KMA is pleased to welcome Chelsea Livingston, who brings more than a decade of experience in human resources, to our team of HR professionals.
A graduate of Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania with a degree in International Studies, Chelsea began her career as an HR generalist at CIEE, a non-profit organization administering international exchange programs.
In 2011, Chelsea and her husband decided to take on an exciting new challenge and opened Baxter Brewing in Lewiston. Chelsea handled the financials, HR, and any of the endless tasks that needed attention to get the business up and running. When they eventually added a restaurant, a whole new level of staffing was required, so Chelsea focused her efforts on recruiting and managing the growing staff.
These days, with operations at the brewery and restaurant well in hand, Chelsea is excited to work with KMA to continue to grow in her HR career, especially in the area of recruiting, and to experience more variety in the kinds of industries and projects she can impact.
Chelsea and her husband live in Falmouth where they are raising their son. In addition to volunteering in the community, Chelsea enjoys experiencing the outdoors with her family. They like to spend time hiking, snowshoeing, and relaxing at the beach together.
Welcome, Chelsea. We’re happy to have you aboard!
As a KMA consultant, what are you most excited about working on?
I’m looking forward to doing some additional recruiting work. That’s something I particularly enjoy in the HR world. Also, the opportunity to work with small businesses that haven’t yet put any HR practices into place. I really love helping businesses recruit the right talent and build the structure to run their operations smoothly and efficiently.
What do you like best about your work as an HR Professional?
What I like best is getting the right people in place in the right positions so that the business runs as efficiently as it can. Throughout my career, I’ve found that with sound HR practices you can create a positive work culture and bring out the best in your employees. I also enjoy watching people grow into their careers—and being able to facilitate that in someone’s life and in someone’s business is really gratifying for me.
What’s one takeaway from your HR work that you’d like to share with others?
I don’t think you can overstate the importance of setting up a strong HR framework in a small or growing business. Starting up a business can be overwhelming, and it’s easy to think of HR as something you can always deal with in the future. But right from the start it sets the tone for the business and creates the culture. An HR foundation is not something you want to create in a crisis—it’s something you want to have carefully planned out ahead of time.