Ashley Salmon
Ashley Salmon is a Recruitment Team Lead at Yardi, where she oversees talent acquisition efforts supporting the company’s client services division within the proptech industry. With more than eight years of recruitment experience, she leads and mentors a team of recruiters, partners closely with hiring managers, and drives strategies to improve time-to-fill, candidate experience, and overall hiring efficiency. Known for her collaborative leadership style and operational focus, Ashley plays a key role in aligning talent strategy with organizational growth objectives.
Ashley joined Yardi as a Recruiter in 2022 and earned a promotion to Team Lead within seven months, reflecting her strong performance and leadership capabilities. Prior to Yardi, she spent nearly four years with SAS Retail Services, supporting high-volume national hiring initiatives across major retail accounts, including Walmart and Kroger. Her daily work has included leveraging applicant tracking systems, conducting advanced sourcing through platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed, and guiding recruiters through complex hiring challenges. Her ability to remain composed under pressure and build strong stakeholder relationships has consistently set her apart.
Ashley began her career in meeting and event planning after earning an Associate of Applied Science in Meeting and Event Planning from Madison Area Technical College, where she graduated with honors. Early roles in event management and education helped her develop strengths in project management, communication, and stakeholder engagement—skills that seamlessly translated into recruitment. A natural connector and people-focused leader, Ashley is passionate about professional growth, mentoring others, and building high-performing teams that deliver measurable business impact.
• Madison Area Technical College
• Western Technical College - Company
• Dean's List - Perfect Honors-2012
• Dean's List - Perfect Honors-2013
• Meeting Professionals International
• Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence (2012-2013 internship)
• Visuelle Productions
• Haunted Hustle Marathon
What do you attribute your success to?
I think oftentimes it's really just networking that has led to where my career is at now. I obtained the initial role at my current company through LinkedIn when I received a message from the director of recruitment at the time. I think just building that strong network within your community is always key to building the community of where you want to go.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I think just being able to stay driven is a great mindset. I'm always very motivated to find that perfect fit for the role. It's almost like finding the perfect puzzle piece to the puzzle so that you can get that satisfaction when you find that perfect fit. So really just staying driven - you have to really have that drive and want to keep moving forward and really get a thrill out of finding the perfect fit for your roles.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would mainly just say to stay hungry. Keep fueling that fire to keep up with the drive. Recruiting can be a very intensive market, so it takes a special person to become a great recruiter. Just staying driven and taking pride in your work.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The hiring market can always ebb and flow, and so there may be times when you receive an overabundance of organic applicants, and there may be times when that stream is a little more sparse. You have to use your skills to source that perfect candidate, and so I would say sometimes that can be one of the bigger challenges - just using that network and seeing where you may find that perfect fit for the role that you're hiring for. As for opportunities, there's lots and lots of companies that hire recruiters. Staffing agencies are a great place to start as far as getting your feet wet in recruitment, kind of that third-party agency recruiting can be a great start. From there, there's limitless opportunities to grow your career, depending on an individual's specific goals. I like being on the management side, leading a team, so I do feel that there are opportunities for growth personally there as well.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say just remaining motivated is important - I'm always staying motivated in each role that I'm at. I'm a very social person, and so I think that that also factors into my role as well, and where I've gotten in my role, just kind of having that personality fit to be successful. Of course, there's always honesty and integrity as core values as well, and being able to build a team that fosters that.