From 100 Employees to RV Recruiting: Redefining Success on Her Terms, with Lauren Fernandez

What happens when you sell a 100-employee company at 28 and decide freedom matters more than settling down? Lauren Fernandez didn’t just dream about working from anywhere—she made it a reality. But this isn’t a glossy “digital nomad” story. It’s the unfiltered truth about building a recruiting business while navigating serious health challenges, redefining success, and realizing your best life might look nothing like others expect. Lauren is the founder of Palm Coast Staffing, a legal recruiting practice she built while traveling the U.S. in an RV. After selling her first company with 100+ employees across three states, she and her husband skipped the mortgage and bought an RV instead. In this episode, Lauren reveals her three-section daily system that creates freedom through discipline, why she believes relationships beat cold calls, and how she structured her firm to keep running through unexpected crises. Episode Outline and Highlights [2:51] From selling rocks as a kid to building and selling a 100-employee company by age 28. [8:17] Hiring over 1,000 people—and what it taught her about matching success to the individual. [13:07] Rejecting the house for an RV and a new staffing business. [15:10] The unglamorous reality behind digital nomad life. [18:23] Her three-bucket daily planning system (no tech required). [23:19] An anti-cold calling philosophy: “find people where they are.” [27:59] Why returning to the same conferences builds long-term credibility. [34:42] Combating recruiting industry distrust through authentic relationships. [38:25] Running a business while navigating her husband’s serious health diagnosis. [44:52] Why entrepreneurial lows aren’t as devastating as you think—and highs aren’t as high. On Building a Business That Serves Your Life After selling her first company, Lauren chose differently. When her husband was later diagnosed with myositis and developed stage three heart failure, their flexible model proved its worth. In her words: “Success looks different for different people at different times. Maybe right now you’re in the building phase and you can work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. But maybe in a few years you’ve got kids and success is having freedom to spend time with them while they’re young.” She asks every agency owner to reflect: “Is your company the tool to get you success, or is your company the success? Is it the means to the end or is it the end?” Her System for Freedom Through Discipline Lauren’s three-section daily planning system is simple but effective. Using a paper planner, she breaks down daily into business development, recruiting, and operations. The buckets are interchangeable, so one disruption doesn’t derail the whole day. “When you run your own business, there’s a lot in the ‘other’ section,” Lauren says. This system helped her keep placing candidates and winning clients—even during week-long hospital stays. Her insight: discipline in planning is what creates the freedom to adapt. Lauren Fernandez Bio Lauren Fernandez is the founder of Palm Coast Staffing, specializing in legal recruitment nationwide. She previously co-founded and scaled a sales and marketing company to 100+ employees before selling it at 28. After agency experience in Florida, she and her husband launched Palm Coast Staffing in 2022 with a unique twist—building the business from an RV while traveling the country. Lauren has personally hired over 1,000 people, giving her deep insight into aligning opportunities with candidates’ life priorities. She’s passionate about rebuilding trust in recruiting through authentic relationships, not spammy outreach. Currently based in Florida, she continues to build Palm Coast Staffing while supporting her husband through ongoing health challenges. Their next adventure? An RV trip from Florida to Alaska. People and Resources Mentioned Atomic Habits by James Clear Hug Your Customers by Jack Mitchell "If—" poem by Rudyard Kipling Starlink Internet Airtable Recruit CRM ChatGPT Connect with Lauren and Mark Lauren on LinkedIn Palm Coast Staffing website Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: RecruitmentCoach.com/strategy-session Mark on LinkedIn Mark on Twitter Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram