About Acero Talent | Human at the Core, Precision in Every Layer

Why we exist

The lesson came from building.

Building companies taught us what hiring looks like from the other side. The right person creates capacity. The wrong one creates drag. But when we went looking for recruiting partners, too much of the process measured progress in résumés, interviews, and activity instead of helping us make a better hiring decision.

So we built the process we wanted as operators: start with what the business needs the hire to accomplish, assess against clear evidence, and stay accountable through the decision.

That approach became ACERO. A firm built from the start around a different belief about what hiring is for.

What we stand against

An industry optimized for activity, not outcomes.

Traditional recruiting often measures progress in outreach, résumés, submittals, interviews, and placements. Those numbers tell you a search is moving. They don't necessarily tell you whether you're getting closer to the right decision.

When volume becomes the measure of progress, hiring teams are left to sort through more candidates and carry more of the evaluation themselves. We believe recruiting should do the opposite: reduce the noise, strengthen the evidence, and create greater confidence in the decision.

We think that's not just inefficient — it's backwards. The point was never to fill the seat fast. The point was to find the person who makes the company stronger.

Our answer

Modern systems for reach.
Human judgment where it matters.

Technology gives us a broader, faster view of the talent market. Human judgment determines what matters within it. ACERO combines modern recruiting systems with a structured, evidence-based assessment process designed around what the hire must actually accomplish.

Before we source, we define the business outcomes, success criteria, and evidence required for the role. Candidates are assessed against that same standard, with experience, performance, motivation, strengths, risks, and trade-offs made visible before a recommendation is made.

The result is not more recruiting activity. It is a clearer, better-supported hiring decision, with one accountable partner carrying the context from search through offer.

Human at the Core. Precision in Every Layer.

What guides us

Four beliefs. Everything follows from them.

Human Intelligence

Relationships and judgment lead. Technology strengthens both, never replaces them.

Precision

Clear standards. Deliberate recommendations. Every candidate earns their place.

Modern Systems

Technology expands our reach, sharpens our process, and stays quietly in the background.

Intentional Growth

Long-term alignment over short-term transactions. For our clients, candidates, and ourselves.

Who we are

Built by people who've done the work.

ACERO is led by operators who have built companies, led teams, run recruiting from inside the business, and experienced hiring from the client side. That perspective shapes how we work: understanding the business behind the role before beginning the search.

Elena LaMadrid

Founder & CEO

Elena LaMadrid built her career around performance long before entering business. After leaving home at 16 to train and perform with Houston Ballet and later Nashville Ballet, she transitioned from the stage into entrepreneurship.

In 2021, Elena founded a Nashville Pilates studio, growing it to more than 500 members and a 22-person team before leading its rebrand to Somos Pilates and selling the business in 2026. Building and scaling the company shaped a conviction that now sits at the center of ACERO: strategy only moves as far as the people responsible for executing it.

At ACERO, Elena leads the firm’s talent strategy, brand, and client experience.

Seth Rayburn

President

Seth Rayburn has built his career at the intersection of operations and technology, leading complex supply chain initiatives in heavy industry and advising enterprise organizations on technology strategy.

A former U.S. Marine Corps officer, Seth brings a disciplined operating perspective and firsthand understanding of how talent, systems, and execution intersect inside complex organizations.

At ACERO, Seth leads business development and systems. He is currently pursuing his MBA at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

Ryan Becker

COO

Ryan Becker is an operator and workforce leader whose career has centered on building companies, scaling teams, and solving the talent challenges that emerge with growth.

His experience spans high-growth startups, marketplace businesses, and workforce development across both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, giving him a broad perspective on how companies recruit, develop, and retain people through different stages of growth.

At ACERO, Ryan leads operations and the systems behind the firm’s recruiting methodology and client delivery.

Start here

The right people aren't a cost.
They're the whole strategy.

Tell us where the business is going and the role standing between here and there. We’ll begin with what that person needs to accomplish.

Start the Conversation →

We built the firm
we wished existed.

The lesson came from building.

An industry optimized for activity, not outcomes.

Modern systems for reach.
Human judgment where it matters.