From IPOs to ICU: Why Maryana Kessel Is Building Different

What happens when the system breaks you and then you decide to fix it?

Maryana Kessel (Box, Flexport, Modern Health) joins Tom Wilkinson on Between Two Hires to unpack what scaling elite teams really takes and why her story led her to Latent.

Maryana shares:

• How breaking her pelvis in childbirth led her to join a healthcare AI startup
• What most sales hiring gets dead wrong
• Her secret weapon for sourcing top talent (hint: it's not job boards)
• The red flags she now spots a mile away
• Why your recruiting never ends, even when you're "not hiring"

This episode is packed with hard-won lessons, high standards, and high-stakes moments that every hiring leader should hear.

Guest: David Aviles, Head of GTM at Mintlify
Track record: Optimizely → Amplitude (pre-IPO) → Wello → Switchboard → Mintlify
Specialty: Spotting potential others miss

What you'll learn:

• Why "What's the OTE?" is the wrong first question

• The sales interview question that filters posers

• How to make your outreach worth a reply

• The quiet red flags that kill team chemistry

Bonus: Mintlify's hiring. If you're a killer AE, this is the team you want in on

What do 400 hires, one dirty t-shirt, and an SDR turned AE all have in common? They're part of the wild and insightful hiring journey Erin Bates shares in this can't-miss episode of Between Two Hires. Tom Wilkinson digs into Erin's biggest hiring lessons from 15+ years scaling elite sales teams: - How to spot interview B.S. and ask level 2 questions - Why a "soft yes" is really a no, and how to avoid the wrong hires - What it takes to hire fast while keeping quality high in hypergrowth environments - The red flags she won't overlook again Erin keeps it real, from hilarious interview moments to hard-earned leadership wisdom. If you're building a sales org, this one is essential listening.