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Latest Insights

Michelle Santiago-Fuller – Dir of Sales @ Paramount Hotels

Our Herd Freed Hartz executive search team was honored to partner with Paramount Hotels on a retained executive search to find their new Director of Sales – Hilton SeaTac.

Paramount Hotels is an independent, family-owned boutique hotel group with properties in Seattle, Portland, and Maui. With legacy properties in prime downtown locations, Paramount delivers timeless service and amenities with a modern, artful boutique twist. 

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25 Strategic Interview Questions To Ask Candidates

With our firm having a front-row seat to thousands of executive interviews across industries, company stages, and economic cycles has taught us one thing: the best interview questions don’t feel like tests. They feel like conversations that unlock something real, something a polished résumé simply can’t show you.

So to mark our 25th anniversary this year, we asked our executive recruiting team to compile our favorite 25 interview questions we have found most insightful.

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Mark Sonstein – CIO @ Chugach Electric

Chugach Electric Association, Inc. is Alaska’s largest electric utility, proudly serving more than 90,000 members across Anchorage and northern Kenai Peninsula. As a member-owned cooperative, Chugach Electric is deeply rooted in the communities it serves and committed to delivering safe, reliable, and affordable power while advancing a cleaner and more resilient energy future.

Read More Mark Sonstein – CIO @ Chugach Electric

Marty Pearson – SVP, IT Operations & Infrastructure @ NW Administrators

Our Herd Freed Hartz executive search team was honored to partner with Northwest Administrators on a retained executive search to find their new SVP, IT Operations & Infrastructure in Seattle. Since 1958, Northwest Administrators Inc. has been a trusted third-party administrator with a long-standing reputation for delivering accurate, compliant, and member-focused benefit administration services.

Read More Marty Pearson – SVP, IT Operations & Infrastructure @ NW Administrators

March Madness Lessons for Executive Hiring: Why the Best Teams Win (Not Just the Flashiest Stars)

After more than two decades in broadcasting, I can’t help but still view the tournament through that lens: the storytelling, the preparation behind each performance, the small moments that reveal something bigger about a team. But now, as an executive recruiter, I also see it through a second lens—one that’s focused on how people perform, how teams are constructed, and what ultimately drives success over time.

Read More March Madness Lessons for Executive Hiring: Why the Best Teams Win (Not Just the Flashiest Stars)

Alaska Executive Search Insight

In our experience filling many CEO, CFO, Executive Director and executive level searches for Alaska based organizations, we’ve learned a winning formula for developing a winning partnership.

There is a moment nearly every leader experiences when they begin working in Alaska—a moment when the landscape, the culture, and the responsibility of this place reset their sense of what leadership means.

Read More Alaska Executive Search Insight

CEOWORLD Names Herd Freed Hartz #1 Retained Executive Search Firm in the Northwest for 2025

For the second consecutive year, Herd Freed Hartz is proud to announce our recognition as one of America’s premier executive search firms—once again securing the #1 position in the Northwest and #39 globally on CEOWORLD Magazine’s esteemed Top 100 Executive Search Firms and Consultants Globally for 2025.

Read More CEOWORLD Names Herd Freed Hartz #1 Retained Executive Search Firm in the Northwest for 2025