About
Kaila Russell is Head of Talent at Blueprint Equity, joining in February 2026, where she works with founders and portfolio leadership on scaling their teams. She was previously a Client Director at Candidate Labs, helping early-stage founders build product, engineering, and go-to-market teams, and earlier served as Head of Talent at Community.com, growing its team from 25 to 150 employees. She began her tech career as an early outbound SDR at Zenefits and holds a B.A. in Business from UC Irvine.
Experience
- Blueprint EquityDirector of Talentcurrent2026 — presentSan Diego, California, United States
- FreelanceHead of Talent (Fractional)current2017 — presentLos Angeles Metropolitan Area
- Candidate LabsClient Director2024 — 2026United States
- Will ReedPrincipal2022 — 2023Austin, Texas, United States
- Will ReedSenior Executive Recruiter2021 — 2022Austin, Texas, United States
- EmotiveSenior Manager, GTM Recruiting2021Austin, Texas, United States
- Community.comHead of Talent Acquisition2019 — 2021Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
- RJR Partners, Inc.Executive Recruiter2016 — 2017San Francisco
- ZenefitsSales Development Manager2014 — 2015Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
- ZenefitsOutbound Sales Development Representative2014San Francisco Bay Area
Education
- UC IrvineBusiness Administration and Management, General
Skills & more
Communication4Applicant Tracking Systems4Full Life Cycle Recruiting3High-volume RecruitingSearch ManagementGlobal RecruitingExecutive SearchTechnical RecruitingStrategic HiringEmployer BrandingManagement29Leadership28
+12 more
RecruitingSalesProgram ManagementStrategic PlanningStart-upsAnalytical SkillsProject ManagementContinuous ImprovementSaaSEnterprise SoftwareNegotiationProblem SolvingLanguages English · Russian
From Kaila's professional profile.
Same school
Also attended UC Irvine83
Christian BuergerPortfolio Development at Intel CapitalJonathan GiegCommunity Manager at Pantera CapitalRyan LaurinManaging Director at Marlin Equity PartnersPascal KroteePrincipal, Ph.D. at RiverVest Venture PartnersZack IsaacsonVenture Partner at Rackhouse Venture Management LpCameron BaharVenture Partner at Think+ Ventures Management, Llc
+ 77 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Community.com5
Also worked at RJR Partners, Inc.1
Also worked at Zenefits22
Viviana FagaGeneral Partner at Felicis VenturesAdina TeckluInvestor at Khosla VenturesKent MadsenFounding Managing Partner Emeritus & Venture Partner at EPIC VENTURESJay FulcherManaging Partner at Cheyenne VenturesJ.R. BeckoVenture Partner at Cheyenne VenturesMandy ColePartner at Stage 2 Capital
+ 16 more
Colleagues at Blueprint Equity
Ben Redfield
Vice President at Blueprint Equity
Bobby Ocampo
Managing Partner at Blueprint Equity
Connor Nevelle
Investor at Blueprint Equity
Francis Donohue
Principal at Blueprint Equity
Grace Maloney
Senior Analyst at Blueprint Equity
Ina Kodra
Investor at Blueprint Equity
Jack DeWolf
Investor at Blueprint Equity
Jack Pimental
Associate at Blueprint Equity