Emily Rushton’s search for a job began her career journey where she would eventually start a company that would become one of the largest in its field in Utah.
Embracing Background
Before Rushton’s profound success, she called the small town of Cowan, Tennessee her home. She planned on going to college out of state and decided to go to BYU-Idaho for its “phenomenal” return on investment.
“It was very affordable,” Rushton said. “I was getting an incredible top-grade education for community education prices, which is unheard of. I paid off loans maybe a year or two after my graduation, and it was never a financial burden to have those loans paid off.”
When starting at BYU-Idaho, Rushton decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business management.
Gaining Experience
Rushton credited many sources of learning to her future success, one of which being the IBC (Integrated Business Core) program at BYU-Idaho.
“It was my first taste of becoming a business owner and thinking about things outside of the textbooks that got me ready for graduation,” Rushton said. “I was highly curious, involved, and ingrained in every step of that program.”
Rushton also appreciated BYU-Idaho’s unique learning environment.
“Being surrounded by people that were bettering themselves through education, to connections with professors, to the lecture series, to an opportunity to create a business and go all in, those applied to helping me earn a good living post-education,” Rushton said.
A Career Journey
Rushton graduated from BYU-Idaho in 2006 with her bachelor’s degree in business management. Fresh out of college, she wasn’t entirely sure where to begin, so she would call different offices around Salt Lake City, Utah, enthusiastically attempting to find a job.
A couple weeks later at a career fair, Rushton met a recruiter. “I didn’t even know what a recruiter did,” Rushton admitted.
Rushton explained to the recruiter what she had been trying to do for the last several weeks. The recruiter was surprised by her strategy and offered to arrange an appointment with his manager. Soon after the appointment, Rushton joined the world’s largest recruiting company, Robert Half International.
“You are going to help other people do exactly what you’ve been doing,” they said.
Rushton described the experience as tough, but she loved it. After a while of working there, Rushton made the decision to go “all in and commit” to climb the corporate ladder. She became a member of the Chairman’s Club, an opportunity for the top 1% of employees.
“It was an incredible experience,” Rushton said. “But I was only there for two years until I exited the company.”
Rushton went on to change jobs more than once as she searched for her passion.
“I’d worked with a large company I had co-funded, worked with a tiny new company since inception, and then a mid-sized regional company. I had the confidence and experience to go out on my own about three years ago, which I did.”
Rushton then started her own company: Hire Integrated (later Waterstone Human Capital). Over the short time since its beginning, it has grown to become one of Utah’s leading hiring agencies. Rushton also later received the HR Innovation Award from Utah Business for her ingenuity and hard work.
Stories Matter
Rushton is known for incorporating storytelling into her work, making her an ingenious expert in her field. As someone with her own unique job search journey, and as someone who worked in recruitment, Rushton knew the importance of telling narratives to potential employers.
“I get to tell people’s stories,” she said. “Stories matter.”
Emily Rushton was invited back to BYU-Idaho as a guest speaker for the 2024 Power 2 Become conference, where she encouraged students to develop their own stories.
“Your story is just starting,” she said. “So, it’s with that, that I wish you guys all the best of luck as you create your stories, and you go out and tell them, and you find the job of your dreams.”