Her Story
About Tori
My professional journey has been a rollercoaster that brought together my passion for athletics, education, and helping people succeed. I earned both my bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and my master's degree in Education from North Carolina A&T State University, an HBCU in Greensboro, North Carolina. I was a student athlete who ran track for 5 years, and during that time I managed to complete my undergrad in 2019 and my master's degree in 2020 - getting my master's within just one year while competing. I almost pulled out all my hair juggling being a student athlete and getting my degrees, but I'm incredibly proud that I made it work. After graduating, I joined the McClendon Future Leaders Foundation, a program for minority former student athletes trying to get into the sports industry. Through that foundation, I landed internships at NYU and Syracuse University working in student-athlete development. I helped student athletes with resume building, skill development, and preparing them holistically for life beyond sports, giving them something to fall back on if they don't go pro. This work was second nature to me as a former athlete myself. I then transitioned into recruiting, working as a travel nurse recruiter at ProLink Staffing in the healthcare industry before joining Randstad Staffing. At Randstad, I started as a temp worker without much sales experience, but I worked my way up to Client Delivery Manager within a year by showing my improvement, dedication, and work ethic. Now I'm in manufacturing and logistics, bringing together all my experience in recruiting, managing, and mentorship. Throughout my career, whether working with student athletes or helping people find jobs, coaching and development have been at the heart of what I do.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Tori
01What do you attribute your success to?
I have to say God, my family, my support group, and the mentors that I've had going through this career path. It's been a rollercoaster - you can't know what's gonna happen, you just know what you see and what you want to get to, but you don't know how you're gonna get there. So faith is big for me. I grew up in the church, so it's big for me. That's just one of my things that I lean on that pushes me and drives me. If I feel like, hey, I'm just down today, I just can't do it today, that's what I lean back on. So God is my strength, and that's all that I can do at this point, is lean on him, my family, and my support group. Everything that I've been through in the past and what I'm at now, it's everything together that I have experienced - the people that I've met, talked to, mentors, even back in college. So I would have to say all of it is so important.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would have to say they have to stay true to themselves. Don't waver for anyone, or try to fit in a box. It's so easy to go into an atmosphere that's already created for you, and you try to fix yourself or cultivate yourself to that aspect. I would tell them to make their own atmosphere. You're uniquely you for a reason, so use that to your advantage. Be you, and your ideas. Don't belittle them for anyone. Speak up. If you feel like something is not right, speak up, but always do it in a way that you won't feel like you have to step outside your character for. Just be uniquely you, don't change you for anyone, because that's what's gonna take you to the next step. Everyone knows, you can tell when someone is truly confident in themselves and what they're saying. Once you're confident and you back what you're saying, the person is gonna say, oh, okay, I do agree with what you're saying, oh, you are right. So it's just be you.
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