EP 67 - How To Build Your Name, Build Your Market & Build a Desk From Scratch w/ Roxanne
In this episode of The 1% Better Recruitment Podcast, I’m joined by Roxanne Kirkhope-Winnan, Head of Bolt Technical and one of the most charismatic, straight-talking, high-performing recruiters in the UK engineering market. With over a decade of experience at OA Group, a successful transition into engineering recruitment, and now launching Bolt Technical inside the OA Group, Roxanne brings a level of honesty, self-awareness, resilience and energy that you simply don’t hear often in this industry. roxanne-mp3 We dive into everything from building new markets and scaling cold desks, to personal branding, ADHD, parenting a child with autism, leadership style, culture building and the reality of balancing ambition with life’s chaos. This conversation is raw, funny, unfiltered and full of insights for recruiters at every level. Whether you’re a trainee, a billing consultant, a manager or a founder, you will come away from this episode with practical tools, mindset shifts and genuine motivation to get 1% better. We cover: ✅ Roxanne’s journey from cabin crew to top biller to launching Bolt Technical ✅ The confidence, mindset & self-belief needed to build a cold desk from scratch ✅ Why simplicity beats over-engineering in BD ✅ Quantity vs quality — and why the industry has flipped ✅ How ADHD impacts recruitment performance (and how to turn it into a superpower) ✅ Autism, parenting, sleep deprivation & the power of sharing openly online ✅ How culture is built in startups — and why it must come from the top ✅ Scheduled posting, hooks & real personal branding that drives inbound clients ✅ Why LinkedIn community matters more than vanity metrics ✅ How to manage energy, sprints, burnout & the pressure of high-performance ✅ Being yourself online and offline — and why authenticity always wins ✅ The fundamentals of high-level recruitment that everyone’s forgetting ✅ Why real conversations still beat every tool, trend and “growth hack” Timestamps: 00:00 – Welcome & intro 01:00 – Roxanne’s story: cabin crew to recruitment in 2012 03:00 – Early career lessons, mindset & blind confidence 06:00 – Moving into engineering recruitment & killing the imposter syndrome 09:00 – Starting Bolt Technical & the realities of being a single parent 12:00 – How to build a new desk from scratch 15:00 – Confidence, conversations & why mindset is everything 18:00 – ADHD work sprints, burnout & energy cycles 22:00 – LinkedIn hooks, scheduled posting & personal branding 27:00 – The power of honesty online — autism, parenting, community 32:00 – Culture building, leadership & leading from the front 37:00 – Why recruiters overcomplicate simple tasks 44:00 – The fundamentals of good BD & candidate control 50:00 – ADHD in recruitment, medication & “superpower sprints” 56:00 – Consistency, creativity & finding your voice on LinkedIn 01:03:00 – Empowering your team & sharing knowledge 01:10:00 – How Roxanne manages her day, energy & priorities 01:16:00 – Roxanne’s 1% Better tip Connect with Roxanne Kirkhope-Winnan 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roxannekirkhopewinnan/ Connect with Charles Kyriakou 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1/ 🎥 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charles.kyriakou 🍏 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast ... 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46LjJfw ... 📰 LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7244346543967731712 👇 Enjoyed this? Like, comment & subscribe — and share it with someone who needs to hear it.
