Michael Melen: Talent Pool, Growth Opportunity | Work 20XX Ep54

Mike Melen took a college side hustle, and built it into a growing global digital marketing agency. After starting full remote, Mike opened an office in Bergen County, New Jersey. Covid closed the office, and SmartSites is back to being fully remote to stay.

Remote hiring opened up the available talent pool beyond his Bergen County, New Jersey. Suddenly, Mike could hire people with the special skills needed, regardless of where they plugged in their laptop. 

Mike learned early on that the best people want opportunities to grow, so he set an annual goal of 30% growth. He hired younger, less experienced people and invested in them to grow and advance along with the companies. Fourteen years later, SmartSites has grown to 400 people.

Please join me in welcoming Mike Melen to the Work 20XX podcast.

Editor’s Note: Recorded 2025-April-30 at the Running Remote conference in Austin, Texas. Special thanks to Liam, Egor, Ana, and Team Running Remote.

Michael Melen: Talent Pool, Growth Opportunity | Work 20XX podcast with Jeff Frick Ep54 from Running Remote 2025 Austin 

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YouTube - Click Here 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MosbOY0uFUI&list=PLZURvMqWbYjmmJlwGj0L0jWbWdCej1Jlt 

Transcript and Show Notes - Click Here 

https://www.work20xx.com/episode/michael-melen-talent-pool-growth-opportunity-work-20xx-ep54