The Founder and President, Phillip Bell, believes in a hands-on, client-centric approach and is personally involved in the executive search process every step of the way. He has accomplished numerous achievements in the recruiting industry. He was inducted into The Pinnacle Society – an elite consortium of top-performing recruiters in the search and placement industry limited to 75 members. Phillip has personal billings of over $6 million in direct hire fees as a result of hundreds of successful placements. Phillip began his recruiting career with a regional search firm in Kansas City. He was quickly promoted to Direct Hire Manager for the accounting and finance division. He led the division to a record-breaking year, billing $1.4 million in annual production. Over the span of nearly seven years, Phillip was recognized as the Top Annual Biller in 2007, 2008, 2010; Manager of the Year in 2008; and Outstanding Achievement Award in 2005, 2006, and 2009.

Josh began his recruiting career in 1999 with Robert Half’s Accountemps division in St. Paul/Minneapolis. After moving to Kansas City in 2003, he started a new accounting/finance contract division from scratch for a large regional search firm. He led the team for four years, exceeding expectations and earned two outstanding achievement awards for contract staffing while there. He was recruited to be the Director of Research for a national healthcare search firm where he gained experience in the retained search field. He subsequently helped two additional firms establish contract staffing divisions and was ultimately hired by Bell & Associates, Inc. for direct hire and contract staffing for their Accounting/Finance division.

Tom brings more than two decades of executive recruitment experience within C-level, director and senior management level recruiting assignments nationally. His experience spans a variety of specialization in the areas of accounting and finance, engineering, human resources and manufacturing operations. Over his career as an executive recruiter, Tom has worked with various industry specializations: manufacturing, engineering, logistics, telecommunications, hospital and healthcare systems, energy and service companies. His expertise and drive in securing the right candidate for the right position has defined his successful career as an executive recruiter. Tom is a graduate of Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

Victor is a results-driven recruiting professional with over nine years of experience in the search industry. He specializes in recruiting and placing professionals on a direct hire and contract basis in a variety of practice areas, including finance, accounting and human resources from staff level to executive level regionally and nationally. Working strategically with mid-size to Fortune 500 companies in all industries, including public accounting, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, retail, oil and gas, and petrochemical – both publicly traded and privately held.

Travis Lupton leads our Financial Institutions recruiting practice which partners with a wide range of financial institutions in their efforts to attract top talent in a highly competitive field. Prior to recruiting, Travis had a 15-year career in the financial arena in both lending and securities, and has a unique understanding of the complexities of the highly regulated, ever-changing industry that is financial services and banking. Travis resides in his native town of Olathe, a suburb of Kansas City, with his wife Caroline and two daughters; Cassidy and Eden. Travis also serves as board member and treasurer of a Kansas City based nonprofit group called Jimmy’s Trees, which works to repair and redistribute used artificial Christmas trees to families with financial needs. In his limited spare time, Travis enjoys Kansas City Royals Baseball with his family and a regular round of golf.

Jeremy specializes in placing top engineering and manufacturing operations talent for our clients. He brings over five years of successful recruiting experience matching both clients and candidates in varying professional positions within a variety of industries. Jeremy’s dedication to forming lasting relationships with both candidates and clients has been pivotal to his success in simultaneously increasing client productivity along with improving overall quality of life for his candidates. Taking the time to thoroughly listen, assess, and provide expert consultation for both clients and candidates is Jeremy’s primary focus. Without such a focus no candidate or client can truly have their needs met, nor the needs of the organization. Jeremy obtained his bachelor’s from Gonzaga University and his master’s of business administration focused in small business from the University of Phoenix.

Ryan has spent the past ten years successfully matching talent with opportunity. His passion for providing clients with world class service is appropriately coupled with his strong desire to help professionals from all walks of life discover meaningful and rewarding careers. With a successful track record leading corporate HR teams, he understands the value of securing and developing top talent. Ryan has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication from the University of Kansas. He resides in Overland Park, enjoys spending time with friends and family and is a huge Kansas City sports fan.

Casey specializes in placing Accounting/Finance professionals on a permanent, contract, and contract-to-hire basis with our clients.  He is a graduate of Fort Hays State University and was a member of their collegiate Baseball team.  Being a college athlete taught work ethic, discipline, and competitive drive.  These attributes transition well in his role to find the best career opportunities for his candidates and to find the best talent to serve the hiring needs of our clients.