May 22, 2022: Recruitment is hard.  Plain and simple. Never mind the immense competition for talent that challenges all employers, finding the right candidate, with the right skillset, who values our agency culture, takes time and intuition. But, sometimes there is that one candidate who just clicks.  

When I started interviewing for our senior vice president role, I was looking for someone who could seamless step into our agency, our client meetings, and into a lunch or happy hour, with expertise, ease and ingenuity. After interviewing six or more candidates, I interviewed Laura and soon after called my colleague saying, “I think we have our senior vice president.”  An initial interview, led to happy hour with Laura and VVK’s partners, which led to a number of engaging follow-up calls, which led to an employment agreement.  Laura’s experience was a direct hit. Her past work remarkably aligned with many of our important clients and their missions – she has deep experience in insurance and nonprofit, leading strategy, developing trusting relationships, and implementing campaigns that help advance marginalized communities.  Of equal importance was her immeasurable, hard-to-place-on-a-spreadsheet, personality fit that is so crucial to thought partnership, team leadership and client relationships. In our final meeting with Laura, it was agreed upon that above all job requirements, there will be a element of joy when working together. And, for VVK, that is non-negotiable.  

We are thrilled to announce Laura L’Esperance as our senior vice president of public relations.  

-Peter Van Dyke, CEO/Partner