Ref Around the Edges

Ref Around the Edges

At RefAssured, we believe that software should improve people's lives, and that the purpose of a platform is to actually solve a problem worth solving. That’s why we started the company and why we’re laser focused on the staffing industry, with its highly complex and nuanced operating models and workflows, and its overwhelming warmth, humanity, and dedication to effecting positive change on people. Everyone on the RefAssured team has spent at least a decade in staffing technology – not just technology – and we care about convening conversations that will help move the industry forward. We want to live up to our reputation as partners to our customers, first and foremost. Ergo, meet our podcast, "Ref Around the Edges," in which we interview our favorite leaders in staffing to help bring light to complicated and serious challenges facing the industry we all love. The podcast itself is light-hearted and the conversations warm and casual, but the topics are meaty. We want our listeners to feel better equipped to navigate uncertainty, capitalize on opportunities, logically process what’s happening in broader markets, and take action as needed. That's why the hosts are RefAssured's Vinda Souza and Tommy Semereaux, two industry veterans with 30 years of staffing industry experience between them and deep backgrounds in product design and go-to-market.

  1. Episode 14 - Ursula Williams - "Suffice It to SIA"

    10/20/2025

    Episode 14 - Ursula Williams - "Suffice It to SIA"

    A staffing industry stalwart with decades of experience leading some of the largest enterprise staffing agencies in the world - from Adecco to Randstad – Ursula has taken her strategic instincts, people insights, leadership acumen, and pure unbridled positivity into a ten-year journey at SIA (formerly Staffing Industry Analysts). Starting as SVP of Global Strategy and Marketing and now, two years into her tenure as CEO, Ursula has led SIA to unprecedented heights. Tommy and Vinda spend almost an hour catching up with Ursula on all sorts of meaty topics, from: -- What separates the staffing firms growing amid macro uncertainty from those receding (hint, it's about leadership, agility, and culture) -- How Ursula scaled SIA by transforming not just the leadership team and org structure but also value delivery -- What AI solutions Ursula would roll out if she were starting up a staffing firm in this day and age -- The rampant epidemic of candidate fraud and how automated solutions (like those from RefAssured) can address this crisis as well as improve compliance and redeployment -- How staffing as an industry will continue to evolve and how businesses can prioritize their strengths, their tech stacks, and their swim lanes to stay competitive -- What it means to respect human relationships in staffing and to build things that will truly delight customers and be easy for them to adopt, not just throwing spaghetti against a wall

    52 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

At RefAssured, we believe that software should improve people's lives, and that the purpose of a platform is to actually solve a problem worth solving. That’s why we started the company and why we’re laser focused on the staffing industry, with its highly complex and nuanced operating models and workflows, and its overwhelming warmth, humanity, and dedication to effecting positive change on people. Everyone on the RefAssured team has spent at least a decade in staffing technology – not just technology – and we care about convening conversations that will help move the industry forward. We want to live up to our reputation as partners to our customers, first and foremost. Ergo, meet our podcast, "Ref Around the Edges," in which we interview our favorite leaders in staffing to help bring light to complicated and serious challenges facing the industry we all love. The podcast itself is light-hearted and the conversations warm and casual, but the topics are meaty. We want our listeners to feel better equipped to navigate uncertainty, capitalize on opportunities, logically process what’s happening in broader markets, and take action as needed. That's why the hosts are RefAssured's Vinda Souza and Tommy Semereaux, two industry veterans with 30 years of staffing industry experience between them and deep backgrounds in product design and go-to-market.