How it all began: Starting Ivy Staffing

Ivy Staffing connects under-represented talent with organizations that prioritize flexibility and inclusivity in their culture. Here's how it all started.

We can’t believe it’s already been a year since we officially opened the (virtual) doors of Ivy Staffing! In honor of this milestone, we wanted to take a minute to look back on how we got here, and more importantly, why. 

We met in 2013 in the technical consulting and staffing industry.  We both started as recruiters and after a few years  of learning the business, building our skills, and discovering what really interested us, we each decided-individually-to move into client facing, business development roles. We gained valuable insights, learned some best practices (and some not-so-best practices, won’t do those again), and made incredible connections as we helped clients improve their business with technical solutions and talent.. Things were going well, and as our experience grew, so did our families!  We each welcomed our first child in 2015. And when we returned to work after maternity leave it was clear that our needs and priorities had changed, requiring more flexibility.   

We Needed a More Flexible Workplace

While the company did their best to be flexible and provide an environment that would be supportive to working moms, it wasn’t working for our families. There was a heavy emphasis on being in the office during standard business hours which after a commute, left little time for us to spend with our families and be present for our children. As employees who had always been high performers, this started to wear on us. After a few more years and another child each, we both decided it was time to move on and find a better balance elsewhere. 

With many moving parts and a great deal of planning needing to be done, we got an opportunity to join our last company, which had just been acquired by a global engineering firm. Not only did this afford us both tremendous professional growth and the ability to further our experience in the industry, it offered the flexibility we were both striving for; allowing us to excel at work as we always had, while meeting our priority to be present for our families. The trust to run our schedule in a way that worked for us as long as we were delivering results was a game changer. But then, we started to think: what if we could create our own recruiting company, where we could set the values and fulfilled our own vision like never before?

Disrupting the Recruiting Marketplace

Through the organizations we had worked for—all with their own sets of benefits and challenges—one thing was extremely clear: recruiting and staffing is a male dominated/male led industry. And, the need for diversity in leadership in order to shift the dynamic and disrupt the market is palpable. Our dream of starting our own firm quickly began to materialize, and we knew we had to make our passion a reality: a woman owned business which focused on connecting under-represented talent with organizations that prioritize flexibility and inclusion in their culture. 

When the time was right and the framework was ready, we took the leap and Ivy Staffing was born. While the vision for Ivy started with us, it truly took a village to bring our passion to life. The support and guidance we have received from family, friends, and colleagues throughout the process is the foundation of who we are. And it is this exact sense of community and support that we bring to our business.

Starting Ivy Staffing has been one of our greatest accomplishments and joys in life. We’re excited to celebrate our one year anniversary and for the growth that is yet to come. 

-Chelsea and Jana