While every company has a story that evolves over time, there is only one beginning to each of those stories. KMA’s started with the belief that as the owner, I would build my life around my top priorities. Having the flexibility to make important choices was essential. So in April of 2007, I took a leap of faith and made a commitment to flexibility being a requirement for balancing success in my work life and in my personal life.
Finding Balance
The beginning of the KMA story coincided with my husband Chris and I welcoming our firstborn, Charlie, eight weeks early. Trying to balance a demanding job and being an awesome Mom was a challenge, as Charlie needed many services during his first three years of life to be healthy. Being a stay-at-home Mom was not an option at that time, so I found a corporate HR job that allowed me to work and be there for Charlie.
During this time, my brother-in-law owned a company that was facing a human-rights complaint. He called me and said, “I only have 40 employees and I don’t need a full-time HR person. But clearly, I need help and would like to hire you to help me get the company compliant and get me through this complaint.”
He offered me 20 hours a week for six months.
Decision Time
I had a choice to make—not only for me, but for my young family. So, I did the best sales job of my life selling the idea of starting my own business to Chris. He is a more of a planner and was not comfortable with the risk-taking aspects of starting a new business. Eventually, Chris agreed to support my dream, which was a good thing because a few weeks after we made the decision, my doctor put me on nine weeks of bed-rest during my second pregnancy with Sam.
For the next three years, I pieced together part-time work. I committed not to work a single minute more than I needed so that I could be flexible and be at home with my boys. As luck would have it, I soon found myself with more work than I could handle alone . . . and so the KMA team concept was born.
Dynamic Individuals = Dynamic Team
Each KMA team member brings a strong HR generalist background and a unique personality that contributes to our dynamic team. I am forever grateful to my staff members for their willingness to take chances, trust, and challenge me as, together, we build KMA through ideas, dedication, hard work, doing the right thing, and building relationships with our clients and strategic business partners.
On behalf of my team and myself, I want to express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to all our clients for allowing us the opportunity to work with you for the past 10 years. It has been our pleasure to partner with you by providing HR services to your organizations. We have many success stories, and it has been a pleasure to guide and support your growth.
The Next 10 Years
We look forward to the next 10 years by continuing to offer enhanced HR services, including 24/7 online support, a broader array of services including HR administration, recruiting, training, and HR advising. Our goal is to offer clients the guidance and support they need to succeed in the changing world of HR, while maintaining our personalized and fun approach.
We know we could not be where we are today without you. Thank you so much for partnering with KMA!