About Us
FireSeeds serves as a catalyst for companies that want to enhance culture and multiply leaders within their organization.
Meet our Team
Cord Sachs
President/CEO
Justin Harris
Chief Operating Officer
Matt Heard
Vice President of Operations
Wendi Stanley Coley
Senior Recruiter
Lindsey Vollenweider
Recruiter
Whitney Forrest
Lead Recruiter
Arden Long
Recruiter
Blake Atwell
Recruiter
Billy Ivey
Brand Strategist
Cord Sachs
President/CEO
As president, CEO and chief inspiration officer of Wildsparq and FireSeeds, Cord’s number one goal each and every day is to guard the cultures he has worked hard to help create, hire and inspire the best of the best to help grow the companies, and drive bottom-line profit of the two organizations. Cord is a graduate of Samford University where he majored in Business and learned very early that he wanted to create an organization to serve and grow leaders. “I have always had a passion for great leadership and I’ve had so many great mentors and leaders in my own life,” Cord says. “I knew that I wanted to try and help replicate that passion and those leadership lessons in others.” Leading two thriving businesses is not Cord’s greatest accomplishment, however. He and his beautiful wife, Heather, have six incredible children: Jeremiah, Ellie, Saddler, Judson, Josiah, and Gideon. Cord spends his spare time — yeah, right — snow skiing, horseback riding, boating, and doing just about anything else you can do on the water at Lake Guntersville. He also enjoys serving as an Elder at his church, and coaching his kids in baseball, soccer, and flag football among other things.
Justin Harris
Chief Operating Officer
Justin is the get-things-done guy around here. His passion is helping our teams stay focused and on-track, and that passion graciously carries over to our partners and friends. A graduate of Samford University with a degree in Physical Education, Justin is always searching for ways to rally the troops and encourage our teams to push toward excellence. He and his wife, Aimee (with two “e’s”), have three kids: Caed, Vivian, and Verity, and they are both highly involved in their church as well as their kids’ extracurricular activities. In fact, Justin says that one of his favorite accomplishments in life was coaching his son’s flag football team to a YMCA Championship last year. How sweet is that? Seriously. One of the greatest accomplishments in your life is coaching your son in flag football? That’s like next-level-sugary-sweet awesomeness right there. Anyway, when Justin’s not busy with his COO duties at FireSeeds and Wildsparq, he enjoys watching (his kids’) sports, working out, cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs, reading the next, great leadership book, or taking his dog out to potty.
Matt Heard
Vice President of Operations
Around these parts, Matt Heard is known as the go-to-guy. "For what?" You might ask. And the answer is “everything.” He started when FireSeeds was just a a couple of guys with an idea in Cord Sachs' basement, and now he manages FireSeed’s recruiting team while splitting time managing the finances and serving our partners on new recruitment searches. He says he enjoys wearing so many hats, but most of us think he's just showing off. Over the years, Matt had helped place candidates in just about every position, in just about every industry — from CEO's to Executive Assistants and different Directors at Chick-fil-A. Matt graduated from the University of West Georgia with a degree in Accounting and Finance, and then moved to Birmingham where he met and married his lovely wife, Anna. The couple now have a son, Carter, and that little guy keeps the happy couple on their toes day in and day out. In his spare time, Matt likes to play golf, go to Georgia football and basketball games, and spend time serving as a deacon at his church.
Wendi Stanley Coley
Senior Recruiter
Wendi Coley is FireSeeds lead recruiter, and another of the “from day one gang.” She has been serving our clients, partners, and prospects with excellence from the very beginning, and continues to wow us (and the people who are fortunate enough to work with her) on a daily basis. She says the greatest thing about doing what she does is “helping great people find great places to work and grow, both personally and professionally," and she means it! Quite the athlete, Wendi graduated from Samford University with a degree in Physical Education, and went on to earn her Masters in Physical Education & Exercise Science from the University of Dayton. She is the proud mother of a wonderful son, and step-mother to two beautiful step-daughters. When she’s not going above and beyond for her clients at FireSeeds, Wendi enjoys spending time outside, working in the yard, going to the lake, working out, and beating people at any and every competition she undertakes. Like I said, she's quite the athlete...
Lindsey Vollenweider
Recruiter
Being a Recruiter at FireSeeds is the perfect job for Lindsey Volleweider, because she looooooves people. And at FireSeeds, she gets to interact with a ton of different people from different states, backgrounds, and professions every day! It might be the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company looking for a key leader on their team, or a curious candidate looking for a new opportunity at a start-up. Either way, Lindsey considers it a privilege to get to know them and to be a part of their journey. She graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Psychology, and then pursued her Masters Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Lipscomb University in Nashville. After finishing school, she felt a call to the business world and loves bringing her background in counseling to her work here at FireSeeds. When she’s not connecting with clients and candidates as a Recruiter, Lindsey loves exploring the great outdoors with her husband, Austen, and their dog Lola; hanging with their quirky cat Carlos; and hosting game nights or small groups. Any excuse to host! See? I told you she was a people-person.
Whitney Forrest
Lead Recruiter
Whitney Ezell has been described by many as a ray of sunshine because of the great pride she takes in making everyone around her feel happy, warm, and a little brighter after they spend time with her. And that plays perfectly into her role as a Recruiter at FireSeeds. She sees each and every day as an opportunity to serve as the bridge between incredible clients, who are looking for top-notch, purpose-driven leaders, and the talented individuals who are looking for meaningful work and a company culture that fosters opportunities for growth, connection, and development. She says she sees her role as the missing puzzle piece that helps bring our partners together. Whitney earned a degree in Business and Marketing from Mercer University, and her Masters Degree in Education from the University of Virginia. When she’s not delighting her customers, you will probably find her working out at Iron Tribe Fitness, or playing one of her many sporting endeavors; including, soccer, football, kickball, volleyball, and her newly discovered and current favorite: disc golf. She loves writing letters — yes, real, hand-written letters to friends and family, as well as serving on the Junior Board for WorkFaith Birmingham.
Arden Long
Recruiter
Arden serves as the middle-man (her word, not mine) between our FireSeeds clients and the talented candidates we identify for possible placement within these great organizations. She graduated from Samford University as an accounting major, but learned pretty quickly that she's too much of a people-person to be locked up with a calculator doing taxes all day. She loves to sing, read, watch great movies, travel and try new restaurants with her new husband, Eli. Fun fact: Arden and Eli are talented singers, and they often lead worship together at their church! When they are not belting out beautiful music, they like to go to movies. Lots and lots of movies. In fact, it's not unusual for the couple to visit the Big Screen every week! Hey, maybe that's why she's such a good storyteller! This girl can make a trip to the grocery store sound like a grand adventure!
Blake Atwell
Recruiter
Blake Atwell is an Aggie. “What’s an Aggie?” You ask? That’s a great question. Just don’t ask Blake, because he’ll try to explain it to you, and ‘aint nobody got time for that, am I right? He’ll also try to defend his alma mater (Texas A&M University) as a deserving institution in the Southeastern Conference, and well... bless his heart. Anyway, for all that Atwell lacks in judgment regarding football teams, he makes up for in knowledge when it comes to just about everything else. This guy is wicked smart! Graduating with a degree in Business Finance, Blake has a keen sense of organizational structure and a thorough understanding of how culture and business should come together. “I am blessed to be able to connect great leaders with great organizations that want to maximize impact in the lives of others,” he says. “It’s a pretty remarkable position to be in, and I am super grateful.” When he’s not surpassing expectations here at Fireseeds, Blake enjoys spending time with his “much smarter and prettier” wife, Sarah, and their chocolate lab, Camp. Also, the couple are members at Grace Fellowship Church in Birmingham, where he helps lead the global missions team.
Billy Ivey
Brand Strategist
Billy Ivey is a longtime copywriter and brand strategist with more than 20 years experience working with brands like Chick-fil-A, Home Depot, Valvoline, and Major League Baseball. At FireSeeds, Billy serves as brand strategist and leads many of our clients through brand and story development. Billy earned his Bachelor of Arts in English from Samford University, and is about a semester away from holding a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Don’t hold your breath on that one, though. He stopped going to class in 1997. Billy prides himself as “probably the only true Vanderbilt fan you’ll ever really meet,” and can often be found screaming obscenities at his television if the Commodores happen to be on. Billy and his child bride, Bethany (not really, but she looks really great), have five better-than-average-looking children, the oldest of which is already in college, which means Billy is a lot older than he looks.
