It’s not often that we find someone who grew up in the weeds of the staffing industry, but current President and CEO at Broadleaf Results, Lynne Marie Finn, spent her childhood with a front-row seat at her father’s technical staffing company, founded in the late 1950s. But despite her mother’s involvement in getting the company off the ground, Lynne had no interest in joining the newly formed family business at a young age. Instead, she focused on her passion for the performing arts, studying ballet, modern dance, and acting. 

Later, after she came to terms with the uncertain odds of making it as a professional dancer, her father gave her two suggestions for her next career move: a doctor or a lawyer! She chose the latter, making her mark in college and completing her legal degree with several job offers in big cities like New York and DC. However, her strong family ties pulled her back to her roots in Buffalo, where she landed a litigation job at a large law firm.

Fast forward to six years after completing law school and Lynne finally decided to join the family business as legal counsel. Together, with her parents and brother, the family took a small company with offices in eight cities and grew it to a group of five companies, more than tenfold the original size. Broadleaf Results is the only certified woman-owned company that provides outsourced recruitment services and talent management in the managed service space. 

As the conversation continues, Lynne and Leslie also discuss overcoming confidence challenges in leadership, what we can do to better support women-owned businesses, and how mentoring can strengthen an open mind. We hope you enjoy this episode.