Her Story
About Tyra
Tyra Perry, she/her, is a Senior Specialist and Talent Acquisition Partner with nearly a decade of experience leading strategic, high-volume recruitment across retail, corporate, and creative sectors. In her current role at Caleres, Inc., she partners closely with business leaders to support end-to-end hiring efforts for Famous Footwear across a large portion of the country. She also serves as Vice President of Mosaic, a company employee resource group, where she helps foster community, engagement, and belonging for BIPOC and minority employees through meaningful programs and initiatives.
Tyra’s career journey into talent acquisition began unexpectedly and evolved through a series of pivotal experiences. She started college as a graphic design major before transitioning into business, ultimately discovering her passion for human resources and earning a master’s degree in HR from Webster University. Her professional path began as an HR intern with a small staffing company, where she was later hired full-time and entrusted with building an HR department from the ground up. As the organization’s needs evolved, she transitioned into recruiting initially out of necessity rather than intent where she quickly discovered a passion for connecting people to meaningful career opportunities. During the height of the pandemic, she pivoted into student recruiting focused on marketing and community engagement, later moving into agency recruiting with Creative Circle, supporting creative and digital talent across multiple industries.
Following her time in agency recruiting, Tyra navigated a layoff, explored consulting and entrepreneurial work, and ultimately returned to corporate talent acquisition with Caleres, where she continues to grow her impact. Today, she is responsible for full-cycle recruitment from sourcing through offer management helping ensure retail locations are staffed with strong, capable talent while supporting organizational growth at scale. Known for her adaptability, people-first mindset, and ability to thrive through change, she brings both strategic insight and hands-on execution to every role she holds. At her core, she is driven by connection and impact, finding purpose in helping others take the next step in their careers while building inclusive, supportive workplaces where people can succeed.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Tyra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'm a spiritual girl, so I'm gonna always say God first. I do believe I was blessed with the I-can-do-anything-I-wanna-do type of mindset, so I don't put limitations on myself whatsoever. I kind of operate in delusion - if I want it, I'm gonna go for it. And that goes for things professionally in the workplace, it goes for things in my personal life, things that I want to do on the entrepreneurial scale. Those are all just generated from an I-can-do-it-and-I'm-going-to-do-it mentality. I'm okay with failing. Like, I have a safe-to-fail mindset, so at least I tried it, you know? I gave it a good shot. I don't regret anything. And I think that that attributes to a lot of my success most times. If something hits my brain and I want to do it, I just do it and everything will fall into place. I firmly believe that. I don't think about what could go wrong or how am I gonna have the time, because if you start thinking about that, you kind of talk yourself out of it.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Tyra credits many leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals who have influenced her journey through both corporate and entrepreneurial spaces. She believes every experience, challenge, and relationship has contributed valuable lessons that have helped shape her leadership philosophy.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't seek too much advice from others who haven't experienced it. Just do it, and learn from any mistakes. A lot of times, I sought validation from people around me, and was like, you think this is a good idea? You think I should try this? And they were like, I don't know, I don't know, or that's not gonna work. And then something shifted, and I was like, you know what, I don't even really want the advice no more, because of course you're gonna talk me out of it. You don't see the end goal the way that I see it. So that's when I just started doing what I wanted to do. And then, after it's all said and done, the same people who would have given you the skewed advice, they're like, oh my god, you did it! That's impressive, you know? So don't seek the advice, just do it. And if you mess up in the process, so what? So what? Try it again, do something different. That's where strategy comes in.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say the reputation of being in talent acquisition is one of the bigger challenges right now, just because there is a lot of conversation happening around AI and just the job market in general. A lot of times, it can be a little difficult to navigate those waters, especially during phone screens, where candidates are expecting to be ghosted, or they're just not having luck in the job market, and they're not very enthusiastic, they don't think it's gonna work out. So you run into a lot of discouraged people.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Tyra values resilience, innovation, authenticity, leadership, service, continuous learning, and personal growth. She believes success comes from remaining adaptable while consistently pursuing excellence in every area of life.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Missouri
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.