Meet the TorchLight Team

Prior to founding TorchLight, Heidi worked at Melcrum, an internal communications consulting firm. There, she built a client base that included more than 300 of the Fortune 1000 companies, significantly increasing the company’s market penetration for a newly-developed research platform.

As director/vice president with McKinley Marketing Partners, Heidi worked with senior marketing, communications and PR professionals to fill more than 150 positions. Prior to McKinley, Heidi led the sales and client relations team at National Journal Group, an Atlantic Media Company.

Heidi holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Colgate University and a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University. She lives in Alexandria, Va., with her husband and two children.

When not herding dust bunnies created from her children’s various art projects, Heidi trawls WaPo’s real estate section and journeys to open houses throughout the Alexandria area. This way she’ll be prepared when the producers of “House Hunters” call to ask her to host a spin-off where TorchLight candidates are also matched with their dream home.

Julie began her 20-year career working in the hospitality industry. It was there that Julie found her passion for working with people to build their careers and grow the organization. This passion led her to work with a wide range of employers and clients, including: Oakwood Apartments, Sheraton Hotels, The Cheesecake Factory, Transportation Security Administration (TSA)/Lockheed Martin, U.S. Army and Aegis Defense Services.

Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations/Journalism, with a minor in Psychology, from California State University, Long Beach. In her personal time, you will find Julie in her kitchen baking up a yummy new concoction (her baking skills are legendary in her Alexandria neighborhood), spending time with her family or performing at local establishments with her band, Cognitive Behavior.

As Director of Enterprise Business Development, Stephanie brings TorchLight’s expertise to the enterprise market, developing strategies and relationships to help Fortune 5000 companies operating in the D.C. metro area with their full-time permanent and contract staffing needs. She thrives on helping companies create great teams with great people to meet the dynamic, rapidly changing needs of today’s marketing world.

Prior to joining TorchLight, Stephanie spent more than a dozen years in the recruiting and staffing industry, most recently as Managing Director of SHIFT Recruiting and Strategic Account Manager of Profiles, both in Baltimore. She began her career in development and fundraising for two Baltimore nonprofits: Port Discovery – The Children’s Museum and Center Stage.

She was recently selected by The Daily Record as one of Maryland’s 2017 Leading Women, singled out for her professional experience professional experience, community involvement and a commitment to inspiring change. Her community service leadership includes providing career-based advice and mentoring to unemployed individuals in Baltimore City through Maryland New Directions and serving on the National Advisory Council of MADE: In America, an organization founded to promote and support American industry and craft production.

An accomplished community actor, Stephanie also is a familiar face to Baltimore residents, having appeared in countless musical and dramatic theatre performances over the years—more than 60 or 70 in total, she estimates. Recently, with young children at home, she participated in her first “theatre job share” by splitting a role with an actor friend—proof that flexibility on the job really does work and is here to stay!

Stephanie holds a bachelor of arts degree in history and a minor in theatre production and performance from Lynchburg College.

>> Read Stephanie’s Profile here.

Beth’s marketing career started in Washington, D.C., where she served as a marketing coordinator for various nonprofit organizations. She proceeded to hold several positions within Sprint Nextel Corporation’s marketing communications team, including serving as senior manager of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (NNCS) Marketing and senior manager of sponsorship advertising. In these roles, Beth led many branding, advertising and marketing efforts for the company’s national and local sports sponsorships.

As an independent marketing consultant, she advised companies seeking to enhance their branding, acquisition and retention efforts, including the Discovery Channel and Phillips Investment Resources. Prior to joining the TorchLight team, Beth served in the role of director at CMG Partners, a strategic marketing consultancy, where she helped many technology and telecommunications clients build and reshape their brand, marketing and communications strategies, including CLEAR, NII, Ellucian, Verisign and Blackboard.

Beth holds a Bachelor of Science in finance from Indiana University and a Master of Business Administration from Case Western Reserve University. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with her husband, son and daughter.

Maintaining the yin and yang of physical fitness, Beth is passionate about both running and yoga. When not kicking asphalt, practicing her warrior pose, or enjoying time with her children, you’ll find Beth nurturing her creativity by pouring over interior design magazines, books and websites for inspiration.

Amy’s career started as marketing coordinator for two of the biggest names in the sports marketing business: IMG (International Management Group) and Octagon Athlete Representation. Four years later, Amy became a regional marketing manager with Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA), where she managed the regional events and partnerships program and coordinated marketing efforts for 63 dealerships in the northeast region.

Following MBUSA, Amy joined The Atlantic Media Company as a senior marketing manager. There she had the opportunity to work on custom event and marketing programs for premier clients like Pfizer, Booz Allen Hamilton and more.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from James Madison University. She lives in Arlington, Va., with her husband and two children.

With her keen fashion sense, Amy thoroughly enjoys her unofficial role as fashion advisor to her friends. After many strategic hours in any store with a name ending in “basement,” the closets of Amy’s friends are transformed with all the latest trends, and the local Goodwill is graciously restocked.

Over the course of her 13 years in the communications industry, Autumn has worked for a variety of clients in the high-tech, nonprofit and professional services sectors, including Waggener Edstrom; global architecture and design firm Callison, Inc.; and RTKL Associates. Prior to joining the TorchLight team, Autumn was public relations manager of the American Society of Interior Designers, where she developed a national spokesperson program and helped launch and implement a national rebranding campaign.

Autumn completed her Bachelor of Science in communications at San Jose State University and graduate studies at George Mason University. She lives in Alexandria, Va., with her husband and baby daughter.

When not fantasizing about a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, Autumn enjoys getting out on the trails with her bike and engaging in her own form of anthropological crusade  by visiting the area’s ample collection of historic homes, museums and gardens.

Ilene began her career at New York advertising agency Lowe & Partners, where she was assigned to the Mercedes-Benz account. After three years in the Big Apple, she moved to the DC metro area where she worked in her family’s business learning the ins and outs of the retail industry, which led to her opening her own retail store: National Jean Company. Besides the general store management and marketing of her product, Ilene developed and organized a private shopping party program that benefitted charitable organizations, schools and other local programs.

Prior to joining the TorchLight team, Ilene served as a client liaison and account manager at Skye Associates, where she managed, marketed and maintained seven e-commerce fashion sites; partnered with clients to establish business goals and objectives for each site; and developed and executed direct mail campaigns for over 40 brands a minimum of six times annually, as well as overseeing the internal team and performing a number of customer service-related tasks.

Ilene holds a Bachelor of Science in marketing from the University of Maryland, College Park. She lives in Bethesda, Md., with her husband and three children.

A sports enthusiast, Ilene has passed her passion for athletics on to her kids, spending virtually all of her free time “in a gym or on a field” for one of her children’s sports practices or games. When she does get some time for herself, Ilene enjoys hot yoga and cheering on her alma mater, the UM Terps, as they dribble their way to victory on the court.

After obtaining her degree from Providence College and working in sales for Xerox, Kathryn turned her focus to human resources, holding positions in the digital media and publishing industry with recognized brands such as Bloomberg BNA and Atlantic Media Group. Most recently she was Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist for the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Kathryn uniquely understands the many demands facing in-house recruiters today and aims to be a trusted partner to help them succeed in finding and hiring the region’s most experienced marketing professionals.

If she wasn’t working in recruiting, Kathryn would be a professional organizer, a skill she finds “fun” and “relaxing.” For now, though, she spends her days picking up after her two small boys, corresponding with candidates—and helping DC’s top companies “clean up” in the competition for top talent.

After four years in accounting and finance, Jen was recruited into the role of staffing manager for Robert Half International. As the wife of a naval officer, Jen has traveled extensively — an experience that taught her cultural sensitivity skills, which enable her to connect with clients and candidates from diverse backgrounds and heritages.

While living in Germany, Jen developed and taught a business language course for German corporate executives and managers through inlingua, the international language school. Prior to joining TorchLight, Jen worked with Heidi at McKinley Marketing Partners as a marketing recruiter.

Jen holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration, with a concentration in Accounting and Finance, from Austin Peay State University. She lives in Alexandria, Va., with her husband and two sons.

Being the history lover that she is, the D.C. metro area has been a virtual treasure trove for Jen. When not wandering cobblestone streets or walking the steps of pristine memorials, Jen spends her time boating on the Potomac and cheering on the professional sports teams of Washington, D.C.

A key that sets her apart: she is good at asking questions.

It’s a skill she honed as a journalism student at St. Bonaventure University, where she interviewed subjects and produced weekly news stories for the student-run TV news network. And it’s a skill she puts to work today at TorchLight, as she interviews job seekers to produce the right talent for our clients.

Sammy, a native of the Rochester, New York, area, joins TorchLight after three years at Subject Matter, a communications, advertising and government relations agency. During her tenure, she served as office manager, worked closely with clients to ensure an excellent experience, and oversaw the firm’s internship program.

Having been on both sides of the interview table, she understands that making a quality match is more than just aligning skills—it’s also finding the right “fit.”

Her advice for job seekers: Be patient and know that if one opportunity doesn’t materialize, a better one is just around the corner.

And her recommendation to hiring managers: Be open to someone with different experiences and look for candidates who are eager to learn. Sometimes the best candidates are not necessarily the ones who look best on paper.

When she’s not reading resumes or interviewing candidates, you’ll find Sammy deep in a good book (she counts her mother’s newly published novel among her recent favorites), learning a new language (she’s fluent in English, Spanish and French and is currently learning Vietnamese and Italian) or hitting the golf course. Sammy also is a prolific cook—with a specialty in Asian cuisine, she aspires to be the next contestant on “Master Chef.”

Whether reading recipes or reading resumes, there’s no doubt Sammy has a knack for asking the right questions to ensure a winning result.

Susan started her career in the actuarial practice of Towers Watson – Boston, formerly Towers Perrin, designing and valuing retirement plan alternatives for large companies and non-profits. She then went on to serve as consultant in the Arlington office of Towers Watson, where she primarily focused on defined benefit pension plan administration. After leaving Towers Watson, Susan served as director of compensation and benefits at Atlantic Media Company. More recently, she worked alongside her husband, running the finance and human resource functions of their bathroom remodeling business.

Susan holds a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Colgate University. She lives in Silver Spring, Md., with her husband and young son.

With a toddler to keep up with, “spare time” is a luxury in Susan’s world. However, that doesn’t stop her from dreaming of foreign travel — a passion that was ignited in college when she taught English abroad for two years in Japan and in the former Czechoslovakia. Having grown up in a small town in upstate New York, the experience “opened her eyes to the world” and left Susan with a true passion for travel and learning about other cultures.

Though one day again she’ll be consumed by flight and passport numbers, Susan’s days for now are filled with phone numbers and invoice numbers—whether helping schedule client interviews or keeping TorchLight’s accounting running smoothly.

And that’s expertise we all can count on!