Today we’d like to introduce you to Lotus Buckner.

Hi Lotus, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?

I was the kid in college who could not pick a major to save my life and ended up changing majors five or six times until my mother said, “time is ticking.” I ended up majoring in Community and Nonprofit Leadership with a professional concentration in Management and Human Resources. I took my first HR class and that did it. I decided I wanted to go into HR so I got an internship at a hospital one summer and they created a job for me when I graduated. I grew my career there for eleven years in three different departments and ultimately, leading the HR function. From there, I went to my alma mater and then to a tech startup to build up their HR function, team, and strategy as the first VP of People and Culture.

Now, I’m adding speaker, #1 bestselling author, and executive coach to my resume as I take a break from the corporate world.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

Not a smooth ride at all. The first ever leadership opportunity someone would give me was in a moment of desperation when they could not find anyone else and the team had already been through four other leaders. It was also a temporary gig in that I would be risking losing my job completely in about 1.5 years. I took the risk and it paid off but not without a lot of adversity. My peers at the time doubted my abilities and even escalated that feedback all the way up to my CEO. The team I was taking on was severely underperforming and many even shared that I would be expected to just come in and fire the team and replace people but I took my time to get to know them and saw that they were not the problem. Our employee experience scores were the lowest in the division. In three months, we exceeded performance goals and in less than a year, we became the highest employee experience score in the division.

Throughout my career, I was told that I was too young, too caring, and too opinionated to be successful but I never engaged in those doubts. Rather, I worked to prove them wrong through my actions and my results and it worked every time.

We’ve been impressed with Talent Remix, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

I started Talent Remix in 2019 to help more people, particularly women of color, grow into senior leadership positions. I remember starting my career and never seeing anyone that looked like me in senior leadership. When I finally got there myself, I would look around and I was the only one in the room. I wanted to change that so I started my executive coaching services.

I also offer speaking engagement services and fractional Chief People Officer services and published my first book ever which became a #1 Bestseller and #1 New Release in multiple categories. It’s called, “The Joy of HR: Elevating HR’s Role As A Trusted Partner.”

I’m a big believer that great culture and great businesses can be one in the same.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?

There will always be people who doubt you, who dislike you, or who will even do whatever they can to see you fail. Don’t waste your time on those people. Focus on the things that matter – the work that matters and makes a difference. Talk is easy. People will talk all day about what everyone else does wrong but spend very little time creating real, lasting impact themselves.

Make an impact, not drama.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.talentremix.com