Leadership

As an IT consultant in the 1970s aerospace industry, Linda Stone soon grew frustrated with the lack of growth and leadership opportunities. So in 1980, with just a single contract in hand, Linda founded APR Consulting, Inc. She would soon transform the humble IT staffing firm into a nationally respected company, serving multiple industries with a full range of high-level, specialized talent and a comprehensive suite of offerings, from professional recruitment and contingent staffing to payroll and MSP support.

Over the last four decades, Linda has deftly steered APR through tectonic economic, technological and societal shifts — from Y2K to the Great Recession to 2020 — with the agility and ingenuity to turn them into catalysts for transformation for her clients, her contractors and her company.

This culture of growth and possibility has made APR the employer of choice for thousands of driven professionals, and earned consistent accolades from clients and industry alike, including Northrop Grumman’s Gold Supplier of the Year for five consecutive years, and Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year finalist for two years in a row.

A graduate of the Kellogg School of Management’s Advanced Management Executive Program at Northwestern University, Linda is active in the business community, mentoring fellow entrepreneurs and having served on the boards of organizations such as the Asian Business Association of Los Angeles and the Asian Business Association of Orange County, which she co-founded. She has been honored by both the Los Angeles and Orange County chapters of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and was named Business Person of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Orange County Business Journal.

In his nearly three decades with APR Consulting, Inc., Aaron Stone has served as the company’s financial manager, recruitment delivery manager, national sales manager, vice president and now COO. Through it all, he has led by listening, leveraging his team’s diverse and expanding experience along with his own, to build capacity, optimize performance, and foster a culture of collaboration, innovation and transformation.

As COO, Aaron provides strategic direction and management of operations, service delivery, sales and marketing. He also lends his expertise as a facility security officer (FSO) to managing federal security clearance administration for APR, and works closely with the CEO to develop and hone the company’s long-term vision.

The company has been named one of the fastest-growing private companies by both the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Orange County Business Journal, Class IV Supplier of the Year by the Southern California Minority Supplier Development Council (SCMSDC), and Class IV Regional Supplier of the Year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC).

Aaron’s inclusive leadership style and no-limits thinking continue to be key drivers of growth for APR, its employees, contractors and clients. A graduate of the Management Development for Entrepreneurs (MDE) program at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, Aaron also holds a B.A. in business management from California State University, Fullerton.

As a CPA and former Big 4 consultant, you would expect Enrico “Rico” Gonzalo to be adept at leveraging resources to their greatest advantage. What you might not expect is how effectively he’s been able to apply that expertise to human resources as well as financial ones.

As CFO of APR, Rico’s keen eye for efficiency has led to process improvement initiatives that have not only reduced costs, but increased staff productivity. This is due in no small part to his clear understanding that people’s most profound impact and greatest growth comes from doing the things they do best and are driven to do. It’s evident not only in how he leads his long-running team, but in his own trajectory within the company — progressing from consultant to manager to vice president to CFO, all within his first eight years.

Rico has seen APR through some of its most challenging times with the same intricate financial problem-solving, incisive decision making, and big-picture perspective that have facilitated the company’s most pivotal transformations. In each case, his adaptability, collaboration with his colleagues, and their mutual trust generated the exponential momentum to turn challenges into opportunities, and opportunities into growth.

Prior to joining APR, Rico was COO for an international technology company and a Senior Associate with the Business Advisory Group for one of the Big 4 accounting firms. He earned an MBA with distinction from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.

It’s no surprise that APR’s WeCare employee concierge program was the brainchild of Heidi Gonzalo. As she says, “Our team does not stop at ourselves.” So WeCare has become much more than a program — it’s a culture that she has been instrumental in building.

Holding an MBA from De La Salle University, Heidi began making her mark at APR as soon as she signed on in 2008 as a Project Manager, refining and redefining many of the company’s internal business processes and policies. Next, as Operations Manager, she set about elevating APR’s operating standards, establishing the talent onboarding program, and bringing WeCare to fruition.

Upon becoming Vice President of Operations in 2016, Heidi could not have imagined what lay ahead. Nonetheless, in early March 2020, with a global pandemic closing in, she and APR were ready. She had already set up the processes and procedures required for a seamless transition to telecommuting, and with the IT infrastructure also in place, the entire operation was able to go remote within 24 hours of the decision. Despite the prevailing uncertainties, Heidi helped APR, its clients and contractors uncover new opportunities amidst the crisis.

This forward focus guides not only Heidi’s continual advancement of APR’s capacities and operations, but her profound understanding of the power of people to transform the future … and each other.

In Daniel’s current role, he is responsible for providing leadership of APR’s account management, recruitment, and sourcing functions in support of APR’s nationwide clientele – covering major industry sectors including Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Gaming / Hospitality, Government, Healthcare, Telecom, Transportation, and Utilities. In this role, Daniel has successfully led the team in increasing the operating margin and return by over 85.00%. 

By embodying the ethos and values of simply ‘doing the right thing’, Daniel ensures that the three ‘Cs’ (eg. Clients, Contractors and Colleagues) are continuously treated with the utmost professionalism and humanity.  It is application of this belief and practice which contributes to his prolonged success.

Born into a military family, Daniel quickly adapted to regularly changing geographies and environments.  While pursuing his graduate degree in Southern California, he met his wife of over 20 years.  With three rapidly growing children (along with a dog and cat), Daniel now has the opportunity to share some of his passions, such as CrossFit, soccer, skiing / snowboarding and watersports, alongside them. 

To annoyance of his family, Daniel likes to share daily quotes.  One of the more recent to which he (as well as many other parents) can easily relate, comes from Franklin D. Roosevelt: “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

Ajay Kumar is a prime example of what happens when you put people in a position to make full use of their talents, then give them the trust and freedom to do so. Starting at APR in 2008 as IT Administrator, his initiative, curiosity and creative problem solving would soon make him invaluable — not only in IT, but also as a contributing architect of the company’s growth.

When the pandemic struck in early 2020, it was Ajay who spearheaded APR’s transition to remote operations, which were up and running a full two weeks before the quarantine took effect. Having worked partially remotely himself, he already had the infrastructure in place, and had long believed that the cloud offered greater agility, resilience and even security than in-house servers. The pandemic would prove him right … and prescient.

Beyond delivering IT services and support to all of APR’s departments and 70+ staff, Ajay also manages office infrastructure, from equipment, connectivity, and cybersecurity to negotiating lease agreements. And with the success of the company’s transition to remote work and now to a hybrid model, he has optimized space requirements and cut lease expenditures in half.

Whether through technology or just out-of-the-box thinking, Ajay continues to help APR streamline operations, improve communication, accuracy, and efficiency, and provide the freedom and flexibility that fuels inspiration, innovation, and transformation for us all.