We caught up with the engaging and insightful Dari DeSousa a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dari thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry

My work is in Human Resources, and I’ve primarily worked in hospitality. The trend I’ve noticed post-COVID is the downsizing of the Human Resources departments in many industries. Hospitality was hit hard, for a long time and if a hotel was able to stay open, they downsized every area out of necessity. I left the industry in July 2020 for this exact reason. I decided to rebuild myself as an HR Consultant and work for myself in other industries. With time, I have come to support hospitality businesses again. The work that I get asked to do and that my fellow HR consultants who also left the industry are being asked to do is support work in a skinnied down version of a Human Resources Department.

Some companies have decided to focus on roles that directly make money. Good HR can save you money, but often is looked at as an “expense” department. Then, when something big happens, a notice is served, or a lawsuit is filed – they call in outside HR. Given this is my business model – to come and put out your fire, I am not against this need. I do wonder if they could have avoided the issue altogether if they had staffed up their HR teams. Which structure is best?

From an employee perspective, only having knowledgeable HR support when there is a crises, is likely resulting in an unsatisfying working environment, which can lead to turnover and an untrained team. From a financial perspective, eliminating a person in HR saves direct money, and the occasional outsourcing of big issues is less expensive. Culture versus bottom line, pro-active versus reactive… all of these are interesting choices that business owners will need to decide.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a career Human Resources Professional with over 30 years of broad HR experience, I have extensive professional knowledge, am a California subject matter expert and I am well-known for my enthusiasm, energy, and work ethic.  In 2020, I left corporate world and created my own HR consulting firm, DeSousa Professional Human Resource Group.

In my career, I have worked for a variety of hospitality firms, including Interstate Hotels, Starwood Hotels, and Marriott International for 16 years where I worked as a work environment specialist conducting focus group sessions, investigations and Peer Review (an internal dispute resolution process) for the Southern CA Market.

I am the Program Advisor for San Diego State University’s Global Campus HR Certificate Program. I have been a course instructor since 2015, and I have taught a variety of subjects over the course of several semesters annually. I am currently responsible for Talent Acquisition, Ethics in HR, and the Capstone course as an instructor.

Additionally, I have completed the 40-hour Mediation Course with the National Conflict Resolution Center in February 2021 and practice community mediation.  I am also a trainer with NCRC teaching conflict resolution courses to communities and businesses. I co-lead the San Diego Chapter of the SCMA (Southern CA Mediation Association) which brings together mediation professionals for networking and skills growth.

My Professional Affiliations
• San Diego Hospitality Human Resources Association – Board of Directors and Treasurer. Active Member since 2002
• PiHRA – Active member since 2020
• SHRM (Society Human Resources Management) – Active member since 2002
• HRCI – PHR, Professional in Human Resources certification
• San Diego State University, Certificate in Human Resources Management

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

When I started my own business, I literally knew nothing about starting a business. I had been employed by others since the age of 16. COVID changed my perspective of how I wanted to be employed, and how I wanted to spend my time.

What I thought I could do was “everything”. I am a sole proprietor; I will be working from my home, and I should easily just be able to get this all done. I was wrong.

In the early days of planning my new empire, I signed up for a website with many built in tools so you could self-design the site. It took an entire day of me sitting in front of the computer, struggling, googling, watching videos and I knew that it would take me weeks to come up with a basic website and it probably would not be that good.

So I found a marketing/branding person that I trusted through a referral, we met, she ran with it, created a fantastic result in a matter of days, and I paid her for her services.

In the week that she was working on the site, I was able to focus on content, setting up my business with the correct licenses, etc. In the end it was stress free, and worth the cost. I found that if I am struggling to get something done for my business that is not my strength, then I look for an affordable professional to do it for me. This allows me to focus on clients. I use this as a selling point of my own services, “I will handle the HR tasks for you, so you can get back to the business of doing your business”.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My advice for social media is to schedule time each week to do a small amount. Such as, every Mon-Wed-Fri, read and respond to at least 5 LinkedIn posts by others and every Wednesday, write and post an original post/cross post to Instagram. I would also really understand where your potential clients are spending their time. If they are a LinkedIn driven professional business, then Tik Tok wouldn’t make sense. You do not have to cover every Social Media option until you are big enough to have a staffer focused on social media. Do what you can, when you can. Outsource what you need to, and you can find affordable outsourcing with gig sites such as fiverr and Upwork. I do think it is well worth creating a brand and a consistent look. The person I hired to create my website also created a brand package, a logo, my colors and my font. This seems odd to have colors and a font, but I do want everything to feel like it is a part of the same company whether it’s a blog post, a business card or an IG image.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://desousaprofessionalhrgroup.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daridesousa/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darijdesousa/