Nicole is currently holding down her dream job, combining her love of animals and passion for HR, as Director of Human Resources at Compassion-First Pet Hospitals, a family of more than 30 emergency and specialty veterinary practices with locations across the country.  A high-impact HR professional with more than 14 years of proven experience throughout Human Resources, specifically in the manufacturing, telecommunications, and veterinary medicine industries, Nicole possesses an outstanding ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with all functions, departments, and levels of the organization.  She has a proven record of establishing HR as a vital business partner with an earned reputation as an intuitive, wide-ranging HR Generalist.  Nicole is a proud member of the SHRM A-Team, and she has been recently appointed into a volunteer leadership position as SHRM Foundation Chair on the Board of her local SHRM Chapter, GCHRA.  Earlier this year, Nicole started a blog, HR Without Ego, where her faithful sidekick, Maximus the Minimus – her 10 lb Shih Tzu serves as mascot.