Krystle Rodger
Krystle is a bilingual senior recruiter and entrepreneur dedicated to creating career opportunities and expanding access to employment pathways. She currently serves as a recruiter at KenCrest, a longstanding nonprofit organization, while also leading her own recruitment company, Kloud9 Talent. In these roles, she focuses on candidate engagement, workforce placement, and strategic recruiting initiatives across multiple industries, including mental health, information technology, government, and healthcare.
Krystle’s career journey reflects a nontraditional yet purpose-driven path shaped by her early work in the mental health field. With undergraduate and graduate degrees in criminology, she initially practiced as a psychotherapist, driven by a deep curiosity about human behavior and motivation. A life-changing experience teaching abroad in Thailand broadened her perspective and ultimately led her to transition into recruiting, where she discovered a passion for connecting people with meaningful professional opportunities. Over time, she built extensive experience in executive recruitment and talent strategy, helping organizations identify and develop strong, mission-aligned teams.
As a first-generation college graduate and proud Latina professional, Krystle is committed to being a “gate opener” rather than a gatekeeper, especially for women and minority communities. In the United States, about 72% of Latinos ages 25 and older do not hold a bachelor’s degree, yet this demographic has one of the highest labor force participation rates. Krystle believes that by focusing on transferable skills, she is not just filling roles, but actively closing the wealth gap- focusing on potential and not pedigree.
She strongly believes in the power of transferable skills, perseverance, and lifelong learning as foundations for career success. Through her work and entrepreneurial efforts, she aims to reduce barriers to employment, advocate for equitable access to leadership roles, and inspire individuals to pursue opportunities that may initially seem out of reach.
• DeSales University- Master's
• HRO (Human Resources Organization)
• NAMI- National Alliance on Mental Illness Fundraising volunteer
• Operation Smile fundraising volunteer (5+ years)
What do you attribute your success to?
I have always been a seeker of the "why." Throughout my career—from the therapy room to the classrooms of rural Thailand—I’ve found that progress only happens when you refuse to take things at face value. I attribute my success to a relentless curiosity: asking questions until a new path reveals itself.
My journey hasn't been a straight line. It has been a series of "disruptions" that forced me to adapt. Perhaps the most significant was teaching in a village in Thailand where I was the only English speaker. That experience shook my professional foundation and forced me to see the world through a lens of pure human connection, stripped of familiar comforts.
Combined with my background in mental health, this taught me that every human behavior has a root cause.
In recruiting, this is my superpower. I don’t just look at a resume; I look at the person. I see the "why" behind their career path.
Today, as the founder of Kloud9 Talent, my mission is personal. I am a first-generation graduate, but I come from a family that built a life through transferable skills and a growth mindset, not formal degrees.
Professionally, my greatest achievement is no longer just "getting a seat"—it’s ensuring I am a gate-opener. I am building a new norm, where the ladder leads to top-tier opportunities for everyone, regardless of where their journey began.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The most transformative advice I’ve ever received is simple: 'Don’t take it personally.' In recruitment and entrepreneurship, you deal with a lot of 'no’s' and unexpected pivots. Early on, I realized that a 'no' is rarely a reflection of my worth—it’s usually just a reflection of someone else’s current circumstances, fears, or needs.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be the woman who isn't afraid to have a 'bad' idea. My career was built on the back of curiosity and the willingness to pivot when things got shaken up. To the next generation: Speak up, even if your voice shakes, and even if your idea flops. Every time you share your perspective, you are taking up space and opening a door. Remember that your work history, your heritage, and your resilience are your credentials. Stay curious, stay loud, and never stop failing forward toward your version of success.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
AI is dominating right now, leading to a variety of barriers in the field, like candidate “ghosting”. While AI handles the high-volume noise, it creates a humanity deficit and therein lies the opportunity in maintaining a finger on the pulse and offering high-touch communication as the industry becomes more automated.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
At the core of everything are two non-negotiable values: integrity and work ethic.
I champion transferable skills over formal credentials because I’ve seen how life experience prepares a person for leadership in ways a classroom cannot.
Visibility and representation matter deeply to me. When a first-generation professional or the child of immigrants sees someone who looks like them in a position of influence, the 'unattainable' suddenly becomes achievable. I am building this framework not just for the communities I serve today, but as a foundation for my own children—ensuring that the future I shape is one where the highest rungs of the ladder are accessible to everyone, regardless of where their journey began.