Kingery & Associates

Recruiting and Placement

Teresa Kingery Principal	Laila H. Sotoodeh Senior Recruiter	Laura Brinton Recruiter
With 20+ years of progressive business and sales leadership in the Nashville market, Teresa attributes her drive and success to the people she meets. She not only meets them, but she naturally connects them to an idea, a resource, or business professional to gain knowledge or further their desires. She is known as Nashville's ‘Networker Extraordinaire'. Teresa's sales, marketing and business development acumen evolved with such stellar Fortune 500 companies as Hyatt Corporation, Loews Vanderbilt Plaza, Kraft, Xerox, and Club Corporation (Nashville City Club). Her experience provides keen insight into a variety of industries, as well as an intuitive understanding of their staffing and management needs. Bringing people together is Teresa's forte’. She is a market leader in recruiting and placement, having earned distinction as "Top-Producing Recruiter of the Month" for a Nashville-based recruiting firm dozens of times. Teresa was the visionary and founding principal of Nashville's successful "Third Thursday" network of seasoned sales professionals and business owners. Teresa is also staunchly committed to giving back to the community. She has served as a Board member of Friends of Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, as well as on committees of American Heart Association, Nashville Red Cross, Cystic Fibrosis and Watkins Institute. She has given tirelessly to organizations such as Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Junior Chamber of Commerce and Middle Tennessee Boy Scouts of America. Teresa attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, earning both a Bachelors of Arts in Communications and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, with a minor emphasis in Spanish. Prior to that, she earned an Associate of Arts in Fashion Merchandising from Bauder College in Miami, Florida, and was awarded "Outstanding in the Field of Merchandising".	Laila Sotoodeh came to Kingery and Associates from Monterey California, with over 15 years of outstanding experience in customer service, sales and human resources. Her background ranges from Travel Agent to most recently Director of Human Resources for Hyatt Vacation Club, where she was also part of a spirited sales team. While she was in the role of human resources, Laila managed employee relations, recruitment and a staff. During her sales career with Hyatt in Carmel California, and later promoted to San Antonio Texas, both of her sales teams were ranked #1 nationally for annual sales, and were continually in the top 3. As a Travel Agent, she was voted "Agent of the Year" and was also an active member of the Chamber of Commerce’s. Laila is a self-motivated and decisive professional. Whether client or candidate, you will notice Laila's determination to achieve excellence is complemented by her level of integrity in all of her business relationships. Her strengths lies in recognizing and solving problems, allowing her to thrive in the world of recruitment. Throughout Laila’s professional career, she has always been active in the volunteer community. Whether it was fund raising for the United Way, passing out water at the Nashville Country Music Marathon or volunteering for the Humane Society, she enjoys each experience and likes working with others on the volunteer committees. Laila studied Art at the University of Reno, in Reno Nevada.	Laura Brinton comes to Kingery & Associates with 22 years experience in sales, marketing, human resources and business management. A native Nashvillian, Laura brings a unique perspective to our team with her passion for matching people with perfect opportunities. Customer satisfaction is evident in the care she takes with her candidates and her clients. Laura honed her treasured sales and marketing skills while she was Major Gifts Officer for the American Red Cross during hurricanes Katrina and the Tsunami. While with Krystal®, as Director of Marketing and Director of Human Resources, Laura successfully recruited, hired, and managed over 150 staff, including management for locations in Louisiana and Texas. Known for her smiling personality and as the gregarious person who has “never met a stranger”, Laura is just a pleasure with whom to work. She is a success driven individual who works diligently to fulfill each client’s needs by asking detailed questions and by providing the special customer service every client deserves. Laura has been active in Nashville’s volunteer community by serving on the Board of the Nashville Area Junior Chamber of Commerce as well as United Way of Nashville’s Solutions Allocations and Planning Committee. She is a graduate of Young Leaders of Nashville Class of ‘97. In addition, she has received several awards from the Nashville Area Junior Chamber of Commerce, Houston Children’s Charities, MDA of Lafayette, and LifeShare Blood Centers of Lake Charles, and she has served over 26 other organizations with fundraising and special event planning. Laura received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art with a concentration in sculpture from Transylvania University in Lexington, KY. She additionally holds a Tennessee Real Estate License.