Sharee Rico
GTM, G&A and ANZ, UKG
“Your team needs psychological safety, honesty, and trust. Be open. Be as transparent as you can. And remember, you hired adults who know how to do their jobs. Trust them.”
Sharee Rico has been named to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, the annual award recognizing up to 100 leaders in each category of talent acquisition. Honorees are nominated by peers or found by committees that look for excellent work wherever it happens, then chosen for the depth of their craft and their impact on hiring. This is Sharee's story.
Sharee Rico did not plan on a career in recruiting. She was pulled into it when her company suddenly needed to hire dozens of people fast, and the aptitude she discovered under that pressure has shaped everything since.
Right out of high school, Rico went to work at a call center, where she stayed for six years. There was no recruiting team at the time, and she was working as a front desk administrator when leadership landed a major new client and urgently needed to hire 50 to 75 employees. Her VP gave her a simple directive: “I don’t care what you do, you need to get people.”
So she did. Rico promoted openings on the radio, posted on Facebook, reached out to friends, and used every channel she could think of. After she successfully hired the entire group, leadership asked whether she wanted to become the company’s first recruiter. “I didn’t even really know what that meant,” she says. “But it came with a pay raise, so I said yes.” That unexpected opportunity launched her recruiting career.
Learning the Craft
Having discovered she genuinely enjoyed the work, Rico moved into a recruiting coordinator role at Harbor Freight’s corporate office in Calabasas. Technically it was a step back in title, but she considers it a crucial learning phase. Because she had been “thrown into” recruiting initially, the coordinator seat gave her a chance to understand the coordination side of talent acquisition, from scheduling and logistics to process, and it left her with a far more complete foundation.
About 10 months later, she relocated back home and joined Mindbody as a Customer Success Recruiter. She spent four years there and experienced her first IPO, a milestone that shaped her perspective on high-growth environments and the kind of company where she does her best work.
Finding Her Niche in High-Growth Companies
After having her first child, Rico began looking for more flexibility and her next challenge. She joined Procore as a Customer Success Recruiter and stayed for nearly nine years, in what became a defining chapter of her career. Early on she moved from recruiting into talent acquisition enablement, focusing on systems and processes, territory she naturally gravitated toward as a self-described “systems and process person.”
Still, she missed the direct impact of recruiting. After discussing it with leadership, she stepped into a high-volume Recruiting Manager role, overseeing hiring for BDRs, SMB AEs, Customer Success, and other fast-scaling functions. Over time she grew into the Global Director of Go-to-Market and G&A Recruiting, leading hiring efforts across regions without regional leadership layers. During her tenure, she went through her second IPO in 2021.
“I realized I really love the build phase,” Rico says. “The energy, the growth, the problem-solving. Once companies get very corporate and layered, that’s not where I thrive most.”
A New Chapter at UKG
That self-awareness led her to UKG, where she joined as Director of Go-to-Market & G&A Recruiting for ANZ in late 2025. UKG is a large organization, but what drew her was the chance to help build and refine structure following major company integrations. “There’s still so much growth and building that needs to happen,” she explains. “That’s the part that really motivates me.”
She currently leads a team of about 16, including two managers, within a broader TA organization of roughly 80 recruiters. Her attention right now goes to building stronger systems and processes: helping the organization better leverage its tools, refine workflows, and create more structure, not for the sake of rigidity but so recruiters can work more effectively.
“I love the build phase we’re in right now,” she says. “Even in a big company, there’s still so much opportunity to improve how we operate.”
How Talent Leadership Is Evolving
When the conversation turns to AI, Rico sees more evolution than revolution, at least for now. “I think there’s still a lot of learning happening,” she says. “No one fully understands everything AI can do yet.”
She sees immediate value in using AI for efficiency, whether that means drafting outreach messages or automating repetitive tasks. She is equally clear that technology cannot be allowed to replace the human side of recruiting. “You can’t automate connection,” she says. “Candidates remember when someone takes the time to update them, give feedback, and really engage with them. That human touch is still critical.”
For Rico, the future of recruiting lies in that balance: using AI to save time while doubling down on relationship-building and candidate experience.
Advice for Talent Leaders in 2026
Rico’s advice for other talent leaders is grounded in mindset and leadership presence. “Control the controllables,” she says. “There’s so much happening in the market that we can’t influence, hiring slowdowns, budget shifts, organizational changes.” What leaders can influence, she argues, is how they show up for their teams.
“Your team needs psychological safety, honesty, and trust. Be open. Be as transparent as you can. And remember, you hired adults who know how to do their jobs. Trust them.” By leading with vulnerability, clarity, and consistency, she believes talent leaders can build resilient, high-performing teams no matter what the market brings.
The Talent 100 exists to celebrate the people shaping the future of how the world hires, and few embody that better than Sharee. We are honored to welcome Sharee Rico to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, and grateful for the experience, perspective, and craft they bring to this community. Congratulations, Sharee. Welcome to the Talent 100.
About the Talent 100
The Talent 100 is an annual list spotlighting the leaders who push HR and talent acquisition forward, organized by Noon AI. Honorees are selected through peer nominations and independent selection committees. Selection is entirely merit-based, with no fees or pay-to-play requirements.
