Salukis in Business- Teresa Katubig
B.S. 1993 — Accounting; College of Business
After a decade of working for other people, SIU Alumnae and Murphysboro native, Teresa Katubig, decided to up her game by attending SIU Carbondale as a non-traditional student.
“After years of working at other organizations managing teams, recruiting people, and managing time & labor needs, I really wanted the ability to be transparent with other business owners and be a solution to their challenges in the recruiting and HR consulting space,” said Katubig.
With that business model in mind, Katubig completed her B.S. in 1993, graduating with a degree in accounting from the SIU Carbondale’s College of Business.
Katubig then formed her own business, a nationwide workforce management company she called Extra Help, now called HireLevel, and launched her first office in Johnston City in 1995.
“Attending SIU equipped me with the resources I needed to be successful, including introducing me to people who have continued to be my mentors. Having colleagues to brainstorm and bounce ideas off of is one of the most important tools for business owners,” said Katubig
In 2016, after 20 years in business, Extra Help was re-branded as HireLevel to celebrate the success of their expansion into new locations and service offerings.
“HireLevel’s expertise is people. Whether you’re looking for a candidate to hire or you’re the one looking for a new career opportunity, we are your partner. From skills matching and fulfilling your labor needs to managing timekeeping and benefits, HireLevel is the HR Workforce solution built to grow with your needs,” Katubig said.
She also said taking care of people is what her team does best.
“I take pride in having the ability to surround myself with a strong team and providing them the independence and atmosphere to do their jobs well. I am in constant pursuit of working more strategically and teaching, leading, and empowering all team members to support but challenge each other and our processes,” Katubig continued.
As part of that leadership, in 2016 Katubig created HireLevel’s charitable giving challenge as part of the #HireLevelDifference campaign to help support local organizations in need and to help their employee’s understand the importance of giving back to the communities in which they live.
As of 2018, they were able to raise over $17,500 and plan to contribute over $20,000 in 2019.
HireLevel was also ahead of the curve with their “bring your baby to work,” program which allows parents to have their newborn with then during the work day until the child is four months old.
Katubig said nearly 95 percent of her employees are young females, and as a mother herself, she remembers just how hard it can be to leave a baby with a stranger.
The program, which has been in place for over five years, is available to both new mothers and new fathers, and has benefitted employee renetion and has helped to raise moral.
Katubig has been honored as Enterprising Women of the Year by Enterprising Women’s Magazine and named among Most Admired Business Leaders by Small Business Monthly.
HireLevel was recently named one of the largest temporary staffing firms by the St. Louis Business Journal, and has been consistently named a largest women-owned business in the St. Louis region, as well as Best in Reliability, Customer Service, and Future 50 Business Award from the St. Louis Small Business Monthly.
HireLevel remains a women-owned, nationwide workforce management company specializing in Employment Service and Payroll services for small to medium size business, consulting work for human resources, unemployment management and workers compensation.
You can find them on the web at www.HireLevel.com, email hello@hirelevel.com, or call (314) 241–9675, or on on Facebook and LinkedIn.
“Salukis in Business” celebrates the our Saluki Alumni who have taken the risk to go into business for themselves.
If you’d like to be the focus of this weekly feature, or nominate someone you think we should feature, please email us at alumni@siu.edu.
