Name: Celinda Appleby, my friends call me Celly
Current Job: Director, Global Talent Attraction Visa
Current Place: Portland, OR
Hometown: Silver Spring, MD
Age: 🤐
What I wanted to be when I grew up: Lawyer, or a backup dancer for JLo
College degree: BA in Business, Trinity University
What do you love about what you do?
I love designing foundational recruitment strategies that deliver premium candidate experiences. I’ve enjoyed making the magic happen at big brands like Nike and Oracle, where my influence on their talent brand still lives on.
What is the biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge is not seeing folx like me in leadership roles. With latinx leaders only holding 3% of seats in the boardroom of F500s — we have work to do!
What has made your career journey unique?
I started my career as an agency recruiter that moonlighted as a bartender. I love the people matching and I’ve always been really great at helping others blossom in their career journey.
After having twins, agency recruiting wasn’t as exciting and I craved stability. I joined corporate America in 2009, having worked at HP, Oracle, and Nike before Visa was the first career pivot and it wasn’t very easy to break into corporate America as an agency recruiter. Once at HP, I was able to successfully climb the corporate ladder and make my biggest career shift from recruiting to employer branding and recruitment marketing.
Having the internal champions along the way, really empowered me and my career has catapulted in an amazing direction.
What motivates you?
My 12 year old twins are my greatest motivation. Everything I do, I do with them front and center. As a single parent, doing it all on my own, I hope to teach them that hard work and integrity are critical in the path to success. They are incredible beings who keep me humble and always on my toes (dancing to the latest Tik Tok).
What advice would you give to your younger self?
“Stay far from timid. Only make moves when your heart’s in it and live the phrase sky’s the limit.” – Biggie Smalls
Connect with Celly at http://linkedin.com/in/celindaappleby
