---
title: "Being the Leader She Needed: Hard-Won HR Lessons on Careers, Benefits, and Trust"
description: "HR manager Amy Smith shares lessons from a career built in the trenches: why titles matter less than skills, what brokers miss, and what executives get wrong."
image: https://blog.dspins.com/hubfs/Being%20the%20leader%20she%20needed.png
---
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[Blake Erickson](https://blog.dspins.com/author/blake-erickson) [Benefits](https://blog.dspins.com/tag/benefits)
4 Minutes
## Being the Leader She Needed: Hard-Won HR Lessons on Careers, Benefits, and Trust
Being the Leader She Needed: Hard-Won HR Lessons on Careers, Benefits, and Trust
7:28
Amy Smith's LinkedIn banner reads: "Being the leader that she needed when she started her career." On the latest episode of DSP's podcast, Uncovered, host Blake Erickson sat down with Amy, HR Manager at Vittori Health, to find out what that means and what HR professionals, executives, and benefits brokers can learn from a career built without a roadmap.
Amy didn't follow the traditional path into HR. Widowed at 28, she needed a better job quickly and applied for a cash office position at Lowe's. Two months later, she was asked to step into the HR role. She fell in love with the work and has been doing it ever since.
### Watch the Full Podcast Episode
Hear the complete conversation between Amy Smith and Blake Erickson on Uncovered by DSP, including more of Amy's story and her advice for anyone building a career in HR.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1bG9HEHENA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1bG9HEHENA)
## Learning HR Without a Roadmap
Amy went to work right out of high school and doesn't have a formal degree. When she first stepped into HR, she knew some things, but nowhere near what she knows now.
She's had great mentors along the way. But more often than she can count, it was just her, rolling up her sleeves and pulling in every resource she could find to figure out the next step, especially on legal and compliance questions.
That experience is exactly why she wants to be the leader she didn't always have: someone who helps newer HR professionals work through the hard questions instead of leaving them to figure it out alone.
## From Paper Applications to Modern HR Tech
When Amy started, applications were filled out on paper and handed across the counter. Payroll was done by hand, and checks were cut right there in the store. Time reports came off an old AS400 system on an enormous monitor.
Her take on the shift to today's HR, payroll, and benefits technology is simple: the old ways weren't wrong, but this is better. Better tracking, better accuracy, and a better experience all the way around.
## Don't Get Hung Up on Titles
Amy started as an HR manager, which is unusual. Most people begin as a coordinator, the front-line face of HR. From there, titles vary widely: HR generalist, HR business partner, HR manager. Every company calls it something different.
Her advice to anyone early in their career:
- Don't get so hung up on titles.
- Learn everything you can and keep growing.
- When the next opportunity comes, be ready to answer the questions in the interview.
As Blake put it, "Titles are for books." What matters is your role, your responsibilities, and what you're capable of.
## What You Can't Learn in a Classroom
Not having a degree has shaped how Amy views candidates. She doesn't believe in automated 2:00 a.m. rejection emails. Every applicant gets a personal email from her when a position closes, because it's the right thing to do.
Degrees are valuable, and she encourages anyone with the opportunity to get one. But real-world experience is what separates great HR professionals. No classroom prepares you to sit across from someone and tell them they no longer have a job, through no fault of their own, knowing they have a family to support.
Those conversations still stay with Amy for weeks. And as Blake noted, if that conversation ever feels easy, you're probably in the wrong role.
## The Reality of Today's HR Job Market
Amy has been recruited into most of the roles she's held. She's also been restructured out of several after cleaning things up and getting the department where it needed to be.
She's candid about how tough the current market is. During one search, she submitted more than 1,100 applications over 20 months. LinkedIn connections help, she says, but there have been stretches where they got her nowhere.
A few takeaways from her experience:
- **Recruiters are worth connecting with,** but anyone considering a recruiting career should know those roles are often the first cut once hiring slows.
- **Applicant tracking systems are necessary** when a single posting draws 150 applications, but some screening filters miss great candidates.
- **SHRM is worth your time.** Get the certification if you can, and join your local chapter even if you can't. You don't need the certification to network and hear about open roles.
Amy's job search story was featured in Business Insider and was shared more than 200,000 times. After reading it, SHRM CEO Johnny Taylor reached out to her personally on LinkedIn. Her hope in sharing it is simple: that it helps even one person going through the same thing.
[https://www.businessinsider.com/laid-off-at-57-unemployed-for-20-months-felt-ageism-2025-12](https://www.businessinsider.com/laid-off-at-57-unemployed-for-20-months-felt-ageism-2025-12)
## Is Fractional HR the Future?
Amy believes fractional HR is going to take off. More companies are asking whether they need a full-time HR person or someone they can call when an issue comes up.
For some HR professionals, working with multiple companies is exactly the right fit. Amy prefers having an office to go to every day, but she's done contract work and was offered a full-time position at the end of every engagement. Her advice for anyone going the fractional route: do great work, because word of mouth is how that business grows.
## What HR Leaders Want From Their Benefits Broker
Blake asked Amy the question every broker should be asking: what are we missing?
Her answer: employees come first. If a broker isn't willing to go to bat for her and her people, they're not the right broker.
- Don't just send over quotes and read off the numbers.
- Be invested in your clients and get to know them.
- Understand what they truly want.
- Above all, listen.
Blake knows this firsthand. When he first started working with Amy, he tested her with the longest, most complex list of diligence requests he'd ever sent anyone. She returned every document, organized and explained, within about four or five hours.
## What Executives Misunderstand About HR and Benefits
Amy's biggest message to executive teams comes down to one word: trust.
When you have a strong HR leader, let them be the bridge between leadership and the broker, and let them work alongside the broker to build the final proposals. When executives get too involved midstream, the process drags out, and HR is left with less time to get everything set up before open enrollment.
Make the decision up front. Either trust HR to handle it, or have leadership own it and partner with HR on implementation. You can't have it both ways. And when HR brings you a renewal increase well below the industry trend, don't second-guess it.
## Advice for Anyone Considering a Career in HR
Amy's parting advice is honest: HR is not easy. You won't always be liked. You have to handle very difficult conversations while also supporting people with empathy. It's a tightrope.
Her biggest lesson? Learn to leave your HR world at work when you go home. That's advice worth taking whether you work in HR or not.
## Build a Benefits Partnership That Puts Employees First
At DSP, we believe the best benefits programs are built on partnership, listening, and a shared commitment to employees. If you're looking for a broker who will be invested in your people, we'd welcome the conversation.
Learn more about DSP's [Employee Benefits Solutions](https://www.dspins.com/employee-benefits/) or [contact the DSP team](https://www.dspins.com/contact/) to get started.
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