Welcome to People Person!

Hi, I’m Lisa!  I’m excited to share my professional adventures with this community, share Mediation and HR successes with the community and hopefully, learn from each other. So, just who am I, you ask? Let me crack that book open a bit, and much more to come 😊

I have been an HR professional for nearly 30 years’ now, so it goes without saying that I’ve always wondered what might be next.  I’d been working 60++ hours a week in the healthcare, behavioral health and wellness sector and substance use disorder space for years, and my weekends/vacations/holidays had frequently been kidnapped by employee relations issues, health insurance deadlines, mergers & acquisitions, budgetary emergencies and recruitment wrap-ups. In short, my wallet and titles grew and my spirit shrunk. It wasn’t lost on me that my daughter’s classmate blurted out (on the rare occasion I could make the soccer game), “WOW, we didn’t even know Avery had a mom”.  Shiv in my heart. I love HR; I will always love HR. But for those of us in this gig, compassion fatigue is real.

SO, when Ave went to college out of state, and forbade us from moving close to her new home state in the process, my husband and I began manifesting our next steps:  Move to a place with seasons, a steady water supply, an active arts and restaurant scene and preferably a place to discover new places, sights and people. I got a recruiting call from a Vermont business and moving cross country truly appealed to our sense of surprise. I knew in my heart I wanted to different lifestyle, and boy! Do I have a new life now. 

Professionally, I’ve started practicing dispute resolution and mediation, having spent plenty of time investigating the “why” issues arise, conflicts occur and emotions surface.  Humans are creatures of our feelings, not our intellect on most occasions, no? I’ve come to embrace mediation as the most effective way to get to the root of conflict at work, at home, and in life.  It’s helped me become a better HR leader as well, which is a big bonus.

Personally, I’m leaning into balance I haven’t had since forever, which has its own lessons—I can be present in my relationships, help parties reconnect, laser in on organizational strategy and create hope that healing trauma can save the world.