When Alex first came to HireUA, his company, Monarch Wave Marketing, was growing quickly.
Operating in the highly regulated firearms industry, his team was managing an increasing number of website redesigns, platform migrations, and custom development projects.
The workload had reached a point where they needed an experienced front-end developer who could immediately contribute and keep projects moving.
That’s when we introduced Lazar.
Filling a Critical Gap
Alex’s team was rebuilding client websites, modernizing legacy WordPress projects, and transitioning to newer Full Site Editing (FSE) builders. The role required far more than simply writing code.
The developer needed to rebuild product pages, checkout flows, homepages, and static content while maintaining compliance requirements unique to the firearms industry. On top of that, there were opportunities to improve internal systems and streamline operational workflows.
Lazar quickly became much more than the developer they originally hired.
Beyond front-end development, he helped build backend systems, improved invoicing workflows, and simplified complex customer journeys—particularly during the heavily regulated checkout process where user experience is often compromised by compliance requirements.
According to Alex, Lazar consistently went beyond expectations.
“The guy was a complete rock star.”
The Difference Wasn’t Just Technical
Technical ability was only part of the story.
What stood out most was Lazar’s commitment to the business.
While the expectation was a standard 40-hour work week, Alex recalls receiving messages on Saturday mornings from Lazar asking permission to continue working because he wanted to finish a project.
Not because anyone asked him to.
Because he genuinely cared about delivering great work.
As Alex put it:
“I don’t think he ever slept.”
That level of ownership is difficult to teach—and even harder to hire.
An Unexpected Perfect Fit
Several months after joining the company, the team discovered something they never could have planned.
While working on products for one of their clients, Lazar casually mentioned that his father manufactured some of the very ammunition brands they were listing on the website.
Growing up in Serbia with deep family ties to the firearms industry meant he already understood the products, terminology, and customers long before joining the company.
It wasn’t something we—or the client—knew during the recruitment process.
It was simply one of those rare moments where the right person ended up in exactly the right role.
More Than One Successful Hire
Lazar wasn’t the only successful placement.
Over the years, Alex has trusted HireUA with multiple hires, and each has become a valuable addition to the business.
One of the most rewarding outcomes was watching team members naturally build relationships beyond work. Lazar connected with other Serbian developers already on the team, eventually meeting them in Belgrade outside the office—a sign that the cultural fit was just as strong as the professional one.
The Value of the Right Hire
Alex estimates that hiring a developer with comparable technical ability in the United States would likely cost between $110,000 and $130,000 per year.
But in his words, salary wasn’t the biggest challenge.
Finding someone with Lazar’s level of dedication, ownership, and work ethic would have been even harder.
For us, that’s what recruiting is really about.
It’s not just matching skills to a job description.
It’s finding people who become trusted teammates, exceed expectations, and stay for the long term.
That’s exactly what we aim to deliver for every client who partners with HireUA.
