I build the systems that get people productive fast.

People and operations leader with 6+ years in retail leadership with a concurrent freelance design career running asynchronously for 12+ years. I design onboarding, read workforce data, and practice effective communication daily. Remote-first since 2013. 12+ years managing client work across US time zones, plus 6+ years leading on-site teams. This website is here to help explain why my store-level experience translates to People Ops.

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Case studies

Rebuilding onboarding from a list of videos

People operations · Sephora

Problem

New hires finished a list of compliance modules, then started work without understanding their KPIs or role. Engagement was low, development was absent, and performance plans were common.

What I built

  • A schedule pairing each hire with a peer for daily on-the-job shadowing
  • Manager checks on module comprehension
  • A short practical observation before sign-off
  • 30-60-90-day check-ins on KPIs, development, and satisfaction

Rollout

One template that works from seasonal hires to internal promotions. Other teams adopted it for their own HR goals.

Results

Ramp time fell from about 90 days to 30. Turnover stayed under 6%. New-hire satisfaction stayed above 80%.

Reading past the top line at a new store launch

Workforce analytics · Sephora

Problem

With only market research before opening, I had to learn from real data. Opening weekend crushed the sales goal, but sales per labor hour was over $800 against a company norm under $300.

Decision

I treated it as an operational risk, not a win. Clients per advisor was about 80 against a typical 20, which pointed to burnout and a weaker client experience over time.

Actions

  • Offered extra shifts to willing staff
  • Borrowed staff from other stores through regional leadership
  • Taught a crash course on managing multiple clients at once
  • Followed up with coaching from observations

Results

One year later, about 30% of transactions came from returning clients, and first-year sales reached $1.7M against a $1.2M projection. Lesson: read each metric in context.

Leading a POS and technology rollout

Change management · Sephora

Problem

The store moved to a new fixed POS (Xstore) plus mobile devices running several apps at once, with a team that needed to be productive on day one.

What I did

  • Coordinated site readiness across operations, IT, and corporate teams
  • Wrote the training protocol and trained the team
  • Served as the escalation point for network and system issues
  • Gave VPs and program directors feedback on bottlenecks and fixes

Results

60+ employees trained through go-live while client satisfaction held steady.

Owning a staffing mistake during the holidays

Judgment and ownership · Sephora

Problem

Newly promoted into an interim role, I built the holiday schedule from company-wide busy-day patterns. By day two of Christmas week, demand was clearly higher and the team was exhausted.

Fix

  • Told the team plainly I had under-scheduled
  • Offered shift extensions and reached out to seasonal staff
  • Worked the floor myself at peaks

Results and change

We beat the holiday sales goal by 20%+, and two of three seasonal employees accepted permanent offers. I now schedule from live local patterns and adjust fast when data disagrees with the plan.

How I work

Triage when everything is urgent

I sort by three questions:

  1. What is time-sensitive?
  2. What has the greatest potential business impact?
  3. What gets harder to solve if I wait?

A missed daily KPI that accumulates over a week is recoverable. An unresolved conflict between two employees compounds. On one Tuesday that meant talking to both employees first, then the team, then the KPI gap, then email, then an abridged leadership meeting. All four goals were hit that day.

Tools and systems

TableauXstore POSAloha POSEightfold AI (ATS)SuccessFactorsDayforceWorkdayCRM platformsGoogle SuiteMicrosoft OfficeHTML / CSS / JS

Working remotely

Since 2013 I’ve run freelance brand and communications work for clients around the world, most often across Pacific, Central, and Eastern time. I handled the full cycle myself, from quotes and discovery calls to design, revisions, invoicing, and follow-up, usually for several clients at once, with no manager and no one chasing me.

What that looks like in practice:

  1. Juggling competing deadlines: I managed multiple clients in different time zones at the same time, using the same triage approach I use in operations: time-sensitive first, highest impact next, then whatever gets harder if I wait.
  2. Written-first communication: Clear emails and status updates so clients always knew where things stood without needing a meeting.
  3. Coast-to-coast availability: Comfortable working across Pacific, Central, and Eastern hours and scheduling around overlap.
  4. Cross-team coordination: On the POS rollout, I worked across operations, IT, and corporate teams to get 60+ people live.
  5. Tools I use daily: Google Workspace, Zoom, Slack, Asana, Office, Adobe, and more

Design background

BA in Visual Communication Design (Seattle Pacific University) with a minor in New Media and Social Media Marketing. As a freelance brand and communications designer, I have delivered identity, visual communication, and marketing content for independent clients. Click in to view!

Let's talk

Looking for fully remote roles in People Operations, HR, or Onboarding and Implementation

elliott.rae@outlook.com LinkedIn

Ask my resume anything!