S3 EP1 - Demystifying Executive Search with Somer Hackley Ambition Out Loud

Women account for over half of all management positions in the U.S., but progress remains slow when it comes to breaking glass ceilings.  As of 2022, women held only 8.8% of Fortune 500 CEO roles.  The black box nature of executive search is certainly not helping.

Somer Hackley is here to change that.  Somer is the Founder and CEO of Distinguished Search, a retained executive search firm. She has been in recruiting for 20 years and placed executives in companies from Fortune 100 to startups.  She is also the author of "Search in Plain Sight: Demystifying Executive Search".

Today, Somer joins us as we pull back the curtains on executive search.

Mentioned in this episode:



Ambition Unboxed Book Club:  www.ambitionunboxed.com

India Aire - "Back to the Middle": https://open.spotify.com/track/0ZM6QtLJAF81PBHlsn5872?si=33ca76a5c36b4cac


LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company - 2022 Women in the Workplace Report: https://leanin.org/women-in-the-workplace

SeekOut - https://www.seekout.com/

US Bureau of Labor Statistics - Table 11: Employed Persons by Detailed Occupation, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethinicity (2022): https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm

Catalyst - Historical list of women CEOs of the Fortune lists: 1972-2023: https://www.catalyst.org/research/historical-list-of-women-ceos-of-the-fortune-lists-1972-2023/ 

 Connect with Somer:



LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisissomer/

Website: https://www.distinguishedsearch.com/


 Community: 
Connect with other ambitious women in our FB Group at: www.facebook.com/groups/ambitionunboxed.