April 14, 2026

Sponsor Spotlight: Ignite Leadership + HR Group

At the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, our sponsors play an important role in supporting the growth of our innovation ecosystem. Ignite Leadership + HR Group brings deep expertise in leadership, culture, and people strategy, helping organizations build strong foundations for long-term success.

We sat down with Wendy Glass, Chief People Officer, Culture Strategist, and Executive Coach, to learn more about her work and perspective.

Ignite Leadership + HR Group is a fractional CHRO and executive coaching practice focused on helping small and medium-sized companies build cultures people actually want to work in.

Tell us a little about Ignite Leadership + HR Group and what inspired you to start it.

Ignite Leadership + HR Group is a fractional CHRO and executive coaching practice focused on helping small and medium-sized companies build cultures people actually want to work in. I started it because I kept seeing the same pattern: smart founders and CEOs who were great at building their product or service but hitting a wall when it came to people. They didn’t need an HR department, they needed a strategic partner who could help them think differently about talent, leadership, and culture. That’s the gap I built Ignite to fill.

“Ignite” is such a powerful word. What does it mean to you in the context of leadership and growth?

To me, ignite is about activation. Most leaders already have what they need: the instincts, the vision, the drive. What they sometimes lack is the clarity, the tools, or the honest conversation that helps them actually use it. My job is to be that catalyst. Whether I’m working with a CEO one-on-one or facilitating a session with a leadership team, I’m always asking: what’s going to unlock this for them?

What do you love most about working with growing companies and founders?

The stakes are real and the impact is immediate. When you’re working with a 30-person company and you help a founder stop being the bottleneck in their own organization, you can see it ripple through the whole team within weeks. There’s no bureaucracy to fight through. Decisions get made, things shift, people notice. That kind of direct impact is hard to replicate anywhere else.

What people-related challenges do you see most often in scaling organizations?

The first one is actually awareness. Most founders don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to people strategy, and by the time they realize they needed a plan, they’re already in reactive mode: high turnover, a toxic dynamic on the team, or a manager who’s struggling because nobody ever taught them how to lead.

The second is promoting great individual contributors into management roles without any real leadership development, and then being surprised when things break down.

And third is founders or CEOs who are so embedded in the day-to-day that they’ve become the bottleneck, and everything from hiring decisions to culture is flowing through one person.

All of those are solvable, but you have to be willing to look at the leadership structure honestly rather than just add an HR process on top of a leadership problem.

What advice would you give a founder who knows they need HR support but isn’t sure where to start?

First, recognize that getting ahead of it is always better than waiting until something breaks. A lot of founders delay thinking about people strategy because it doesn’t feel urgent until it suddenly is.

When you’re ready to get support, get clear on what you actually need before you hire anyone or bring anyone in. A lot of founders think they need HR when what they really need is leadership alignment, a clearer people strategy, or someone to help them have harder conversations with their team.

Start with a conversation, not a job description. And look for someone who’s going to push back on you, not just tell you what you want to hear.

What made you want to support and sponsor the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center?

The VTCRC is where a lot of the region’s most interesting companies are being built, and those are exactly the organizations I care most about. Startups and scaling companies are trying to figure out the people side of the business in real time, often without a lot of infrastructure. Being connected to that community just made sense.

How do you see leadership and people strategy contributing to a thriving innovation ecosystem like VTCRC?

You can have the best technology in the world and still fail because of how you lead people. Culture, communication, and how decisions get made. Those things determine whether talented people want to work for you, whether they stay, and whether teams can actually execute on the vision.

A strong innovation ecosystem needs companies that can sustain their growth, not just spark it. That’s where intentional people strategy comes in.

What excites you most about being connected to this region’s entrepreneurial community?

Southwest Virginia is having a real moment, and I think people outside the region underestimate what’s being built here. What I love is that it still feels like a community. People are genuinely investing in each other’s success. Being part of that, and being able to contribute something that actually helps these companies grow, is something I don’t take lightly.

What motivates you personally in your work?

Honestly, it’s the moments when something shifts for someone. When a leader stops defending the way things have always been done and starts asking different questions. When a CEO realizes the problem isn’t their people, it’s the system they’re operating in. Those moments don’t get old.

Outside of work, what helps you recharge?

While I’m a firm believer that work-life balance matters, I’ve not mastered the art of disconnecting from work; however, I love what I do and most of the time it doesn’t feel like work. I also find so much joy in the classroom. While still work, teaching at Virginia Tech gives me a front-row view of our future workforce, and it reminds me why this work matters. When I do find time for me, I enjoy balancing it between the people I love and time to myself.

How can people connect with you?

The easiest way is through my website at ignitehrgroup.com or on LinkedIn HERE.

I’m always open to a conversation. Even if someone isn’t sure yet whether they need support, sometimes that initial call is exactly where the clarity comes from.