Zena Townsend
Zena Townsend is a recruiting professional and management leader based in Lebanon, Tennessee. She currently works as a Corporate Recruiter for Employbridge, where she helps connect job seekers with employment opportunities while supporting workforce needs across a range of industries. With approximately three and a half years of recruiting experience, Zena has developed expertise in talent acquisition, relationship management, and navigating the fast-paced fluctuations of the staffing industry. She is especially skilled at balancing the needs of both employers and job candidates to create successful long-term matches.
Before transitioning into recruiting, Zena built a successful career with Walgreens, where she spent more than 17 years in a variety of leadership roles, including Store Manager, Executive Assistant, and Pharmacy Operations Manager. Her experience in pharmacy operations gave her a strong foundation in people management, customer service, training, and business operations. She also worked on major store conversion projects, coaching teams on Walgreens procedures and helping ensure smooth operational transitions. Her background in retail and healthcare operations continues to shape her practical, people-focused approach to recruiting and leadership.
Zena holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Mississippi College and a master’s degree in Business Leadership and Human Resources from Belhaven University. She entered recruiting as a way to build experience in human resources and expand on her passion for management and supporting others. Guided by values of honesty, integrity, and strong business ethics, Zena is committed to helping people succeed while creating positive outcomes for both businesses and employees.
• Belhaven University- Master's
• Mississippi College- B.S.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received is to “work smart, not hard,” focusing on efficiency, strategy, and making the best use of your time and energy.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering this industry is to be yourself, be bold, be candid, and stay open to learning every aspect of the job.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
In recruiting, the biggest challenge is maintaining momentum because it's up and down. There are some weeks where I come in and have no orders, so I have no jobs to offer the clientele that are coming in looking for work, and then other times it's what we call peak, where I may have 300 jobs and no associates looking for work. It's hard to find that happy medium. When I was in pharmacy operations, it was more about people challenges - balancing between the customers and my staff, finding that happy medium because some of the customers were not so nice, and I had to still get the job done while protecting my staff.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty, integrity, and strong business ethics are the values that matter most to me in both my work and personal life.