Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Select Family of Staffing Companies

As my wife, Shannon and I have been raising our children, one of my favorite questions from the kids is, “Hey Dad, what do you do?” It has been especially fun to get the question when they were in first or second grade. I smile and tell them, “I’m an entrepreneur.”

They always look at me funny. Then I ask them to get a piece of paper. I spell it for them. Then we practice pronouncing it several times so they can repeat it for their teacher with a straight face. And then I explain to them that an entrepreneur is someone who “makes it happen.” I go on to share that I love going to work each day because I get to work hard to “try and make it happen.”

Gratefully, back in 1987, my father-in-law, Fred Paulson, and my sister-in-law Trishna Paulson gave me an opportunity to “make it happen” for Select by opening our third office in Thousand Oaks, California. Although as a company we have encountered our fair share of defeats, close calls, and setbacks, through the years, I’ve had the privilege of joining with many associates, colleagues, peers, and leaders to “make it happen” in many markets so that we now have over 400 offices across the United States.

It’s been a remarkable, thrill-filled journey.

Fortunately, my parents, David and Verla Sorensen, invested heavily to help me secure many of the skill sets required to be competitive in our rigorous American economy. With their financial and emotional support, I was able to attend Brigham Young University, where I secured a degree in Accounting (1983). I was also able to serve a mission for our church to Tokyo, Japan (1979-1981). Upon my return, my parents were instrumental in introducing me to my future wife, Shannon Paulson. Fortunately, she married me on August 18, 1982. With our parents’ continuing support, we completed college together with Shannon earning her Associate's degree in French and Bachelor’s degree in Communications (1983).

With a strong referral from one of my father’s business associates, I landed a job as an entry-level accountant for Arthur Andersen in downtown Los Angeles. After a brief stint there, Shannon and I and our new baby moved to Chicago, where I was able to secure a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Chicago with an emphasis on Finance (1986). While in business school, I secured a very good job working as a Venture Capital Analyst for Golder Thoma Cressey. This was a great learning experience, and it gave me a great frame of reference for much of the subsequent growth through acquisition we’ve enjoyed at Select.

Following business school, I spent some time as a loan officer for Mark Twain Bank in St. Louis, Missouri. This was also a great experience where I was further trained in credit analysis and financial credit management.

This variety of wonderful education and work experiences prepared me well to help engineer the operational standards, organic growth, dynamic sales, and highly acquisitive nature of Select. Together with many of our “best in class” staffing industry professionals, we have been able to develop the fastest-growing nationwide staffing company. Select presently has more than $1.6 billion in sales with over 400 offices throughout the country.

My background in Japan helped me learn the importance of accountability for daily activity—in the context of enormous independence. These philosophies have allowed us to recruit the most talented management staff and allow them the opportunity to take personal ownership of their respective endeavors and responsibilities. By extending managerial empowerment and coupling it with individual responsibility, we have been able to deliver a rich history of double-digit growth and significant year-over-year increases in revenue and EBITDA.

Our overall goal is always to dominate every market in which Select participates.

Along the way, my background in banking and finance has been helpful as we have acquired more than 70 companies, expanding Select’s footprint to key regional staffing hubs for nationwide coverage. The depth of my sales and operational teams within these regions and my commitment to rapid and methodical integration, as well as a strong investment in technology systems, have allowed the Select companies to quickly leverage commonalities while pursing vertical marketing initiatives, from administrative, IT, and financial staffing to even fashion industry staffing.

Although it’s a little hard to explain to my young children as they head off to school, the continuous deal-making, strong investor financing, and clear understanding of how best to bring together organizations and aggregate revenue make every day an adventure!

I’m grateful I was able to start in the staffing industry as a Branch Manager. And I’m grateful that with the support of Fred and Trishna I was able to become a Regional Manager at Select, and then to be appointed President in 1995. During those years, we worked hard to establish a strong sales culture and decentralized operational accountability.

In 1999, Shannon and I became the controlling shareholders through a leveraged recapitalization that facilitated the retirement of Select’s founders. Through that process, I now serve as Select’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

I have now been married for more than 26 years to the love of my life, Shannon Jane Paulson. Together, we are the proud parents of eight wonderful children.

My other interests include snowboarding (10 days a year, I hope!) and ranching… with my true alter ego being “cowboy” through ownership with my father and mother and family of a significant cow/calf and horse ranching operation.