Leaving Corporate to Build Relay Recruiting: Lauren Dunkle Dlugosh's Story

Lauren Dunkle Dlugosh was one of the top billing recruiters at her firm in Rochester, regularly placing $550K to $650K in fees annually. She had great colleagues, a strong reputation, and no real reason to leave. And the night before she quit, she slept perfectly.That is what this conversation is really about. Not the business plan or the LinkedIn announcement. The moment before all of it, when everything felt right even though nothing was certain yet.What You Will Learn: 1: What a non-solicitation agreement actually means and what it costs you when you walk away from a decade of client relationships2: Why Lauren named her first year of entrepreneurship grief, and how that honesty made her a better founder and recruiter3: How the golden handcuffs concept applies beyond recruiting and how to know when the cage is no longer worth it4: What Lauren's cross-country camper van trip has to do with landing a client after she went independent5: The one reframe that shifted everything: it was not about what she was running from, it was what she was running toward6: Why Lauren went from being a doer at her old firm to a creator building her ownTIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Introduction & The Hook00:42 — Guest Introduction: Lauren Dunkle Dlugosh01:10 — Life Before Relay: The Rochester Firm04:22 — The Slow Burn: When Fine Stops Being Enough05:11 — AI in Recruiting: What Lauren Wanted to Build10:20 — Non-Solicitation Agreements Explained12:50 — Golden Handcuffs: The Cost of Comfort15:16 — Life With Intention: The Camper Van Trip17:03 — The Loneliness Nobody Talks About in Year One21:05 — Grieving a Life You Actually Loved24:43 — Stopping Waiting for Permission27:48 — Lightning Round33:25 — The Last Question: What Would You Tell Yourself on Day One?34:07 — OutroAbout Lauren Dunkle Dlugosh: Lauren Dunkle Dlugosh is the Founder and CEO of Relay Recruiting, an executive and professional search firm based in Rochester, New York. With nearly a decade of experience recruiting across nonprofit, higher education, manufacturing, energy, and the C-suite, she built her reputation as a top billing recruiter before launching independently. Her work combines deep relationship-based search with a forward-thinking approach to AI and workflow efficiency.Connect with Lauren Dunkle DlugoshGuest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurendunkle/Website: https://www.relayrecruiting.com/FOUNDING SPONSORS: 1: Wise Agent | https://wiseagent.com/jsquared - The all-in-one CRM that helps real estate agents manage contacts, automate follow-up, and grow their business.2: Subi | https://www.oksubi.com/ - Your AI transaction genie. From contract to close, your work is my command.3: The CE Shop | https://j2.theceshop.com/ Use the discount code jsquared for an additional 35% offSUBSCRIBE to Outside the Corporate Box for new episodes every Monday.Outside the Corporate Box is part of J Squared Podcast Productions — a premium media network built for professionals who want more than entertainment.