Her Story
About Barbara
I have dedicated 16 years to Human Resources since 2010, with my most recent role as Director of People and Culture, a position I held for four and a half years. While I handled the essential administrative functions like payroll, benefits, compliance, and HRIS systems, my true passion has been effecting cultural change within organizations. I've worked to help leaders focus on the value their employees bring rather than nitpicking everything they do wrong, teaching them the importance of giving 5 positives for every one corrective feedback. I've also found great fulfillment in helping others figure out their career paths when they're not sure what direction to take, talking through their strengths and interests to help them shift their trajectory. One of my most notable achievements was managing a massive project where I had to essentially recreate a business from an HR perspective, including the handbook and all accounts with 19 states for unemployment and tax withholding, while simultaneously implementing a new HRIS system during a branding change and new FEIN. Now I'm transitioning to focus more on leadership coaching, currently pursuing certification through IPEC, which is internationally accredited with the ICF. I see tremendous opportunity to make a greater impact by coaching multiple leaders across various companies and industries, addressing the significant training gap that exists when strong individual contributors get promoted into leadership positions without being trained on how to lead people. I also plan to offer life coaching to support women who have been in abusive relationships, drawing from my own experience escaping an abusive first marriage.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Barbara
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to seeing where it clicks for people and helping them realize their value. So many people are their worst critic, and I really love helping somebody see what their value is, that they are worthy, and they are good enough, and the talents and skills they have in this world. I just really love seeing people feel fulfilled, and that's really what drives my passion for helping others.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was from my mentor, Fred Liskey, who would remind me, 'Hey, Barb, is this gonna matter a year from now? Is it really worth the stress you're putting into it now?' That was really good advice to not get so stuck in today's chaos. If it's not gonna matter a year from now, if I'm probably not even gonna remember this a year from now, then I should just take it in stride.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think women have easier access to a skill set of connecting with people and empathizing with them and empowering others, which I think is such a great strength. It's really important to have good confidence in knowing that you have great value. You need to have a good support group that helps you to remember your value and that you deserve to take up space. Do not shrink yourself around others. We all have different assets and strengths that we bring to a room, and so we shouldn't shy down out of fear of others judging us or any of that. It can be easy to feel intimidated by the men in the room, but we have a really great skill set. It might be a bit more inconspicuous, but it has so much value.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the biggest challenge is getting a lot of companies to realize that individual contributors going into a leadership role do need an investment, and that's going to be a financial investment to help them to have the skills to help them thrive. If you have great leaders, it's just great for everyone - it's great for your customers, it's great for your employees. But getting companies to see that has been pretty prevalent. That's also where there's a lot of opportunity to make impact, because there's a huge gap when somebody's a really strong individual contributor and they get promoted into a supervisor or leadership position, but they're not typically trained on the skill set of how to lead people, which is very different from what they were doing previously. So there's a giant training gap there that I think the country is definitely very aware of and feeling.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are authenticity, integrity, honesty, and a continual desire to learn. I think it's important to remain humble and know that we don't know all the answers, and we never will. That's where there's value in having so many different people with different skill sets, and not treating others like they should show up the same way you show up in work. It's about seeing that people have value and meeting them where they are.
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