Lisa Hashbarger, national talent scout for senior creatives, Pixie Dust
Lisa Hashbarger, a Fallon veteran with extensive recruiting experience, is leading the new senior-level creative search service at Minneapolis executive search firm Pixie Dust, which specializes in marketing communications recruiting.
Pixie Dust co-founders Laura Keller and Ashley Mehbod created Hashbarger's new role based on the recruiting experience she gained at the Fallon ad agency, where she worked for 12 years, most recently as director of creative operations.
Hashbarger also will team with Keller and Mehbod on overall recruiting efforts and vetting senior executive candidates.
At Pixie Dust, Hashbarger said she focuses on sourcing, leveraging her network and getting to know candidates and agency culture.
"Seeking out the right candidates can be a daunting exercise," Hashbarger said. "I know how to ask the right questions and vet candidates so that the agency partner can focus on other important matters."
Hashbarger said her Fallon experience instilled a "driver mentality" that helps her work to find the right candidates. "Career moves can be stressful on both sides; I want to provide support from start to finish, and Pixie Dust is a firm that does that."
Hashbarger has a journalism degree from Drake University.
Q: Why should companies work with Pixie Dust for their recruiting needs?
A: Pixie Dust offers a quality-over-quantity model: We won't offer you anything but vetted candidates whom we either know or whom have been recommended to us. For ad agencies, there is increasing pressure to be more accountable and more efficient. The days of agency of record (AOR) status are slipping away and many shops are project-based, so every hire counts.
Q: Why should candidates work with Pixie Dust when they are looking for opportunities?
A: Pixie Dust is a trustworthy team. If we sense instability or potential turbulence at a company, we won't place a candidate. We look at leadership, longevity, awards and potential pitfalls in advance of sourcing candidates.
Q: What appealed to you about this opportunity at Pixie Dust?
A: I've worked with recruiters in the past, and no one provides the depth of information and candidate research to the level of Pixie Dust. Laura Keller and Ashley Mehbod take it three steps farther than the competition. I come from a work culture where it's normal to overdeliver, so I feel at home here. While at Fallon, what I enjoyed most was recruiting creative talent: reviewing portfolios, meeting candidates and landing them their dream job. This felt like a natural transition for me.
Todd Nelson
