Who We Are

Lisa Crawford

Lisa Crawford

Founder & Managing Director

My Story

My love affair with staffing began at an early age when I walked through the doors of a staffing agency. There was an energetic buzz in the room, and I was so impressed with the recruiter I worked with and the way she partnered with me. I wasn't a hot shot C-Suite Executive, but even so, I felt so seen and heard in the process, and she made me feel like my career was the most important thing in the world to her. She had a fiery passion for her job, and I thought, "I'm going to do this incredible work one day, and I'm going to do it even better."

Fast forward a few years, I noticed a job ad in the paper (remember those?) for an IT Recruiter role with a staffing firm and applied. When I walked in for the interview, I had a flashback to my earlier experience - that same energetic buzz filled the air and I wanted to be a part of it. I joined the firm a few weeks later, referred my roommate Angela, and we both rocketed to the top of the rankings in our first year, won numerous awards and accolades, and stayed at the top of the company for the decades that followed.

After all of these years, I feel that same fire in my belly and buzz of energy about this industry. I put my heart and soul into this work, and my clients and candidates tell me that they can feel it too. Every time I hear "You're so different from every recruiter I've ever worked with," I wear that as a badge of honor.

Who I Am

With 23 years of industry experience, I am so proud of my track record of delivering stellar results and bringing a spirit of fun to my work. I've been described as a "utility player" who can be relied on for anything and everything, since I've worn so many different hats and worn all of them with success. (What can I say? I look good in hats!)

I started my career with a highly-regarded national staffing firm, Kforce, and held roles in recruiting, sales, and leadership. During my time there, I achieved 10 consecutive years of President’s Club Awards and was one of the key contributors to the Seattle market's consistent success.

I also spent time leading a national recruiting force for a fast growth start-up, Clearwire (acquired by Sprint) where I worked closely with the senior leadership team and C-Suite to strategize, plan, and execute on a large nationwide build-out. In what turned out to be a very challenging phase in the company's lifecycle, I managed to increase the organization's headcount by 221%. This resulted in just under 5,000 new hires within one year.

I always knew that one day I would own and operate my own recruiting firm. The combination of staffing agency and internal recruiting leadership gave me a breadth and depth within the industry, but I always wanted to serve my customers my way. I'm choosy about who I work with, but when we work together, you get 100% of my loyalty and dedication. Bringing my true personality to every conversation and finding things to laugh about is so important to me. I'm thrilled to bring those things to work every day at Emerald Talent Group.

On a personal level, I love living an active lifestyle - hiking, biking, boating, backpacking - you'll notice that running fast and hard are themes of my life! I would do all of my work outdoors in the sunshine if the Wi-Fi was strong enough. I also love to cook, explore new wineries with friends, and spend time with my daughter who is attending WSU ("GO COUGS!") and two very energetic Labradoodles with big personalities.

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