Nada Usina, a global leader in executive search and advisory services and the CEO of a new executive search firm, has gained a place in the Florida State University College of Business Alumni Hall of Fame.
Usina, who graduated from FSU with bachelor’s degrees in marketing and multinational business in 1993 and a master’s degree in sport management in 1994, will be enshrined during a Thursday evening ceremony at the Turnbull Florida State Conference Center in Tallahassee.
The inductions of Usina and three other highly successful business leaders— consulting firm founder Christopher Iansiti, manufacturing company executive Russell Kohl and real estate investment firm executive Kyle Riva — will increase the Alumni Hall of Fame membership to 66.
Criteria for selection include a degree from the College of Business, an exceptional career background and service to the college and Florida State University.
Usina initially made her mark as an innovative leader in the new media and mobile industries, working at one point with billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban. She now helps some of the world’s most notable public and private organizations search, assess and recruit senior-level executives and board members.
A Toronto native, Usina enrolled at FSU on a swimming scholarship in 1990. She planned to study electrical engineering but switched to business because the former Stults Aquatic Center, located at the time right outside the Rovetta Business Building, allowed her to practice then walk to classes.
She finished her undergraduate degree in three years. “I’ve always been in a hurry to get somewhere,” she said.
She earned her master’s degree, then embarked on a career that included executive roles at Nokia, Yahoo! and AudioNet, the latter of which produced the world’s first streamed sporting event – a 1995 college football game between the University of Arkansas and Southern Methodist University. AudioNet later changed its name to Broadcast.com.
In times of adversity, she has relied on her swimmer’s mentality.
“You’ve just got to be relentless,” Usina said, then added with a smile, “Maybe it’s because I looked at a line at the bottom of a pool for so many hours while inhaling chlorine, but with the objective of shaving hundredths of a second off my time, I can keep going.”
She helped to keep Yahoo! Entertainment afloat during the so-called dot-com bust of 2000, when she served as the unit’s director of business development and sales programs. In that role, she drove deals in Yahoo! movies, TV, games, music and general entertainment.
“We found a way to make it happen, and when you find a way to make it happen, that’s the reputation you build,” Usina said. “You rely on a lot of people to do that — senior people giving you cover, your peers helping you out and your team saying, ‘Where can I step in?’”
In 2010, she joined Russell Reynolds and led the company’s global technology sector and its global media, entertainment and sports practices. She also served on the firm’s executive committee.
In March, she became leader of a new executive search firm that recruits, assesses and onboards exceptional candidates for board and C-suite roles at businesses and organizations. She and her family recently moved from New York City to Tallahassee, and they maintain homes in Manhattan and Flagler Beach, about 70 miles south of Jacksonville.
Her other positions have included leadership roles at the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games and the Florida Sports Foundation. She has been a member of the FSU Seminole Boosters Board of Directors and now serves on the executive committee of the FSU College of Business Board of Governors.
She said that connections from FSU, “have become clients and resources —and vice versa— in a way that I think is really special.”
She added: “We are much more connected because of our love for FSU.”
