A top priority and motivating factor for me in my career choices has always been the purpose and mission of an organization. Having spent 13 years in the healthcare industry with pharma and medical equipment companies, I was initially drawn to the purpose and mission of the organization to improve human health. I am also energized by where Emmes is in its lifecycle as a company and the growth opportunity that lies ahead. Lastly, as I became acquainted with the people, the leadership team and stories of employees on the website, I became even more confident that the culture would be a good fit for me.

I definitely have a non-traditional career path. While it may sound cliché, I would have to say my career chose me. I have worked hard, enjoyed my work, remained focused while taking advantage or opportunities and have likely encountered a bit of luck. I have never had one thing that I always wanted to do. My career has span 4 functions (HR, Sales, Marketing and Teaching) and multiple industries (healthcare, technology, banking, real estate and manufacturing). I am driven by learning and having a positive impact on the world. I spent the first half of my career in a general management development program with Eli Lilly- a program where I had rotational assignments in multiple functions such as sales, marketing and eventually HR. In my “HR assignment” I realized that people are the “secret sauce” and power lever to building a successful organization and decided to become an HR professional.

Ironically, one of the things that I am most proud of was my first “job” ever as a volunteer English teacher in Costa Rica. At 21, I paid a small fortune , for me at the time, to live with a family that I did not know and travel to Costa Rica to partner with the Ministry of Education and the Harvard Institute of International Development teaching English to 1st-3rd graders in Grecia, Costa Rica as part of a program called World Teach. I had 4 goals in mind: 1)I wanted to finally become fluent in Spanish after studying it for 8 years and living in Mexico for a summer 2) apply my field of study in Latin American Development to contribute to advancement in a Central American country 3) volunteer and 4) gain experience as a teacher. Both my parents were teachers and this was a field that I wanted to explore. This was one of my most favorite, meaningful career experiences to date.

I have often described myself as a “do-gooder.” From my early days as a volunteer teacher to growing-up professionally in big pharma and most recently to non-profit board leadership roles that I have served-in for the past 10 years, I thoroughly enjoy contributing to meaningful causes. As my varied career background indicates, I love to learn both personally and professionally which draws me to travel, adventure and Audible! I am a high energy optimist that is motivated by achieving results that positively contribute to the world with great teams of people.

Following my volunteer experience in Costa Rica, I was fortunate to benefit from quality academic and practical training by receiving my MBA in International Business from Thunderbird, American Graduate School of International Business and by participating in 13 years of rotational leadership development training both at Citibank and Eli Lilly. These experiences established a strong foundation from which to progress into more global senior leadership roles. Leveraging my experience in business, my HR experiences began in generalist and HR Business Partnership roles. Over the past 16 years in HR, I have developed expertise in the areas of change management, employee engagement, talent management, mergers and acquisitions and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility within the broad field of HR. These cumulative experiences have prepared me to take on the top HR role with oversight over the entire function in 2 organizations prior to Emmes.

Friends and family are everything to me. My parents have been amazing role models through my life. As coincidence would have it, my entire nuclear family has migrated from California to South Carolina over the past 20 years. It is wonderful to all live in the same city again! I have 2 amazing teenage kids, Stella and Liam that keep me very busy with all sorts of extracurricular activities namely soccer, gymnastics and basketball. My biggest passion in life is to learn about culture, politics, economics, geography, history, music, languages, religions and arts through travel. I caught the travel bug from my parents at a very young age and have never looked back. I have visited 52 countries primarily for pleasure. I have served on two non-profit boards in the areas of cancer and education over the past decade and thoroughly enjoy this work. In my very limited free time, I enjoy exercise, hiking, live music and watching house-hunter international.

MBA in International Business, Thunderbird
B.A,. Sociology: Comparative Studies and World Development emphasis in Latin America and minor in Spanish, University of California at Davis
SPHR: Senior Professional in Human Resources
SHRM-Senior Certified Professional (SCP)