Welcome to our Career Features series where we interview a variety of inspiring, boundary-breaking, women in business who have carved their own paths, learned a ton along the way and are laying it all out on the line for us here.
Name: Jen Babic
Role: Head of People and Culture at Inkbox, Founder and Head Consultant at ppl stuff
Location: Toronto, Canada
We are joined for this segment of our Career Features by HR professional, Jen. Jen has had the drive to make an impact and succeed since she was little. We got the chance to sit down with Jen and hear about how she grew from the shop floor of a retail organization to being the Head of People & Culture at a fast-growing startup and the founder of her own business.
Jen shares with us her most asked HR questions – like how to ask for a raise and how to give effective feedback to a boss – and provides a framework for solution, while sharing her inspiring career journey.
Read along to hear Jen’s career journey and top tips on how to advance your career.
You are the Head of People & Culture at a young, cool startup and also the founder of an HR consulting business – tell us more!
My current “day job” is Head of People and Culture at Inkbox, which is a rapidly growing startup in Toronto. I oversee all areas of HR, from strategic planning to hiring, to learning and development, compensation and employee relations. A huge part of what I do right now is “building” – because the organization is growing, we are always looking for ways to build our People Operations best practices, processes, strategies and frameworks for scalable growth.
In addition to that, I also run my own HR consultancy, ppl stuff. Our purpose is to support growing organizations with all of their HR needs. This includes businesses that are not quite ready to hire a full-time HR hire yet or those who have an HR generalist or coordinator but don’t have anyone to coach them.I do a lot of strategy and coaching work with small businesses for all of the People and Culture needs as these organizations continue to grow. We also do a lot of foundational work to ensure they are set up for success, and then innovate on new initiatives that establish and refine their internal culture.
Ppl stuff also runs workshops and seminars educating organizations on Inclusivity, BLM, Effective Feedback, Mental Health in the Workplace etc.
What has your career journey looked like?
As soon as I was old enough, I would babysit the kids across the street from me, I would mow lawns with my brother or shovel snow. I sold lemonade out of a roller cooler at a soccer tournament once in order to buy a Razr Scooter (yeah, I just aged myself). I worked at daycares, retail stores, restaurants – all to earn some extra cash to pay for school or my shopping habit. All of these jobs paved the way, you know, because I have immense respect for the hustle and hard work that is required in the service industry.
After graduating with a degree in English Lit, I of course didn’t know what I wanted to do but landed a job at Aritzia as a Sales Associate.
What did your progression at Aritzia look like?
Well, that job started everything for me and helped advance my career. I worked my way up to various retail management positions and really learned the fundamentals of the business. Eventually, I bugged enough people (or just the right people) until they gave me a shot as a Recruiter. This was within Aritzia’ss newly formed Talent Acquisition department. That was my first job in HR and I supported the hiring for dozens of boutiques across Canada.
I moved out to Calgary in 2016 to head up the Retail Talent Acquisition efforts for Western Canada, which was a very transformative experience for me both personally and professionally.
From there, I moved into a more HR Generalist role and eventually HR Management, supporting the retail client group.
After about 7 years with Aritzia, I wanted to try my hand at a startup and explore the more foundational work that comes with starting something from scratch. That search led me to Inkbox, where I’ve had the pleasure of working with supremely creative, talented, entrepreneurial people in order to get this unique product into the hands (or, on to the skin) of people who love it. To work with a product that has never been made before and is alone in it’s competition is SO cool. They have given me so much autonomy and trust that whatever I do from a People Operations perspective is setting our business and staff up for long term success.
Did you always know HR was your calling?
No, definitely not. I feel like sort of fell into it – but because I can naturally build relationships and navigate challenging or complex interpersonal issues, I ended up being good at it. And it’s nice doing something you’re good at it. It also helps that I really enjoy the work and find so much of it fascinating.
What has it been like growing ppl stuff?
Before starting ppl stuff, when it was just an idea, I had no clue how I would get clients. I knew that once I had a client, I would do a great job – but getting them would be the hard part. It turns out that in my first year of business, all of my clients came from word of mouth and referrals from friends, family or other clients. Now that I’ve established my footing, I’m focusing more on content creation, elevating my brand and website, as well as SEO and social to help drive traffic and convert.
What is the most common HR issue/question you get asked? What do you respond with?
Oh my goodness, there are so many dynamic questions that get asked.
From an employer’s perspective, questions usually fall back to culture and buy-in.
“How do I establish a strong culture in my workplace?”
“How do I build credibility and buy-in with my employees?”
In my opinion, it all comes down to having a well defined Mission, Purpose and Core Values. At ppl stuff, we call it a Business and Culture Framework. Once you have that, it is critical that leaders “walk the talk” and do it transparently. Treat your employees like adults, be honest and trusting.
I believe these foundational elements lead to a culture of high performance, accountability, and integrity.
On the employee side, I always get asked about compensation and the best way to handle an issue with their boss.
“How do I ask for a raise?”
“How can I bring up an issue I’m experiencing with my boss?”
These are the intimidating things that people avoid or recoil from.
It takes a bit of confidence, especially for women (and even more so for women in historically marginalized groups), to tackle some of these challenging discussions.
Historically, systems have been built in a way that does not support inclusivity, equity or diversity, so these conversations can seem daunting because the system in place may be set up for you to fail. These are of course, bigger, systemic issues that I focus a lot on in my work – you can read more about DE&I here.
I have developed a guide to effective feedback that can really help with some tools to approach your boss if you’re having issues there.
As well, this is a helpful guide for asking for a raise.
When someone is looking for a new role and to advance their career, what is the best advice you can give them?
This is going to be an introvert’s worst nightmare, but networking is key.
Reaching out and connecting with people, friends of friends, acquaintances, etc to get in touch with new job opportunities is incredibly important. It’s so hard to stand out with just a resume and blind application online.
Truly, finessing your connections and staying in touch is critical, even when you’re not making a career move. This way, people will easily think to refer you or recruiters will naturally seek you out because your network is robust and putting ou forward without you even knowing or thinking about it.
What advice do you have for someone looking to pursue a career in HR?
My top 3 pieces of advice are:
- Absorb yourself in an HR network (we love The People People Group on Slack),
- Read the best modern HR lit out there (start with Patty McCord’s Powerful, and then don’t stop) and
- Take advantage of the incredible online courses and resources to continue to hone your skills (we’re always here for a good free class on Coursera)
While some folks are all about professional HR designations, I personally think work experience is the most valuable asset to learning. In your career, you’ll likely work in both generalist and specialist capacities (breadth vs. depth), across many industries and a variety of client groups. Enjoy the journey.
Work aside – you have the cutest dog. Can you introduce us?
I thought you’d never ask!
This is my pup, Stevie Nicks. She is a year and a half and the sweetest thing. I kind of love that we match, both of us have the wild hair going on (this pic is a manicured version of my curly mane). I’m obsessed with her and so darn thankful to have her in my life during the lonely and long pandemic months.
There is a lot of inspiration that Jen has laid out for us here. Especially, the very relatable “I’m not sure what I am going to do after school” that many share. Jen found a passion and pursued it. HR was not necessarily her calling, but she tapped into her own strengths that set up her career journey. From retail associate to founding her own consulting business, there is a lot to take from Jen’s experience to apply to your own journey.
Here is a recap of the resources that support in ways to advance your career:
How to Ask for a Raise
A Guide to Effectice Feedback for Managers
What is DE&I?