BuildHR, an HR and Organizational Development resource for start-ups and established small businesses, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, has been serving companies across the U.S. virtually since 2010. Centered around building People Operations foundations for clients or helping to strengthen current ones, BuildHR supports businesses for them to grow successfully under the hegemony of Kelly Loudermilk. BuildHR supports small businesses by lending an expert hand in all aspects of human resources in an as-needed and affordable way.
The Women Who Laid the Path
Kelly Loudermilk is a charming, diligent, and empathetic working professional. She is also a responsible and loving mother and wife who keeps her family a top priority while taking care of of her business. Kelly has a flair for developing solutions for a variety of issues small businesses face while growing. A lifelong learner, Kelly holds a Masters of Science in Employment and Labor Law, a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional certification, a Talent Optimization Certificate from The Predictive Index, and plans to become a certified Brain-based Coach through the International Coaching Federation by the end of the year.
In her career, Kelly has built and scaled six HR departments from the ground up, some for startups and some for long-established companies that have been in business almost 25 years. She has also led international teams while consulting with Fortune 500 companies. And volunteers with local SCORE agencies when she can to help businesses in need of resources. Although officially branded in 2019, as BuildHR, the company was built over a 10 year period, evolving from Kelly’s first side hustle as a consultant starting in 2010.
The Service Portfolio
Kelly Loudermilk launched BuildHR due to her personal experience seeing her parent’s own business have issues while trying to grow. Kelly states:
“After working with numerous small businesses over the course of my career, one thing is clear: they need HR but oftentimes can’t afford full-time coverage. Whats more, their lack of coverage becomes painfully clear when they are finally ready to grow. I started BuildHR because I wanted HR to be a catalyst for growth, not a barrier.”
BuildHR supports small businesses by lending an expert hand in all aspects of human resources in an as-needed and affordable way. HR is about more than making sure the rules are in place- it’s about helping people grow and develop in their business and profession. They have experience in all areas of People
Operations and can assist or consult where needed. Here are some major services offered by the company:
- HR Administration
- HRIS Administration – BambooHR, Gusto, or Rippling
- Management Coaching
- Training & Development – Compliance and Professional Development related
- Payroll
- Compliance and so much more.
Clients & Unbreakable Faith
BuildHR serves businesses, teams, managers, business owners, office managers, and even HR departments of one filling in the gaps where needed most. The main client type BuildHR and Kelly work with are smaller businesses with employee counts ranging from 15-150. She does work with smaller companies that have less than 5 employees and very few that have over 300 employees, but she specializes in the small business market.
Clients describe Kelly as a transparent and knowledgeable consultant, she is known for being ethical and will even let clients know when they may not need her services. Overall, Kelly’s personal approach to HR, her transparency, and her ability to navigate complex situations with humility and integrity are why her clients continue to return to BuildHR.
Major Hurdles & The Support System
Challenges in business are common, some of the challenges Kelly faces with BuildHR are not unlike those she navigates with her clients. Growth of the business and doing so in the right way, knowing when to hire vs outsource, finances and funding following COVID-19 slowdowns, and even off-boarding clients when they no longer are the right fit for BuildHR’s services.
When asked about her support system, Kelly shared, “My parents are a large part of how I got here today. They have owned several businesses in their careers, so I have been able to go to them with questions when I encounter something I haven’t gone through before.
A Day in Kelly’s Life
Kelly’s day often starts on the family side of things. She wakes up around 6:30 am and begins her day with coffee. Then, she wakes her kids, gets them breakfast, gets them ready for school and drops them off.
By the time she gets back home, she starts her day by checking emails, attending meetings, and working through her to-do list. Every day is different based on her To-Do list. Kelly tends to end her days around 5:30 or 6 depending on meetings. Then she helps make dinner, and bath and bed for the kids. By the time they are down, she takes some time for herself to read or catch up on a TV show, or get back to work if there is a deadline approaching. Kelly tries to go to bed no later than 11 each night.
“Essentially, my days are no different than most people. I am a working mother of two small children, I am a wife, and I am trying to grow a business. I have more than one job at the end of the day, the job of a wife, mother, business partner, and owner. Sometimes I can get a lot done, other days I have a hard time focusing due to children at home or feeling burnt out on a topic and needing to take a step back,” asserted Kelly.
Favourite Book: The Book of Joy by 14th Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams
Future Roadmap
The future is exciting for Kelly Loudermilk and BuildHR. She is accessing where she should expand her services and offerings and where she should retract. She has completed training for a Masters Series in Performance Management Science with the Association for Talent Development, and starts several more programs before the end of the year. She continues to speak at conferences around the U.S. and virtually talking through strategic ways to impact an organization as an HR Department of One. She is even working on a book to be published early 2022, focusing on the intersections of Neuroscience, Anthropology, and the workplace “I don’t want to say the sky’s the Limit, since the real limit is how much I can honestly take on without drowning. But I am feeling excited about being able to grow my offerings in a more foundational way towards people in the workplace and continuing to be a resource for my clients,” the leading lady said.
Milestones
Kelly Loudermilk has had the honor of being on The Most Inclusive HR Influencer List for more than 2 years. She has the continued honor of serving on the FORBES HR Council and HR advisory group with a national benefits brokerage firm for almost 3 years. She has been on several podcasts and enjoyed every aspect of chatting with peers and fellow thought leaders. Speaking at the world’s largest virtual HR conference with BambooHR was a huge accomplishment for Kelly, as she mentioned, ” I love BambooHR both as a customer, and a partner, their culture and their products are awesome, so to be asked to speak at their conference was very humbling moment for me.”
A Piece of Advice for Female Entrepreneurs
When asked, Kelly says the one piece of advice she would give to others is to not be afraid of small risks. If you can think of the worst-case scenario and still feel comfortable with the outcome, take the risk, it is worth it. And to remember that you will not always win or see success in life. There will be tough days but then to keep reminding yourself- “you are enough, you can get through it, and to remember who you are, what your mission is in life, and to live to that mission as much as you can.” It is okay to have an off day or to lose a client, but you have to keep going.
Kelly’s favorite quote was given to her when she was looking to move to Colorado from Oklahoma as a single mother and scared of what may come. Her mother said, “What is the worst-case scenario?” And in that case, it was moving back to Oklahoma, she continued, “If you can live with the worst-case scenario, then it is worth the risk you are taking.” Kelly said that she loved this advice from her mother because in a lot of cases where she is on the fence or outside her comfort zone, she goes back to what her mother said, and remembers if she can live with it, then it is worth diving in and experiencing