Struggling to Hire? Think Like a Marketer to Attract Top Talent

This must be the place in neon lights

Hiring employees is more challenging than ever—especially in competitive markets and industries. In fact, 90% of employers say it’s hard to find skilled candidates, and 76% of recruiters say it’s the biggest challenge they face. Businesses are starting to realize that the way you market to potential employees is just as important as how you market to customers. 

At Green Apple, we’ve helped companies in all kinds of industries tackle their hiring challenges. We’ve used our marketing expertise to create recruitment strategies that bring in top talent while staying true to each company’s culture and values. Here are a few best practices we’ve used to help businesses stand out in a tough hiring market.

The Secret to Attracting Top Talent

1. Highlight What Sets Your Workplace Apart

It’s no secret that every company believes they’re a great place to work. But what truly sets your business apart? What makes you different from other companies fishing in the same talent pool? You can’t hire “unicorn-level” employees if they’re not inspired to submit their applications first. Identifying and communicating your differentiators effectively can be the key to standing out.

Client Example: One of our long-time partners, Maxwell Roofing, needed to elevate their employee recruitment efforts to support their growth. In 2024, we helped them create a dedicated video to highlight their company culture, introduce their values, and explain what makes Maxwell Roofing unique. We also developed marketing assets for career fairs and interviews. These tools made their recruitment strategy more engaging and memorable, helping them connect with high-quality candidates.

2. Let Your Team Do the Talking

Let’s face it: every company’s website claims it’s a “great place to work.” But candidates often look for proof beyond the polished language. Allowing your employees to share their experiences and perspectives can add authenticity and credibility to your recruitment efforts.

Client Example: When we partnered with First Acceptance Insurance Company, we helped them launch the “FAICForward” initiative. This program celebrates employees who exemplify the company’s values, rewarding and honoring standout team members. Beyond strengthening their internal culture, this initiative became a powerful recruitment tool. By amplifying employee voices, they showcased an authentic culture that resonated with job seekers looking for a supportive and values-driven workplace.

3. Fishing for Talent? Build a Pond.

Sometimes, waiting for the right candidates to come to you isn’t enough. Especially in industries like construction, where competition for skilled workers is fierce, creating your own opportunities to attract top talent can make all the difference.

Client Example: We partnered with Charter Construction, a leading commercial concrete contractor in Nashville, to revamp their internship program. By developing a more robust and engaging program, they not only attracted top talent from college career fairs but also integrated interns into their company more effectively. This proactive approach helped them stand out as a company invested in developing the next generation of construction professionals.

Recruitment Success Starts with Good Marketing

Hiring exceptional employees is no small feat, but approaching recruitment like a marketing campaign can yield great results. By focusing on your differentiators, leveraging employee stories, and building intentional pipelines, you can attract the talent your business needs to thrive.

We’ve seen firsthand how marketing strategies can intersect with HR to create meaningful recruitment campaigns. If you’re struggling to find or attract the right employees, we’re here to help.

Learn more about our strategic planning services for employee recruitment and engagement, or contact our team to schedule a discovery call. 

Meet the Team: Courtney Cochran

Courtney Cochran is an Assistant Client Relations Specialist at Green Apple Strategy, a marketing agency in Nashville. She is a liaison to clients and provides project management and administrative support.

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Meet the Team: Jordan Forbes

Jordan Forbes is the Assistant Client Relations Specialist at Green Apple Strategy, a marketing agency in Nashville. She is a liaison to clients and provides project management and administrative support.

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Meet the Team: Lindsay Lanahan

Lindsay lanahan

Lindsay Lanahan is an empathetic, intuitive, and creative problem solver with a heart for helping others. Combining these natural strengths with her diverse experience working in the financial, entertainment, and nonprofit industries makes her an ideal Client Relations Specialist for Green Apple Strategy. In her role, Lindsay helps execute effective marketing initiatives for clients across various industries. She strategically and consistently helps our clients meet their marketing goals.

“I love learning about the psychology of marketing and the user experience,” explains Lindsay. “I also love the process of identifying a problem or opportunity, creating an approach, implementing it, analyzing what worked and what didn’t, and adjusting. It’s exciting, and I love that we’re able to adapt to find a solution that truly makes a difference!”

An Enneagram 4 who grew up in the Midwest, Lindsay has expressed her creative, empathetic, hardworking, and diligent spirit throughout her career. After graduating from college, she spent two years working in development for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Nashville. From there, she went on to work at Creative Artists Agency, managing tour logistics and finances for world-renowned pop and country music artists. She later combined her nonprofit experience and love of the arts to serve as the Development Manager for OZ Arts, a non-profit contemporary arts center. 

After learning about Green Apple from a friend, Lindsay knew it would be the perfect opportunity to serve clients in a way that aligns with her natural skill set.

“I was immediately drawn to Green Apple when I recognized how they took the time to understand each employee and client—whether it was through diving into the Enneagram or taking the Culture Index Survey to learn about each person’s natural behaviors. When I met Sam and the rest of the team during the interview process, I knew I was in the right place.”

Personally, Lindsay loves spending time with family and exploring Nashville with her husband Patrick and her son Keane. On any given weekend, they can be found enjoying one of their favorite restaurants, seeing movies at the Belcourt, or taking a day trip to attend a music festival. Lindsay’s bright and adventurous spirit resonates with everyone who knows her.

Meet the Team: Katie Shayotovich

Katie Jackson

Katie is a Hendersonville, Tennessee, native with a passion for social media and email marketing who loves to keep up with the latest trends, discovering ways that she can help our clients take advantage of emerging marketing opportunities. With a diverse background in social media and PR, Katie is well-versed in what it takes to improve a company’s brand awareness—and we’re elated to have her talent on our team. 

As Green Apple’s Digital Marketing Specialist, Katie will focus on social media marketing for all of our clients. “I’m really excited to work on social media. It’s something I’m extremely passionate about, and I love keeping up with the ever-changing landscape of what social media can bring to marketing to help grow businesses,” Katie says. 

Katie is a graduate of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where she first began school as a pre-dental major. After changing her major her sophomore year, Katie became a public relations major in the College of Communications. She also got her Master’s in Sports Management while working in recruiting in the Tennessee Football front office. Additionally, she assisted the Director of Recruiting and Football Relations and the coaching staff with recruiting events and strategy. From there, Katie’s love for social media grew while she was involved in All Campus Events at Tennessee, where she led the social media efforts and helped recruit for different events around campus.

She explored that love through several marketing internships during her undergraduate career, including interning with Volunteer Traditions, Tennessee Athletic Marketing Department, Zander Insurance, Haslam College of Business, Allegiant Athletic Agency, Nashville Sounds, and Eli Lilly and Company. 

Katie found her new role after meeting Owner and Chief Marketing Strategist Samantha Pyle and inquiring about social media freelance opportunities. From there, she became part of our Orchard team and completely fell into step with the rest of the core team members. She says, “I was drawn to Green Apple because of how genuine, kind, and talented the employees are! I felt like I fit in seamlessly, and I loved working on a smaller team in a boutique agency setting. I look up to Sam a lot. We have similar personalities—being that we are both Enneagram 3s and Aries.”

When she’s not working on our clients’ social media, Katie is exploring one of her many hobbies. She enjoys watching sports, especially the Vols and Preds. She’s a huge Harry Potter fan and loves rereading the books and watching the movies. She is also passionate about her Peloton, saying, “I could talk about the cycling classes for hours.” She loves to draw on her iPad and has an Instagram dedicated to her digital art (@somethingnoteworthy).

Katie and her husband, Drew, live in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they love attending Charlotte Hornets games, as well as exploring the local brewery scene. She says she misses Martin’s BBQ in Nashville and frequently visits home to eat Martin’s wings with her dad before Nashville Predators games.

Meet Our Orchard Members: Meghan Clark

Meghan Clark


The Orchard at Green Apple is full of talented professionals who are passionate about what they do and excited to share that passion with our clients. Meghan Clark is no exception. We truly value Meghan’s contribution to our team and are excited to share a bit of her story with you.

Meghan’s Role as an Orchard Member

As a content specialist, Meghan supports our core content marketing team to create blog articles for a variety of industries and subjects. Her workday typically includes researching new topics, drafting content, and editing before her writing makes its way to the client. She is extremely focused on quality content and SEO keyword research while always keeping our clients’ unique voices and tones in mind. 

Meghan’s Background and How She Came to Green Apple

Meghan began her career as an educator at an independent day school and spent much of her time with creative, brilliant 13-year-olds. After seven amazing years, she took a leap of faith and joined a small startup marketing company. The company ultimately went under, and she decided to use that opportunity to establish herself as a freelancer. A friend told her that Green Apple was looking for writers in 2019, and she’s worked with us ever since!

“I grew up as the daughter of a successful entrepreneur, and I saw much of the same spirit, drive, and vision in Samantha Pyle. As a contractor, I appreciated the way she streamlined project management and billing. Even though I wasn’t part of the in-office team, I felt my work was valued,” Meghan says. 

She loves working with Green Apple and had such great things to say about our team. “My editor, Content Marketing Director Adam York, is truly one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. He pairs clear expectations with solid support, and he’s always available to answer my questions,” she added. 

What Meghan Loves About Her Craft—In Her Own Words

“When I initially started blogging, I was skeptical about its efficacy, but I can’t argue with the numbers. According to McKinsey, blogs sent out as email newsletters are 40 times more likely to land you a customer than social media posts. Other data shows click-through rates for email at 50 to 100 times higher than social media. People still read. Words are still powerful. As a writer, that’s heartening to me.

On a copywriter’s website or resume, you’ll usually find a cheeky list of topics they’ve gotten to write about. I’m no exception to this rule. I’ve written about plastic surgery, customer service, cheeseburgers, boating, Swiss watches, pre-K education, banking, commercial kitchens, large-scale signage, cryptocurrency, and electron microscopy. Every article I write expands my knowledge base, and I love collecting arcane bits of knowledge. My work as a writer has given me the capacity to talk to almost anyone I meet about something that interests them. This is with the exception of theoretical physicists, who frankly aren’t that great at dinner conversation anyway.”

Meghan’s Personal Life

Like many paid writers, Meghan is also a creative writer. She writes creative nonfiction essays and draws her inspiration from writers like E.B. White, Leslie Jamison, Karl Ove Knausgaard, and Anthony Bourdain. She says that she spends entirely too much time reading, trying to identify birds on trees, and thinking about, preparing, or eating food.

We are incredibly lucky to have Meghan as a member of our Orchard team and are thrilled that she chooses to share her talents with us. Thank you for your contribution to our clients, Meghan. We appreciate you! 

Could your brand benefit from quality content services? Contact Green Apple Strategy to schedule a consultation.

Meet the Team: Christa Spencer

Christa Spencer

Leaving the fast-paced world of journalism, Christa Spencer comes to Green Apple Strategy with a 15-year background as a television news producer. She’s bringing her love for storytelling to our team as a PR Strategist. In this role, Christa will work closely with Chief Marketing Strategist, Samantha Pyle, to develop and execute strategic plans to increase our clients’ visibility with media and public relations. 

Christa will build our clients’ brand awareness by identifying exposure opportunities, pursuing awards and recognitions, and monitoring industry news. “My passion for storytelling drew me to this specific role, as well as the challenge of identifying a story that makes people want to listen,” Christa says. 

Storytelling is in Christa’s blood, quite literally. Growing up in Fayetteville, Arkansas, she was surrounded by journalism from a very young age. Her dad is a journalism professor at the University of Arkansas, where she earned her degree in broadcast journalism. Going back even further, Christa’s grandmother was a journalist as well, even serving as a White House correspondent for over 30 years. 

After pursuing a career in journalism, Christa was ready for a change. She connected with Green Apple to discuss how her skills could translate to our team’s need for PR support. “From my first Zoom call with Sam, I think we both knew this role would be a great match. Sam’s passion for clients, in-depth knowledge of the business, and the way she values her Green Apple team drew me in,” Christa explains.  

When she’s not finding PR opportunities for our clients, Christa loves practicing yoga and spending time with her partner, Luke, and their dog, Scott. You’ll often find them at home cooking or getting together with friends. “We love to travel, and Luke is from Australia, so the next chance we get, we’ll head to the other side of the world to visit all of his family. I’m incredibly close with my family, too,” Christa says. 

Christa also enjoys Nashville’s live music scene, farmers’ markets and hiking trails across the state.

Meet Our Orchard Members: Jenny Mann

Jenny Mann

What makes our team so incredibly versatile is our partnership with freelancers through The Orchard—a collective of highly-talented professionals who help us achieve our clients’ goals. The Orchard allows us to assemble a team (including our core team members) that is perfect for our client, and as a bonus, we get to work with creative professionals like the amazing Jenny Mann.

Jenny’s Role as an Orchard Member

Jenny works closely with our in-house Client Relations Specialists and Digital Marketing Specialist to produce graphics for various print and digital projects—everything from brochures, flyers, and presentations to social media and podcast graphics. She is our go-to graphic designer and produces fantastic work every time, without fail. Owner and Chief Marketing Strategist, Samantha Pyle, says that “Jenny has a wonderful ability to create graphics that follow clients’ branding guidelines and are totally unique to the client.” It’s her attention to detail that makes her such a great addition to our Orchard team.

Jenny’s Background and Career 

Originally from Bowling Green, Kentucky, Jenny has led a diverse 19-year career path, working as a designer and art director in publication, product and packaging design, and freelance design. She attended college at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She eventually returned to her hometown, where she and her husband, Brian, live with their two dogs, Pickles and Olive. 

How Jenny Found Our Team 

Jenny found Green Apple Strategy in 2019 through her ties to AIGA Nashville, a professional association for designers, where she heard that we were looking for a freelance designer. She thought it looked like a great fit, so she applied and began working with our team. 

“I was drawn to the diverse mix of projects and clients from different industries that Green Apple had to offer. As a designer, it’s refreshing to have a fresh set of problems to solve, and an assortment of clients to solve them for,” said Jenny. 

What Jenny Brings to Green Apple Strategy

Jenny brings a passion for branding and beautiful design to the Green Apple team. “Branding goes so much deeper than a logo or a pretty pamphlet, and making sure everything I produce feels authentic to the client’s mission and values is always my top priority,” she added. 

We couldn’t agree more, as this is exactly what we’ve seen from Jenny in our time with her—precise attention to the essence of our clients’ brands. She has an uncanny ability to tune into what makes them unique and how we, as a marketing agency, can share that with their target audiences.

Jenny’s Personal Life

“I might be a bit of a workaholic,” she says. When she’s not spending time on design, which is rare, Jenny loves spending time with her family and friends. She and her husband enjoy hosting board game nights and cooking together. And, of course, they spend much of their time spoiling their two adorable dogs. 

We are lucky to have Jenny as a member of our Orchard team and are thrilled that she chooses to share her talents with us. Thank you for your contribution to our clients, Jenny. We appreciate you! 

Could your brand benefit from top-notch graphic design services? Contact Green Apple Strategy to schedule a consultation.

How to Leverage Employee Advocacy to Boost Your Marketing Strategy

three young colleagues laughing at a wooden picnic table with their laptops placed in front of each of them


Motivated and engaged employees are your most valuable asset. Not only because they are the ones who make your business run day-in and day-out, but they are also the ones with the most passion and interest in your brand. This is one reason why many businesses have started creating a dedicated employee advocacy program within their organization.

According to recent research, 31% of fast-growing companies have set up an employee advocacy program. These businesses recognize that employee advocacy encourages their workforce to expand their role from “employee” to “brand ambassador.” And, this type of approach can create tremendous dividends for the overall health and success of your company. 

How to Leverage Employee Advocacy to Boost Your Marketing Strategy

Whether you’re trying to create a full-blown program or your looking for simple ways to encourage employees to promote your brand, here are a few tactics you can use to boost your marketing strategy with employee advocacy:

    • Extend your brand’s organic reach and visibility. More than likely, there are individual employees in your company who naturally understand how to effectively use social media. Harnessing their influence is a great way to expand the organic reach and visibility of your brand. This might include creating a social media task force or allowing employee influencers to coach others in your company on how to use social media for business.
    • Equip your employees to be an extension of your business development team. In today’s world, every employee is a representative of your brand, so essentially, everyone in your company has a marketing role. Making sure everyone in your company knows how to answer questions typically directed to marketing is a simple and easy way to integrate the mentality that everyone has a role in marketing across your organization.
    • Empower your employees by creating content they want to share. There are a lot of things marketing can do to enhance company culture. One simple way is to focus on creating assets, resources, and newsworthy content that your employees want to share. Rather than forcing employees to promote your content on social media, what would it look like to create content they can’t wait to share with their networks? 
    • Mobilize your influencers. In today’s digital world, your brand’s social media isn’t a job for one person. The key is to create a system that leverages the collective effort of various people, even though social media might not be in their job descriptions. While you might have one person who owns the responsibility of improving your brand’s social media presence, making sure he or she isn’t doing it alone is critical to success.

Employee advocacy is a simple initiative to integrate into your marketing strategy that enhances brand image, brand awareness, and engagement. Employees might be your most effective brand ambassadors because they generate engagement and interact with industry experts and clients.

Meet the Team: Olivia Cooper

Olivia

Embodying the perfect mix of educational training in marketing, a savvy spirit, and a genuine passion for making a difference, Olivia Cooper joined the Green Apple team as Account Executive before assuming her current role as Senior Client Relations Specialist. Working closely with Green Apple Strategy’s Owner and Chief Strategist, Samantha Pyle, Olivia directly serves clients, making sure their project needs are met and helping them be successful.

A Gulfport, Mississippi, native, Olivia attended Mississippi State University, where she majored in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing, management, and international business before completing a Masters in Marketing from Nashville’s prestigious Vanderbilt University. While at Mississippi State, Olivia first studied interior design while she got involved in Music Maker Productions, a student-run organization that puts on concerts. In this role, Olivia’s strong organizational skills took root, as she was charged with event planning and marketing. Her involvement with Music Maker productions ultimately led her to become a business major, as she developed a genuine interest in marketing-related opportunities.

Upon graduation from Mississippi State, Olivia served at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce, where she worked with the young professional organization and leadership program. “I had the rewarding opportunity to do event planning and marketing for those programs, and it was an honor helping young professionals meet people and grow professionally,” affirms Olivia. After a season in her chamber role, Olivia ventured to Nashville to dive into Vanderbilt University’s Master of Marketing program, which she completed in May of 2018. During her time at Vanderbilt, Olivia had the opportunity to gain some hands-on marketing experience while interning at redpepper, a Nashville-based marketing agency. It was this experience that affirmed her desire to work in an agency environment.

On the search for career opportunities after graduation, Olivia discovered Green Apple Strategy, and she was immediately drawn to the smaller, boutique marketing agency environment. “I’m excited that I have the opportunity daily at Green Apple to take on that unique role for clients as Senior Client Relations Specialist, assisting clients with their marketing and strategy needs as an extension of the teams I’m serving,” says Olivia.

Beyond the office, Olivia and her husband, Justin, reside in the trendy East Nashville community with their dogs, Ollie and Griffy. “Justin and I had always wanted to live in Nashville, so we are excited to now be official Nashvillians,” Olivia says. In her spare time, Olivia loves concerts and live music, baking and cooking, painting, crafting, and pretty much anything creative. Olivia and Justin also enjoy exploring Nashville’s newest restaurants and venues, especially some of the local craft breweries. Green Apple is proud to have Olivia on our team.