Most Interesting People 2015: Tonie Snell

Why she's interesting: Snell was a freelance job recruiter for nearly 11 years before starting 925Hire, an LGBT-certified staffing firm in 2010, after realizing the need to educate businesses on having a more diverse workplace. Now she's working closely with Plexus and the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce to expand her business throughout the country.

Rough roots: Snell grew up on Cleveland's southeast side with two younger brothers and an older sister. "I was an entrepreneur, even as a kid. It was nothing for me to be 7 or 8 years old, hustling up bottles and taking them to the store to get money or helping people to their car with groceries. I was always about earning something."

Guiding light: When her mother started abusing drugs, Snell had to drop out of school in ninth grade to care for her siblings. She went on to get her GED diploma and started taking classes at Cuyahoga Community College by age 19. "Life has been an education for me. It's been something that no book could have taught me, just being around people, connecting with people and understanding people."

Leading lady: As a freelance recruiter, Snell worked with a potential client who used a derogatory word to describe someone in the LGBT community. Outraged, Snell, who identifies as a lesbian, decided to open her own firm to educate businesses on diversity hiring initiatives and to advise clients through the hiring process. "I decided somebody needed to do something about it, and that person needed to be me."

Business sense: Snell started her business two years ago to manage her candidates nationwide. "I tell my clients all the time that I believe wholeheartedly that you will get more productivity, you will get a person who stays at your company longer, and you won't have the turnover rate if you allow them to be themselves."

Diversifying America: Though there are an estimated 15 million LGBT people in America over the age of 18, only 650 of an estimated 1.4 million LGBT-owned businesses are LGBT-certified. Snell travels more than 80 days per year to attend conferences and host workshops. "I'm very selective with all of my clients, because I need to know that their diversity hiring initiative is not just a sell-good blurb that they put on their website. Every client has been vetted, because I need to make sure we're putting our candidates in friendly environments."