In the summer of 1992, we were a year and a half into our recruiting journey as Ken Leiner Associates (KLA). It was just me and Frank Munero. Frank had started the year before, and already was hitting it hard. I wanted to grow the team, and as fate would have it, I didn’t have to look at all.
I knew Stuart Neuwelt from playing volleyball. One day he stopped by my office looking for advice. He’d been working as an accounting recruiter and wanted a career change. He said he was burnt out on recruiting. I had no ideas for him.
A week later he came back and asked if he could sit in to see what working at KLA was like. Frank and I were skeptical that he’d be a good match, but we said OK. Frank was handling lots of sales opportunities and needed help sourcing candidates. He says he’ll never forget the moment he knew Stuart would work out: “I gave him a list of eight companies and asked him to find all the salespeople who worked in Orlando in each of those companies. Mind you, back in 1992 we had no Internet. That meant Stuart would have to cold-call offices to get names. The next day he came back with a list of names from all eight companies! That was when I realized…this is gonna be good!”
And that was 30 years ago.
It turned out Stuart really enjoyed recruiting for tech sales. He dove right in and has been rockin’ and rollin’ ever since. Clients love him. Candidates love him. And we love him, too. He’s honest. He’s humble. He’s likable. And he’s the hardest working man in the recruiting business. Though living in SoCal since 1998, Stuart still mainly focuses on DC area Federal sales searches. Yet, despite the time difference, he is often the first one on the database in the morning, and always the last one off at night. Some of our clients are amazed when they get super detailed emails from Stuart about his candidates at three-thirty in the morning! But it’s really no surprise to us. As Frank says, “Stuart is dogmatically thorough. He really digs in with hiring managers and candidates to get a lot of info about what’s important on both sides. He manages the process professionally, making sure candidates are well prepared to have a good interview experience and to land an offer. He’s trusted implicitly to always do the right thing.”
How many of you have seen Stuart walking the exhibit hall floors at AFCEA West, AFCEA Indo Pacific, DODIIS, GEOINT and other technology shows? He’s like a kid in a candy store: meeting with clients and candidates, gathering G2, building the business and networking.
On a personal level, he’s really easy to get along with. He keeps things light with a positive attitude and a great self-deprecating sense of humor.
Stuart’s a solid teammate and a trusted friend. I admire him a lot. And it’s a beautiful thing that he’s had such a huge impact on so many people’s lives.
Thank you, Stuart Neuwelt, for a fantastic 30 years and many more to come!
– Ken Leiner
Check out some of the wonderful comments about Stuart made by industry colleagues to this tribute on Ken Leiner’s LinkedIn page.