Tag Archives: the achilles way

Cathy Kilgore

Cathy Kilgore is a senior human resources leader with extensive experience in both strategic and operational aspects of human resources. She led the charge for organizational change during multiple company mergers and acquisitions. She has deep experience in the areas of compensation, coaching and counseling, employee relations and engagement. With a positive approach to business and people, she enjoys working with teams to create big picture plans for company and individual success.

Prior to Achilles Group, Cathy held executive human resource positions with Foley’s Department Stores and CEVA Logistics. Having a passion for natural health, she previously owned a holistic health and wellness center.

Cathy loves being outdoors, gardening, walking her dogs or just putting her feet in the grass. She teaches classes on holistic health and enjoys travelling with her spouse.

She enjoys the day-to-day collaboration with the team of talented human resource professionals at Achilles Group, and supporting the diverse group of clients she works with.

Macey Walters

Macey earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Human Resource Management from Sam Houston State University in December of 2018. She provides our Achilles team with exceptional follow through and packaging skills, as she produces work for clients across multiple industries to include nonprofit, real estate investment, technology services and aviation services. Macey’s responsibilities include interviewing, recruiting, job description development, policy and handbook development, compensation work and research.

In her free time, Macey loves watching college football, fishing with her dad and visiting her niece and nephew in Dallas.

Lindsey Lara

Lindsey realized that she had a passion for the HR profession while still in college in pursuit of her Marketing Degree from Sam Houston State University. She has since brought that passion to Achilles Group and today provides services to clients spanning multiple industries to include mechanical and construction services, marine service operations, nonprofit organizations and chemical processing and manufacturing operations. Lindsey provides support for policy and handbook development, organizational charts, pulling together spreadsheets for compensation analysis, recruiting activities and job descriptions.

Lindsey has also shared her energy and heart as a camp counselor at Kickapoo Kamp, an all-girls camp in Kerrville, Texas. Lindsey loved her time working at camp, especially leading and teaching campers as the Head of the Riding Ring.

Lindsey loves meeting new clients and working alongside her colleagues in the positive atmosphere that Achilles provides. In her free time, Lindsey loves to play sports, particularly softball, watch her favorite football team, the Houston Texans, and spend time with family.

Jared Wondra

Jared provides direct engagement with multiple Achilles clients, and serves as an internal driver for ongoing development of our Recruiting Effectiveness platform. He enjoys work with client leaders to identify talent needs and to build out their internal competencies to attract and hire great people. And, when functional needs change, Jared helps them adjust their approach, process, time lines, tools and budgets to fuel their new business priorities.

Jared’s work spans across manufacturing, food & beverage, industrial safety and technical services. He is effective with companies in all stages of development and cultural make up, and when conflicts occur, he steps in to facilitate resolution, mitigate risk and to follow up as a coach to better equip front-line leaders and those sitting in the HR role.

Although born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jared spent most of his life in Texas, and is a Texan at heart. He graduated from Sam Houston State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree and completed his college baseball career. Jared enjoys spending his free time with his wife Holly, friends and family. He also enjoys time to play golf and to watch his favorite football and baseball teams. Go Texans and Boomer Sooner!

Rozlyn Veteto

Rozlyn is an enthusiastic and creative Human Resources Professional that combines stellar technical skills with a touch of marketing savvy to produce customized presentations and HR tool kits for our clients. Her responsibilities include policy and handbook development, executing various audits, recruiting effectiveness, and development of people performance tools and approaches. Rozlyn’s background also includes experience as a recruiter specializing in the information technology space.

Rozlyn received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Baylor University and her Master of Science degree in Human Resource Management from Houston Baptist University.

Rozlyn’s passion for travel has led her to visit and experience the cultures of more than 20 countries.

Taylor Spaulding

Taylor works as a Business Analyst to fuel the performance and margin objectives of Achilles Group. He adds focus and technical savvy to help the team utilize our various technologies and data sources and to enhance our ability to deliver exceptional services to our clients. Taylor also provides key support for all of us that includes report generation and management, and advancement of our team’s use of key technologies such as our Project Management system, Applicant Tracking System (ATS), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and our ability to track and report on our cost of labor relative to account margin. He also manages our IT resources and addresses our hardware and software needs.

Taylor graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. Before joining Achilles, he worked for five years as a Senior Engineer at Clarus Subsea Integrity. His analytic abilities combined with good people skills and dedication for profitable outcomes makes him well suited as a project team leader.

Taylor has a passion for using his skills to help those around him succeed. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing and basketball. A true Texan, Taylor always makes time to watch his favorite sports teams: the Houston Texans and the Houston Rockets.

Stan Spaulding

As a Managing Member of Achilles Group, LLC, Stan provides HR expertise, leadership and guidance to business owners, executive leadership and managers of companies of all sizes, across a variety of industries. His core focus is to build team competency by encouraging strength of leadership, prioritization, planning and execution. He believes in the power of effective relationships and the essential element of continuous feedback.

Stan is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). His background includes more than 25 years of generalist HR experience with deep expertise in Leadership Development at all levels. One of his main responsibilities is facilitating executive level discussions and encouraging leadership teams to uncover the answers that will drive their business forward. He also has experience with organizational development, staff restructuring, and start-up and acquisitions projects. He has worked with clients in oil and gas services, technology, professional services, warehousing, distribution, electrical/mechanical services, member-owned club facilities, accounting, and manufacturing.

When he’s not at work, Stan likes to get outside and breathe, read, write a little and reconnect with blue sky, green trees and family. Stan and his wife live in Houston and are blessed with two fine sons.

Courtney Shelton

Courtney comes to Achilles Group with more than 15 years of human resources experience. Prior to joining the Achilles Group, Courtney was the HR Manager at Granite Properties, a commercial real estate company headquartered in Dallas. Her responsibilities included overseeing the day-to-day operations of the HR department, handling employee relations, talent acquisition, training and development, compensation, performance management, benefits administration and policy and procedure development and implementation. She earned both her PHR (Professional in Human Resources) and her SHRM-CP (Society for Human Resources Management Certified Professional).

Courtney attended Texas A&M University and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management with an emphasis in Human Resources. Native to Houston, Courtney lived in Dallas after college, where she met her husband. They have lived in Boston, Houston and are now back in Dallas. Courtney enjoys spending her free time at the beach and traveling with her husband, their son and their dog, Sheltie.

Monica Scott

Monica enjoys work at Achilles and feels blessed by the opportunity to collaborate with so many talented leaders and professionals. As a member of our management team, Monica serves internally as our champion for team talent, growth and development efforts. She is also tasked to drive technology platforms, and as a member of our manage team, enhances our effectiveness with her big picture thinking, strategic focus and analytical discussions. Monica applies these same competencies with her client engagements and is passionate in her support of their sales and profit initiatives.

Monica is exceptional in her ability to achieve results through people, and she helps managers grow in their leadership competencies through focus on employee engagement. She positions Achilles team resources and aligns our efforts with clients’ plans and business priorities. She has experience with compensation, bonus incentive structures and evaluation processes. Monica has provided HR expertise and advisement across multiple industries and for companies in every stage of the business lifecycle. She has well-earned credibility with a variety of leadership teams and business structures including private equity startups and acquisitions.

Personally, Monica enjoys cooking, playing games and shopping. With two grown children, she and her husband like traveling and playing with their two dogs, Bella and Gretta.

Shaina Schwartz

Shaina brings energy, good humor and a wide array of skills to serve the Achilles team as a driver of multiple internal operational functions along with direct client services work. Shaina’s internal role includes contract management, onboarding new clients, workload allocation and support for our client retention effort. Shaina also drives HR deliverables for clients in manufacturing, construction, and professional services. As a Professional in Human Resources (PHR), Shaina has been involved in start-ups, mergers & acquisitions, and has supported initiatives to rapidly expand or reduce staff.

Shaina makes a difference in our clients’ business, thrives on the challenges and shows great patience to work through employee relations issues, harassment investigations, internal complaints and progressive action. She works to identify position responsibilities and qualifications, complete cash compensation reviews and implement the appropriate recruiting tools. She seeks a proactive approach to mitigate risk and to train a client’s internal HR resource.

Shaina is a native Houstonian, born and raised in Sugarland, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Development with a minor in Business Management from Texas A&M University. In her free time, she loves to spend time with her husband and beautiful little girl, enjoys a good book and being outdoors.

Jennifer Ray

Jennifer provides HR leadership for Achilles clients and serves as an internal champion for ongoing development of our Leadership Training platforms. She is a very effective training facilitator and leverages her extensive experience and broad-spectrum HR competencies to equip client leaders and keep the HUMAN in Human Resources. Jennifer is at her best when she connects with mid-Level and front-line client leaders on initiatives that span multiple functions in their business. She is always ready to take on new and challenging projects and builds a collaborative approach to install the most profitable solutions for the client’s needs.

Jennifer brings practical human resources experience drawn from a background in manufacturing, oil & gas service, start up and federal defense sub-contracting. She is an avid researcher with deep compliance and HR risk mitigation knowledge paired with creative ability to keep focus on the end in mind. Her work with Achilles Group has expanded her industries experience to include non-profit, aviation, legal services and construction.

Jennifer worked and raised a family while earning a Bachelor of Business Administration from Sam Houston State University. She achieved both her PHR (Professional in Human Resources) certification and her SHRM-CP (Society for Human Resources Management Certified Professional).

Jennifer is happy, energetic and decisively committed to build a work environment that inspires the same in its employees.  Jennifer is a small-town Texas girl, proud wife and mother, devoted friend and passionate HR Professional.

Keely Mendoza

Keely balances our books, our management team and our people with her faithful heart and commitment to our financial integrity. Her 28 years of accounting and office management experience keeps us realistic and disciplined. She gives all of us a place to go, talk and reflect. And she works nonstop to keep all back-office activities up and running to keep the team free to focus on serving our clients.

Keely started her career in public accounting and has applied her skills in a variety of industries, including staffing, travel and corporate Housing. Before joining Achilles Group, Keely was with an internet media company that purchased, developed and monetized high-quality domain names and web properties.

When she’s away from the office, Keely enjoys trips back to visit her hometown in South Louisiana, spending time with her son, family & friends and watching her beloved New Orleans Saints.

Kristen McGullion

As a Managing Member of Achilles Group, LLC, Kristen is a dedicated and committed leader for our brand. Through 12 years of service Kristen has developed a wide array of human resources skills and expertise across multiple industries to include management services, asset management, oil & gas services, nonprofits and manufacturing. She advises clients in conflict resolution, progressive action, legal compliance, recruiting effectiveness, workplace harassment and EEOC claims. She also enjoys developing proactive solutions to employee morale challenges and team development issues.

Kristen’s personal journey to growth, from entry level to business owner, gives her unique perspectives and capabilities. She serves as a coach for our clients’ internal HR employees and engages as a mentor to help her Achilles colleagues grow and develop as HR Professionals. And in addition to her work with a select portfolio of clients, Kristen is a key driver for our business development strategies, and she energizes our sales and client retention efforts to grow the business.

A native Texan hailing from West Columbia, Kristen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University. She and her husband have two beautiful daughters and a dog named Gus. In her downtime, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, crawfish boils, country music and Sunday brunch.

Katy McClanahan

Katy has a servant’s heart, a robust understanding of HR fundamentals and leverages her exceptional research skills to keep our team and clients on the leading edge of compliance issues. She is invaluable in her ability to navigate State and Federal statutes and guidelines and to collaborate with her colleagues to help meet client needs. Katy also works on our internal policy, compliance and HR risk mitigation tool kits.

Katy graduated Cum Laude from the University of Texas at Dallas with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics. She began her HR career with a mid-size Dallas law firm and progressed to a manufacturing environment where she handled I-9 compliance, workers compensation and 401k administration. Katy also served as an HR Generalist in an oil and gas services organization, Seismic Exchange, where she handled benefits administration, workforce planning and employee relations.

Although not a native Texan, Katy was raised in the Spring/Klein area and considers this her home. When not in the office, Katy enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys.

David Jones

David is well-versed in all things staffing and recruiting and regularly provides clients with candidate screening and selection support. His HR career began during his service as a Human Resource Specialist for the Army. David has a disciplined and analytical approach, and applies that focus in his work to research and address compliance challenges, and to develop HR processes. He also brings an experienced and realistic view of supervisory and people management challenges gained from his leadership role as a Service Manager at Ryder Systems, Inc.

David graduated with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Communication Studies from Sam Houston State University. He is passionate about his work and grateful for his opportunities to engage with our Achilles Team.

In his spare time, David loves to improve his carpentry skills and build furniture.

Jennifer Heylmun

Jennifer is the proactive ambassador for the Achilles Brand. She is responsible for developing relationships with business leaders and industry partners throughout the Houston market and managing our prospect and sales pipelines. Her poise and ability to discover needs and engage our team with companies in need of our services has fueled our progress in every facet of the sales process.

Her previous experiences in human capital management, business development and creative business services for IT consulting firms in Houston and Denver has allowed her to leverage her interest in human interactions and business development. She also has engaged her heart and capabilities on behalf of a non-profit enterprise that provides therapeutic horsemanship.

Jennifer has managed her own photography studio and brings exceptional photographic skills to our team. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and enjoys spending time with her husband and three daughters as well as volunteering, traveling, reading and artistic projects.

Christina Harmon

Christina brings extensive direct work experience in the hospitality industry within family-owned and Fortune 500 companies. She loves that at Achilles we value the whole person and how we build a great team from a variety of professional backgrounds. Now, as an Achilles HR Professional, she is well equipped with a personal understanding of what it takes to develop work teams as a coach, trainer and supervisor. Christina leverages her people skills, intellect and creativity to transform the way our clients achieve results through employee engagement and development.

Christina works with client leaders to encourage a long-range approach and to create a holistic path to effectiveness, so people can recognize their greatness. She helps clients identify operationally-friendly HR solutions across industries that include technology, manufacturing, restaurant, hospitality, non-profit, social service and real estate.

Christina earned her bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Theater Arts with a minor in Business Administration from the University of Oregon. She earned her MBA with a concentration in Strategy from George Fox University. In her spare time, Christina loves to volunteer with Dress for Success Houston and visit Houston’s various museums and performing arts venues.

Veronica Flores

Veronica believes in an authentic approach to human resources that helps organizations create a thriving and holistic company culture. She enjoys performance development activities and creates and presents training content for multiple clients across several industries to include technology, manufacturing, restaurant, hospitality, non-profit, social service and real estate. Veronica is a very poised and energetic HR professional with effective HR interventions skills combined with a passion to honor individual and cultural values and perspectives. She helps clients identify operationally-friendly HR solutions and manages workstreams to support recruiting, handbook & policy development, I-9 audits and post-audit remediation.

Prior to joining our team, Veronica served with Houston-based Continental Express Airlines, where she specialized in employee relations, union grievances and training for their Maintenance Division. Veronica has earned a reputation as a highly adaptive, fearless colleague able to deliver exceptional work with a positive outlook no matter the circumstance.

As an avid traveler, Veronica enjoys a good adventure by experiencing new countries and cultures. She also enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, roller skating and watching The Office.

Dan Calvert

As a Managing Member of Achilles Group, LLC, Dan offers a wealth of experience in business, human resources and the retail industry. With more than 30 years of business and HR experience, Dan offers his clients shrewd business acumen and sound advice. Dan’s wisdom and candid approach to mentorship has helped him earn confidant status with clients and to drive the growth and effectiveness of the Achilles team. He also has exceptional capabilities with employee relations issues and EEOC claims investigation and response.

Before he joined Achilles Group, Oshman’s Sporting Goods was home for Dan, where he was Vice President of Human Resources. He directed HR activities, policies and procedures, benefits, recruitment and training for the $350 million retail company. He also held numerous business and management positions at the company.

Dan is currently on the board of directors for InvesTex Credit Union. He enjoys fishing and outdoor activities in East Texas but spends most of his weekends fishing in Galveston Bay and staying at his beach house on the island. Dan especially loves spending time with his family and his grandson.

Bill Bahr

Bill Bahr brings a tremendous business savvy as a human resources professional with more than 20 years of diverse industry experience in transportation, manufacturing and financial services. His HR expertise includes regulatory compliance, employee relations, policy development, risk management and labor relations. He also spent ten years in sales and business development, and strengthens our team with his unique outside the “HR box” perspectives.

Before Achilles Group, Bill held executive HR management positions with First American Title, Camco, and Baker International. Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business from the University of Arkansas. He has served on the boards of The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston and the Annual Giving Board of Saint John’s School. Bill and his wife Marci enjoy spending time with their five children and three grandchildren with more to come.