James Ellis.
Chief Brand Builder @Employer Branding Labs
BIO.
James Ellis is the founder of Employer Brand Labs, and he has a simple belief that makes some people uncomfortable:
Most companies don’t have a hiring problem.
They have a “we look the same as everyone else” problem.
James helps leaders fix that by turning employer brand into what it should have been all along: a growth lever. Not a campaign. Not a vibe. Not a careers page facelift. A system that changes what candidates believe, what recruiters say, and what hiring managers reinforce. The stuff that actually decides who joins and who walks.
He’s built employer brands at places like Webflow, ASICS,Telecare and Roku for more than 13 years. He focuses on midsized companies with leaders who know that you can’t scale a business faster than you can hire the right people. Because you can rent attention. You can’t rent trust.
On stage, James is equal parts strategist and friendly arsonist. He’ll challenge the assumptions most leaders carry about recruiting, show why “employer brand” fails in the real world, and leave audiences with practical language and frameworks they can use Monday morning, not next quarter.
His goal isn’t to make hiring sound inspirational.
It’s to make hiring work.
Check the podcasts: The Trojan Horse to show leadership how valuable talent acquisition is to company growth.
Every business wants to grow, but most leaders overlook their most powerful growth engine: who they hire. Our guest today, James Ellis, has spent years helping companies like Webflow, Roku, and ASICS unlock growth by rethinking how they attract and keep talent. He’s not here to talk HR theory. He’s here to show how better hiring cuts costs, speeds results, and builds long-term momentum. James is the principal of Employer Brand Labs, a bestselling author, and a leading voice on how talent strategy fuels business success. Get ready to see hiring in a completely different light.
2027 KEYNOTE: The Biggest Employer Brand in the World (Doesn't Exist)
2027 MASTERCLASS: Build for Choice, Not Attraction: A Practical Framework for Employer Brand
Being attractive is not the same as being chosen. In this hands-on session, you’ll learn how to map the candidate’s real decision, identify the factors that create preference, and turn those insights into sharper employer brand positioning and messaging.