Hi, I'm Carol.

From a payroll desk to People Ops, then to building.

The repetitive parts, I automate. The human parts, I keep human.

I started in HR at a Whole Foods Market payroll and benefits desk. From there I worked through hospitality, staffing and benefits before moving into generalist and HRBP roles in distribution, sporting goods, manufacturing, DTC commerce and consumer tech. Each industry taught me something different about what holds up under pressure.

I take on the work most People teams dread: compliance across all U.S. states, leave, Open Enrollment, workers' comp, immigration and audit prep. At Babylist I also joined the AI Enablement team, building bots and automations on Claude, custom GPTs, Zapier and Monday.com.

That AI work changed what I could build on my own. I now design, write and code websites and digital products. I built Simply For Me Bible, a personalized Scripture study business with its own AI chat box. I built the Shopify store for Scentrica, a designer and niche fragrance shop. And I built this site.

Through POP Performance Group, I help other people do the same: coaches who want to sell what they know, small businesses that need a site or an AI setup, and professionals rebuilding a resume from the hiring side of the desk.

The part that doesn't show up in a skills list: managers bring me their hard conversations, and clients send me their notebook pages. That trust is why the work lands.

Carol Vilchez-Smith, PHR