Shannon Smedstad

Managing Director, Experience
Allentown, PA, USA
Shannon is Managing Director of the Experience practice at exaqueo with over two decades of talent acquisition, employee communications, and employer brand experience. At exaqueo, she’s led the employer brand engagements for Zillow, Spectrum, Danone, Kempinski Hotels, Red Wing Shoe Company, a top 10 global pharma, one of the world’s premier entertainment companies, and a world-class finance organization. Our clients appreciate her effective communication, planful approach, collaborative style, and deep expertise.
Get to Know Shannon

For over two decades, I've dedicated my career to talent acquisition and employer brand. I am fascinated by the world of work and what drives people. When it comes to work, I have two mantras, “Plan your work and work your plan,” and ”work hard and be nice to people.” This helps me stay focused and deliver for my clients and team, which I find incredibly motivating.

There’s a lot of talk about finding your purpose at work and in life. Perhaps I’m one of the lucky ones because I believe I have.

Inside of work I’m driven to help clients understand and communicate who they are in order to attract the type of people who will truly thrive there. What revs my engine most are: focus groups and learning how employees think and feel about work, building employer brand strategies, developing activation plans, and end-to-end career site builds.  

Outside of work, I enjoy time with my husband, our two daughters, and a dog named Taco. Not only do I have two amazing daughters, I’m also a leader for their Girl Scout troop. Helping to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place is where I’m meant to be.

Education

BA, Speech Communication
Shippensburg University

‍‍Certificate, Digital Marketing
Cornell University

Industry Experience

CEB (now Gartner), Global Employment Brand

GEICO, Employer Brand and Social Recruiting

GEICO, Campus Recruitment 

Association of Financial Professionals, Career Services 

Key Staffing Solutions, Agency Recruiter

My First Paycheck

Brandywine Meadows Campground; I was 14 and walked to and from work