Why Founders Hire Wrong, Fire Late and Struggle With Gen Z

Juliet Gateri, founder of Alternate Doors, has spent 13 years building an HR consultancy that helps Kenyan small and medium businesses hire and manage their teams. But some of the hardest people problems she has dealt with were inside her own business. In this episode of So, How's Business?, Juliet shares how she started Alternate Doors with no plan B, a Gmail address and a round of cold emails after being pushed out of a startup she helped build from the ground up. She talks about her first hires, who reached out to her clients for jobs and disappeared after payday, and why that experience made her start paying herself first. She also explains why founders so often hire wrong and fire late, what culture fit actually means in a small business, how she tells founders when they are the problem, and how she approaches Gen Z employees, mental health at work and using AI in recruitment. In this episode, we discuss: -How Juliet started Alternate Doors with no plan B and landed her first two clients through cold emails -The college she started at 26 and why she closed it -Her first hires, the betrayal that followed and why she now pays herself first -The most common hiring mistakes first-time founders make -Why HR is often the last hire and the first to be cut -Culture fit vs skills, and what culture really means in a small business -Telling founders they are the problem, and the clients she turns away -Mental health, addiction and knowing when to support or let go -Managing Gen Z employees -How Alternate Doors uses AI in recruitment -Competing with big corporates for talent as a small business -Hire or Fire: salary questions, toxic top performers and lying on a CV If you're a founder building a team, a manager hiring for the first time or anyone curious about how small businesses really handle people, this conversation is worth watching. Chapters 00:00 Intro: No Plan B, Bad Hires & Paying Herself First 01:50 Juliet Gateri & 13 Years of Alternate Doors 03:56 From Accounting to HR & Two Years in Sydney 06:20 Coming Home & Starting a College at 26 11:11 Employee Number One at a Tech Startup 12:36 Pushed Out With No Plan B 14:05 Starting With a Gmail Address & Cold Emails 16:03 Competing as a Small Player & Building Trust 18:14 Her First Hires & Paying Herself First 23:09 The Most Common First-Hire Mistakes 26:22 Culture Fit vs Skills 30:33 Telling a Founder They're the Problem 33:20 Expensive People Mistakes, Mental Health & Addiction 37:34 Managing Gen Z & Using AI in Recruitment 42:27 Hiring for Her Own Business 46:22 Hire or Fire 50:05 Fire Fast vs Hire Slow & What's Next Guest links: Juliet Gateri Website: https://alternatedoors.co.ke/ YouTube:    / @alternatedoorshr   LinkedIn:   / mindfulheadhunterandrecruiter   Instagram:   / alternatedoors   Facebook:   / alternatedoors   Listen on Podcast Platforms https://rss.com/podcasts/so-hows-busi... Follow So, How's Business? Instagram:   / sohowsbusiness   TikTok:   / sohowsbusiness   LinkedIn:   / sohowsbusiness   YouTube:    / @sohowsbusiness   Subscribe to So, How's Business? for more honest conversations with African founders about how their businesses actually work. KEYWORDS: Juliet Gateri, Alternate Doors, Alternate Doors Kenya, Alternate Doors HR, HR consultant Kenya, HR consultancy Kenya, recruitment agency Kenya, recruitment Kenya, hiring mistakes, first hire, how to hire employees, firing employees, fire fast, culture fit, culture fit vs skills, toxic high performer, managing Gen Z, Gen Z at work, mental health at work, HR for small businesses, SME HR Kenya, small business hiring, pay yourself first, starting a business with no plan B, cold emails for clients, AI in recruitment, salary negotiation, HR Uncensored, women entrepreneurs Kenya, African women entrepreneurs, Kenyan businesses, So Hows Business