Q: How do you make a significant impact on the community and regional economy?
I use my understanding of technology and entrepreneurship to add value to many causes. From helping elected officials understand the economic impact of technology in Ohio to helping nonprofits become more effective in their missions, I’ve been able to provide a unique blend — a balance — of technology, innovation and business leadership.
While the true nature of leadership is an intrinsic quality with many successful entrepreneurs, I move away from the pack in my leadership qualities through one, unmistakable attribute: passion. For any business, client, person or cause that has me as an advocate, the overwhelming quality of my work and leadership is passion. To know me, to survey my work and to observe my leadership style is to understand how good leaders can become great leaders if they are passionate about the work before them.
Few people — and even fewer women — have the talent and charisma to create a technology company from nothing, base it in Ohio, recruit world-class talent, define new applications and functionality in the nitty-gritty world of XML and SAML, then sell the business to a Wall Street firm. Imagine the sales pitch: “Yes, I would like you to quit your Silicon Valley job, come to work for a company that did not exist a couple of years ago and work for me (a woman). And by the way, we are located in Ohio — it is between California and New York City.” These types of propositions sound silly without passion, and passion is exactly what drives the core of my leadership style.
Today, at Precise Resource, I have learned to channel my passion and enthusiasm to the benefit of my clients’ businesses and my candidates’ careers. It is important to recognize the balance required to find the right person for the client … not simply the best set of skills but also the best fit for the personality and environment of the workplace. To better understand the needs of her clients and candidates, I have led Precise Resource to develop a unique, computer-assisted matching methodology. This process leads to an integration of three critical success factors: the right client, the right candidate and the right set of personalities.
In my nonbusiness roles, I work with organizations as diverse as the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, The Center for Healthy Families, Mayor Coleman’s Jobs and Technology Workforce Commission, Columbus Partnership’s 2020 Vision and the Central Ohio Branch of the International Dyslexia Association. I try to inject a level of enthusiasm and passion to every setting, from strategic planning to fundraising.
Over time and with experience, I have learned to temper my executive skills, adapt them to a variety of situations, and add value to individual careers, business missions and organizations. With clarity of purpose, the wisdom of experience and the passion for excellence, I try to serve as a model for engaged, successful and giving executives and emerging business leaders.
I am a tireless advocate for the state of Ohio in both my professional and volunteer roles. A native of Delaware, Ohio, I have lived and worked as a visible and notable citizen of Ohio for my entire career. The technological and entrepreneurial achievements I have accumulated in that time represent only one facet of what I’m trying to contribute Ohio’s recognition in the greater country, and indeed the world.
Precise Resource maintains a roster of large, multinational client companies. Our work with these clients involves recruiting internationally, frequently for executive-level positions. With a client base spread throughout the United States and with candidates identified in every corner of the world, our work has us on the phone, online and in boardrooms from east to west, north to south. In each of these interactions, our friends and colleagues recognize we hail from Ohio. What more identifiable and conspicuous brand could I offer other than my “OSU Alumni” affiliation? It is nearly impossible to know me and not also know that I am a Buckeye!
Info Fortress was an early innovator in online security. Such an early innovator, in fact, that interest in the company came from more than just clients — a large, nationally recognized business based on Wall Street in New York acquired the business. Breaking out of the pack, demonstrating value and being from Ohio are all integral aspects of my career and life.
Also, within the state, I am a regular guest speaker and commentator on matters related to technology, innovation, dyslexia and entrepreneurship.
As with all driven entrepreneurs, my personal and charitable interests also benefit from my media connections and skills. Most notably for the IT industry, I was appointed to the board of the Ohio IT Alliance where I work to help the organization that has contributed significantly to adding to employment and sales revenue during the past eight years by providing business assistance to early-stage companies including direct consulting and investment fundraising. The organization was also an early-stage and original funding partner in both Jumpstart in Cleveland and the Business Technology Center now known as TechColumbus.
In addition to my work with the media, I have cultivated and maintained important relationships with elected officials at the local, state and national level. Serving as a trusted adviser to men and women elected as Ohio’s political leaders, I help shape critical thinking about the role of technology in Ohio, influencing how our state representatives and even presidential and gubernatorial candidates think about the impact of the legislative and political process on the business climate for entrepreneurs.
How to reach: Precise Resource, http://www.preciseresource.com/.
