07/13/2026
Take a few minutes to hear from our very own CEO, Wanda Hess, as she reflects on her journey in the background screening industry, the lessons she's learned, and the passion that continues to drive iProtect Screening forward.
Full episode here!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6cdoC8363EtwgDkHWocCXY
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-the-screens-conversations-with-background/id1896870246 YouTube: https://youtu.be/1v_TtNZ_lvI
Posted by Lester Rosen, Attorney | Founding Chair PBSA | Founder of Employment Screening Resources (ESR) | Author of The Safe Hiring Manual | Consultant on Background Checks | Nationwide Speaker | Angel Investor | Podcast “Behind the Screens"
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lesterrosen_this-week-on-behind-the-screens-i-got-to-activity-7482418812223528960-IDAg?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=member_desktop_web&rcm=ACoAAA78N-cBRxGN77zTaZGbVuHCYH8B760nnxo
"This week on Behind the Screens, I got to sit down with three industry veterans who are part of the backbone of the background screening industry and have co-presented at industry conferences.
Matt O'Connor, Wanda Hess, and Rory Bogdon, between them, have something like 70 or 80 years of experience in this space, but who is counting, Matt started at $8 an hour after answering a help-wanted ad in a newspaper in Tampa in 1996. Wanda started at $8.50 as a fax clerk and worked her way up through every team in her company before eventually founding her own nationwide wholesale screening firm. Rory came back from six years in China, walked into a temp agency, and ended up as State and Local Government Relations Director at the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA).
You really cannot make this stuff up. It has been a long and winding road!
We talked about what's actually changed in 30 years (the flip from human-led research to technology-led operations is a real one), why AI in background screening still needs a human in the loop, and the three early lessons that stuck with each of them: question the process, bad news doesn't age well, and it's okay not to know the answer but not okay not to find it.
Oh, and Matt has been to six Super Bowls. And Wanda and Rory reveal things you would never guess. No secret is safe on this podcast.
Give it a listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Thanks to our sponsor, PreemploymentDirectory.com, publisher of Background Buzz and numerous other resources. And a special thanks to W. Barry Nixon."
