With a true passion for recruitment and over 12 years experience recruiting in multiple environments, Ty is an articulate and specialised recruiter with the ability to offer sound advice on not only recruiting, but local labour markets and trends, staffing issues and general HR matters.

Appointed as the President of the Newcastle Business Club in 2015, Ty strove to increase membership and event attendance through high profile national and local speakers.

A plain speaker, Ty’s main motivation is to find the passion in all you do.

• What career path led you to where you are now?

I guess my line of study – I enrolled in a Bachelor of Business straight out of school and majored in Marketing and Human Relations (HR) and Industrial Relations. I fell into Recruitment when I was looking for work after University. I was offered a job at the agency I went to and I found a really easy assimilation because recruitment is a HR function but it’s a marketing job.

So I started in the not-for-profit employment agencies in a marketing capacity and after eight years – and feeling proud of what I did in that sector – I felt it was time to move to a more commercial role. Fortunately I was talking to Forsythes Recruitment at the time through a friendship with one of the directors, Paul Sneddon, and that led to an offer and where I am now. So I think what I enjoy is the human side of business and that is what has kept me in a HR function, and in particular recruitment. I like the aspects of the role where I play some small part in someone else’s career, someone’s life decisions.

• What were some of the challenges you faced as President of the Newcastle Business Club in 2015?

So first and foremost my challenge was to work out why they chose me, or why I was nominated for the spot. Once I worked that out that dictated how I ran the year.

I figured that the reason they chose me was they wanted something bold and they wanted someone who had proven relationships skills. So once I reconciled that I ran with it.

• What motivates and drives you?

I have been led by a personal motto. Twelve years ago walking home from the pub one night I stumbled upon a crate of books outside Cook’s Hill Bookshop with a sign on them that said free. I grabbed a book because it looked old and opened to a random page and staring at me was Love’s Grave by George Meredith, a poem, and one line in particular and that was ‘passions spin the plot’.

Ever since I read that line it has driven me, motivated me, it is what I bring everything back to in terms of my personal life, my professional life – passions spin the plot. If you’re not doing that you’ve got re-align on yourself. So George Meredith’s Love’s Grave and that line in particular.

• Where would you like to be in 10 years?

In Newcastle enjoying the fruits of the labour that the city has put in the decade between now and the next 10 years. It’s an exciting time, I am proud to be a Novacastrian, and I think that is evident in my day to day work. So, I look forward to enjoying what Newcastle is going to be in 10 years and playing my part in it getting there.

Personally, professionally, utilising my experience to direct and help others, maybe Board positions. I would love to be involved in a not-for-profit Board. Again, I spent a lot of time in my career in that and then jumping to the commercial side, I think I can provide a good balance and advice. I would love to be a Director at Forsythes Recruitment – they’re a business that I am proud to work for, I believe in their vision and it was never a stepping stone, it was always a career option for me moving to Forsythes.

• What local businessperson do you look up to?

A couple, I think, and this is going to sound expected but it truly isn’t. Geoff Crews and Paul Hankinson the head directors of Forsythes Recruitment. Both extremely passionate, progressive, left of centre thinkers with their mind on the family that is Forsythes Recruitment, always thinking of the next thing. I envy how they think, I Iook up to them, I go to them for advice. They have been extremely supportive in my own career and professional life, but really anyone who has let passions spin their plot.