December 13, 2023 - Largest E-Recycler John Shegerian and Hire Better Now Kolby Goodman

ohn Shegerian – Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of ERI, Co-Founder of FinancialAid.com and Author of The Insecurity of Everything: How Hardware Data Security is Becoming the Most Important Topic in the World

We can recover about 98% of the commodities (shredded steel, shredded
plastic, aluminum, copper, gold, silver, lead, and some others) that come
from recycling your cell phone, laptop or television.

I’m going to give it to you straight. There ain’t no shortcuts.
The harder I work, the luckier I get.

John Shegerian is the Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of ERI. John Shegerian creates profitable impact companies that make the world a better place. Goldman Sachs recently named Shegerian one of the “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs of 2021” at its annual Builders + Innovators Summit. He was also recently named one of the planet’s “Top 100 Recycling Stars” by Recycling International Magazine. A serial entrepreneur responsible for co-founding Homeboy Industries, FinancialAid.com, Engage, and many other impactful organizations – Shegerian currently serves as co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of ERI, the largest cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction and electronic waste recycling company in the United States. Shegerian is also a sought-after speaker, panelist, and electronic recycling, cybersecurity, and ITAD industry authority. Annually he speaks across the world in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. He has also authored or been featured in articles on the industry for Recycling Today, Resource Recycling, Waste360 and various business journals and regularly provides his expert knowledge to news media, including CNBC, BBC News, TIME, Fortune, Forbes, Washington Post, Newsweek (multiple times), The International Business Times (multiple times), Security Ledger, GreenBiz, LifeWire, City & State New York, Los Angeles Business Journal, IEEE Spectrum, Alternative Energy Magazine, Business Insider Africa and VerdeXChange News among many others. He is co-author of The Insecurity of Everything (a #1 best-seller on Amazon) and 101 Tips from the Marketing Masters: Ways to Supercharge Your Marketing & Exponentially Grow Your Business, both best-sellers on Amazon in their respective categories. Shegerian earned a certification in Cybersecurity: Managing Risk in the Information Age from Harvard University and has completed the MIT Sloan Cybersecurity program. Shegerian also hosts Impact with John Shegerian, a weekly podcast featuring conversations with some of the greatest business minds and thought leaders on the planet. The podcast is available for listening on ImpactPodcast.com, Apple’s iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, libsyn, and as part of iHeartRadio’s digital broadcast, reaching over 120 million users. Recent guests have included leaders from Verizon, Best Buy, Samsung, General Motors, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, JetBlue, Comerica Bank, Goodyear Tire, Virgin, Dell, GE, IBM, Qualcomm, Ben & Jerry’s, Texas Instruments, Timberland, UPS, Hertz, The Hershey Company, FedEx, Intel, NVIDIA, T. Rowe Price, New York City, Beyond Meat, Panasonic, EPAM, Molson Coors, Seventh Generation, the NBA, the US Tennis Association, Waste Management, and a number of fascinating game-changers, including Martin Luther King III; best-selling author Ryan Holiday; Homeboy Industries founder Father Gregory Boyle; real estate powerhouse and television personality Ryan Serhant; writer/comedian/author Jeannie Gaffigan; ultra-endurance athlete Rich Roll; and hundreds more. No stranger to “recycling lives” and serving up second chances, in 1993 Shegerian co-founded Homeboy Tortillas and Homeboy Industries, which continues to serve as a paradigm for urban renewal in America. Shegerian is also the creator of the popular Bulldog Root Beer brand, which he launched in 1997. Shegerian then co-founded FinancialAid.com, filling the financial aid gap for higher education and generating one of the most successful student loan companies in the country. Shegerian founded Addicted.com in 2005, one of the largest web resources for individuals seeking help for addictions online. The website boasts a database of over 20,000 addiction centers across the United States. He is also co-founder of RecycleNation, a dynamic recycling and green living resource that simplifies the recycling process on a national level with a comprehensive, interactive recycling location database. Shegerian is also the co-founder and CMO of The Marketing Masters, a digital marketing and web development company that builds effective, ROI-driven marketing campaigns for businesses large and small. He is also Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Engage, a web-based platform designed to digitize the process of booking talent online for unique personalized appearances. Shegerian was named the Clean Tech Entrepreneur of the Year for Northern California by Ernst & Young and was officially named to City & State New York’s prestigious “Responsible 100” list last year. This year, he received New York City’s “Above & Beyond” Innovator Award.





Kolby Goodman – Founder of BestFirstNow – Candidate Experience & Hiring Consultant 

If you ever encounter fear or imposter syndrome when sending out an
invoice or asking for a dollar amount, don’t look it as I’m getting paid
for what I do instead remember you get paid for the impact and value
you bring. When you are clear about that to yourself and your customer,
that’s when things really take off.

Kolby Goodman is the founder of the hiring consulting firm, BestFirstNow. He helps highly educated owner-operators, including doctors, dentists, veterinarians, attorneys, CPAs, architects, and so many more, stop hiring “average” candidates and start hiring Impactful Problem Solvers. After a decade of placing over 5,000 high-achieving professionals in their dream roles, Kolby experienced the full spectrum of interview horror stories and the countless ways well-meaning leaders were unintentionally driving away top talent. Kolby partners with struggling leaders to discover what exactly they want out of their next rockstar employee, proactively attract ideal candidates, better predict how interview performance translates to job performance, and onboard new hires quickly and efficiently. On top of being featured on CBS News, LinkedIn, The Huffington Post, and LA Weekly, Kolby has also partnered with Panasonic, Marriot Hotels, Thermo Fisher Scientific, American Diabetes Association, SHRM, several universities and schools, national professional organizations and nonprofits to provide tailored workshops on optimizing the hiring process, effective leadership, and employee engagement. And now, he is ready to share his experience and expertise with your audience.