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College of Nursing scholarship funder helping address Texas nursing shortage
Jenny Hanlon and Liquid Agents Healthcare use technology to match nurses with facilities who need them
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Jenny Hanlon '89 is co-founder and chief financial officer of LiquidAgents Healthcare. (Sam Hodde/Hodde Visuals)
“Take an assignment with us and get a free laptop.”
Those were the words on LiquidAgents Healthcare’s first direct mailer incentivizing nurses to work with the then-new health care staffing company. Don Draper, the famed ad man from the television series “Mad Men,” might have sneered at its simplicity—but the results spoke louder than its imagined critique. Once the piece reached mailboxes, the volume of calls to the Plano-based organization crashed its phone system.
The demand for nurses was, and still is, there.
Jenny Hanlon ’89 co-founded LiquidAgents in 2000 and has helped shape it into a rapidly growing company often cited as a best place to work—all while helping address the persistent nursing shortage plaguing Texas and the rest of the country.
Hanlon and her team are ardent supporters of nurses. They’ve placed more than 20,000 of them in more than 7,000 hospitals and clinics since 2020.
LiquidAgents also established an endowed scholarship at the Texas A&M University College of Nursing in 2019 to support Aggie nurses who will soon enter the workforce.
A need for nurses
Hanlon, the company’s chief financial officer, and co-founder Sheldon Arora, chief executive officer, created LiquidAgents after the dot-com bubble burst in the ‘90s. The demand for work in their respective fields of telecommunications and technology slowed. They noticed, though, that health care’s need for essential workers like nurses remained constant.
And Hanlon knew something about the Aggie Core Value of Selfless Service thanks to her time as a finance major at Texas A&M.
“Our goal is to help address the nursing shortage,” she said. “Nurses want to serve, and we help them find places to do that.”
Since that first mail campaign in 2000, which Hanlon and a small team sorted and bundled themselves, LiquidAgents has transformed into a full-service placement firm that delivers a concierge-style experience to match nurses with facilities looking for their skills. Most nurse candidates are interested in short-term travel assignments that last a few months and help the host facility address staffing gaps.
The company assigns each nurse a recruiter to navigate the complexities of travel nursing, including licensing and compliance issues that differ from state to state. The recruiter also helps their nurse find a placement that meets all their criteria.
“What is important to the candidate?” said Hanlon. “Maybe it’s location, maybe it’s the service line or specialty, maybe it’s the schedule. Whatever it is, the health care professional is guided through the whole process to find the right placement with full pay and job transparency upfront without registering.”
Growing and giving
The honors are aplenty for LiquidAgents. Its expansion, personalized client and candidate experience, and employee satisfaction are often recognized by outside groups.
LiquidAgents has multiple appearances on the Aggie 100 list, which honors the 100 fastest-growing businesses led by a Texas A&M former student. During the awards ceremony at the company’s debut on the Aggie 100 in 2017, Hanlon met Patty Rabel ’80, senior director of development for the Texas A&M Foundation who handles fundraising for the College of Nursing.
Hanlon worked with Rabel and college leadership to establish the LiquidAgents Endowed Scholarship for Aggie nurses pursuing their bachelor’s degree.
The relationship extends far past scholarship support. LiquidAgents has visited the college to educate students about travel nursing, toured the clinical simulation center and even consulted with Leann Horsley, PhD, dean of the college, about how to help more with staffing needs in rural areas.
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Hanlon and LiquidAgents’ support of Aggie nurses was commemorated in 2023 when Hanlon was bestowed the college’s Partner in Nursing Award, which annually recognizes a supporter who has made a significant impact on nursing education and practice.
“Jenny is an honorary Aggie nurse,” Horsley said. “Her generosity goes far beyond what LiquidAgents has provided in scholarship support for the college. She understands that nurses have earned a seat at the table and is using her business acumen to help us retain and grow our critical position in health care.”
LiquidAgents was an Aggie 100 company in 2018 and 2022. But 2023 was special, thanks to a new venture. By then, Hanlon and Arora had launched a technology platform called StaffDNA®, a digital marketplace that allows health care professionals to find, book and manage their own jobs.
The growth of StaffDNA® was unprecedented by Aggie 100 standards. The company secured the No. 1 spot on the prestigious list with a more than 730% compound-annual growth rate, the fastest of any company in Aggie 100’s nearly two-decade history.
The technology is a suitable middle ground for nurses who are looking for assignments but may not want or need the services of a recruiter, Hanlon said.
“They get to see everything about the job, with unparalleled transparency,” she said. “The pay, and even facility specific information, such as the color of the scrubs they’ll wear, can be viewed without even registering on the app. This technology we’ve created puts more money in the candidate’s pocket, while charging facilities less, creating the ultimate win-win.”
Culture of service
LiquidAgents’ support of Aggie nurses is illustrative of the company’s culture. Hanlon and the leadership team have worked hard to cultivate a sense of community and service. Employees, which now number 230, are eager to respond to Hanlon’s “vol calls” to prepare dinner at the Ronald McDonald House, for instance. Step inside the thoughtfully designed LiquidAgents headquarters, and you’ll see dozens of pictures celebrating team members’ involvement in charitable activities.
“Our employees are proud that our company gives back, and it’s integral to our culture,” Hanlon said.
In addition to a host of awards for innovation in staffing and technology, LiquidAgents has been named a top place to work by Modern Healthcare, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Business Journal and more.
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Like many Aggies, Hanlon credits her time at Texas A&M with being deeply formative. She loves Aggieland so much she still calls it home, splitting time between College Station and Dallas and never missing a football game at Kyle Field. Her parents, who were there for her ring dunk and initially secured the six season tickets the family still shares for football, have lived in town for nearly 30 years.
So perhaps it’s not surprising the second-generation Aggie with eight Texas A&M former students in her extended family has built a professional—and personal—culture around a service mission.
“We want to help students achieve their dream of a career in health care,” Hanlon said. “And we want to encourage people to get into nursing, even if it’s not with us. It’s a critically important career.”
Don Draper may have suggested some flourish on that first direct-mail post card. But as for his likely feedback on the culture- and values-driven business Hanlon has built: “No notes.”
Media contact: media@tamu.edu