Our Story · Since 2018

We help senior people find their next chapter.

Crimson Talent began in 2018 with two recruiters and one conviction: that senior careers deserve discretion, data, and real human judgment — not a résumé cannon. Seven years on, we're 250+ people across nine cities, and that conviction hasn't moved an inch.

2018
Founded in New York
250+
Professionals today
9
US offices
2,400+
Senior placements made
The beginning

Two people, a spare desk, and a belief that senior hiring was broken — too transactional, too leaky, too fast for its own good.

In 2018, Madison Reyes and Daniel Okafor left large-firm recruiting to build something different. They had watched too many senior searches treated like a numbers game — résumés fired in every direction, confidentiality treated as optional, and candidates ghosted the moment a deal fell through.

They started with a single practice — finance and executive search — and one rule: represent people the way you'd want to be represented. Discreet. Honest. Patient enough to make the right match instead of the fast one.

That reputation compounded. Finance led to technology, technology to life sciences and legal, one office to nine. Along the way we started recording everything we learned about the market — and in 2024 that decade of data became a platform other companies now run on.

Today Crimson Talent is 250+ professionals, a workforce-intelligence product, and a dedicated security team. But the business still runs on the same idea it did on day one: senior careers are personal, and they deserve to be handled that way.

"

To be the most trusted name in senior hiring — where every candidate is represented with discretion, and every client decision is backed by real data.

— Our mission, unchanged since 2018

What we believe

Three things that never change.

Markets shift, practices grow, and technology moves fast. These don't.

Discretion first

Careers are personal. We protect confidentiality like it's our own — no leaks, no spam, and we never list you where you shouldn't be listed. Your search is your business, and no one else's.

Data with judgment

We built a platform because good decisions need good data. But data informs judgment — it never replaces the human on the other end of the call. Numbers open the door; people close it.

The long game, always

We'd rather make the right placement in three months than the fast one in three weeks. Relationships outlast any single search — and most of our business comes from people we placed years ago.

The journey

From two people
to two hundred fifty.

01
2018 Founded

Two founders, one practice

Madison Reyes and Daniel Okafor open Crimson Talent in New York, focused on finance and executive search. The first placement — a divisional CFO — closes within ten weeks.

02
2019 Growth

Word of mouth takes over

Repeat clients drive the firm past its first ten hires. We add legal and go-to-market as formal practices and cross 200 placements.

03
2020 Resilience

Steady through the storm

Through a turbulent market we double down on discretion and candidate care. Confidential searches become a signature strength as executives move quietly.

04
2021 West Coast

San Francisco & technology

Our second office opens; technology and SaaS become a core practice as we start placing engineering and product leaders across the Bay Area.

05
2022–23 National

Going coast to coast

Austin, Chicago, and Miami open. We cross 100 people and 1,000 placements, and add life sciences and healthcare practices.

06
2024 Platform

Data becomes product

We launch Talent Analytics and Compensation Intelligence — turning years of placement data into software clients now run their hiring on.

07
2025 Security-first

SOC 2, ISO & a Purple Team

We achieve SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certification and stand up a dedicated Security Operations Center and Purple Team to protect candidate data.

08
2026 Today

250+ and still growing

Nine offices, an RPO practice, a data platform, and 2,400+ senior placements — with the same standards we started with.

Leadership

The people at the top.

A founding team of operators who've built and led talent functions at some of the largest firms in the world.

MR

Madison Reyes

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

17 years in HR leadership across finance and executive search. Former Head of Talent at a Big-Four advisory firm. Wharton MBA. Based in New York.

DO

Daniel Okafor

Co-Founder & President

14 years placing software engineering leaders and product executives across the Bay Area. Stanford CS. Leads our technology and platform strategy.

SC

Sophia Chen

Chief Operating Officer

15 years scaling talent and revenue operations across CPG, retail, and FinTech. Previously at Korn Ferry. Oversees delivery and the West Coast offices.

Meet the full leadership team
How we work

A firm built for people who take this seriously.

We hire recruiters who care about craft — and we give them the data, training, and ownership to do the best work of their careers.

See open roles at Crimson →

In-house, always

Every recruiter and sourcer works here. We never outsource sourcing, so the person who calls you is accountable to you.

Transparent compensation

We practice the pay transparency we preach — clear, uncapped earnings and no games.

Data as a teammate

Our own platform means every recruiter works with market intelligence most firms simply don't have.

Mentorship that's real

A structured path from recruiter to practice leader, with mentors who've actually walked it.

Meet the people behind the work.

Two hundred and fifty specialists across nine cities — including the leaders who'll own your search.

See our team