First look

It makes sense that Laura Sorensen has built a career helping big companies, in retail and hospitality, find the best people to work at a host of jobs.

Sorensen herself never shied away from work. As a teenager outside Syracuse, N.Y., she worked everywhere from a health club to Kaufmann's Department Store, where she sold men's suits. “I always had a few jobs growing up,” says Sorensen. “My parents always wanted me to get out of the house.”

Sorensen has turned that ethic into a career that recently landed her a plum spot: chief people officer at breakfast-brunch-lunch chain First Watch Restaurants, one of the fastest-growing restaurant companies nationwide.