TOPIC

People First Start-Up Playbook

You're an HR team of one. You're building the plane while flying it: onboarding someone while creating the onboarding process, answering employee questions while writing the policies, and somehow expected to "build culture" on top of it all. This session is for you.

We'll walk through a layered, practical framework for building HR from the ground up, starting with the compliance basics that keep you out of trouble, through the repeatable systems that keep you sane, to the behavioral standards that help you make consistent people decisions as you scale. Along the way, we'll talk about how to use AI as a practical force multiplier: not as a strategy, but as the assistant you desperately need.

You'll leave with a clear sense of where you are, what to prioritize next, and a few tools you can put to work immediately.

What you'll learn:

• How to build a solid HR foundation (payroll, benefits, compliance) without over-engineering it or choosing systems you'll outgrow in six months.
• How to turn one-time work into repeatable, scalable systems for onboarding, offboarding, internal communication, and manager enablement so you stop being the system.
• Why "vibes" don't scale and how to define behavioral standards that guide hiring, performance, and termination decisions with consistency instead of gut feel.
• Where AI fits in, from drafting your first processes to building lightweight tools using the systems you already use every day, while keeping confidential data secure and saving yourself hours.
  

Presenter: Brannon Skillern

Brannon Skillern is the founder of Carnelian Collective, where she helps HR teams and startup operators use AI as a practical force multiplier — through hands-on workshops, custom tooling, and workflow automation that actually fits how people work. A former Chief People Officer at multiple startups, Brannon also serves as a fractional HR advisor to early and growth stage startups, shaping the systems and foundations that let organizations scale with intention. She's on a mission to help HR teams get out from under the administrative load so they can focus on the work that actually moves the business.