ABOUT
UpTalent Consulting & Search
Founded in 2022, UpTalent Consulting & Search specializes in executive search, strategic talent acquisition, and fractional HR solutions.
Louise Bijesse
Founder | CEO
Louise Bijesse is the Founder and CEO of UpTalent Consulting & Search, an HR consulting and executive search firm based in Western North Carolina. She brings more than two decades of experience in human resources, executive leadership, hospitality, and building strong talent pipelines to her work with organizations and their people.
Before launching UpTalent in 2022, she led talent acquisition and eventually Human Resources at BrightSpring Health Services and PharMerica and spent over a decade in leadership roles with Compass Group North America. Earlier in her career, she founded Brighten Staffing, a successful culinary and hospitality staffing agency in New York City.
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Through UpTalent, Louise works with companies and nonprofits on fractional HR support, executive search, handbook and policy development, compensation design, HR systems, and organizational and career development. She also provides private career coaching and facilitates workshops for leaders and teams.
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Louise holds a bachelor’s degree from Empire State University and a master’s degree in IT Management from UNC Greensboro. She earned both degrees while working full-time and raising five children, four sons and a daughter, including a set of triplets.
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A strong believer in the importance of community, Louise is actively involved in organizations throughout Western North Carolina. She chairs the Public Image Committee of the Rotary Club of Asheville and serves on its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Fundraising, and Tenant Scholarship committees. She is a founding member of the WNC Leadership Alliance, an active member of the WNC National Speakers Association, and Vice President of her local BNI Chapter.
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Outside of her professional work, Louise is a passionate animal rescuer. She and her husband, Bruce, live at Stony Brook Farms in Western North Carolina, where they share their home and land with rescue horses, donkeys, a Zebu, two dogs, and several cats, with foster kittens often coming and going. Louise also has a longstanding passion for sea turtle conservation and supports their future through sponsorships with environmental organizations.
