As the co-owner of Fidelis Companies, Karen has watched the business grow from a small operation started in the kitchen to a multi-million-dollar business. She fell in love with recruiting 20 years ago in Houston, Texas and has never looked back.
After graduating from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics, Karen discovered technical recruiting was a great way to leverage her inquisitive and analytical mind with her exuberant and enthusiastic personality. In 1996, Advanced Communication Solutions was formed servicing the general IT and engineering verticals. Over the years, additional lines of business were added as the markets and economy changed and evolved. Today the business lines include Fidelis IT, Fidelis BioPharm and Fidelis Engineering. Staying current on the ever-changing laws and trends in the staffing and talent acquisition space is highly important to Karen. She is a Certified Employee Retention Specialist (CERS), Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC) and Certified Temporary-Staffing Specialist (CTS).
Along with successfully running her company, Karen is a mom to three boys. She coaches little league, volunteers with youth and various non-profit organizations. She somehow still finds time to support several professional organizations. She is a member of the College of Science Dean’s External Advisory and Development Council at Texas A&M, the Society for Human Resource Management – DFW Staffing Management Associate, IEEE, and the Women’s Business Counsel. She is also a board member of the National Association of Personnel Services and Metroplex Association of Personnel Consultants.
Alan founded the company as a one man shop in 1996 before joining forces with his fellow co-owner, Karen Richards and building the successful business it is today. With over 30 years of recruiting and staffing experience, Alan has hired, trained and developed numerous successful sales executives and recruiters throughout his career. Working in his father’s business growing up, owning and operating his own company was right up his alley. Alan has also been an active member in the National Association of Personnel Services and the Metroplex Associate of Personnel Consultants, and is a Certified Personnel Consultant. He has won numerous “big biller” awards, including Top Producer out of over 250 sales executives and recruiters.
In case you thought operating your own business didn’t leave much time for fun, guess again. In addition to running a multi-million-dollar business, Alan has been very involved with his wife and three boys. When it comes to fun, golf, fitness, and snowboarding are his activities of choice. Alan is an active member of Gleneagles Country Club in Plano and is past President of the Men’s Golf Association, member of the Golf Committee and served as the Chairman of the Board of Governors. Alan feels fortunate that he can share his love of golf, along with its core set of life-enhancing values such as honesty, integrity, respect and perseverance, with the kids from the First Tee of Dallas.
