Wellness is a small world.
Someone you meet at an industry event this year could be gaining valuable functional or brand experience you need next year, joining a new portfolio company or introducing you to someone who would never have appeared in a standard search.
That is why conversations without a live role attached can be so beneficial. You get to know what someone does well, what kind of business suits them, where they want more room and what might tempt them into a new chapter. There is time to understand the person without a hiring deadline sitting in the middle of the conversation.
When a role does open, those relationships do not replace a proper search. They give it a better starting point, with some history and context already in place.
Here are six ways to build that foundation before you need to hire.
- KEEP TALKING WHEN THERE’S NO ROLE ATTACHED
A relationship is much easier to pick up when the last conversation was not two years ago.
This does not require a scheduled “checking in” email or a color-coded nurture plan. A quick note after a promotion, a new club opening, a funding round or a move into a different part of the industry can go a long way. So can a coffee at an industry event when neither person has a vacancy or a pitch.
People also change faster than their LinkedIn profiles suggest.
A sales leader who once wanted a larger brand may now want a smaller business with room to build. A marketing leader may have moved from acquisition into a broader growth role. Someone who once said no to travel may now be open to it, while someone else has reached their lifetime limit for airport lounges.
Those details are hard to learn when the first call comes with a live brief and a deadline.
Reaching out only when a vacancy opens can feel a little like meeting your neighbor for the first time while carrying a sofa up the stairs. You can still ask for help, but you have chosen an interesting moment to introduce yourself.
A few good conversations before the hire give everyone more room.
- KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR CANDIDATE SHORTLIST
A completed search can leave an excellent shortlist behind.
One person gets the job. Another may miss out because the brief required deeper franchise experience, a larger team, more partnerships exposure or one specific piece of experience that mattered at the time.
Six months later, that person may have picked up the missing piece. Two years later, they may be ready for a role that fits far better. These candidates are easy to forget once the offer is signed.
Those relationships deserve to continue because much of the hard work has already been done. You know how the person thinks, what they have built, what they want next and where the previous fit fell short. They know the people involved and have seen how the company hires.
There is no reason to start again from page one every time a role opens.
A finalist for a VP of Partnerships role, for example, may become a much better fit a year later after taking on franchise growth or a national accounts remit. The experience that was missing the first time may become exactly what makes them right for the next role.
Keeping the relationship alive gives a future search a head start without trying to force the fit the first time around.
- REMEMBER WHAT EACH PERSON WANTS NEXT
A LinkedIn profile can tell you what someone has done. It cannot tell you what they are tired of doing.
One COO may want a founder-led brand where they can build the operating model from scratch. Another may have done that three times and want some structure for a change.
One VP may care deeply about equity. Another may trade some cash for greater autonomy, less travel or a business with a mission they can get behind.
Gallup’s research found that work-life balance and wellbeing, pay and benefits, job security, and work that uses a person’s strengths were the four leading factors when choosing a new job. The same study found that 40% of senior leaders rated job autonomy as very important, compared with 31% of managers and 29% of individual contributors.
That reflects what we hear in senior hiring conversations. Two people with similar backgrounds can want very different lives from their next role.
The most useful notes are not simply a record of someone’s experience. They capture what the person wants next, what they would prefer to leave behind and what would make a move feel right.
That context makes the next conversation far easier to get right.
- GIVE PEOPLE A REASON TO STAY IN TOUCH
People notice when every message comes with an ask. Make sure your reasons to connect have some give and take. Sometimes reach out with something of value tot them - an introduction or piece of market context. And sometimes reach out with a quick favor or easy ask.
If you're reaching out about a new role within your team, make sure it aligns with what you know about the person - or at least highlight that it might not be a 100% fit and showcase that you remembered what their key drivers are.
The same applies to leaders who have no immediate reason to move. A thoughtful introduction or useful market conversation can keep the relationship alive without turning it into a prolonged sales exercise.
Over time, people begin to come back for a sense check, make introductions when someone comes to mind and share when their own plans change. There is already enough trust for the conversation to continue.
The principle is simple: be useful before you need something. That is Help First. Hunt Second. in practice.
- TREAT EVERY CANDIDATE AS SOMEONE YOU MAY MEET AGAIN
People have long memories and wellness is a close-knit industry.
People move between brands, reconnect through investors, recommend former colleagues and return to your orbit years after a search has finished.
A candidate today may become a client later. A finalist may be right for another role. Even someone who turns down an offer may introduce you to the person you eventually hire.
The way someone is treated also affects whether they want to join the business. CareerPlug’s 2025 Candidate Experience Report found that 66% of candidates said a positive experience influenced their decision to accept an offer. A poor experience led 26% of job seekers to decline one.
That experience begins long before the offer stage. Clear compensation information, straight answers about the role, useful interview preparation, prompt updates and a proper close when someone leaves the process all make an impression.
There is very little upside in treating an unsuccessful candidate as a closed file. The person who was not right for one role may suit another, and someone who says no can still leave with a positive view of the company and even become an ambassador for your brand.
- KEEP WIDENING THE CIRCLE
A pipeline can look full while containing the same familiar names.
Fitness and wellness are close-knit sectors, which can make the first few calls on a search feel obvious. Familiarity helps, but a closed circle eventually starts to behave like a roundabout: the same names keep coming back around.
Some of the best introductions emerge from conversations you were already having. A leader mentions a former colleague they rate. A candidate remembers someone they worked well with. A past finalist points you toward a person outside your usual network.
Research shows how productive those connections can be. SHRM reported in 2025 that ERIN’s analysis of enterprise referral programs found that around one in ten referrals resulted in a hire. By comparison, the organizations studied often needed more than 50 to 60 job-board applicants for one hire.
A trusted introduction can bring someone into the conversation with helpful context already attached. But a referral is an introduction, not an assessment. It shouldn't become an excuse to keep hiring within the same networks or to apply less scrutiny to a familiar name.
The circle can also stretch into adjacent sectors. Hospitality can bring deep customer experience. Consumer brands can bring commercial scale and brand discipline. Membership businesses understand retention and recurring revenue. Technology can bring product and data expertise.
A healthy pipeline combines familiar people, thoughtful introductions and fresh names that challenge the obvious shortlist.
A GOOD SOUL SEARCH DOESN’T START FROM ZERO
Talent relationships are built through small moments: a relevant introduction, a conversation after a promotion, a finalist you remember or a candidate you continue to engage when the answer is no.
That is what gives a pipeline its value. There is history behind the names, context behind the conversations and trust before the hiring pressure arrives.
Good relationships do not remove the need for a thorough search. You still need to challenge the brief, look beyond the familiar names and assess people against what the business needs now. But you are not beginning with a list of strangers.
At Good Soul Hunting, we stay close to people long after a particular search has ended. Not because every conversation needs to become a placement, but because careers change, businesses change and timing matters.
When the right role appears, the conversation begins with context instead of a cold introduction.
Who might your wellness business need over the next six or twelve months—and how long has it been since you spoke to them?
If you can see a leadership need beginning to take shape, talk it through with us before it becomes urgent.
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