Stronger Together:
An Interview with Ursula Williams, President of Staffing Industry Analysts
The newest Staffing Industry Analysts President, Ursula Williams, is passionate about making the workforce solutions industry better than ever before. Appointed to the role in 2024 with over 25 years of industry experience, Williams is determined as the first female President of SIA to create opportunities and uplift those around her with a culture of abundance. Williams is also the co-author of “Together We Rise”, a collection of stories from powerful women in the the staffing industry about seizing opportunities and overcoming adversity.
We sat down with Williams to talk about how she got where she is, what culture means to her, and what legacy she would like to leave behind.
"The thing I want most is for the next generation of leaders to achieve everything we did, but sooner!"
On her early career:
"Right out of college, I got a job with Adia, the precursor of Adecco. It was the coolest job I had ever heard of! We got to help people find a job and help companies find people – all while making money and wearing beautiful clothes. I was hooked. I had a wonderful early career. I started in a field office and then got recruited to the US headquarters. I was in marketing at the time and sat right across from Barry Asin (the previous President of SIA)."
On taking a gamble with something new:
"There were a group of people there who started their own financing and accounting business. I didn’t want to leave but I couldn’t pass up such a wonderful opportunity. I went and it was the best thing I could have done. I worked in every brand position, every corporate position – heck, I even ran IT at one point! If you understand business, you can do anything. And I was fortunate to have examples there of very powerful women leaders who believed in me, and believed in everybody.
That company was acquired several times, and I started working on large strategic and international accounts as the most senior executive. And one day, I ran into Barry again.
On the lure of SIA:
"On the staffing side, I had always loved SIA. I was a client, I attended their events. I decided that if I ever left the actual industry, that’s where I would go. And when Barry approached me, I knew it was a natural progression. I came to SIA to grow it and take it to the next level. Over my years in the industry, I had seen staffing evolve into something different. We were the cool kids now, woven into the fabric of Fortune 500 companies. It was more prevalent, understood, and strategic than ever before. At SIA, I knew we had the opportunity to make the industry even stronger with excellent research, content, webinars, certification, training, events, and so much more. We now have a full supply chain and a complex ecosystem of members, ranging from large enterprise corporations to staffing companies of all sizes to various suppliers to the industry. And being owned by Crain’s Communications means an opportunity to work for highly established and regarded media company. It ticked all the boxes for me. And in the years I have been here, we have accomplished remarkable things."
On what makes her tick:
"I love business, I love growing businesses, I love sales. It thrills me to be providing solutions, seeing people grow internally and delivering the best things we can to our customers. But what makes me really tick is watching people succeed. I’m an extrovert, I love being around people. And at SIA, we have so many opportunities to do that. Doing webinars, doing research, doing conferences, doing membership. It’s our virtuous cycle."
On the importance of culture at SIA
"Company culture is everything. I believe that as a person and as a leader. At SIA, we now work fully remote. While we have an office in Mountain View, rarely are we there together. Company culture is always important, but in a remote situation, it’s even more so! I’m constantly thinking about it. Regardless of what you do – whether research or editorial or otherwise – culture drives alignment across the organization and our commitment to each other. We to tend hire a certain type of person here. We’re still a small company, so to work here you have to be somewhat scrappy and tolerate a learning curve. The fast growth company mentality is baked into our culture. How we show up, how we treat others, our credibility – it’s all part of it. And while we work really hard, we also have a lot of fun. In March, almost 50 of us came together for Executive Forum and we had a blast together. "
On legacy and impact:
"It’s extremely important to me to create a legacy at SIA. The organization is 35 years old, and I’m the 4th president in all that time. I’m also the first woman in the role. The thing I want most is for the next generation of leaders to achieve everything we did, but sooner! We are a business, of course revenue goals are important, but more importantly, what’s our purpose? Why do we exist? Our mission is to inform, connect and elevate the workforce ecosystems. And we’re just getting started. Externally, the way people are choosing to work is different than it was. If we can support people and be future forward and understand where things are going, and do things more efficiently and effectively – to help grow businesses and empower them with knowledge – now that’s a powerful legacy."
"Historically for women, it was the mindset of ‘there’s one spot and I have to get it’. That has to go away. While competition still exists, you will only be stronger together."
On “Together We Rise” and the Lady Leaders Book Club:
"The Lady Leaders Book Club started in the pandemic. In March 2020, if you recall, SIA had just cancelled Executive Forum. At the conference, a group of us were planning to get together to celebrate the release of Joyce Russell’s book, Put a Cherry on Top. Leslie Vickrey suggested we get a Zoom instead. I almost didn’t go! Things were crazy at the time, we were so stretched thin and staffing companies needed us. But I made the time and a big group of us got together. It was so great that we decided to start a book club and talk to inspiring authors. Well, then some of the authors starting asking us – what’s your story? Why haven’t you written a book? 15 of us showed up for a meeting to discuss. Once we started talking about it, it was clear we had to do it. We were worried that the pandemic would put women in leadership even more behind, because often the burdens at home fall to us. We thought that by sharing our stories, maybe it would resonate with someone and inspire them to overcome a challenge or stay the course for leadership. And that’s how “Together We Rise” was born. We were told a book of that type might sell 600-700 copies. To date, we are at over 5,000 sales and have had over 100 speaking engagements on the topic. "
On women supporting women:
"I’m a big believer in that everybody needs to support everybody. We all work. We spend so many hours at work. Anything we can do to make it easier and more achievable and allow for progress is essential. We named the book “Together We Rise” in part to promote an abundance mentality. Just because you are rising doesn’t mean that I can’t rise too. There’s room for everybody. Historically for women, it was the mindset of ‘there’s one spot and I have to get it’. That has to go away. While competition still exists, you will only be stronger together. You can both succeed. One thing that really touches my heart is that I have heard from many people that the book has inspired them to be more supportive or others, that it led to personal growth. That’s the kind of impact that matters."