[vc_row][vc_column][st_customheading heading=”Our Team” st_template=”layout2″ margin_bottom=”52px” content_align=”text-left”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”.st-team-layout2″][st_team st_template=”layout2″ content_align=”text-left” class=”text-align:left;” title=”Deanna” description=”After meeting her, most people wouldn’t guess that Deanna O’Connell spent 4 years proudly serving her country in the United States Marine Corps. But it’s true, Ooh Rah! After being honorably discharged in 1997, she made her way back to her hometown of Mentor, Ohio where she landed a job at the Sherwin Williams Corporate Headquarters learning all there is to know about the application of paint & coatings. She held a technical support role in customer service supporting the likes of big box stores like Home Depot, Lowes and Menards.
In 2002, she received “the call”. A large recruiting firm in Chicago was looking to start a recruiting practice in paint and coatings so Deanna packed up and moved to the windy city to embark on a new career. After only a few weeks recruiting in paint and coatings, a colleague needed assistance filling a few jobs in the food industry and in just a year, Deanna built up a remarkable clientele with some of the top food manufacturers in the country.
2008 was the year of plunges both personally and professionally for Deanna. In April, she married her husband Brian on a beach in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Just a few months later, she took the second big plunge and founded Red Kite Recruiting as a “kitchen table” recruiter. Working solo at home didn’t last very long as she couldn’t keep up with the needs of her clients and soon hired her first employee, Grace. With the hire of her 2nd full time recruiter, the team moved into their first official office space in Chicago.
In September 2016, Deanna moved the ever-growing company into the 2nd and current office space on the north side of Chicago in the bustling neighborhood of Wrigleyville just in time for the baseball post-season. The office is located down the street from a little baseball field where a little team won a big World Series after 108 years! Go, Cubs, Go!!
Deanna lives in the city in the neighborhood of Roscoe Village. When she’s not chasing down a client or candidate, she is chasing down her two boys, Kayden (7) and Kyler (4) and the family’s two dogs, Cooper & Leo. Weekends you will likely find The O’Connell Clan in Michigan enjoying fishing, boating, wake surfing or snowboarding.
What she loves about this business: “After 15 years, this business still excites me like it did on Day 1. I love helping my clients solve both long and short-term problems by assisting them in building strong leadership teams. Strong Leadership enables a solid foundation and at the end of the day, I’m helping to lay that foundation brick by brick. It’s truly a privilege to serve my clients in that capacity. Not only do we help build teams but we are helping to build the culture with each company we serve. Not only is that pretty amazing but we have a heck of a lot of fun doing it!”
Favorite Book: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Favorite Quote: “You don’t always get what you wish for. You get what you work for.”” image=”644″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1448533288522{padding-top: 80px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][st_team st_template=”layout2″ content_align=”text-default” title=”Smith” description=”Smith is a southern boy from Atlanta who came to Red Kite Recruiting after leaving his previous job as a CoolSculpting Specialist and moving to Chicago to be with the SO of his dreams who he met via Instagram (#lovestory).
He joined Red Kite as a Sales Support Coordinator, assisting the team with research and sales reporting and is also the company’s Social Media Extraordinaire. Currently Smith is working under Deanna’s wing to become the next Rookie of the Year in recruiting! Prior to Red Kite Recruiting and CoolSculpting, Smith worked in merchandising for one of Atlanta’s most well known companies, Coca-Cola and in sales for American Girl.
While Smith enjoys working in an otherwise all-female office, he also enjoys getting some guy-time with Leo and Cooper, the office dogs.
When not at work, Smith can be found at the nearest café, walking to the nearest café or taking photos of himself with the coffee he just bought at the nearest café outside of the nearest café. Other activities Smith enjoys include cooking, reading and binge-watching the latest Netflix original.
Favorite Food: Crunchy peanut butter (none of that “creamy” madness).
Favorite Book: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson” image=”623″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][st_team st_template=”layout2″ content_align=”text-default” title=”Grace” description=”Grace comes to Red Kite Recruiting after a decade spent in the biotechnology and information technology world where she was involved in the Human Genome Project, worked with Nobel Laureates, sequenced the DNA of multiple species (she’s on PubMed!), led a variety of technology projects, and cut her teeth in contract IT recruiting. Grace was hesitant about going back into recruiting but intrigued by the potential at Red Kite and she joined Deanna in 2011 as her first full time employee. She was amazed at the amount of value partner-based recruiting adds and wants to bring that relationship to each of our clients.
Grace started as a generalist supporting multiple verticals including sales and marketing and has since found her niche in R&D and QA. She currently heads our Technical Services practice which also includes Engineering and Operations. She prides herself on her ability to understand and translate technical concepts, speak (quickly) to people at every level in the organization, and refer to herself in the third person. She is a new product junkie, closet foodie, and loves talking innovation.
Grace has a Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology from the University of Maryland (Go Terps!) and still surprised to see them on the Big 10 Network. She moved to Chicago 10 years ago and is blessed to live in a city that offers multiple eating, drinking, cultural and tax-paying opportunities. Grace shares her home with two 100-pound of dogs who allow her to cater to their every need.
Favorite quote: One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. – Virginia Woolf
” image=”625″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][st_team st_template=”layout2″ content_align=”text-default” title=”Shannon” description=”Raised in the countryside of Lexington Kentucky, playing outside or finding other hobbies were the only options for Shannon since the cable company’s service didn’t reach her house. At age 11, she started her own company where she made purses, belts, watches and accessories. This was her first taste of the entrepreneurial life.
She attended Miami University, where she made the Varsity cheerleading team her freshmen year and became Vice President of her sorority, Alpha Phi, her Junior year. While tending bar on weekends, she learned you-can-do-anything if you can make it through a “Green Beer” day shift. Shannon also sold t-shirts to Greek life and continued with this position after college helping the company gain more of a national presence.
In 2014, she decided to move the “big city” and take her first job in recruiting. Focused on the Finance Industry in Chicago, she was the first employee of a start-up recruiting firm that she helped grow and expand, again feeling at home in a smaller more entrepreneurial setting versus a more traditional role in the corporate world. After a year and a half, her crazy Uncle, who isn’t really her Uncle at all, introduced her to Deanna at Red Kite.
After finding out she would be the third employee in another growing recruiting firm, she joined Red Kite in June of 2015. Her first week on the job she was bit by a mouse on the foot (#notkidding) and figured if that was the worst thing to happen to her she was in a good place. 2 years later, the team has settled into a brand new office where there isn’t a mouse in sight and Shannon has settled into her niche specializing in Sales and Human Resources positions in food manufacturing. Last year she won President’s Club and is attempting to do the same this year.
When not banging out calls at work, you can find Shannon at dinner with her friends, swinging on a trapeze or even taking an Archery class. She is a social butterfly and loves planning outings for her friends throughout the city.
What she loves about recruiting: “It is truly never the same day twice and it is a rollercoaster. You feel the highs and big wins just as much as lows and losses, but that never gets old.”
” image=”627″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1451731443404{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 65px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][st_button st_template=”layout7″ size=”regular” button_align=”right” icon_type=”fontawesome” title=”CONTACT US” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%2Fconsultancy%2Fcontact-us%2F||”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][st_button st_template=”layout6″ size=”regular” button_align=”left” icon_type=”fontawesome” title=”CAREER” link=”url:%23||”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1448546764167{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#dee6eb” css=”.vc_custom_1448535029352{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 80px !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1448458503527{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 95px !important;padding-bottom: 95px !important;}”][vc_column][st_customheading heading=”Our Clients” st_template=”layout2″ margin_bottom=”40px” content_align=”text-center”][carousel_all xsmall_items=”3″ small_items=”4″ medium_items=”5″ large_items=”6″ margin=”30″ loop=”false” nav=”false” dots=”true” autoplay=”true”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][st_partner content_align=”text-default” image=”95″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][st_partner content_align=”text-default” image=”96″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][st_partner content_align=”text-default” image=”103″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][st_partner content_align=”text-default” image=”98″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][st_partner content_align=”text-default” image=”99″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][st_partner content_align=”text-default” image=”100″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][st_partner content_align=”text-default” image=”101″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][st_partner content_align=”text-default” image=”102″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/carousel_all][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][st_team][/vc_column][/vc_row]