Carylon Ficklin Strong

My career in human resources spans 27 years, beginning in September when I started as an HR coordinator with the City of Houston. From there, I moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to work as an HR manager for Kindred Hospital for several years until they relocated the HR department to Louisville, Kentucky. I then joined Xerox Business Services as an HR manager for the leave of absence and HR administration team, where I stayed for about 6 years. After that, I worked for Pier 1 Imports, starting as a generalist and being promoted to HR manager, supporting multi-sites in Texas, Alabama, and Oklahoma. When Pier 1 closed, I landed at FedEx, where I started as a senior HR business partner and was promoted to Senior People Operations Partner, a role I've held for over a year now. In my current position, I'm responsible for 9 locations, including 2 in the DFW Metroplex, 5 in the El Paso area, and 2 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I travel quite a bit, meeting with senior management to address operational needs including training and development, staffing, employee relations, disciplinary actions, and engagement. I serve as the nucleus for all of the stations on their daily needs. I absolutely love human resources and don't see myself doing anything else. I love meeting people, listening to their goals and career paths, and assisting them. Whenever I attend a new hire orientation, I always ask if this is just a job or a career, because many people enter thinking it's just a job but it becomes a career. When I see individuals advance and promote within a company, I feel like I'm successful because I've encouraged them or assisted them in getting from one place to the other in their career.