How Better Candidate Presentations Turned a Nine-Month Drought Around Fast, with Tonya Leadman

Tonya Leadman went nine months without a single placement.
Seven searches were put on hold. Two offers fell through. Cash flow tightened. And her accountant called to check if she was okay.
Tonya is the owner of Leadman & Associates, a national executive search firm serving the food, beverage, and CPG manufacturing industries. After building her career as a top performer in the MRI network and later moving in-house as a Fortune 500 talent acquisition leader, she launched her own firm in 2022.
Then the market turned.
In this episode of The Resilient Recruiter, Tonya shares what actually keeps a recruitment business alive during a prolonged downturn — without dropping fees, spamming clients with resumes, or compromising standards.
She also breaks down the candidate presentation system behind her 92% submit-to-interview rate, why she only submits the top two or three candidates, and the activity that kept her visible when most recruiters disappeared.
This is a real conversation about resilience, discipline, and leadership when placements stop.
You’ll learn:
• What to do when your recruitment business goes months without a placement
• How Tonya maintained standards during a nine-month drought
• Why submitting fewer candidates builds more trust with clients
• The candidate presentation process behind a 92% interview rate
• How staying visible during a downturn pays off when the market turns
• Why Tonya fired a client when cash flow was tight
• How career services helped stabilize revenue without losing focus
• How fast recruiting can turn around when momentum returns
Episode timestamps:
00:00 Nine months without a placement
01:40 Returning from maternity leave to a layoff
03:10 The habits that shaped Tonya’s early success
14:35 The candidate presentation system behind a 92% interview rate
18:19 Why Tonya submits only the top 2–3 candidates
30:33 Launching a firm during a tough market
39:00 Seven searches on hold and the drought begins
43:02 The activity that kept her business alive
44:30 Firing a client during a downturn
49:17 Career services as a stabilizer
51:05 How recruiting can turn around fast

If you run a recruitment agency and want to survive market downturns without lowering your standards, this episode is essential listening.