Camilla Young, MBA

I attribute my success to being able to serve others. I've always wanted to be in spaces where I can do the right thing and help people. Even back in high school, I wanted to be a physician's assistant because I wanted to serve people, but when I got to my clinicals in college and had to deal with blood and vomit, I realized I couldn't do it. I thought, there's got to be another way where I can actually serve people, and that's what led me to HR. I do this out of love. I particularly love employee relations, and people look at me like I'm crazy and ask why I want to be bothered hearing people's problems. I'm not the fixer, but I want people to be able to navigate through the situations that they're going through. Maybe my word of advice can possibly be that deterrent to sway them to do either the right or the wrong thing. I look at it as a helpful tool because people don't know what they don't know.

My mom always told me to look it up and do research. Don't just let people tell you anything. Research what it is you want to actually get into, and actually get to know people in those spaces. That will determine whether or not this is something that you want to get into, or something that you may want to pivot away from.

I would tell people to get out and network with others that have a background similar to what you're looking for. Do your research - don't just let people tell you anything. Research what it is you want to actually get into, and actually get to know people in those spaces. That will determine whether or not this is something that you want to get into, or something that you may want to pivot away from. Be willing to pivot, because things evolve. With the HR business that I have, it seems to be pivoting. I was focused more on HR, but it seems like I'm focusing more on businesses and the operations side of it to assist them and help them with the HR portion.

The biggest challenge I see is that many business owners attempt to manage HR responsibilities on their own, often because of budget concerns. I understand that reality - when you're building a business, every dollar matters. However, what many entrepreneurs don't initially see is the hidden cost. When business owners take on HR themselves, they're frequently pulled away from the very tasks that align with their expertise like revenue generation, client relationships, strategic growth, and innovation. Instead of focusing on scaling their operations, they find themselves navigating compliance questions, drafting policies, managing disputes, or responding to employee concerns without formal HR training. What I try to help them understand is that it's really going to be beneficial to their business by helping me help them with the operations piece, and bringing in the HR piece. I tell them we need to review what they have going on, maybe come in for 30 or 90 days to kind of review their policies and procedures. The goal is to stop problems before they start, because smaller businesses can be perceived as easier targets for legal complaints since they may lack formalized systems.

The most important values to me are knowing when to say no, learning how to relax, and finding that balance. I wear various hats, so there are times when you just have to show and find that work-life balance. I'm always focused on being able to serve others and doing the right thing. I do a lot of volunteer work and I'm always hopeful in giving back to my youth. I want to make sure that I'm always in spaces where I'm able to do the right thing and help empower people, especially women, to let them know what spaces they can actually go into and be able to speak freely without thinking something negative is going to happen. Women need to understand there are times when we need to speak up - not all the time, but there are times when we do need to speak up and actually let people know that we are aware of certain situations.