Justin Schmidt

I am a marketing leader who wants to build cool things, tell cool stories about those things, and do it with cool people. 

When I think about my favorite moments in my career, they are all centered around building something new with a group of smart people and we’re all thinking through how we’re going to make the thing in front of us work as best as possible for the given use case. Over the years, I built things that I would use myself (or did use myself);  I loved sharing the excitement over that thing with others. Even better was building things that drove demonstrable value for our clients. There is nothing better than marketing a product that gets me excited about the way it can be used and about the problems it solves. This is why I like startups so much! I really enjoy the creative process from the initial marketing strategy to marketing execution and how I get to go back and forth between the 50’ and the 50,000’ view.
 
For me, building also means building teams. I have been so fortunate to have built amazing teams over the years. I am proud to have built a large network of people and it brings me so much joy to see how their careers have grown since our time together. I am the type of leader that cares more about my teams success than my own. I want to help my teams become better and I believe that if my team members grow, the company’s goals will fall into place.
 
I want to bring a product to market that delivers measurable value. I need to do all of this with smart people who challenge me and push me to be better. Marketing is storytelling with an objective. I love bringing ideas to market and telling a story to someone about how the offering we have is going to not only solve their immediate problem but also help them take advantage of new opportunities in the future. I’ve been doing this my whole career, and it is something I must continue doing.

I am always interested in expanding my professional network. If you would like to connect or have any specific questions about what you see above, please contact me at justin (at) justinschmidt.me.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE 
Revenue Growth
Product Marketing
Marketing Strategy 
Demand Generation
Executive Leadership
Revenue Optimization
Content Development
Business Development
Brand Strategy and Identity
Innovative Solutions Creation
Transformation & Turnarounds 
Product Development and Launches
Business Development and Expansion 
Startup Operations and Market Growth
Team Leadership, Empowerment, & Development

VP of Marketing

Compt helps companies build, streamline, and scale employee perk stipends that delight teams and give companies a more productive and engaged workforce.

Everyone has different needs, and we think that when perks take this into account the value to the employee goes beyond just beer or catered lunches and becomes so much more.

Be Future Ready

I’m excited to share what we've been building: a 9-module e-course designed to help Gen Z and next-gen talent get truly career-ready.

This isn’t your typical training. I’ve packed it with real-world skills—like communication, self-advocacy, and adaptability—plus plenty of reflection and hands-on learning. My goal? To help young professionals step into the workforce with confidence, clarity, and a strong sense of purpose.

If you know someone who could benefit from career readiness training, or if you’re passionate about supporting the next generation of movers and shakers, let’s connect!

Partner

Oakes Co.

We help leaders increase workforce productivity so they can scale with intention and increase company value.

We increase workforce productivity by leveraging technology, empowering intrapreneurs, and creating cultures that foster retention by:
- Aid in organizational performance/effectiveness through program/system design, effectiveness audits, performance coaching, employer branding, people operations, change management, and people strategy.  
- Provides partnership, presence and inspiration to individuals, teams and organizations to keep us all moving forward, with a focus on restoring humanity into our work and workplaces.
- Program design for effectiveness and engagement, including Gen Z, remote work and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Provide keynotes and workshops in person and virtually.

Coaching, Consulting, Speaking

Founder

Our purpose is to bring humanity back into our work and workplaces, and what better way than to talk about people and culture in the workplace!
With our new short-form videocast, we are bringing you leaders and experts in HR/People Ops from all over to share their experiences and knowledge.

Host, Culture and People 'Cast

Join leadership and performance expert, Anna Oakes, as she shares conversations and insights around sustaining high performance and restoring humanity into our work and workplaces.
https://www.theoakesco.com/pod-videocast

Host, Build High Performing Teams

Changing Work

Editor of Changing Work's online publication, The Changing Work Review

Editor, The Changing Work Review

Quartz

- Selected for this role post-acquisition to a new parent company, transitioned from VP of People Ops
- Design and execute a strategy for editorial content and direction of the brand that is useful and applicable
- Seen as a thought leader in the world of work and leadership; Often a panelist or facilitator
- Worked with press to build the brand of Quartz at Work as a thought leaders in the world of work
- Host of Reworking Work, a weekly show interviewing executives on unique aspects of their company

Editor, Quartz at Work

Advancing Quartz' mission to "make business better," Anna's focus was:
- Design the systems that support all HR/people operations programs including benefits, compensation, talent acquisition/recruiting, talent management/learning development, compliance, employee engagement and performance, organizational development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Guide the executive team on strategy and execution; Provided 1:1 coaching to each executive and group coaching for the executive team
- Owned and led the company's strategic initiatives; Gather and monitor people data, communicate trends, and develop action plans for company-wide goals; Aligned to individual strengths for practical application
- Developed trusting 1:1 relationships with each manager and employee to provide career and performance coaching as needed to add to the employee experience
- Responsible for company-wide and manager-specific communications; Excellent written and verbal communication
- Report on status, proposed improvements, and impending legislative changes 
- Design the remote and hybrid work policies
- Led the company's efforts to becoming a B-corp
- Nurturing the distributed, global workforce of Quartzians
- Partnering with those who lead and influence our people to ensure they are healthy, aligned, and impactful in their leadership of both self, and others
- Expanding the reach of Quartz at Work

Chief People Officer / Head of People

Juniper Ash Photography

Owner

Baird

- Strategic HR/People Operations: Build strategy and oversee execution for Business Partner team, Talent Development, Organizational Effectiveness, Talent Acquisition
- Company Culture/People Strategy: Advise and coach senior leaders on their own leadership, partnering effectively with executive peers and across the organization, building and sustaining high performing teams, departments and individuals; Advised on business decisions and strategy with a focus on high performance, change management, organizational effectiveness and employee engagement

Highlights:
- Designed and piloted the firm's strategic change initiative focused on productivity, efficiency and effectiveness that resulted in 35,000 hours saved, $2M in hard costs eliminated and a culture of innovation and empowerment in the first three years.  Designed, hired and stood up the firm's new Strategic Change Office to continue the work.
- CEO Transition/Selection team: Worked to transition CEO to Chairman, select and transition new CEO
- Built a strategic Business Partner team that worked 1:1 with all executives and their leadership teams to enable strategic execution, cultural behaviors and people performance.
- Other: Design strategy and execution of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), workforce planning, employer branding, wellness strategy, employee engagement strategy, Fortune Best Place to Work strategy team, mergers & acquisitions team, Selection and implementation team for new cloud Human Capital Management System, remote work policies, sabbatical program design, employee resource group (ERG) strategic advisor, internal talent market mindset, internal coaching program, human capital analytics

Senior Director of Talent Solutions

Director of Talent - Firm Director

Recruited as a strategic change agent to reinvigorate the Human Resources Business Partner role, and team, as a value-add, sought-after, respected partner.
- Serviced internal lines of business and departments to aid in the business strategy, people operations, employee engagement, performance and effectiveness, and leadership coaching.
- Collaborated with the executive team and leadership to determine business unit and collective people operations and human capital needs.  Designed a new communication flow through HR to the units to reduce the "number of HR people in the room" and increase the quality and flow of information to and from HR.
- Put metrics, scorecards and service level agreements in place
- Increased collaboration by over 50%

Human Capital Business Partner

Manpower Inc.

- Selected for a newly created role that designed, implemented and executed the Shared Services function for ManpowerBusiness Solutions, which provided talent-based outsourcing (TPO), managed service programs (MSP), borderless talent solutions and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO).  
- Streamlined processes, created systems, managed change, implemented cost saving procedures and increased employee engagement and client satisfaction as a result.  
- Strategic business partner, working to enhance value, focus on continuous improvement, leverage investments, provide opportunities for strategic growth, create management responsibility and focus on partnerships to achieve business objectives and increase profits.

Manager of Shared Services, ManpowerGroup Solutions

Expanded role from talent acquisition to focus on the full employee lifecycle of attract, retain, develop and engage.
- As an OD practitioner, I focused on increasing the capacity to change and achieve greater effectiveness by developing, improving, and reinforcing strategies, structures, and processes for Manpower's 5 brands, 80 countries and multiple business units, including its clients.
- Provided people operations, talent strategy, performance and change management consulting.  
- Responsible for inclusion and diversity initiatives, community relations, the design and implementation of unit-specific, brand-specific and organizational programming.  Handled multiple mass hiring initiatives as well as multiple reduction in force (RIF), layoffs, downsizes and reorganizations with a focus on strategy, execution, outplacement, managing the change and internal/external communications.

Asked to assume a dual-role as a Program Delivery Manager for ManpowerGroup Solutions which provided talent-based outsourcing (TPO), managed service programs (MSP), borderless talent solutions and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO).  
- Assumed leadership of three low-performing teams servicing two, VIP clients and our own internal recruiting team. Increased client satisfaction by over 40%, retained the two external clients and became a sought-after advisor for RPO's other teams.
- Represented the Manpower brand at numerous conferences as a speaker and panelist.

Lead Organization Development Consultant and Program Delivery (Recruiting) Manager

My first role where I was able to operate as an INTRApreneur - the corporate innovator who spotted problems and designed solutions and did it for 5 brands and multiple business units.  
- Designed and implemented the onboarding program for North America and global headquarters. 
- Created programming for diversity and inclusion recruiting through strategic relationships across the U.S. and 40 countries, 5 brands and multiple business units. 
- Speaker at the Global Summit: "The Importance of Onboarding and Development."
- Sought after adviser to Manpower's staffing and consulting clients on talent acquisition and onboarding.  
- Initiated RFP’s and led implementation for new applicant tracking software (ATS), onboarding software, and employee engagement program for global use.

Talent Acquisition Strategist

Direct Supply Inc.

Responsible for achieving organizational growth goals through employer branding with community, government, non-profit, and campus relations across the U.S.  Represented the organization in strategic relationships to increase diverse hiring by 24%.
Led initiatives for employee engagement and performance, recruiting, sales performance, internship programming, HR technology.

Talent Strategist

Progressive Impressions International

Responsible for direction, daily supervision and development of a department of permanent employees, interns and static employees to provide customer relations and project management to a print marketing company.  Advised executive team on employer branding, talent strategy, and growth.
Increased customer satisfaction by 28% and increased team diversity by 34%.

Director of Customer Care

State Farm ®

From temporary receptionist, to claims, to people leadership...I learned from one of the best brands out there on providing great customer service, employer branding, employee engagement, training and development.  
I also was passed up twice for leadership roles and kept at it!
Selected for the State Farm Agency program.  I was honored, but I passed on the opportunity as I couldn't imagine my face on a billboard when I was 22!

Customer Care Leader

We help leaders unlock the full potential of their workforce, driving double-digit increases in productivity and retention while building a thriving company culture.

Are you a leader struggling to attract and retain top talent, especially Gen Z? Is your company culture hindering innovation and productivity? I'm here to help.

I'm Anna Oakes, an Organizational effectiveness strategist specializing in helping companies optimize their workforce for sustainable growth. With over two decades of experience, I've partnered with organizations of all sizes to boost productivity, improve retention, and foster a culture of intrapreneurship and innovation.

My unique approach combines strategic consulting, leadership coaching, and a deep understanding of the human side of business. I'm passionate about helping clean energy leaders navigate the challenges of the modern workplace, including attracting and engaging Gen Z talent, promoting DEI, and leveraging emerging technologies like AI.

Connect with me to discuss how I can help your organization thrive. Together, we can build a workforce that is not only productive but also fulfilled and empowered to make a positive impact on the world.

Our clients experience:
- Increased employee engagement and morale
- Reduced turnover and talent acquisition costs
- Accelerated innovation and problem-solving
- Enhanced brand reputation and employer value proposition

"I cannot think of anyone in my professional network who I could recommend more highly than Anna when it comes to quickly and masterfully guiding leaders and teams toward increased success and organizational health."
- Jared Cacciatore, Chief Revenue Officer at Greenlink Energy Solutions

Follow me on LinkedIn or listen to one of my podcasts:
- Build High Performing Teams
- Culture and People 'Cast

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Justin Schmidt

Anna Oakes

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