Emma Jacobs

Emma Jacobs

VP & Practice Director| Infrastructure & Operations | Software & Applications - Robert Half

For Emma Jacobs, recruiting was never the original plan.

Her career began in performance, leadership, and customer-facing roles where connection, communication, and service were at the center of everything she did. Today, she helps organizations solve complex technology hiring challenges at Robert Half, but the skills that have defined her success were developed long before she entered the recruiting world.

“In terms of getting into recruiting, it really started more from a sales perspective,” Emma explains.

At Robert Half, Emma focuses primarily on client relationships and technology solutions. While specialized recruiting teams handle sourcing and candidate management, Emma works directly with clients to understand their challenges, identify opportunities, and help shape hiring solutions that align with business needs.

That ability to quickly build trust and uncover what truly matters has become a hallmark of her career.

A Foundation Built at Disney

Before entering the staffing and technology world, Emma spent 15 years with Disney, where she worked as both a performer and leader.

She began her Disney career at just 17 years old, performing as several princess characters before transitioning into live entertainment under the Actors’ Equity Association. Over the years, she performed across Disney properties, including opportunities in Tokyo, on Disney Cruise Line, and throughout Walt Disney World.

Her experience was unique even by Disney standards.

“I had the rare luxury of being considered a park swing,” Emma recalls. “In one week I could perform in ten different shows.”

While the performances were memorable, it was Disney’s leadership culture that left the deepest impression.

One leader in particular, Phil Gutierrez, a stage manager at the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, played a significant role in shaping Emma’s leadership philosophy.

“He builds leaders without intentionally doing so,” she says. “He sees people’s strengths and finds ways to bring those qualities forward.”

Through Disney, Emma learned lessons about excellence, service, leadership, and creating meaningful experiences—lessons that would follow her throughout the rest of her career.

Learning the Power of Human Connection

After Disney, Emma joined Sephora, where she worked in corporate retail leadership, training, and regional support roles.

There, she focused on artistry education, skincare knowledge, and helping teams deliver exceptional customer experiences.

The experience reinforced something she had already begun learning at Disney: people are often at their most vulnerable when seeking guidance, support, or confidence.

“You have a really rare opportunity to touch somebody at a vulnerable moment and impact something like self-esteem or self-empowerment,” she explains.

Whether helping a customer feel more confident, supporting employees through development opportunities, or guiding clients through hiring challenges, Emma found herself drawn to work that centered around understanding people.

Those experiences eventually led her into sales and, later, the recruiting and staffing industry.

Bringing a Human Approach to Technology Recruiting

Despite spending much of her career in entertainment, beauty, and customer-facing environments, Emma eventually found herself in technology staffing—a transition she still jokes about today.

“I laugh about the fact that I somehow ended up selling technology solutions,” she says.

Yet while the industries changed, the underlying skills remained the same.

Emma believes success in recruiting, sales, and leadership comes down to the ability to connect with people quickly and authentically.

Whether she was portraying a Disney princess, helping someone build confidence at Sephora, or speaking with a technology executive, her goal has always been the same: understand what matters most to the person in front of her.

“You’ve got maybe five minutes to make a lasting impression with people,” she says.

For Emma, that means listening beyond the surface-level conversation to uncover the real challenge, concern, or opportunity being discussed.

She often finds herself translating highly technical conversations into meaningful business problems, helping clients feel understood even when they speak an entirely different professional language.

The Lost Art of Listening

One of the themes that has shaped Emma’s career is the belief that true listening is becoming increasingly rare.

She believes many people enter conversations focused on what they want to say next rather than fully understanding what the other person is trying to communicate.

“People forget to talk to listen,” Emma says. “They talk to respond.”

Whether in recruiting, sales, leadership, or everyday life, she believes meaningful conversations require curiosity, patience, and the willingness to let discussions unfold naturally.

“The conversation will guide where it’s going to go,” she explains. “Your job is to ask the questions that help guide it.”

That mindset has allowed her to build strong relationships throughout her career and navigate industries that might otherwise seem completely unrelated.

For Emma, people skills are among the most transferable skills a professional can develop.

Advice for Talent Leaders Heading into 2026

As technology continues transforming recruiting and business operations, Emma believes the fundamentals of human connection remain more important than ever.

While new tools and innovations will continue changing how work gets done, she encourages talent professionals to focus on developing their ability to listen, understand, and connect with others.

Success is not about having every answer prepared in advance.

Instead, it comes from being present, asking thoughtful questions, and allowing conversations to reveal opportunities that may not have been obvious at the start.

For Emma, the future of recruiting and talent leadership is not simply about technology or process—it is about maintaining the human skills that make meaningful relationships possible.

By combining empathy, curiosity, active listening, and a commitment to service, Emma Jacobs has built a career that demonstrates the lasting power of human connection in every industry she has touched.