Spotlight: Kim Shapiro on ‘finding her people’ in the search industry

When Kim Shapiro first started recruiting, she was hesitant to even make a cold call. But after shadowing peers and seeing the impact just one recruiter can have on a person’s life and career, she couldn’t wait to pick up the phone.

Fast forward 20 years and Shapiro has run several recruiting outfits, the latest of which being Aris Amplify.

Charles Aris launched Aris Amplify in 2025 to serve as a contingency division separate from its retained executive search brand, and Kim joined early in the process to oversee its launch and serve as executive director.

Finding her place in corporate America

Kim grew up in the South and Midwest and began her college journey at Iowa State, completing her bachelor’s and master’s at East Texas A&M. She attended eight different schools before she turned 18 due to her father’s career.

When she was kickstarting her professional career in Dallas as a twenty-something professional, she worked as an executive assistant and moved into the accounting profession, starting as a fixed asset accountant for Transamerica Real Estate tax service.

She immediately knew she had found her place in corporate America because she loved being around well-spoken, competitive professionals—an environment she thrived in. She switched companies a few times but stayed in accounting throughout her twenties.

Eventually, in a particularly challenging role managing the accounting department for a jewelry business, she decided she no longer wanted to be an accountant. She tried to be a stay-at-home mom with her young children, but that lasted exactly three days.

While speaking with a recruiter at Robert Half, they offered her a job to join their team. Recruiting had never been on her radar, but she shadowed for a day and realized it was the perfect fit for her personality.

Becoming a recruiting leader

Kim joined the recruiting field relatively late. She was 32, and her peers were in their mid-twenties. Shortly after joining, the 2008 recession hit and left the recruiting industry in shambles. As people dispersed, she quickly became the most tenured person at her Robert Half branch, so she ended up in a leadership role within her first year of recruiting.

Due to her successful first year and previous leadership experience, she was offered an opportunity to turn around a branch in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She kept this trajectory going and was eventually offered the chance to run the downtown Dallas branch, a high-profile branch for Robert Half, managing three recruiting teams.

Forging her own path

Kim loved working at Robert Half but had to leave the successful career for a more flexible schedule that would accommodate her family. So, she applied for leadership roles with smaller contingent recruiting firms that offered flexibility and career growth.

She spent several years in a small company transforming their Dallas operations, then joined the recruiting firm Sage Search Partners. She started as an executive recruiter and left as their COO, which she credits as “the job of her career.”

In this role, she helped build everything from the ground up, and with their investment partner backing them, they grew the business from $500,000 in revenue to close to $9 million. Though she thoroughly enjoyed this role and her team, Kim figured if she was willing to put all this work into someone else’s business, she might as well do it for herself. So, she started Shapiro Search Partners.

She had immediate success in this capacity, landing a CFO search within the first month of business, but eventually, the uncertainty of not having a financial backer became challenging both personally and professionally. After rebranding Shapiro Search Partners to The Executive Movement, she ended up selling the business to an acquirer. Then she found Aris Amplify.

Looking ahead

Kim knew she could build a business. She’d done multiple turnarounds and successfully launched and sold her own recruiting firm. However, she didn’t love the risk involved with owning a new, standalone business. She connected with the Charles Aris team at the right time, when Aris Amplify was shaping up to be a real possibility, and after interviewing, Kim realized she had found her place again.

Today, Aris Amplify focuses on middle- and senior-level hiring solutions for positions offering cash compensation under $200,000. The team serves as a complement to Charles Aris Executive Search, the fully retained outfit partnering with clients to land their most senior leaders.

Kim loves what she does. She considers herself a career guide and wants to be a part of people’s path to success. As Aris Amplify continues to grow, she knows she’s in the right place at Charles Aris.

To learn more, contact Kim Shapiro at (336) 217-9106 or kim.shapiro@charlesaris.com.