This year marked a momentous milestone for Kinetix —our 20th anniversary. Two decades ago, we started as a small but passionate team determined to rewrite the playbook for talent acquisition and support HR as well.
Today, we stand tall as a leader in the field, having helped countless organizations discover, develop, and celebrate extraordinary talent. What makes the Kinetix journey remarkable is not just our business results, but the legacy of resilience, adaptability, and culture that our team has created together.
Looking Back: Milestones That Defined Us
Our story has been filled with chapters that shaped Kinetix into who we are today. Reflecting on our history, Shannon, our CEO, recently shared a powerful message with the team, reminding us that our legacy is built not only on our success but equally on how we persevere through adversity and bounce back.
Q: What achievement or change in the past 20 years makes you most proud of Kinetix’s impact on the recruitment space?
Shannon did not point to a single client logo or award. Instead, she talked about the simple but profound achievement of still being here after some of the toughest years the recruiting industry has ever seen.
Shannon: “I’m going to answer it slightly differently… what achievement of Kinetix makes me the most proud… surviving the COVID period really is the achievement.”
When she described COVID, she made it clear that for recruiting businesses, it was not just a downturn—it was a full stop.
Shannon: “If you’re in the recruiting business, COVID was unlike any recession we’ve ever had… everything stopped… all of our clients literally stopped.”
In 2020, the world changed almost overnight. Like so many organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic tested our resolve in ways we could not have anticipated. Client hiring paused, conversations about future roles went quiet, and every day presented a new set of questions with no obvious answers. What stood out inside Kinetix, however, was not fear—it was determination. Our team made incredibly difficult decisions to survive that moment, then learned new ways to connect, collaborate, and support one another, even when the future felt uncertain.
As hiring began to return, Shannon focused on what happened next and who we wanted to be on the other side.
Shannon: “Once the business started to come back… really not until the beginning of 2021… we brought back as many of our team as we could.”
As we began to bring teammates back to Kinetix, they also brought fresh perspectives and an even stronger belief in what we do together. Their return said more about our culture and relationships than any dashboard metric ever could.
By 2024, we faced a new chapter, shifting economic trends, rapidly evolving client needs, in an industry still absorbing the long-term impact of the COVID decisions. As organizations rethought how, where, and why they hired, Kinetix continued to adapt, innovate, and reaffirm our commitment to flexible, personalized recruiting solutions that met clients where they were.
The Heart of Kinetix: Our People and Culture
Ask anyone at Kinetix what set us apart over the past twenty years, and you would hear the same answer: our people. From day one, we believed that building a successful business meant building a culture where our talent could thrive, not just professionally, but personally. We knew the way we treated each other internally directly shaped the experience we created for clients and candidates.
Q: What do you want clients and candidates to feel or experience when they interact with Kinetix?
Here, authenticity was never optional; it was foundational. We celebrated individuality, encouraged curiosity, and put real trust in our team members to voice ideas, solve problems, and try new things.
Shannon: “What I want them to experience is that confidence that the best recruiting process you’ve experienced… you’re going to get that every time… it might be a software developer, an engineering leader, an accountant… a secretary… an RN for ICU… a doctor of dermatology.”
Collaboration was not just a buzzword; it showed up every day, from cross-functional brainstorms to celebratory team huddles (virtual or in-person), to the way we shared and learned from setbacks. Our clients and candidates were meant to feel the same white-glove experience and dedication, no matter the role, level, or location.
Shannon’s leadership consistently emphasized transparency and honesty in how we told our story. She championed the idea that success was a shared journey where every lesson—good or bad—was an opportunity for growth. Our culture was defined by open-door conversations, a readiness to challenge the status quo, and a genuine care for each other’s well-being, and the fact that teammates chose to return after leaving was one of the clearest signals that this culture was real and lasting.
Reflection and Learning: Building for the Future
One of the biggest lessons the past twenty years taught us was the power of continuous learning. Our challenges, global disruptions, market shifts, and changing client expectations revealed that resilience was built through adaptability, and adaptability came from a willingness to learn, evolve, and sometimes reinvent.
Q: How does your finance background help shape how Kinetix creates real business value beyond traditional recruitment services?
Shannon’s answer went straight to how we thought as a business.
Shannon: “I definitely don’t think like a traditional CEO because my background is finance… as a result, Kinetix has always been data-driven.”
With leaders like Katelyn and the DART team, and the work we’ve done on our systems, we were able to dig into the metrics that truly mattered for clients. We looked at their hiring processes differently, from time metrics and funnel conversions to where candidates stalled or dropped out and used those insights to spot problems early and redesign for better outcomes.
Shannon noted that many recruitment firms were very focused on their own internal numbers, revenue, margins, and seats filled, but less focused on the core numbers that defined whether their clients were successful in hiring. Kinetix, in contrast, went “very far in” on client-centric metrics, using data not just to report activity, but to deliver real business value and recommendations. That lens influenced how we staffed accounts, how we allocated recruiter capacity, and how we advised clients on small changes that could unlock much stronger results.
By 2025, our spirit of evolution was stronger than ever. We leaned into technology and data to make hiring with us smarter and more efficient, helping clients clearly see what was actually moving the needle in their talent strategy. Data wasn’t just something we tracked; it became a tool for better decisions, better experiences, and better outcomes at every step of the way.
The Road Ahead: Vision for 2026 and Beyond
As we celebrate twenty years, our eyes are firmly set on the future. Shannon’s vision for Kinetix was never only about growing the business; it was about scaling our impact and making high-quality recruiting support accessible and flexible for more organizations.
Q: Looking ahead, what are you personally most excited about as Kinetix continues to evolve, and what opportunities do you see on the horizon for your clients?
Shannon first pointed to technology and process improvement.
Shannon: “My hope is our dedication on the technology side is going to make both our team and our clients have more efficient processes.”
She also sees tremendous opportunity to serve organizations of all sizes, not just those hiring thousands of roles a year. Many assume outsourcing is only for very large volumes, but Shannon explained that Kinetix could bring its full recruiting process to smaller clients as well.
Shannon: “Most of the time we’re having to educate mid-sized clients that they can do it… we can show them how value can be added at less than 50 hires a year, but also at 100 hires, 1,000 hires… it’s not all or nothing.”
That flexibility is built into how Kinetix structured its teams and services. Rather than locking clients into a dedicated resource model, Kinetix uses a more dynamic approach that flexes capacity and allows blended skill sets as needs change, so clients can get specialized support when they need it without carrying that cost when they don’t.
Our mission for 2026 and beyond is clear: continue to push the Talent & Human Resources industry forward, create space for every team member to grow, and never lose sight of our roots—a team that believed in each other, our clients, and the power of extraordinary talent. At the center of that mission was a simple, powerful vision Shannon articulated: helping clients make sure “their growth is never slowed because they don’t have enough talent to deliver what they do for a living.”
To every member of the Kinetix family—past, present, and future—thank you for shaping our journey. To our clients and partners—thank you for trusting us to help write your talent stories. Here’s to a legacy built on resilience, heart, and the relentless pursuit of better.
Happy 20th, Kinetix. The best was yet to come—and the next chapter is already underway.