Articles

Member Spotlight on Ellen Boyne

Q: Were you born and raised in the St. Louis area – or elsewhere?
A: I was born in Southern Illinois – Carbondale, but have lived in Belleville all my life.        

Q: What is your history with SHRM St. Louis?
A: I joined the SHRM St. Louis programs committee in 2015 and have enjoyed it immensely. 

I am not actually in HR, but thought it would be a good way to meet people and to have people learn about the training center that I work in at WashU. I work in the Technology & Leadership Center in the McKelvey Engineering School, at Washington University in St. Louis. 

The programs committee has been headed up by several amazing people while I have been working with the group – Nicole Schlanger from Gilead Group, Amy Meyers from Perficient, Nikki McCallister from Core & Main, and now Barry Engelhardt from Store Supply. And of course, nothing happens without Beth, Kelley and Jim – they are miracle workers!

Q: Why did you decide to focus on employment/human resources?
A: I focus on training and many times the HR folks are involved in making training happen at their place of business, so it is always good to stay in touch with HR! I think all HR people should go straight to heaven for all the great work that they do and how hard they all work!

Q: Please describe your job.
A: I work at the Technology & Leadership Center and I sell training and education programs to local businesses. We offer public training classes on a variety of topics and we also do all these same types of classes but on a private basis just for groups of your employees – just from your company. We do technical courses like ITIL / AGILE/ Cyber Security Data Analytics/Software Languages and Leadership classes. 

We also do monthly Roundtables nine months out of the year, where companies can buy a seat to the Roundtable and then rotate their people through some of the sessions based on their interest in a topic and availability. We bring in expert speakers and the members learn from the presenters and from each other.

We have three tracks – one in Project Management, one in Cybersecurity and one in Data Analytics
When a company buys a seat they can send people in person, and we also have virtual seats, too. The seats are priced so that companies can spread the professional development money around the team more easily.

Q: What is your favorite part of the job?
A: I love the variety of people that I come in contact with, and I like helping people achieve their goals. 

Q: What is one example of a positive experience that you’ve had in this field?
A: Helping groups of employees at an organization learn a new skill and seeing how this can change and improve an environment at a company. 

Q: Who introduced you to SHRM St. Louis? How did you initially become involved?
A: I went to a monthly meeting hoping to meet people and everyone was so welcoming. I think getting on a committee and becoming active is the BEST way to meet people.

Q: What have you gained thus far through your SHRM St. Louis membership?
A: A real eye-opener for me has been just how many things HR teams are involved in…nothing gets done without HR!!!

Q: What are your hopes for SHRM St. Louis for the future?
A: I hope that all the various committees and the board continue to put the same level of energy and enthusiasm into the meetings and into the annual meeting.  
 
Q: What non-professional activities do you enjoy in your spare time?
A: I like to cook and I like to exercise – but I would probably have to walk across the entire USA to work off all the calories from the desserts I like to bake!

Q: What is a favorite quote of yours and why?
A: You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated. -Maya Angelou

Q: Who would you consider to be your mentor and why?
A: My dad – he started out as a paper boy and worked his way up to Editor and publisher of the paper. He was a hard worker who treated people fairly and was just a plain nice guy!