After deciding to launch independently, Deira Gerritsen built Mint Workforce from the ground up with People2.0 as her back-office foundation.
At a Glance
| Company | Mint Workforce |
| Founder | Deira Gerritsen |
| Industry | Healthcare staffing |
| Location | United States |
| Partnership Start | 2024 |
Results
| $0 → $1.7M | 38 | 67 | 55 | 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue in Year One | Programs Managed | Assignments Started | Employees Credentialed | States Covered |
| Built from scratch with People2.0’s support | Across a diverse range of healthcare roles | In the first full year of partnership | 69% cleared within 14 days | With zero back-office hires |
In Deira’s Words
I really have a vision that I didn’t have before, because I see what’s possible through this partnership.
— Deira Gerritsen, Founder & CEO, Mint Workforce
The Story Behind Mint Workforce
Deira Gerritsen didn’t set out to build a staffing firm. She spent years working in television and media, launching networks internationally and building a career she was good at. Then her youngest son, Drake, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
“It was born out of passion,” she says. “It maintains that for me.”
Drake survived. But what Deira witnessed during his two-year treatment — the inequities in healthcare, the gap between patients with access and those without — changed the course of her life. She left her media career and moved into nonprofit work, eventually helping launch a foundation focused on infant health with support from the Google and Yahoo families. From there, a chance encounter with a physician startup CEO led her into healthcare recruitment.
What she built from that beginning was Mint Workforce: a woman-owned, relationship-first recruiting firm built on the belief that placing the right person in the right role is more than a transaction. It is a responsibility. Mint operates as a near-internal partner to its clients: deeply embedded in their culture, selective about who it works with, and focused on finding candidates their true fit rather than simply filling seats.
The Challenge
After working in healthcare staffing and building deep expertise in clinical recruitment, Deira made the decision to launch Mint Workforce as an independent, woman-owned business. She had a clear vision for how she wanted to operate: with full transparency into costs, the ability to build and manage client relationships in a way that aligned with her approach, and the freedom to create a firm that reflected her values. “I wanted to run the business the way I felt was best,” she says. “Independently. Woman-owned and woman-run. With complete visibility into my operations.”
She launched Mint Workforce as a new, independent business, choosing to build entirely from the ground up. Every client relationship, every placement, and every dollar of revenue was earned from scratch, reflecting her commitment to building the business the right way from day one.
Launching as a new independent business meant every back-office decision mattered. She needed a true EOR partner that gave her real ownership of her business, clear visibility into her costs, and the kind of support that could help a solo woman-owned operator grow on her own terms.
Why People2.0
Deira was already familiar with the People2.0 team before she signed. The company’s standing in the staffing industry meant key members of the sales team had been in her network for years, and when she was ready to launch, they were ready to help.
With People2.0, she was able to operate as a fully independent business owner, with complete visibility into her operations and cost structure. She could see exactly what her costs were, understand what she was paying for, and negotiate as her business grew.
“With People2.0, you’re really a solo entrepreneur,” she says. “I get to understand exactly what my cost of goods is. That’s very important as a business owner.”
People2.0 worked with Deira in ways that reflected the reality of her situation: a highly capable founder with a strong track record, launching as a new independent agency. The team helped her get established, support her early client development efforts, and build momentum.
Services Used
- Employer of record (EOR): W-2 placements across a range of healthcare roles
- Administrative services organization (ASO): Implemented and launched in the first year
- Credentialing: Including I-9 compliance and verification across multiple states
- Legal: Contract review and support
- HR & benefits: Administration and compliance
- Risk: Workers’ compensation management
- Finance: Reporting and invoicing
- Customer care & CSM: Ongoing account support
What People2.0 Delivers
The back-office side of a staffing business is rarely glamorous. But for a solo operator placing healthcare workers across 19 states, it is everything. Credentialing requirements vary by role and jurisdiction. Compliance rules shift. Payroll has to be right every time.
In Mint’s first full year with People2.0, 55 employees were credentialed, with 69% cleared within 14 days. Payroll, I-9 compliance, workers’ comp, benefits administration, and state-specific regulatory requirements were handled without Deira needing to hire a single back-office employee.
But the partnership went further than operations.
People2.0’s underwriting team began meeting with Deira quarterly to work through the financial side of her business. Together, they built a CEO dashboard that tracks where Mint is and where it’s going. The team helped her see a path from $1.7 million to $5 million to $10 million and helped her believe it was reachable.
“They literally take time out of their calendars to help me learn how to be a CEO,” Deira says. “Teaching me financials, teaching me what I should look at. That is extraordinary to me.”
The ecosystem went further still. People2.0’s client services team connected her with other partners who were navigating similar growth decisions. A referral from her account manager led Deira to an ATS platform already integrated with People2.0, one she adopted and that simplified her operations significantly. The sales team introduced her to a prospective client she has since signed.
“It’s this really cool village,” Deira says. “I promote them, they promote me. The fact that People2.0 can help build someone’s business, not just because they do great EOR work, but because they have this ecosystem, is something I’ve never seen before.”
The early days weren’t without friction. Deira came to healthcare staffing not through the industry but through personal experience: a nonprofit background, a deep belief in the importance of healthcare, and the drive to do things differently. The operations side was new territory, and she was candid with the People2.0 team about that from the start.
“In every meeting I would say: treat me like I don’t know anything and teach me,” she recalls. “I had no issue with that.”
As a founder with a startup mentality, she also found the structure and process of a back-office operation challenging at first. But she and the People2.0 team worked through it together, and the discipline that felt restrictive early on became the foundation she hadn’t known she needed.
“The structure and discipline of People2.0 was really helpful,” she says. “It was this foundation I would not have built for myself. And the response I always got was: we believe in you, we’re going to lift you up, and we’re going to make this thing fly.”
The Results
In her first full year with People2.0, Deira grew Mint Workforce from nothing to approximately $1.7 million in revenue across 38 programs, 67 assignments, and 19 states. She did it without a single back-office hire.
“What feels most significant is what we’ve built from the ground up,” she says. “Not because we’re not good, but because starting from zero takes tremendous effort and belief.”
The results go beyond the numbers. For the first time, Deira has a clear-eyed view of her business, a financial framework she understands, and a partner who has helped her map a path forward.
The impact isn’t always visible in the day-to-day. It shows up in something harder to measure.
“It changes my level of comfort,” she says. “Knowing everything is being handled, and knowing who to call when something doesn’t line up. That’s worth a lot.”
By the Numbers
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Year one revenue | ~$1.7M |
| Programs managed | 38 |
| Assignments started | 67 |
| First-time employees | 52 |
| Total hours supported | 17,616 |
| States covered | 19 |
| Employees credentialed | 55 |
| Credentialed within 14 days | 38 of 55 (69%) |
| Back-office hires needed | Zero |
What’s Next
Deira is already on track to hit $5 million in 2026 and has her sights set on $10 million in year three. She is expanding Mint’s education practice, driven by the same belief that guides her healthcare work: that putting the right people in front of children is just as serious a responsibility as putting the right people in front of patients.
Through it all, she plans to keep Mint exactly what it is: lean, focused, and relationship-first.
“I care about meaningful revenue,” she says, “but more than that, I care about how it’s built. Depth of relationship will always matter more to me than scale for its own sake.”
People2.0 will be right there with her.
Ready to build your own foundation?
Whether you’re just getting started or ready to scale, People2.0 can handle the back-office complexity so you can focus on relationships, growth, and what matters most to you.
About Mint Workforce
Mint Workforce is a woman-owned healthcare staffing firm specializing in elite clinical recruitment. Founded by Deira Gerritsen, Mint operates as a near-internal partner to healthcare organizations across the United States, placing physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, allied health professionals, and administrative staff.Mint is also expanding into education staffing, guided by the belief that the right people in the right roles can change a child’s life.
Learn more at mintworkforce.com.
About People2.0
People2.0 is a global provider of workforce compliance and payroll services for enterprises and talent suppliers, including staffing firms, search and recruiting firms, mass talent entities, and professional services firms.
People2.0 helps these businesses navigate employment, labor, and tax regulations across the world. Specializing in worker classification and compliance, People2.0’s employer of record (EOR) and agent of record (AOR) services streamline talent placement operations, correctly classify workers, and facilitate international placements.
These services help businesses in 130+ countries grow faster, operate more profitably, and expand globally.
Learn more at people20.com.
As told and approved by Deira Gerritsen, Founder & CEO of Mint Workforce | Produced by Jeremiah Akin, People2.0 Brand and Content