She’s the Chief Executive Officer for Kinetix. She’s got a  background as a finance executive for companies that do hundreds of thousands of hires annually. She rode the corporate wave. She had a big expense account. Then she opted out to do her own thing. For you. For us. For the kids. Shannon founded Kinetix with the goal of creating a firm that could help growing companies get the talent they need to compete. She had a dream. She thought she’d get more sleep by running her own company. She was wrong. Luckily, that’s not contagious.

In her role as CEO, Shannon is responsible for overall operations and leading the strategic direction of Kinetix. In real talk, that means she creates the foundation for company strategy, delivers new business for the company, keeps up good relationships with existing clients, manages the leadership and sales teams, and drives the overall vision and culture of the Kinetix brand.

Prior to forming Kinetix, Shannon held various positions throughout ten years at Spherion Corporation, a Fortune 500 staffing, recruiting and workforce solutions company. Without breaking out her entire resume, let’s just say she knows a thing or two about how to make the trains run on time.

Prior to Spherion, Shannon held various positions at large, public and privately traded companies such as W.R. Grace, M&M/Mars, Inc., and Kidder, Peabody & Co. Incorporated in the US and overseas. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics Management from Ohio Wesleyan University while running track and playing field hockey and achieving academic All-America status.

Specialties: Financial chops. Deal-maker. Eye for talent. Lack of need for sleep.

10 Questions with Shannon Russo

1. It’s hard on a recruiter/HR pro out there. Tell us why you’re in the RPO game…

A crazy passion for what happens when you do talent acquisition right—everybody wins. It’s sad that we see so many do it stupid and wrong, from candidates, to companies, HR, recruiters—you name it. Plus, I do love the hunt; I love seeing a deal/match happen when no one thought it could.

2. Finish the following sentence: “People want to hang out with me because…”

It’s so easy to seem normal and calm in comparison. My energy and that I am genuine are the things I hear most, so I will go with that—final answer.

3. First thing that comes into your mind when I say this: “RPO works because ____…” First thing. Don’t plan it.

Because of the focus and leverage we have… that other companies don’t.

4. What’s your favorite HR/recruiting buzzword to openly mock and why? It has to be…

“Seat at the table” and anything related to that discussion… ugh! Too many of the HR peeps literally aren’t even in the right building and are so clueless that they even miss the point of the conversation about it—which kills me, by the way. Two thoughts here, ahhhh, get a life, for one; and if you have to ask, you are clearly not in the game. Make it happen, people. Move the business forward every day and it will happen… geez. (I know, so tell me how you really feel…)

5. Let’s face it… there’s a lot of humanity out there in the recruiting scene. What’s the sure sign in the first 3 minutes you interview a candidate that it’s not going to happen?

There are soooooo many. Let’s see… completely unprepared (not sure what they are interviewing for, have not researched the company, etc.), nothing to write with or on, no copy of their resume, cell phone ringing, snapping gum, dressed like they are _______ (fill in the blank with something not work appropriate) are all good starters. But my favorites have to be around over-sharing on personal stuff you should never tell me (or perhaps anyone, ever, in a work setting), and old company/boss bashing, I mean, really?

6. Who are your favorite two recruiters—RPO, sports, entertainment, whatever—and what makes them rock stars from a recruiting perspective?

Easy: 1) KD/Ari Gold, with his take-no-prisoners mantra (besides, who else knows where all the .net developers in Birmingham are?) and 2) Lou Holtz, especially his story around the magic of thinking big and his list, focus and approach.

7. We’re midstream in this interview, so let’s give a shout out to the intellectuals. What are the last three books you’ve read? Why did you choose those books and what did you learn?

The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott. Love his blog and knew the book would be awesome. It did not disappoint. Great perspective on the changes in how we all research, buy and should market, whether to clients or candidates. Serpent by Clive Cussler. I am a huge Dirk Pitt fan from way back; this is the first of another set of books by Cussler with a different protagonist. I like the connection to the characters that proceeds book to book and the technical details always included as part of the marine settings. No learning, just fun reading. Try Not To F**k This Up, But If You, Do Call Us by Starr Tincup. Good stuff on the human capital space, shout out to both William and Bret—love you both!

8. Enough with the book learning. A great tradition in Major League Baseball is that each batter for the home team gets to pick his own intro music as he’s walking up to the plate. If you could choose a song to play as you entered the Kinetix HQ, what would it be and why? Feel free to give us 2-3 choices, and you can’t say the uber-lame “I like all types of music… “

Eminem, “Not Afraid” because I’m not (which can sometimes be construed as stupid, crazy btw). My old-school shout out is “More Human Than Human” by White Zombie. Number 3 is a tie between ACDC’s “Thunderstruck” and Sheryl Crow’s “A Change Would Do You Good…”

9. Describe your first car to us. God, please let it be a junker that embarrasses you…

The follow-the-rules-answer: A burgundy Chevy Impala like this (although I don’t think I had those stylin’ hubcaps); it was the year they downsized the body and kept the 305 V8 (pretty lame that I know this)… it was fast.

Real answer: A 15-year-old gelding named “Butterscotch” (yes, he was that color, and no, I was not lame enough to name him that). I even rode him through the drive-thru at Burger King (he liked french fries). Sad fact that my “Freshman Facebook” at college has a pic of me on him, like this:

10. Give it up—2 things that the last 10 people you’ve talked to outside of Kinetix don’t know about you…

I have actually ridden an ostrich and my wedding included 900 wild elk, 5 Percherons and a handful of people…

Kipli Storey is the Vice President of Administration at Kinetix. Prior to joining the team at Kinetix in 2013, Kipli was a Vice President of Operations and Business Development for Snapfinger, Vice President of People Services for Church’s Chicken, Director of Shared Services for Randstad, Director of Business Services for Spherion and a First Vice President for Suntrust Banks.

Kipli holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources from the University of Georgia.

5 Questions with Kipli Storey

1. Finish this sentence: “People want to hang out with me because…”:

I’m funny… and edgy. Plus, Ellen DeGeneres has nothing on me… but money (and a mansion in Malibu).

2. Give it up—2 things that the people outside of Kinetix don’t know about you:

I’ve owned 42 cars but not a Porsche like Ellen. I have a bulldog that is a great granddaughter of UGA5. Her name is Betty Lee. She is named after my mother-in-law… not sure my mother-in-law took that quite as the compliment it was intended as!

3. Describe your first car to us. God, please let it be a junker that embarrasses you: 

OK… before, a little backdrop as a short disclaimer—I grew up in Southern California and it was 1976—it was a baby blue 1970 VW Bug. It had snow-covered mountaintops painted on each door, and personalized “KIPLI” license plates and the 8-track player was awesome! (See, I told you the disclaimer was needed).

4. What’s your favorite HR/recruiting buzzword to openly mock and why? 

It would have to be “Results Driven.” Seriously, doesn’t everyone think they are results driven? If they don’t… do we really want them on our team?

5. Let’s face it – there’s a lot of humanity out there in the recruiting scene. What’s the sure sign in the first 3 minutes you interview a candidate that it’s not going to happen? 

Candidates that appear disinterested or talk negatively about current and/or previous employers/coworkers is a sure sign that they are not “Kinetix” material. So, I make sure not to waste a lot of time trying to make them “fit.”

Phil joins Kinetix directly out of the tech startup world, bringing a different perspective on business development, account management, and the use of technology to grow a business while delighting clients. He has an extensive experience in RPO and as a battle proven RPO vet — think RPO Rambo without the accent in a collared shirt — Phil has gone to hell and back in big RPO and lived to tell the tale.

Phil holds a B.S. in Psychology from Brigham Young University and a M.B.A. from University of Phoenix (in-class, yes, in-class is different).

Prior to Kinetix, Phil served as VP of People at Handled, a startup in St. Louis and has experience handling RPO projects for Walmart, Ascension, Advance Publications, Honeywell, WestRock, and Chrysler.

1. It’s hard on a recruiter/HR pro out there. Tell us why you’re in the RPO game…

Like many great things, I got into the RPO game completely by accident. I had some friends in the business who were struggling to hire recruiters fast enough. I started a company providing that service directly to RPOs. We were the RPO to the RPOs. Any time my customers couldn’t flex fast enough for their customers, my team was available to pick up the slack. It was a great business and has led into 15 years of opportunities to work with amazing people across a dozen RPO providers.

2. Finish the following sentence: “People want to hang out with me because…”

I care, I laugh and even when getting things done, I like to have a great time.

3. First thing that comes into your mind when I say this: “RPO works because…”

First thing. Don’t plan it. Scale, Efficiency and Total Cost.

4. What’s your favorite HR/recruiting buzzword to openly mock and why? It has to be…

It’s a tossup between “Sourcer” and “Culture Fit”. Grammarly doesn’t even know what a sourcer is. I know that there are GREAT sourcers out in the wild and there’s a ninja certification but honestly shouldn’t everyone source candidates? I don’t know anyone who does the sourcing game well, and how do you compensate for sourcing production? 10 contacts a week? If you’re paying someone $50K a year that’s $96 per “sourced” candidate.

Culture Fit is the modern day catch-all for, “I don’t like them.” What does it even mean and why do recruiters let people off the hook for this as a disposition reason?

5. Let’s face it… there’s a lot of humanity out there in the recruiting scene. What’s the sure sign in the first three minutes you interview a candidate that it’s not going to happen?

My first question is always the same: “Tell me what you’re doing now and what’s compelling you to make a change.” If someone doesn’t have a good reason to be looking or can’t explain what their job is today, they aren’t going to be able to convince a leader to hire them.

6. We’re midstream in this interview, so let’s give a shout out to the intellectuals. What are the last three books you’ve read? Why did you choose those books and what did you learn?

The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma – I’m a huge Jocko Willink fan and he gets after each day starting at 4:30 AM. I’m not quite as disciplined as Jocko, though, so I thought 5:00 AM would be a better time for me. I came across this book and while it’s a bit of a gimmick and could be done in 5 pages, I enjoyed the story and the teaching style.

The takeaway for me is all about the traumas in life and methods for dealing with those traumas. By having a morning routine designed to prepare for the day you naturally are able to deal with all the stuff that happens in life that can throw you off.

Die with Zero Bill Perkins – I heard Bill on the Gary Vee show and bought the book. Bill has a great story and I appreciate people who present principles from a different perspective. Bill is basically the opposite of Dave Ramsey. I love the principles of spending the money before you die and prioritizing experiences at the right times of life.

Outwitting the Devil – Napoleon Hill – Famous for the iconic self-help book Think and Grow Rich, few have heard about his less famous book Outwitting the Devil. Hill paints ideas about how to live life deliberately in a thoroughly creative way, and presents some intriguingly applicable perspectives to politics, school, social structures and the strength of mastermind groups.

7. Enough with the book learning. A great tradition in Major League Baseball is that each batter for the home team gets to pick his own intro music as he’s walking up to the plate. If you could choose a song to play as you entered the Kinetix HQ, what would it be and why? Feel free to give us 2-3 choices, and you can’t say the uber-lame “I like all types of music…”

Not in any specific order, but these are my theme songs to life:

The best song ever written… “Song 2” – Blur because Blur makes everything better…

“Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” – Daft Punk and the awesome remix by Kanye. This is my ringtone, constantly on repeat in my office and generally in my head.

8. Describe your first car to us. God, please let it be a junker that embarrasses you…

1964 VW Beetle. Blue, Green and Rust… Dad gave it to me for my 15th birthday with the engine block split in half in the back seat. He told me to read the book and if I could make it run, I could have the car. Run it did, but the windows randomly fell out. Friends would pick it up and put it sideways in parking spaces during class. There are lots of crazy stories about that car, driving on two wheels, floating in a lake, and using flashlights in place of the headlights. I’m surprised that my friends and I survived those years.

9. Give it up—2 things that the last 10 people you’ve talked to outside of Kinetix don’t know about you…

I lived in the Czech Republic for a while. I love the history, the people, the food, and the language.

I have a love hate relationship with mini coopers… There might be two broken minis in my barn right now! It’s way more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

J acki Neal is the Vice President of Talent Solutions at Kinetix. Her mission will be to provide strategy and delivery to the Kinetix Staffing Practice. Prior she wasCEO of Peak Resource Group, a Technology and Communications staffing firm that was acquired by Kinetix in May 2015. Before Peak, she did Business Development for a Telecom Consulting organization, was a Technical sales Executive for several computer hardware manufacturers, and started her career as a hardware and software engineer.

She really digs all things technology (rebuilding computers, Apple life, and playing with website development) as well as meeting with clients to solve the world’s issues over lunch.

On the personal side, she connects with women as a MoneyWise mentor, assists with off shore mission work, and works with ‘at risk’ women to help them develop confidence and skills to get out of poverty.

5 Questions with Jacki Neal

1. Tell us why you’re in the RPO game and how you got here: I’ve been in the staffing industry for two decades and have seen many changes. I still remember my IT clients saying, “We will NEVER use contractors.” Really? Like Never-ever? RPO is the future. Engaging with employees is more of a sales function than an HR function. Gen-Y and Gen-Z people don’t look for jobs like we did. The Kinetix RPO model of bringing world-class recruiting bundled with enhanced social media integration specific for talent? Yowza. Let’s Rock.

2. Finish this sentence, “People want to hang out with me because… ”: I’d like to think it is due to my amazing personality, quick wit, and extensive command of sarcasm. But it is probably because I am a foodie and wherever I am, there is usually food.

3. What’s your favorite HR/recruiting buzzword to openly mock and why? “Team Player.” Especially in a resume that has the word “I” in it 26 times.

4. Describe your first car to us. God, please let it be a junker that embarrasses you: I started my yellow car love affair with a 1971 Mach 1 Mustang. I started work at 14 and saved the $2.00 an hour I made to pay cash for this baby. He was used and well loved. I’ve owned yellow cars ever since.

5. Give it up—2 things that the people outside of Kinetix don’t know about you:I’ve been a Parrot head (Jimmy Buffett) for 30 years—probably have been to 40 shows—even went to Paris to catch a show. Oui?Briefly met Prince Charles (pre-Diana) at a UGA game. I gave up my dreams of marrying a prince that day. They look cuter in the storybooks.

MEET DAWN BURKE

As VP of Talent Consulting for Kinetix, Dawn leads the Talent Marketing Team to create unique employer branding, career site, & social campaigns for our clients (Kinetix Buzz), in addition to internal marketing strategies to hype our authentic, award-winning Kinetix brand to the world. In addition, using her 20 years of corporate People Team and consulting experience, Dawn is a member of the Kinetix HR Consulting Team. In this role, she shares her talent expertise to help organizations elevate their HR processes and team capabilities, in addition to facilitating Kinetix’s BOSS leadership program. The BOSS program instructs all People leaders (coaches, managers, directors, C-Suite) to evolve from team taskmasters to employee engagers.

Before joining Kinetix, Dawn served as a Sr. Consultant at Recruiting Toolbox, an organization that provides enterprise-level training and consulting in the Talent Acquisition space. Clients Dawn worked with at Recruiting Toolbox included Pinterest, Columbia Sportswear, and Centene. Before that, Dawn spent her career serving in many HR leadership roles, including VP of People at Daxko and Director of HR for MailSouth/MSpark Advertising.

1. It’s hard on a recruiter/HR pro out there. Tell us why you’re in the RPO/HR game…

Think about it. The impact a person’s job has on their life is huge. So simply put, the work we do, the job transactions we facilitate, and the interactions we have with our candidates and clients can change their lives.

2. Finish the following sentence: “People want to hang out with me because…”

…of my husband. He’s much cooler than me. Also, I let you be yourself. People know if they come over to my house to watch a movie and have a glass of wine, that they can show up in stretchy pants, a housecoat, and a bag of funyuns, and they will fit right in.

3. What’s your favorite HR/recruiting buzzword to openly mock and why? It has to be…

Grit. It’s like nails on a chalkboard. I like to eat grits much better than describing someone as having “grit”.

4. We’re midstream in this interview, so let’s give a shout-out to the intellectuals. What are the last three books you’ve read? Why did you choose those books, and what did you learn?

• The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. Women are as strong as we let ourselves be. It’s an epic story.
• A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness by S. Nassir Ghaemi. A lot of our most outstanding leaders, including Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Franklin D. Roosevelt, and others, live(d) with mental illnesses (depression, mania, bipolar disorder). A lot of their leadership greatness can be attributed to those mental illnesses and how they connected these leaders to empathy, resilience, creativity, and reality. This book was also a great reminder that accepting our authentic selves and all that that entails (including having a mental illness or other illness) is the key to unlocking your most tremendous potential, especially as a leader.
• The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. Too many great lessons to list here. Pro Tip on this one > Listen to the Audiobook that Tom Hanks narrates. You’ll realize just what a great actor he is. He’s phenomenal.

5. Describe your first car to us. God, please let it be a Junker that embarrasses you.

A 1985-ish Ford LTD. And yes, it was very “Limited.” The cassette player was broken (yes, I said cassette), so I had a big Boom-Box in the front seat and a ton of D batteries in the glove compartment. So naturally, there were cassette tapes all over my car. Every time I made a hard turn, you’d hear cassettes and D-batteries crashing all over the place. I loved that POS.