acquisitions: integration.

With decades of experience and a front-row seat to more than 80 integrations across the green industry and skilled trades, Ed shares the practical realities of what actually happens after a business is acquired. From employee fear and culture clashes to systems conversions, communication breakdowns, owner transitions, and operational chaos, this conversation pulls back the curtain on why some deals create transformational growth while others quietly fall apart.

This isn’t theory.

It’s real-world insight from operators and dealmakers who’ve lived through the pressure, mistakes, wins, and lessons that happen after closing.

If you’re a business owner thinking about selling, a buyer trying to scale through acquisition, or an operator navigating change inside a growing company, this episode is a masterclass in integration strategy, leadership, and execution.

Key Discussion Points

• Why integration — not closing — determines long-term deal success

• The biggest communication mistakes buyers make after an acquisition

• Why employee trust and culture matter more than systems on Day One

• How to identify the real influencers inside a company

• The importance of pre-close alignment and integration planning

• Why moving too fast with systems and process changes creates failure

• The 90-day integration framework Ed Bates uses to guide acquisitions

• Common pitfalls with payroll, HR, operations, and technology transitions

• The emotional side of selling a company and owner identity shifts

• What successful buyers do differently during integration

• Why every deal requires a customized integration strategy

• Lessons learned from 80+ acquisitions and integrations