HR by Karen

When Karen Shepherd talks about business, she starts with people. Her company, HR by Karen, began not as a corporate pivot but as a personal realization that human resources had lost its humanity. “I was in HR for ten years,” she said. “And somewhere along the way, I realized it had become too transactional, and not transformational. No one was leading with love” 

She launched HR by Karen in 2020, after her position was eliminated during the pandemic. The experience could have ended her career in HR. Instead, it redirected it. “I was sitting in a conference listening to Ellen Latham, the founder of Orange Theory,” Shepherd said. “She was fifty-five, a single mom, her job had been eliminated, and she started over.

Our stories were almost identical. I drove home from that conference crying because I knew what I needed to do. I wasn’t meant to go get another job. I was meant to start spreading love through leadership.” 

Within two weeks, she had a website, a brand, and a color scheme: orange, a tribute to the woman who inspired her. “Everything about HR by Karen was born from that moment,” she said. 

HR by Karen helps small businesses build stronger teams through compliance, recruiting, and leadership development. But at its core, the company focuses on creating workplaces where people feel valued, seen, and heard. 

“The biggest challenge in HR is education,” Shepherd explained. “Many small business owners just don’t know what they don’t know. My goal is to help them bridge that gap with heart, strategy, and profit.” 

Her clients range from small startups to established regional firms, each facing its own version of the same problem: how to attract and retain good people. Shepherd’s approach begins with an audit of workplace culture. “I start by talking with employees,” she said.

“Confidentially, of course. I gather how they feel, what’s working, what isn’t. Then I take that information to leadership and we start to build.” 

From there, she implements what she calls “the heart-centered approach.” It combines compliance and structure with empathy and accountability. “Everyone wants retention,” she said. “But retention starts with hiring the right people, building trust, and giving employees a voice. When people feel valued, they work harder. It’s not complicated, but it takes intention.” 

In 2023, Shepherd published her first book, Lead with Love: 10 Heart-Centered Strategies to Build a more Profitable Business. It distills the principles she uses with clients into a guide for leadership and personal growth. “It took me three years to write,” she said. “It was a passion project. Every chapter came from something I lived through with clients or in my own career.” 

She often jokes that she’s “just Karen,” but her influence has stretched well beyond her client list. Through her nonprofit, the Lead with Love Foundation, she offers free community workshops on workforce readiness and soft skills.

“We talk about how to be human again,” she said. “How to communicate with kindness, how to listen, how to remember there’s a face behind every decision. Love is not a dirty word in business.” 

Her foundation also supports local workforce development programs and mentorship for young professionals. “The younger generation is so tech-focused,” she said. “Sometimes they forget to look up. I want to remind them that behind every screen is a person. Behind every email is a heart.” 

Shepherd’s partnership with the Florida SBDC at Florida Gulf Coast University has been an essential part of her journey from concept to company. She first connected with the SBDC through the Small Business Council of the Greater Naples Chamber, where she met consultant Tim Hall. “Tim was one of the first people to sit down with me and talk through my business goals,” she said. “He asked tough questions that helped me see where my systems could be stronger and where I needed to focus my energy.” 

That early mentorship became a foundation for growth. After Hurricane Ian, Shepherd turned to the SBDC again, this time for business continuity guidance and operational planning. “The SBDC was there for me when I needed to stabilize,” she said. “They helped me think through what a sustainable business model looks like, not just in good times but in recovery.” 

Her collaboration later expanded to include consultant Heidi Cramer, who introduced her to technology-based HR tools and artificial intelligence applications. “Heidi changed the way I looked at automation,” Shepherd said. “I had been doing everything manually, from onboarding to tracking performance reviews. She showed me how to integrate AI-driven platforms that save time and make the process more efficient. That allowed me to focus on the part I love most: people.”

Through the SBDC’s network, Shepherd also connected with marketing experts and peer business owners who shared her commitment to human-centered growth. “It’s not just one-on-one consulting,” she said. “It’s a whole ecosystem of knowledge. You learn from other entrepreneurs, from their struggles and their breakthroughs. The SBDC builds that community.” 

She credits those relationships with giving her a clearer sense of direction. “When you’re a solopreneur, it’s easy to feel like you’re figuring it out alone,” she said. “The SBDC gave me a sense of accountability and structure. Every time I left a meeting, I had a list of action steps and the motivation to keep going.” 

Shepherd continues to recommend the SBDC to her clients, especially new business owners who feel overwhelmed by compliance and operations. “It’s one of the best-kept secrets in Florida,” she said. “They don’t just give advice. They help you build something that lasts.” 

In 2025, Shepherd was nominated for the Servant Leader of the Year Award at the Distinguished Entrepreneur Awards, a recognition that deeply moved her. “This nomination means the world to me,” she said. “Servant leadership is what I live and breathe. It’s about growing people, helping them find their purpose and use it to build something better. I’m here because of my clients, my mentors, and the people who believed in me.”

Her work has built more than policies and procedures. It has built relationships between owners and employees, and between individuals and their potential. “Small businesses are the heartbeat of our community,” she said. “And when they lead with love, the whole community benefits.”

Shepherd’s daily work extends far beyond HR consulting. She sees it as a personal mission to restore humanity to business. “I tell my clients, you can’t spell heart without HR,” she said, holding up the bracelet that bears her company’s tagline. “Let’s crush it together.” 

Her next goal is to integrate more educational programming into her company’s outreach. “Education is everything,” she said. “If we can teach people to communicate better, to lead with empathy, we can change the way workplaces function.” 

She often ends her talks with the same message that started her company: that business, at its best, is human. “The only way to grow a business,” she said, “is to grow the people inside it.”