Building Organizations for the Next Era of Work

Executive Advisor | Talent Strategy | Transformation & Change Agent

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For over twenty years, I’ve been a trusted advisor to industry-defining companies. I partner with CEOs, Founders, Investors, and HR leaders to tackle complex talent challenges and build high-impact people strategies and talent pipelines that fuel growth.

I design transformative recruiting and talent programs for ambitious companies.

/about

Fruitist

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NPR

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Ticketmaster

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Magento

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SpaceX

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Hootsuite

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Plaid

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Duo Security

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Remitly

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Guild Education

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Vimeo

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Typeform

Fruitist 〰️ NPR 〰️ Ticketmaster 〰️ Magento 〰️ SpaceX 〰️ Hootsuite 〰️ Plaid 〰️ Duo Security 〰️ Remitly 〰️ Guild Education 〰️ Vimeo 〰️ Typeform

/clients

/testimonials

  • Black and white photo of a smiling bald man with light-colored eyes, wearing a dark long-sleeve shirt, sitting at a round table with his arms crossed, against a plain background.

    “Redefining HR has the potential to transform the future of HR. Lars Schmidt is a beacon of light, and his bold vision may well elevate a long marginalized field into the force of good that it deserves to be.”

    Adam Grant - - New York Times bestselling author and host of the TED podcast, WorkLife

  • A smiling man with dark hair wearing a black blazer and gray t-shirt outdoors with green trees and sunlight in the background.

    “Lars literally changes the game wherever he goes. He is living the future of recruiting. He leads as a business executive who has a superpower in recruiting. He’s plugged into the best talent networks in the world and puts his genius to work pairing the company to the best person for the job.”

    Scott Domann - Fruitist Chief People Officer, Investor

  • Portrait of a middle-aged man wearing glasses, a white button-up shirt with rolled-up sleeves, blue jeans, and a brown belt, standing with arms crossed against a plain light background.

    "Lars' ability to see clearly the best ways to make human resources a superpower within your organization is his superpower. He brings heart-centered sensibility together with experienced-drawn insights to unlock the very best of organizations: their people."

    Jerry Colonna - CEO, reboot.io

  • A woman with long blonde hair, smiling and wearing a blue blazer, sitting on a green patterned sofa in a room with brick and green walls.

    “The thing I love most about Lars in his unique ability to listen, synthesize, and then articulate - very simply - some of the most interesting, forward-thinking trends in the industry."

    Katelin Holloway - 776, Founding Partner

  • A woman in a black dress standing outdoors in a park with green trees in the background, smiling at the camera.

    “Lars has been a standout partner for LinkedIn’s Talent Connect events year after year, consistently ranking among our top-rated speakers. His ability to engage, inform, and energize an audience is unmatched. I couldn’t recommend Lars more highly - he is a true expert at delivering world class keynotes, emceeing, panel moderation, and beyond!”

    Jen Gronski - LinkedIn Influence & Analyst Relations Lead

  • A woman with long black hair, wearing a striped shirt, looking to the side against a plain background.

    "Lars is the compassionate People & Culture crusader of our time. What he shares in his "next" practices is truly a gift to the industry."

    AJ Thomas - Founder & General Partner, Good Trouble Ventures

  • A woman with dark hair and bangs smiling in an indoor setting with plants in the background.

    "Lars is a gifted storyteller and harnesses his own unique voice and those of many other people leaders to paint a picture of what great HR can be."

    Katarina Berg - On, CHRO

  • A woman with shoulder-length wavy brown hair smiling, wearing a black sleeveless top and a delicate necklace, standing against a teal background.

    "The field of HR is evolving dramatically and it's never been more important to be on the front end of the curve. Lars pulls together some of the greatest minds in the industry to pose the questions we should all be asking ourselves of what it means to be great at People."

    Maia Josebachvili - Stripe, Chief Revenue Officer of AI

/skills

    • Mergers & Acquisitions

    • HR Transformation

    • Global Talent Strategy

    • Internal Communications

    • Executive Recruiting

    • Digital Talent Strategy

    • Founder Amplify Talent

    • Cofounded HR Open Source (non-profit)

    • Founded and led Amplify Talent Community

    • Launched and scaled Redefining Work podcast

    • Led global people, recruiting, and talent teams across companies from 50-2,500 employees

    • Led corporate teams, including recruiting, employee experience, performance, talent development, and internal communications

    • Former IESE School of Founders Guest Instructor

    • Created one of the first culture recruiting hashtags (#NPRLife)

    • Led first global use of Periscope for recruiting

    • Created industry first AI employer brand original series - The Quest

    • Led NPR's digital talent transformation

    • Designed first employer brand playbooks for NPR, SpaceX, Hootsuite, Duo Security, Calix, Plaid

    • Host, Redefining Work Podcast (part of the LinkedIn Podcast Network)

    • Fast Company contributor since 2017

    • Author, Redefining HR (Kogan Page) and Employer Branding for Dummies (Wiley)

    • Created a globally trending open-source resource to help business navigate the onset of Covid.

    • Verified social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn

    • Built global recruiting engine from zero to one for Fruitist, resulting in $1M+ annual savings

    • Led the transformation of NPR’s talent strategy

    • Built a global recruitng team for Ticketmaster

    • Built employer brand playbooks for SpaceX, Hootsuite, Plaid, Cracker Barrel

  • Hired high-impact executive across a broad range of industries, countries, and roles.

/experience

Fruitist

2024 - Present

Vice President, Talent Acquisition & Innovation

Fruitist is on a mission to inspire healthy snacking as a disruptor in the superfruit space. I lead our global recruiting & talent function, ensuring we hire with speed, precision, and purpose. From talent technology selection and optimization to the design of structured hiring frameworks, we're creating recruiting systems to drive talent density across our global operations.

Amplify Talent

2013 - 2024

Founder & CEO

As Founder and CEO of Amplify Talent, I partned with industry-shaping companies to redefine how they attract, engage, and retain top talent. Through strategic advisory, consulting, and executive search services, I help organizations align their talent strategies with business goals to unlock growth and achieve lasting impact.

NPR

2011 - 2013

Senior Director, Talent Acquisition & Innovation

In this turnaround role, I was brought in to spearhead the transformation of NPR’s talent acquisition function as part of a comprehensive HR organizational rebuilding initiative. Provided strategic leadership to align talent acquisition efforts with NPR’s mission and values, transitioning from a reactive, job-posting-centric model to a progressive, proactive approach. This included leveraging social media, recruitment marketing, brand advocacy, and employer branding to attract top talent.

Magento

2010 - 2011

Responsible for full life-cycle recruiting for a broad range of technical and corporate roles and developing sustainable talent acquisition, development, and branding strategies and procedures. Helped scale the team from 30 to 100+ over that time, helping position Magento for an acquisition by eBay.

Head of Recruiting (Contract)

Ticketmaster

2003 - 2010

Vice President, Human Resources

Over seven years at Ticketmaster, I held leadership roles spanning global recruiting, employee experience, performance management, and internal communications. Key achievements included spearheading the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger, designing and executing the internal recruiting strategy for the Beijing Olympics, and managing multiple M&A integrations to drive organizational growth.

Intersperse

2001 - 2003

Head of Recruiting (Contract)

Recruited by the CTO to design and implement a recruiting strategy aligned with a new business model following the company’s second round of funding from Kleiner Perkins. Successfully hired over 40 technical employees within 18 months, driving rapid organizational growth.

Pencom Systems

1998 - 2001

Managed account relationships and technical recruiting for prominent Southern California clients, including Geocities, IdeaLabs, Goto.com, eToys, and Netzero, delivering tailored talent solutions to drive business success.

Technical Recruiting

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