Meet Our Team
Kara Matthews
Chief Talent Officer
Kara Matthews is a driven, vivacious, and candid Recruitment Leader with 15 years of experience driving talent strategy across industries. She is a people-focused specialist and trusted advisor to key stakeholders, skilled in developing and executing recruiting plans within corporate and agency settings. Kara holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Richmond and brings comprehensive expertise in hiring at the Director, VP, and C-Suite levels domestically and internationally. Articulate and polished, Kara’s sweet spot is headhunting and cultivating strong business relationships. She has lived in Prague, Italy, and Spain and traveled extensively across Europe and Southeast Asia. Kara believes one can live life fully or live it small; for her, the only choice is to the fullest extent. Kara enjoys performing arts, the beach, and spending time with her two little ones.
Anita de Lorme-Barkmeyer
Executive Director of Human Resources
Anita de Lorme-Barkmeyer is a Global Human Resource Executive with extensive corporate and operational experience spanning the USA and Europe as well as Asia (China, India) and Latin America (Brazil). Anita possesses a unique blend of leadership, emotional intelligence, and analytical skills with extensive multicultural expertise. Pragmatic and process-oriented, Anita has a strong reputation for sound judgment, decision-making, and securing top talent. Trusted advisor to CEOs and senior team members, Anita’s repertoire includes Global HR Leadership, Training and Development, Confidential and Executive Searches, Succession Planning, and Mergers and Acquisitions. Undoubtedly, Anita has extreme confidence in leading all aspects of HRM. Anita graduated with a B.S. in International Business from San Jose State University in California, and she speaks five languages: Dutch, English, French German, and Spanish. Her favorite hobby is cooking, and her specialty is Indonesian cuisine. Feeling hungry yet? Whether sampling her cuisine or working alongside her, we promise you won’t be disappointed!
Shannon Adee
Executive Director of Operations
Shannon Adee embodies the phrase “jack of all trades” to the fullest extent. She graduated from the University of Richmond, where she focused on Paralegal Studies, yet emerged as a Google Ads Expert and Operations & Process Improvement guru. With 15 years of progressive experience in Client Relations, Shannon is the ultimate in building relationships while working with her clients to achieve their optimal business goals. Owner of Spark Solutions, a digital marketing agency, she is focused on helping small businesses expand their online presence. Empowering motivator and 200+ pound weight loss achiever, her mission is to breathe life back into dreams by inspiring people to realize their full potential. Colleagues greatly admire Shannon’s integrity, transparency, and kind spirit.
Irina Howard
Sr. Financial Advisor
Irina Howard, MBA, CMA, CSCA, is a Finance and Accounting professional with a wealth of experience in smaller private and larger public business environments. Holding a Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, and two industry Certifications, Irina is truly a numbers genius with a quick wit and coy modesty. Her knowledge spans financial analysis, financial modeling, investment evaluations, and various reporting streams. Whether budget planning or rallying the troops for invoices and receipts, Irina is a valuable asset at Purple Squirrel. Among her favorite hobbies are crafting, reading, and sipping good wine.
Renee Hubbard
Sr. Human Resources Advisor
Renee Hubbard is a successful Human Resources veteran with experience developing HR strategy, talent and performance management, coaching, leadership development, learning facilitation, and culture and engagement. She holds a B.S. in Psychology, an MBA with an emphasis in HR, and an executive coaching certification. Renee is a servant leader with a passion for coaching people to realize and reach their potential. And she is driven to guide leaders to transform teams into high-performance teams. In her free time, Renee loves crafting Pinterest projects, cooking, and baking. Purple Squirrel is fortunate to have Renee on the team!
Shannon Geyser
Sr. Human Resources Business Partner
Shannon Geyser is an accomplished HR Business Partner with 8 years of experience in Human Resources. Recognized for her ability to cultivate strong relationships with candidates and hiring managers, it enables her to build robust talent pipelines and recruit top-tier professionals. She has a proven track record of organizing, designing, and implementing successful recruiting strategies and process improvements. Her dedication has resulted in substantial cost savings and a reduced time-to-hire for her clients. Shannon’s expertise in HR and her passion for helping companies makes her a valuable asset to any organization. Fluent in English and Afrikaans, Shannon was born in Namibia and has traveled to over 35 countries, gaining valuable cultural insights. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and reading.
Hillary O'Pry
Sr. Talent Acquisition Strategist
Hillary O’Pry is a Recruitment Advisor with 10 years of progressive experience filling highly technical and niche
positions. She specializes in talent acquisition and retention, assessing market conditions and analyzing data to hire and retain top talent across industries for agency and in-house entities. Hillary gets her fun-loving spirit from her Cajun heritage and enjoys boiled crawfish and spicy cuisine. As a wife and mom, Hillary explores the great outdoors, from camping to hiking and the beach to the river; our team can always count on a great story from one of her family’s adventures.
Christine Long
Sr. Human Resources Generalist
Christine Long is a master at navigating all things Human Resources and comes to Purple Squirrel with a robust background in providing general HR support and benefits administration. She holds a Bachelor’s in Communications with a concentration in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee and a Master’s degree in Human Resources and Unemployment Relations from Pennsylvania State University. Christine works with our clients to retain and engage their most important asset — their employees. Born and raised in Nashville, Christine appeared in two country music videos and achieved high rankings as a competitive dancer. Her hard work shines through as she recently completed her second half marathon!
Tanesha Aldaine
Strategic Sourcing Specialist
Tanesha Aldaine is an expert when it comes to assessing clients’ human capital needs, subsequently identifying and recruiting talented professionals to fill such vacancies. Tanesha is sharp with a keen eye for observation; highly organized, detail-oriented, and a natural sourcing pro. Tanesha’s earlier career was spent as a Librarian working at the National Archives and the U.S. Tenth Circuit Library, conducting searches, cataloging documents, and creating reports with widespread lists of materials to digitize. Tanesha attended the University of Maryland, where she obtained a Master’s degree in Information and Library Science. A natural digger, when Tanesha isn’t hunting purple squirrels in all the places they tend to hide, she enjoys yoga, art galleries, reading, and cinema.
Courtney De Groot
Human Resources Business Partner
Courtney De Groot is an organized, dependable, and high-achieving teammate with experience supporting HR departments. She assists the leadership and talent acquisition team in managing agendas, creating presentations, sourcing outstanding candidates, and planning company team-building events. Courtney holds a Bachelor’s in Finance from the University of Wisconsin, but over time, she realized her true passion was in Human Resources. She continued her studies and obtained an Associate Professional in Human Resources certification. Courtney loves to cook and play guitar and is the best aunt to her ten nieces and nephews.
Reach Us
To discuss how we can add value to talent management without sacrificing time or breaking the bank, Call or Send a Message Today!
+1 804-557-0654