Emily McElroy

On Growing Up

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and spent most of my childhood in the water, swimming competitively, then playing water polo, eventually competing at the Division 3 level throughout college. A decade of playing a team sport that demanded both individual grit and trust in the people next to you taught me many of the lessons I still lean on today.

I studied Economics and Public Policy at Scripps College, one of the Claremont Colleges in sunny Los Angeles, and got pulled into student government along the way. Helping lead our campus through the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath was its own crash course in how organizations actually get things done (or don't). After back-to-back summers researching and writing memos for think tanks in D.C., I assumed I was headed toward a career in policy. But the closer I got to that path, the clearer it became that it wasn't the right fit. By senior year, I was less interested in policy itself and more interested in the people and decisions behind it. I just didn't know yet what that meant for a career.

On Starting My Career

I found my answer in executive recruiting, somewhat unexpectedly. I joined True Search right out of college and spent four years there learning the ins and outs of search. At True, I worked exclusively with VC- and PE-backed B2B tech companies, collaborating with their leadership teams to define what great talent actually looked like for their stage of growth. I loved the beginnings of a search most: building the strategy, figuring out what part of the mission and story would resonate with candidates, and playing matchmaker between a company's vision and the right person to help build it. I came to understand that the right leadership hire can change the entire trajectory of a company.

As I started executing searches on my own, I found my interests were pulled more toward early-stage companies, where those hires matter most and the stakes are highest. That curiosity drew me toward venture, and eventually to Amplify.

On Working with Amplify Companies

On the Talent Team at Amplify, I support our founders in finding the people that will define their companies. Before there's a brand, a track record, or a job description, there's a founder trying to figure out who they need next. My job starts there, helping them get crisp on what they're actually looking for, then mapping the talent pool against that picture.

The part I find most interesting is helping founders nail the pitch itself: taking a company most people may not have heard of and making it impossible to ignore. Great candidates aren't short on options. The hard part isn't finding them; it's making them really believe this is the right bet.

On Life Outside of Work

Outside of work, I'm usually moving in some form, running, biking, swimming, and occasionally stringing all three together for a triathlon. I'm a dedicated explorer of the San Francisco food scene, an enthusiastic if inconsistent baker, and always up for a hike or a reason to book a flight somewhere new.