Meet the Team | Executive Search | Austin, Texas

Meet the Teamkbarry2025-05-28T15:47:13-05:00

Salvatore Balistreri

Founder

As one of the top Retained Executive Search firms in the US, Sal’s team is known for delivering niche executive talent and earning long term client trust/business.

• Retained Executive Search professional since 1997; Founder of Firm since 2010
• Has completed over 300 + executive searches since 1997
• Financial Services, Retail Health, Manufacturing, Non-Profit search sector experience
• Expertise contributor to The Austin Business Journal

Colleen Seeley

Colleen Seeley serves as the Senior Director of Talent Acquisition where she leads high-level recruitment initiatives across executive and senior leadership roles. With a strong foundation in strategic sourcing, candidate engagement, and executive talent mapping, Colleen plays a pivotal role in aligning top-tier leadership talent with client organizations’ long-term growth objectives. A proud graduate of Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Colleen combines strategic insight with a people-first approach to recruitment. Outside of her professional role, Colleen and her husband have two wonderful children and she is an active volunteer at their school. She enjoys supporting her children’s education, extracurriculars and spending quality time with her family.

Jillian Johnston-Hines

Jillian Johnston-Hines serves as Senior Director of Talent Acquisition for the firm. She brings a strong background in business and research, along with a genuine passion for fostering meaningful connections that drive value across the board—making her a great fit for our team. Jillian earned her Bachelor’s degree in Theater Studies from the University of Texas and returned to Austin in 2023 after time spent in Los Angeles and Atlanta. During that time, she met her husband, ran a commercial casting company, and welcomed their son. Her move back to Texas was motivated by a desire to be closer to family in both Austin and the DFW area. Jillian is deeply committed to supporting inclusive, strong company culture across varied sectors and looks forward to helping the team grow and thrive.

Michelle Smead

Michelle Smead has a longstanding collaboration with Salvatore Balistreri, having worked together at a top 5 global executive search consulting firm. Michelle is known for establishing deep client relationships and bringing top talent to their senior level roles. Her background combines leading corporate executive talent acquisition and 25 years of executive search consulting. Clients value her business acumen and candidate culture alignment skills. She is dedicated to her clients’ success and loves the benefits of continuous learning and problem solving.Sector experience includes Financial Services, Family-Owned Enterprises/Private Equity, and Manufacturing. She has conducted a variety of C-level and senior level positions. Moreover, Michelle is known for her expertise in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She founded the Diversity Executive Search Practice at A.T. Kearney where she also served on the Global Diversity Council. Most recently, Michelle was with Korn Ferry/Patina Solutions in Chicago where she helped build the executive search practice. Prior experience includes KPMG, EY, Kearney and DHR . She also dedicates time to assisting those who are in the job market. She is active outside professional and charitable organizations. She was formerly a board member of a venture capital backed insurance brokerage firm, Michelle serves as President of the IWF Suncoast Chapter, Greater Naples Leadership, and the Kellogg Alumni Association. She has been the recipient of an Award for Excellence and Philanthropy Award for her outstanding achievements in the field of executive search and overall contribution to the community. Michelle is originally from Colorado and built her career in Chicago, IL and is involved in the communities of Naples and Chicago. She enjoys spending time with her family, walking nature trails and Pilates.

“As a search committee member, we selected Sal's firm to help us with a key CEO search. They made the process painless both for the candidates and our search committee. We made the right choice and Sal's team delivered.”

Michael Bennett, Head of the APRO Search Committee, APRO Search Committee

“Sal specializes in executive search and has delivered some outstanding results for Silvercar. He has assembled a great team and they conduct searches the way it should be done – from scratch! He understands the importance of not only finding the right skill set, but also finding the right cultural match. He does his homework before he starts and does it well. Sal has jumped through hoops for me and delivered great results. He provides personalized service from start to finish and won’t stop until you are satisfied. I highly recommend that you consider Sal and his team for your next search.”

Kay Stroman, Former Chief Administrative Officer, Silvercar

“Sal was definitely a huge asset in our recruiting efforts. He spent a lot of time getting to know our culture and understanding the values that were essential to the makeup of of our team. Sal is a great partner and I certainly recommend him and his firm to anyone looking to recruit a great team. You will not be disappointed!”

Craig Taylor, Former CEO, Cirrus Systems

“Sal clearly understands the culture of the client and clearly understands the REAL person behind the candidate. This allows him to best match clients and candidates because he sees beyond their words and understands their real talents and value systems. Sal also has the ability to present a candidate because he is committed to her/him and their talents and values they could bring to the job. He is even MORE committed to the client’s analysis of the candidate so that he learns from any rejection of a candidate in order to fine-tune the search for the next better candidate.”

Vickey Thayer Kleinsmith, Former Vice President Human Resources, Lozier Corporation

“I appreciate the fact that Sal takes not only the job requirements into account, but he also considers culture and “fit”. These are rare and valuable traits for a recruiter and that is one of the many reasons that we love working with Sal.”

Debbie Mitchell, President/CEO, Velocity Credit Union

“Sal is able to communicate our company culture and organic growth strategy and along with his high level of responsiveness, is a great partner to work with.”

Karen Ganzlin, Former Chief Human Resources Officer, TD Ameritrade

"Sal and his team are awesome partners in our success. His team has taken the time to become part of our team so that they understand the "fit" component of our hiring process that includes the mission, vision and values and most importantly, our culture."

Scotte Hudsmith, Chairman & CEO , Specialized Dental Partners

“Consider Sal if you need a recruiter for key management positions and C-Level searches. Sal is very focused on finding the right person for the right position. He produces solid candidates across a variety of industries and will personally work with his clients to help them achieve success in hiring. He is a seasoned expert, well networked and very responsive.”

Kurt Halvorson, President, Imprimis, LLC

“Sal and his team offered a great process with a very good long term result for Lozier. It was a process made easy for our team to meet all the candidates in a short period of time and come to a conclusion.”

Sheri Andrews, Co-Chair, Lozier Corporation

“Sal is one of those rare business executives who truly believes in the power of ‘doing well by doing good.’ He is generous to a fault with his time and his network. He spends his professional capital to help others in his community with no eye towards personal gain.”

Cat Nawawi, President, The Highland Group