Keva Dine is Your Lifelong #BFFRecruiter
As an experienced Recruiter in the Creative and Marketing industries, The Keva Dine Agency Founder, Keva Dine, has made it her mission to establish relationships that go beyond the transactions of recruiting and talent scouting. During her 25 years of connecting top talent with sought-after organizations and roles, she has played many roles in the lives of those she encounters along the way.
Drawn into Keva’s orbit by her extraordinary drive and pursuit of excellence, people find themselves coming back to her for advice to help get them unstuck or take the next step in their career journeys. One of those people, Michael Sharp, Founder of Standard Black, began as a candidate on her Hot List looking for his dream role. Since then, he has returned to Keva repeatedly to help him build his own business with the top talent she is renowned for placing.
A Keva Dine Hot Lister
Keva and Michael began working together when Michael was a candidate at Chiat Day in NYC, trying to figure out his next big move. At the time, he knew he didn’t want to make just another lateral move. Michael was seeking a role that would enable him to grow as a creative and gain more experience as a leader.
Michael knew that simply applying to LinkedIn job postings would not land him where he needed to be. Instead of going it alone, he sought someone with the expertise and industry connections to help him achieve his goals.
During his search, Michael found a few recruiting agencies that specialized in Creative and Marketing placements, but he didn’t want to get lost in the noise of a large agency. That’s when he discovered KDA and knew it was the perfect fit: A boutique agency where he could get the attention of the most senior recruiters and partner with a trusted professional who understood his career goals.
Michael’s instincts were right. After a short period, he landed a dream role that catapulted him to the next phase of his career.
"When you came along, you didn’t just find me a new job—you found me THE job. That role changed everything. I’ve said it a million times: you set me on the path,” remembered Michael.
That role gave Michael the experience he needed to advance to the next level in his career, agency owner. Forming an agency meant that Michael had to wear many hats and juggle a multitude of responsibilities. He was far too busy to take the time to conduct a talent search on his own. Plus, from his experiences as an agency employee, Michael knew that the key to his success and his greatest asset would be the people he hired to form his creative teams.
“It was chaos, but the good kind. I knew the agency would live or die based on the people I hired, so obviously, I called you," Michael told Keva.
When he considered how to find the right talent to fill his open roles, Michael immediately thought of Keva. He knew how discerning she was from his experience as a candidate with KDA. He also knew that Keva would make him and his agency a priority, helping him hire the people he needed to meet upcoming deadlines.
“You will never meet a more persistent person in your life; she gets the job done every time,” Michael said about Keva.
Michael’s instincts about the importance of hiring the right people were right. As a result of his leadership and a team of the most talented creatives, his agency, Standard Black, won the Small Agency of the Year Award for 2013-2014.
His #BFFRecruiter
Keva and Michael have come full circle from candidate to client. According to Michael, partnering with Keva has helped him achieve his current success. When asked why he keeps returning to Keva and KDA, Michael discussed his trust in Keva, her process, and her ability to deliver results.
“Because you get it. You don’t waste my time with a stack of resumes. You find the people who fit in and push us to improve. You’ve been doing that since day one," Michael stated.
Working with a boutique agency that delivers white-glove service and top talent gives Michael the freedom to focus on building his agency and delivering high-quality projects to his clients without worrying about filling open roles.
From Keva’s perspective, working with Michael, from candidate to client, confirms what she has always known about the recruiting industry: relationships matter.
“Relationships matter, talent matters, and keeping it real is the secret sauce. Michael gets it - and that’s why we keep working together,” Keva said.
