How Director of Talent Ashley Thompson Finds the Right Role for Her Candidates and for Herself

Entering (and Reentering) The Recruiting World

When I was growing up, my father led a tree service company, so any time I was sick, he would pick me up from school and take me on a ride along with him for the day. My mother had her own executive search agency, recruiting high-level talent for large companies. It’s funny how years later, I’m now working in talent acquisition for a company that invests in landscaping businesses. Beyond the similarities in industry, watching my parents run these very exciting, successful companies is what got me interested in business and led me to the path I’m on now.

I took a recruiting position at an agency earlier on in my career because I really wanted to get into the talent industry. I quickly realized how fast-paced and even cutthroat the role was – I had to source businesses to work with and then fill the open positions as well. I switched to a role that brought me back to employee relations and onboarding, which aligned better with my career goals at the time, but I always knew that I wanted to get back into recruiting.

I loved speaking with exciting candidates and getting them hired. So when one of my friends told me about a recruiting position that had opened up at her firm, I jumped back into it. And this time it really clicked for me: since this was in-house at a firm, I was able to really get to know the business and the roles we needed.

I was finally doing the piece of recruiting that centered on connecting with people to help them find their dream jobs. That was truly an “aha” moment for me, where I felt like I had also found the right career for myself.

Hiring for Powerful Positions

I started to hone in on finance hiring when I joined a talent team of about 2,000 employees at a new firm. We were a huge, growing group, so we had the chance to build and implement a lot of different processes.

Finance hiring feels very impactful because of how important these roles are: depending on who we hire, the business can improve significantly – or fail quickly – so every decision we make is critical. I had the chance to connect with so many bright and intelligent people who I knew would make our finance teams even better.

Unfortunately, that company went through a massive round of layoffs: as quickly as they built up the talent function, they also let us go. That was definitely a difficult experience, but had I not gone through that, I wouldn’t be at Orion today.

Breaking New Ground with Orion

It honestly feels like my career keeps getting better and better with every new experience I take on because of what I’m able to learn in each role. This opportunity at Orion has made me grow so much more, and I love the team here.

I remember when I first started interviewing, and I met Seth Matheson (Orion Head of Talent), he told me that he was the main person who worked on all the roles at the company. I would be the second recruiter to join the team.

I was so surprised to hear that Seth was doing everything by himself. But the vision he had for the long-term was very exciting: it was clear he was ready to bring more people on and to grow as much as we could. Having been at two other companies where we were just starting to build out the talent function, I felt comfortable in an environment where we needed new programs and tools. I already knew what a good process looked like, I could get creative about putting a plan in place for myself, and I was given the freedom to figure out what worked best for myself and the team.

Seth was also very transparent on what Orion did not have yet and where he was going to bring the team, and that gave me a lot of confidence in the role and in his leadership. But when I reflect on those initial meetings, I realize I had no idea how much more Seth was planning for us. Now we have team members focused solely on sourcing and recruiters honing their skills on specific roles. It’s been exciting to see how fast we’ve grown while keeping the good culture we’ve had from the start.

Even with this growth, Orion has much more of a family dynamic than anywhere else I’ve worked. I think that’s truly a testament to Seth and his making sure that he hasn’t hired people with big egos. He hasn’t let anyone get into silos with their work. So even though Carolyn Kimmick (Orion Director of Talent) works on leadership hiring, and I work on finance hires, for example, we’re still very much one team. Everyone enjoys working with one another. Every team member truly has the best intentions for each other and for Orion.

I took charge of finance leadership hiring right after having my second child, and coming back to work as a mother of two was tough to say the least. But I’ve actually surprised myself at how I’ve navigated these new challenges. It’s startling to think about how I surpassed my yearly goals by May while juggling so many new experiences at home. Orion and the Talent team made it all possible. I’m so grateful for the community we’ve built here.

Building Beyond Talent Acquisition

When I think about my favorite memories here, there isn’t one specific moment that comes to mind; I think more about the people I get to talk to and learn from. Through the Leadership Development Program (LDP) we completed, for example, I got to spend quality time with other team members I wouldn’t typically have the chance to interact with, and everybody just has such an incredible backstory. Everyone is so kind and passionate.

Going forward, I’m excited for the opportunity to lead and mentor people, which is something I’ve always loved to do. With finance hires specifically, I’m really focused on finding organizational athletes who share the same values and drive that serve as the founding beliefs of this company. We want to continue to hire for emotional intelligence, compassion, and the ability to inspire more greatness so that we can keep building the amazing talent we have at Orion today.