#118- Danny Rosenthal on Niching Down & Smart Automation
About This Episode
*Episode Summary* Danny Rosenthal didn’t plan on becoming a recruiter. His career started on stage as a full-time musician, writing songs, touring, and even landing music on TV and in film. But after parting ways with his band, Danny pivoted into an entirely different world: childcare. What began as becoming a nanny turned into launching his own nanny agency and eventually stepping fully into recruiting. In this episode of the Digital Recruiter Podcast, host Clark Wilcox sits down with Danny, now Director of Community Partnerships at EngineHire, to unpack that unconventional journey and what it taught him about business, niching down, and building systems that actually support growth. Danny shares how learning from other agency owners helped him avoid costly mistakes early on, why trust and education are everything in the nanny placement space, and how owning your niche can unlock unexpected opportunities (including a TV show pitch about male nannies). The conversation then shifts into automation and tech. From his vantage point inside EngineHire, Danny sees where agencies stall out. Most aren’t lacking effort. They’re overcomplicating systems or failing to automate the simple things that drive revenue. He breaks down the power of basic status-based follow-ups, abandoned application reminders, and the one automated check-in email that produced some of his highest response rates. For recruiters looking to simplify, systemize, and scale without losing the human element, this episode is packed with practical insight. *Highlights* 00:00 - Welcome & how LinkedIn sparked the conversation 02:00 - Danny’s music career and unexpected pivot 05:00 - What bands, money, and commission splits have in common 07:00 - From nanny to agency owner 11:00 - Recruiting in childcare and educating clients 14:00 - Why owning your niche creates opportunity 20:00 - Transitioning from agency owner to EngineHire 22:00 - The automation mistakes most agencies make 24:00 - The simple follow-up email that gets massive replies 33:00 - Stop overbuilding systems and start building revenue 35:00 - Life advice: transparency and standing behind decisions *Danny’s Bio* Danny Rosenthal is the Director of Community Partnerships at EngineHire, an all-in-one ATS, CRM, payroll, and scheduling platform built primarily for care-based staffing industries including nanny agencies, home care, and medical staffing. Before joining EngineHire, Danny founded and operated his own nanny agency after transitioning from a full-time career in music, where he toured, wrote songs featured in TV and film, and worked alongside artists like Kenny Loggins and Gary Wright. His firsthand experience as both a recruiter and agency owner gives him a practical, operator-level perspective on automation, systems, and building sustainable staffing businesses. Today, Danny works closely with agency owners to help them streamline operations, implement smart automation, and avoid the common pitfalls that stall growth. Connect with Danny on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyjosephrosenthal/ or learn more at https://enginehire.io Stop wasting money on lead-gen tools that don’t work. Learn how top recruiters are winning on LinkedIn with content, messaging, and automation—without spamming. Get live coaching, ongoing support, and a proven system to drive revenue inside Digital Recruiter Bootcamp. Join now: DigitalRecruiter.io/bootcamp Get the best and most current digital recruiting insights, tips, and strategies every Sunday—straight to your inbox, for free: https://www.digitalrecruiter.io/drnewsletter For more information about Digital Recruiter, click HERE ---＞ https://linktr.ee/thedigitalrecruiter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices