EP 16 Illegal Lizards, Divine Recruiting and Melissa Musgrave
Steve admits his troubled past selling lizards and the guys talk recruiting, interviewing, and the state of HR with Melissa Musgrave. Melissa shares her experience "recruiting Jesus" and some other fun stories. The guys take a few minutes and discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Melissa believes people are the capital, and growth is the return. Founder of Melissa Musgrave People Collective, where she helps leaders, professionals, and organizations unlock clarity, confidence, and sustainable growth. With over 20 years in HR strategy and leadership—including as Chief People Officer for an aerospace startup and Head of Employment at Airbus Americas—she knows what it takes to scale teams, build resilient cultures, and deliver business outcomes through people. My career has spanned hiring 10,000+ professionals, leading high-growth organizations through scale-up and transformation, and guiding executives at critical leadership inflection points. She partners with leaders navigating career transitions, burnout recovery, or next-level growth, teams building trust, alignment, and performance, and organizations scaling sustainably through HR strategy and fractional leadership
Learn more about Melissa at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissamusgrave/
Learn more about Tony "Two Weeks' Notice" Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn about Steven "Big Deal" Smith: at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/
Melissa believes people are the capital, and growth is the return. Founder of Melissa Musgrave People Collective, where she helps leaders, professionals, and organizations unlock clarity, confidence, and sustainable growth. With over 20 years in HR strategy and leadership—including as Chief People Officer for an aerospace startup and Head of Employment at Airbus Americas—she knows what it takes to scale teams, build resilient cultures, and deliver business outcomes through people. My career has spanned hiring 10,000+ professionals, leading high-growth organizations through scale-up and transformation, and guiding executives at critical leadership inflection points. She partners with leaders navigating career transitions, burnout recovery, or next-level growth, teams building trust, alignment, and performance, and organizations scaling sustainably through HR strategy and fractional leadership
Learn more about Melissa at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissamusgrave/
Learn more about Tony "Two Weeks' Notice" Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn about Steven "Big Deal" Smith: at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/
Creators and Guests
Host
Steven "Bid Deal" Smith
Steve will be the first to tell you that recruiting is marketing. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance at Brigham Young University and started his career in recruiting in Feb 2005. In 2008, he took a risk during a recession to help start a new company with Ryan Kohler, called ApplicantPro, a full suite HR platform for small to mid-sized businesses. In March 2025, ApplicantPro became iSolved Talent Acquisition, now serving 177,000 clients and close to 9800 employees. Before the merger, ApplicantPro made the Inc 5000 list 12 years in a row, Top Places to work in Utah 3 years in a row, and Steve was named the Small Business Utah HR Achievement Award winner in May 2024. iSolved was also named an Indeed Platinum Partner in 2023, 2024, and 2025 and is one of only ten ATS platforms in the country to obtain that designation. SHRM-CP & PHR certified, Steve currently volunteers on the Utah SHRM State Council as the immediate past State Executive Director. His book, The Hiring Tree: Laws of Applicant Attraction, was released in early 2023, and has helped thousands of organizations across the country rethink their approach to hiring. If you need help understanding the principles and role of SEO, marketing, and AI when it comes to attracting job seekers, Steve provides a solid framework for hiring effectively.
Host
Tony "Two Weeks Notice" Benjamin
I am a unique HR leader with more than 20 years’ experience working for some of Utah’s oldest, fastest growing, and most well-known companies. My experience includes Superior Drilling Products, Air Medical Resource Group, Control4, Ovivo USA and Deseret Book. I am a regionally recognized authority on building successful cultures and am an alumni speaker at DisruptHR SLC and DisruptHR St. George. I have earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix, a Bachelor’s degree from Utah State University, and am a certified Professional of Human Resources (PHR). I'm married to a woman out of my league, have three brilliant kids I doesn’t deserve and, although I travel a lot, live in Vernal, Utah.
