Susan Strayer LaMotte got her first W-2 at age 14 and hasn’t stopped working or thinking about why people work ever since. She is the VP of Employer Brand for Shaker, an employer brand and recruitment marketing firm and the former Founder and CEO of exaqueo. She has spent 25 years at the intersection of business and behavior, with in-house HR and talent leadership roles at brands like The Ritz-Carlton and Marriott International, and is now consulting for F500 and growing organizations on employer brand, talent strategy and candidate and employee experience. She’s the author of two books and has been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and The New York Times. She was a founding Board member of the Association of Talent Acquisition Professionals and has served on the Board of the Candidate Experience Awards and RecruitDC. She researches and speaks on the relationship employees have with work and how employers can both help employees thrive and increase their bottom line. As a working mom, and real-time member of the sandwich generation, this includes balancing work and life issues so she can thrive too.