Her Story
About Heather
Heather Laing has spent 23 years in HR, beginning in 2003 as an entry-level HR coordinator at a pre-IPO tech company and advancing through leadership roles at startups in the technology sector. A few months ago, she transitioned from her position as VP of People to launch her own consulting business, Complex Caregiver Solutions, where she partners with heads of HR to help companies identify and retain employees who are raising children with complex needs. She brings a unique perspective as both an HR leader and the mother of a child with autism and ADHD. Laing holds a bachelor's degree in women's studies, which sharpened her critical thinking and communication skills, and a life coaching certificate that has enhanced her effectiveness as a people manager. She is a member of Troop HR and attributes her success to hard work, career planning combined with flexibility, and the ability to pivot toward unexpected opportunities. She advises building relationships and networking, as well as tapping into personal intuition, and emphasizes the importance of bringing one's whole self to work.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Heather
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think hard work, having sort of a plan for your career, but also being sort of flexible and open to opportunities that unexpectedly come up along the way, and being able to pivot to take advantage of those.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
It's not what you know, it's who you know. Building relationships and networking can't be underestimated because you can't buy or replicate that.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Work hard, foster relationships, build connections, think about what's unique to you that couldn't be found in AI, and tap into your gut and your intuition and follow that.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There's increasing conversation about caregiving and how it's showing up in the workplace, but really what specificity is missing from that conversation are all of the employees raising children with complex needs. One in four kids in the U.S. now have special healthcare needs, but a lot of HR professionals aren't aware of the impact this has on their organization, because a lot of employees aren't comfortable sharing what their reality actually looks like.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being able to bring your whole self to work. We think that your professional self can be contained in a neat box and your personal can, but that's just not the reality. One affects the other.
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