Met everyone but...
Do you know what People & Culture Manager does?
Let me start with WHY I do what I do...

QUESTION:
Ever had a belief, something you felt so strongly about, you'd be willing to risk everything for that one belief?

-> Soldiers do it for Freedom
-> Priests do it for their Religion

STORY:
In 2011 I risked everything I had, which wasn't much at the time, JOB, SAVINGS and 3 Years of my life for what I believed.

I had a big dream.
I believe that people deserve a happy, healthy work environment where they are valued and treated with respect.

I was in a place in my life where I wanted to give back.
Wanted to give back by transforming people's lives by giving them a great place to work.
AND
where they can be PASSIONATE about what they do.

Form talking to different people I have come to realize that everyone comes to find their passion in life in a different way. There is no recipe or instruction manual.

I wasn't always in touch with my passion because I was focused on earning money to pay for college.

A friend referred me to a Sales position where there was a lot of opportunity to make money. So I started off in Tech Sales and also worked in Recruiting. I made great money, was able to pay off my college loans but something was missing.

At that point, I was hoping someone would come along and tell me what I was supposed to be doing because I didn't know what I was meant to do with life.

So I asked myself what I do know
- I knew that I worked for dozens of companies and everyone I went to had unhappy employees.
- I knew I was very disturbed by how my coworkers and myself were treated.
- I frequently quit jobs because I didn't agree with the company ethics
- Even more frequently I was getting in trouble for speaking out against mistreatment and corruption.

QUESTION:
Have you ever come to a decision making point in your life where you sensed that it was going to change the course of your life?

STORY:
Summer of 2010 was the best summer ever. Reached a point in my sales career where I could tqke time off and travel....

Summer 2011 was approaching. "THE FORK"
Shall I have another amazing summer OR
Should I take a class?

I had no idea that taking what seemed to be the boring route would end up in an even more amazing journey.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that once you make a decision that the universe conspired to make it happen.

I believe it is the intense focus we get when we know exactly where we are going and what the goal is.

My journey to ConsumerTrack and discovering my passion started with that Management Class:
-> The professor ended up being on of the only living students of Peter Drucker.
-> He questioned me and everything I believed in
-> It lead to me quitting my job w/o another one lined up.
-> It lead me to analyze all my past career decisions and realize that instead of getting in trouble for being the employee advocate, I was going to have it be my job.
-> Studied the GRE and applied to USC

-> The, before coming to USC I got to work at Google. What was so great about it was that it solidified everything I felt about how employees should be treated. Ok, maybe they don't need heated toilet seats. But Google really knows hoe to make employees feel valued.

I left to study ORG Behavior at USC added Economics as a dual masters and now here I am. If Opportunity follows struggle then CT is my opportunity.

The journey to here was amazing but it wasn't easy.
most everyone I knew was against me the whole way.
Family and friends were against me quitting my cushy Sales job.
They were against me following my heart because it wasn't practical
They were against me leaving Google and going back to school because they said my job at Google was the type of job you go to school to get.

But for the first time, my hobby is my work. My favorite books:
The Human Equation
Designing Effective Organizations
What I love to read is aligned with what I do and helps me reach my goals.

So...enough about Why. What do I do? What are my goals?

My goal at ConsumerTrack is the same goal I set out to accomplish 3 years ago...
to create a happy, healthy and productive work environment.

This doesn't include making everyone happy but instead, to create the most happiness for the greatest number.

Everything I do during my day-to-day is focused on this goal.

While Tanya spends a lot of her day on the Operational side of HR, my focus is on "The Employee Experience"
includes on-boarding, exit interview and even beyond.
If I were to break down how I spend my time it would look like this graph:
Culture Programs
Training & Development
Team Building & Events
Perks & Benefits Programs
Branding & Recognition: creating BUZZ around CT so we can attract the best talent and have awesome coworkers.

What I do is relevant to every team and every position.
Success in my role means that employees feel engaged, happy and productive which ultimately leads to better company results.

But I can't do my job without everyones help. The company can only get better through candid feedback.

I have a quick 5 minute questionnaire. Fill it out and you are free.

Thank you so much for listening.