Episode 118: The Secret Sauce Behind High-Volume Hiring That Actually Works with Preston Sharpston

Episode notes

What does it really take to recruit, hire, and support more than 800 employees across 16+ restaurant locations with just one person running HR? Sounds impossible, right? In the fast-paced world of high-volume hiring, speed, structure, and community aren’t just nice to have; they’re everything. In this episode of Recruiting Is No Joke , host Joel Lalgee sits down with Preston Sharpston, the one-man HR and recruiting powerhouse behind MWB Restaurants, the Whataburger franchisee for Tennessee and Alabama. With over a decade in HR and talent acquisition, Preston pulls back the curtain on what it’s really like to build and scale a recruiting function in one of the toughest industries out there. Preston also gets real about his love for automation. Using tools like Workstream and Zapier, he’s built workflows that handle everything from employment verification to leave requests, freeing up time to focus on what actually matters: people. If you’ve ever wondered how one person can keep an entire organization hiring at full speed without burning out, this episode is a masterclass in making recruiting smarter, faster, and more human.