Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendy Silver.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Wendy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a lawyer, turned HR professional, turned entrepreneur. I founded Beyond the Workplace a year ago this month after spending the past 20 years in law and HR. I had my first child about 4 years into my career and over the years, I’d become personally and professionally frustrated between jobs that were making me choose between being a good mom and a good employee. It didn’t feel good and it wasn’t bringing out the best in me.
At some point along the way, I also realized I really wanted to own my business. Maybe because I knew I this would give me the flexibility I needed, but I think it’s also because I started to feel an entrepreneurial spirit in myself that I had not know existed earlier in my career. I wanted to become more creative in my work and challenge some of the workplace norms that make being successful so hard, particularly for women.
So last year, when my daughter started high school and I knew I wanted to be around more, I decided to take the leap. It’s funny…you’d think they need you more when they are younger. Now I am not so sure.
It’s the best decision I ever made. I am loving the creativity that comes with entrepreneurship. In addition to launching Beyond the Workplace, I have been able to explore a lot of new opportunities. For example, I have recently become a licensed club leader for the Speaker Sisterhood. The Speaker Sisterhood is a network of public speaking groups for women who are looking to increase their confidence in public speaking, improve their presentation skills, or simply want to have fun while embarking on a personal journey of self-discovery through speaking. I have never enjoyed public speaking but I knew it would be an important skill to master as I worked to promote my business so I jumped at the opportunity to launch a club in my hometown of Needham, MA.
Both ventures are just getting started and I am really excited about what’s ahead.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There is definitely a lot to learn. I have gone from being an HR professional to also being a marketer, sales person, web designer, etc. When you own your own business you do it all. It definitely requires self-discipline and motivation, organization, and excellent time management skills. You also have to get out of your comfort zone, which can be terrifying and exciting all at the same time.
Please tell us about Beyond the Workplace.
Beyond the Workplace (which at the moment is really just me!) provides affordable and customized employee relations solutions to companies at various stages of growth. I see my job as helping businesses manage and protect their greatest asset, their employees, My legal experience, combined with my HR operations experience, gives me the unique ability to help businesses minimizing risk while creating great places to work.
I understand that one of the greatest challenges businesses, particularly small businesses, face are attracting and retaining the best employee, so I look for ways to help them do that. One way is to get creative about what they offer employees to make things easier for them, beyond the workplace. (Now you kind of know where the name came from…) I get to know their business and help them create employment practices and strategies that are compliant with applicable regulations but that are also reflective of their company values, mission, and culture…or what they are building those to be. This may include things like creating handbooks or policies, developing and implementing hiring practices and templates, or helping business owners and managers work through day-to-day relations issues, which can be time-consuming and daunting. I also work with my clients to create effective employee communications plans. If employees don’t know what’s going on, they don’t feel valued, important or engaged, which can actually be the cause of high turnover and absenteeism.
While I think my experience and skills set me apart from other workforce consultants, I also like to think my sense of humor and approach make me pretty fun to work with.
My mission is to create brave and better workplaces. I am just getting started but I am pretty proud to be taking it on. When you consider all that is going on around us these days, I think we need it now more than ever.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Most of my favorite childhood memories involve holiday and/or family dinners. Probably explains why I am such a foodie and why I think every meal-time meeting should have food! I joke…but food is a great easy way to bring people together in the workplace.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.beyondtheworkplacehr.com
- Phone: 617-835-2820
- Email: wendy@beyondtheworkplacehr.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondtheworkplacehr/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-silver-aa2bb38/
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