Leading With Heart: How Joe Tibolla, Managing Partner, Builds Winning Teams
We spend a massive portion of our lives at work. In fact, most of us spend over 75 percent of our week working alongside our colleagues. Because work takes up so much of our time, the environment we step into every day deeply shapes our happiness, our growth, and our future.
At Gravity, we understand the weight of this reality. We believe in helping people find the absolute best fit for their careers while delivering top-tier talent to our clients. To do that successfully, we need exceptional leaders at the helm of our own teams.
Enter Joe Tibolla, our Managing Partner in Salt Lake City. Joe brings a unique blend of empathy, strategic thinking, and relentless drive to his role. We want to give you an inside look into his journey, his leadership style, and the core values that make our Salt Lake City office a powerhouse of collaboration and success.
Finding the Right Fit at Gravity
Joe did not land at Gravity by accident. Early in his career, he worked at the same organization as Gravity Co-Founder and CEO Rick Connolly, though they operated in different parts of the country. Years later, while Joe was working as a director of channel partnerships for a minority- and veteran-owned company, Rick reached out. The two collaborated on several projects over the course of a year and a partnership that would become an ownership opportunity at Gravity bloomed.
During this time, Gravity was just beginning to expand its national footprint. The founders were looking for managing partners who aligned with their long-term vision. Joe quickly realized that Gravity was not just another business looking to make a quick profit.
The founders wanted to build something lasting. They wanted to create genuine opportunities for the people who helped build the company. This long-term, people-first mindset resonated deeply with Joe. He saw an entrepreneurial, nimble organization that never wanted to say “no” to a client unless absolutely necessary. Instead, the focus was always on finding creative ways to say “yes” and deliver outstanding results.
“It really is that—it’s across the board. I think we’ve done it, and it started with Rick and Steve just building a good foundation, hiring the right people that are doing this for the right reasons, and then allowing us, on the local level too, build our teams. Every market’s a little bit different, but ultimately, it’s really about the people and the relationships, both internally and with our clients.”
Shortly after, Joe joined the core leadership team, expanding Gravity’s reach to the Western United States with an office and team in Salt Lake City.
“Joe is a Human Capital expert who doesn’t just build relationships, he builds trust. By consistently showing up for his team and clients, Joe is always advocating for their success and leading with integrity. One of Joe’s superpowers is the ability to build culture where loyalty comes naturally. We’re fortunate to have Joe as Managing Partner/ Co-Founder- he serves his people first always setting the tone through action while holding a clear standard of performance that pushes everyone to be better. Joe’s unique mix of support, humor, humility, drive for results, creativity and accountability is what makes him truly exceptional.” – Rick Connolly
Building a Team on Character and Trust
Hiring people is arguably the most challenging part of any business. For Joe, building the Salt Lake City team has been more of an art than a strict science.
Initially, the plan was to hire young professionals straight out of college, train them from the ground up, and develop their careers. This approach brought incredible talent to the team, including early hires who remain foundational to the office today. However, Joe soon realized that a thriving office needs a balance of fresh energy and seasoned experience. He began tapping into his existing network to bring in trusted professionals he had worked with in the past.
Today, the Salt Lake City office features a perfect mix of now tenured recruiters and account managers who started right after college and experienced industry veterans. But regardless of their resume, Joe looks for one non-negotiable trait in every hire: character.
Joe believes we can teach anyone the mechanics of the recruiting industry. We can train them on the software, the phone scripts, and the daily processes. What we cannot teach is work ethic and the desire to do things the right way for the right reasons. Joe searches for individuals who genuinely want to help people.
“We have a way we want to do things… leading our teams and being able to adapt and be nimble. I think we do that with customers too, which I love. We don’t say no to anything unless we have to. We’d rather say yes and figure out a way to succeed and provide opportunity. Ultimately, it’s really about the people and the relationships, both internally and with our clients.”
If a new hire does not share this core value, Joe is quick to make a change. But when he finds the right people, he invests in them completely.
Fostering a Culture of Deep Care and Flexibility
One of the most remarkable aspects of Gravity’s culture is our agility. We do not believe in a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach to managing our people. As our team members go through major life events, our leadership adapts to support them.
A perfect example of this flexibility happened right in Joe’s office. When one of his team members became the first Gravity employee to ever have a baby, the company faced a new milestone. Instead of handing down a generic corporate mandate, Joe sat down with the executive team to write the company’s very first maternity leave policy.
They built the policy around the employee’s specific needs, ensuring she had the support required to care for her growing family while staying connected to her career. Post-baby, her schedule and how she engages with the office look different than before, and Joe fully embraces that evolution. This level of interpersonal connection shows our dedication to keeping incredible talent on board by meeting them exactly where they are in life.
Navigating the Daily Grind with Purpose
If you ask Joe what a typical day looks like, he will likely laugh and tell you there is no such thing. The recruiting industry moves fast, and unpredictable challenges pop up constantly. However, Joe structures his day to ensure he gives equal attention to both his clients and his internal team.
Owning the Morning
Before 8:00 AM, Joe is already reviewing emails, planning his schedule, and researching market trends on LinkedIn. He blocks out his mornings strictly for business development. This focused time allows him to build relationships with clients and uncover new opportunities for our candidates.
Empowering the Team
In the afternoon, Joe shifts his focus to team leadership. He reviews agreements, jumps on client calls with his account managers, and helps the team navigate complex hurdles. Every single day features a morning stand-up meeting and an afternoon wrap-up. This keeps communication open and ensures nobody ever feels stuck or isolated.
Furthermore, Joe hosts a dedicated monthly strategy meeting. Because his office is a tight-knit group of five, he brings both recruiters and account managers into the same room. They spend an hour strategizing on target accounts, sharing feedback, and finding ways to support each other better. As a result, his team constantly steps up to the plate. They cover for one another seamlessly, giving Joe the peace of mind that his office runs smoothly even if he steps away.
Career Advice From the Trenches
Recruiting is an emotional, high-stakes industry. We deal with people, and people are beautifully unpredictable. Joe often shares a few key pieces of advice for anyone looking to build a successful career in this field.
Cultivate Intellectual Curiosity
There is always more to learn about business and technology. Joe encourages his team to ask endless questions and remain deeply inquisitive. Every single candidate and client we speak to holds valuable knowledge. If we fail to ask questions, we miss out on a massive opportunity to grow.
Master the Science and the Art
Joe describes this career as having two distinct sides. The “science” is the daily discipline. If you put in the inputs—making the calls, scheduling the interviews, doing the research—you will get the outputs. You must be self-driven because nobody can force you to do the hard work.
The “art” involves emotional intelligence. It requires learning how to read people, picking up on subtle conversational cues, and building genuine trust. This part takes time to develop, but it separates good recruiters from great ones.
Control the Controllables
In an industry where the “product” is human beings, things will inevitably go wrong. Candidates might fail a background check or accept a counteroffer at the last minute. Joe reminds his team that you cannot take these setbacks personally. You can only control your own actions, the questions you ask, and the effort you bring. When things fall apart, you must learn from the experience and bounce back immediately.
“If you’re not figuring out why and can’t get there—if this kind of work doesn’t motivate you or make you want to get out of bed in the morning, then go do something else. There are going to be setbacks. You just have to bounce back quickly, learn what you can, and move on. Don’t let it kill your productivity or keep you from helping the next person.”
Dwelling on frustration will only hold you back from helping the next person in line.
Work with a Team that Cares
Joe Tibolla’s leadership in Salt Lake City perfectly highlights what makes Gravity special. We work incredibly hard, but we do it with deep empathy for the people around us. We celebrate our wins together, support each other through the challenges, and never lose sight of our primary mission: connecting great companies with exceptional talent.
((Or should Rick’s quote go here?))
If you are a candidate looking for your next big career move, or a business leader searching for a staffing partner who truly cares about your success, we would love to connect. Reach out to our team today and experience the Gravity difference for yourself.
About Gravity IT Resources
Gravity is a Human Capital Management company headquartered in Fort Lauderdale with offices across the country including Atlanta, Charlotte, Columbus, Cincinnati, Nashville, DC, Salt Lake City, San Diego and Tampa. Our company has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as an “Inc. 5000” award winner and one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the United States for the last 7 consecutive years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). Additionally, Gravity is proud to be Great Place to Work certified for the 5th year in a row (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and was also recognized on the SIA’s Fastest-Growing Staffing Firms in the US list the last two years (2024, 2025).
Gravity helps prominent clients like Salesforce, Chewy, Carnival Cruise Lines, AutoNation, Mosaic and hundreds of other enterprise and SMB companies to identify, recruit and hire IT professionals for their most critical projects and jobs. Our recruitment spans across various roles, including artificial intelligence (AI) specialists, software engineers, cloud engineers, project managers, data engineers, business analysts, security engineers, CXO leaders and more.
Gravity provides a variety of delivery models and services designed to meet client needs efficiently and effectively.
- Contract, Contract-to-Hire & Direct Hire of US-based Resources
- Nearshore Staff Augmentation
- Managed Team Services
- Executive Search
- ERP Program Leadership
- Workday Certified Staffing Partner
To learn more about Gravity IT Resources practices, career opportunities and culture, visit gravityitresources.com
