About Us

Founded in 1999 as the first and only company devoted to a comprehensive array of recruitment services for women, Women For Hire offers signature career expos, inspiring speeches and seminars, a popular career-focused magazine and customized marketing programs. Our website, womenforhire.com, offers a wide variety of career-related information and videos geared to working women, and an online job board that helps leading employers connect with top-notch professional women in all fields. In 2008, we produced our first work from home video, which has been viewed by thousands of women interested in this growing field.

Our core business is producing the nation’s only high caliber career expos, enabling America's top employers to meet one-on-one with a coveted pool of talented women in all disciplines. These events pair recruiters from a mix of Fortune 500 companies, medium-sized businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies with women in a wide range of disciplines.

Since our inception, we have been recognized as groundbreakers in connecting employers with the brightest group of diverse career women, as well as providing those women with exceptional advice on advancement. We specialize in developing customized programs to meet the diversity recruitment goals of employers in every industry.

Women For Hire is WBENC Certified

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council certification for women-owned businesses is one of the most widely recognized and respected certifications in the nation.

Women For Hire is committed to SafeWork 2010

SafeWork 2010 is a national initiative led by Safe Horizon, the nation’s leading victim assistance organization, and the Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence, to encourage corporate leaders to recognize the signs of domestic violence on the workplace and take action to address it. Tory Johnson and Women For Hire are proud to have committed to this issue, to protecting our employees and to standing against domestic violence in the workplace. For more information about Safe Horizon and SafeWork 2010, please visit: www.safehorizon.org/safework .

SmartBrief on Workforce Advisory Board

The Women For Hire Story

June 1999: Women For Hire founded in a small corner of CEO Tory Johnson’s New York City apartment, where she’d spend her days (and nights) researching and cold-calling employers—with toddler twins in tow—to convince them to participate in her career expo.

October 1999: First Women For Hire event held in New York with 50 employers and 1,000 women—a smashing success. TV personality Star Jones attends the event, which paves the way for other prominent women to make appearance at future Women For Hire events, including Today show anchor Ann Curry, Money Magazine’s Jean Chatzky, novelist Sara Paretsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ellen Goodman, news anchor Paula Zahn, legendary gossip columnist Liz Smith, and gift guru Robyn Spizman.

February 2000: We host our second Women For Hire event in New York, thereby establishing a presence in Spring and Fall recruiting seasons.

June 2000: Women For Hire’s operations move out of Tory Johnson’s bedroom and into a real office space on West 72nd Street in New York. The new fulltime staff decorates the walls with framed posters of their favorite movies, including 9 to 5 and Thelma & Louise.

October 2000: Women For Hire hits the road to kick off its national expansion with events in Boston and Chicago.

February 2001: Travels continue with expansion to Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, and San Francisco as leading employers commit to recruiting with Women For Hire throughout the country.

October 2001: A month after 9/11, President Clinton calls Tory Johnson to congratulate her on Women For Hire’s success. After she gets over the initial shock that it’s not her husband playing a joke, Johnson listens as the former President reminds her that at the core of our freedom and financial independence in this country is the right to work. Regardless of your political preference, a call from any U.S. President is pretty cool.

September 2002: Our first book, Women For Hire: The Ultimate Guide to Getting a Job, is published by Penguin Putnam. Kelly Ripa hosts a star-studded book party in New York attended by Dan Rather, Al Roker, Deborah Norville, Paula Zahn, and other luminaries.

January 2003: The Women For Hire Network launches offering professional women an exclusive online service with benefits including the ability to email their most pressing questions for a personalized response in 24 hours.

April 2003: Women For Hire expands to our nation’s capitol.

July 2004: First in-office massage and manicure day offers much-needed pampering to Women For Hire’s crack staff hailing from Florida, Nebraska, New York, Utah, and Virginia.

September 2004: Based on the popularity of our first book, the second title is published. Once again Kelly Ripa hosts a launch party for Women For Hire’s Get-Ahead Guide to Career Success, attended by Diane Sawyer, Faith Ford, Diane Dimond, Ereka Vetrini, Jeff Zucker, Soledad O’Brien, and others.

October 2004: We launch Women For Hire magazine -- jam-packed with empowering career advice and advertising from top employers committed to women and diversity. To rack up even more frequent flyer miles for its staff, the company hits the road with events in Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Tampa.

January 2005: Tory Johnson appears for three consecutive days on ABC’s Good Morning America offering expert advice on career advancement. We get more than 1,000 emails in response to the segments.

September 2005: Tory Johnson travels to Houston's Astrodome to assist women displaced from Hurricane Katrina. This effort launches Women For Hire's disaster outreach program.

Also this month, Tory Johnson is named the official Workplace Contributor for ABC's Good Morning America.

May 2006: Glamour magazine dubs Tory Johnson the "raise fairy godmother" for her expertise in coaching a group of women to ask for—and receive—salary increases.

September 2006: Women For Hire's third book is released. This time it's a hardcover! Take This Book to Work: How to Ask For (and Get) Money, Fulfillment, and Advancement.

Also this month, the Women For Hire Foundation, a non-profit organization, is formed to provide career development skills to displaced homemakers and low-income women.

December 2006: More than 10,000 Good Morning America viewers say they're now making money at home because of Tory Johnson's series of segments on legitimate home-based opportunities.

January 2007: Just a few months after the launch of the Women For Hire Network, online membership exceeds 15,000 women connecting daily across the country.

April 2007: Tory hits the road with Good Morning America’s “Take Control of Your Life Tour” motivating and inspiring women in Chicago, Atlanta and Denver to bring balance back into their lives.

October 2007: On the road again for the second leg of her “Take Control” tour, this time Tory's first two stops are in Dallas and Phoenix. She ends her tour at the Capitol in Washington, DC where she talks to Senator Chris Dodd about upgrading the Family Medical Leave Act.

December 2007: The Women For Hire Network hits the 30,000 member mark, doubling its membership in less than a year.

February 2008: Women For Hire moves to larger offices on 8th Avenue in Manhattan, in New York’s famous garment district. Our next door neighbor, Hari, fashions high-end dresses designed by some of New York’s top dress makers. He is the nicest man.

June 2008: Women For Hire hosts its first Career Boot Camp for recent college grads at New York’s Manhattan Center. More than 350 women attend the day-long session to listen to representatives from some 50 top firms talk about careers and opportunities.

August 2008: Tory’s latest book, Will Work From Home, hits The New York Times best-seller list.

November 2008: Recognizing a growing interest in working from home, Women For Hire hosts its first Work From Home Expo at Atlanta’s Cobb Galleria. More than 1,500 women attended the day-long event to meet representatives from more than 40 companies offering work-from-home opportunities.

November-December 2008: In an effort to help a growing number of people find jobs, Tory and Good Morning America put together GMA Job Fairs starting in Atlanta then moving to Chicago and Hollywood, Fla. The events draw thousands of job seekers – 4,000 in Chicago alone – and result in jobs for some, hope for all.