Her Story
About Maria
I've been in executive recruiting and HR consulting for over 20 years. I started working at one of the top executive recruiting firms as an associate while working my way through college full-time and going to school part-time. After I finished my degree, I decided to go on for a master's in Human Resource Management, which kind of made everything go full circle. I started out in retained executive search and learned a very strong way of recruiting in terms of process - it's not the typical process of most recruiters. Then after a couple years, I transitioned to full life cycle recruiting for a boutique agency that specialized in media, advertising, and publishing. After that, I transitioned in-house and became the head of talent for Luxottica Wholesale USA, where I did a ton while leading a corporate HR and corporate TA function. After I decided to leave there, about halfway through my notice period, an old professor reached out to me randomly and asked me to teach grad school because a professor had quit in the 11th hour. I taught graduate school within a master's program for human resource management with a specialization in training and talent for a couple of years as an adjunct. Once I left Luxottica, a lot of people started reaching out to me as they started leaving to work on jobs when they went to their new businesses. I did go back to retained briefly, but that made me realize even more so that I would never want to work for another retained agency again if I was going to be retained, I'd just work for myself. That is how CHR Group was born - it was very organic. I enjoy helping companies grow, working with companies that are either scaling due to being a startup or companies undergoing change. That's kind of my area of specialization. I think people are the most important asset to any business, and unfortunately, I think companies forget that sometimes.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Maria
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to doing something I'm passionate about. If you do something you're passionate about, you will stick with it and it will not feel like a chore doing it. It's about doing something that helps you get out of bed every morning, even on the days when things are not great, because you have people counting on you. A lot of it is being honest and having genuine relationships, because a career that is built on authenticity rather than being performative is what has helped me grow my business. I'm not about using AI to write communications that should be genuine, heartfelt messages from one human being to another. You have to have great follow-up, because at the end of the day, I don't know if that candidate's gonna become a client someday. Even if it doesn't go their way, like if they don't get the job, if they had a good experience, they will remember you. They will land eventually, either by your hand or not by your hand, and they will remember that you did right by them and were above board.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received came from a professor who told me, after I had spent 8 years working toward becoming a teacher, 'You're like a really good student, but I just do not see you wanting to split a lunch tab six ways.' At first I was irritated - imagine 8 years of going to college for someone to tell you they don't think that you should be pursuing the thing that you're pursuing. But it made me pause and realize that maybe I was not the same person I was when I started, and that maybe what I was doing wasn't what I should be doing. I was so focused on the outcome, this outcome that I had been working towards, but I realized that maybe the outcome needed to change and I wasn't really suited for the thing that I originally was pursuing 8 years ago when I had finished high school. I stopped the education program and signed up for an HR program, and I knew I was in the correct place. I wouldn't say she was a mentor of sorts, but I would say, you know, unknowingly, she was a pivotal moment.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My biggest advice would be to do something that you're passionate about. If you do something you're passionate about, you will stick with it. You will not feel as though you have work - yes, it is work, but it will not feel like a chore doing it. Do something that helps you get out of bed every morning, even on the days when things are not great, because you have people counting on you. Honestly, a lot of it is being honest and having genuine relationships, because a career that is built on authenticity - it's not about being performative. There are many people out there that are using AI not just to source people, but they are using AI to write communications that should be genuine, heartfelt messages from one human being to another. You have to have great follow-up, because at the end of the day, you don't know if that candidate's gonna become a client someday. Even if it doesn't go their way, like if they don't get the job, if they had a good experience, they will remember you. They will land eventually, either by your hand or not by your hand, and they will remember that you did right by them and were above board.
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