Culture as Currency: Shawn Kessler on Building Employer Brands That Attract Talent
ABOUT EPISODE
Recruitment marketing used to be simple. Post the role, pay the job board, hope the right person finds it. Shawn Kessler has been watching that whole system change for 25 years, and the last year has been the real shift. Candidates are starting to search differently, and AI is changing what gets surfaced first. That has big implications for agencies, because they sell the collective excellence of their people.
In this episode, Shawn and Adam talks about what AI search seems to reward now. Context. Credibility. Real employee voice. Shawn explains why a company that doesn’t invest in its own stories ends up letting third party sites define them, and why that can skew negative fast. Then we get into the idea of a strong employer brand doing what any good brand does. It pulls the right people in and quietly pushes the wrong people away.
This episode also zooms in on what leaders can do if they actually want this to work. Encouraging thought leadership across levels, making room for younger perspectives, and building the kind of environment where people will advocate for the company when leadership isn’t in the room. Shawn shares why “take your own medicine” is the play for agencies, and why the only version of employer branding that lasts is the one that’s true.
GUEST BIO
Shawn Kessler is a Partner and Managing Director of Recruitment Marketing at Aloysius Butler and Clark (AB&C), one of the Mid-Atlantic’s largest full-service agencies and an Adweek Top Shop. He leads AB&C’s recruitment division, helping teams and clients build employer brands that attract the right people and hold onto them for the long run.
Across more than two decades in advertising, employer branding, and talent acquisition, Shawn has worked with organizations that need to hire in competitive markets. His focus sits where culture, storytelling, and recruiting meet. In 2025, Shawn released his first book, Built to Attract, a practical guide to building strong employer brands from the inside out through employee advocacy and real storytelling.