About Katie Lopes Ryan

Katie was raised in a working class community in Los Angeles. As a natural observer, she paid close attention to the way people talked about work. In such communities, work was described as monotonous but essential to survive to make financial ends meet. However, deeper stories would unfold that revealed deeper layers of identity for people and their workplaces:

“I’ve been working long hours for weeks.”

"I still haven't been paid for my wages."

“My manager yelled at me in front of coworkers.”

“They don't care about my health, they just need a body to do the job.”

These stories were common in everyday interactions with adults in the community. Although talking about work stress was common, there were hardly any conversations about how to advocate for oneself in the workplace. These missed opportunities impacted Katie from a young age and made her wonder:

Who supported employees in the workplace?
What caused work to be stressful?
Were there others who felt the same way?
Why spend so much time in a place that made you feel unappreciated?
How different would work be if both sides brought out the best in each other?

Upon completing her college studies in anthropology and HR Management, Katie continued to gravitate towards the employee-employer relationship. This led her to pursue a career into Human Resources. As Katie’s career path developed, she quickly understood businesses are their own persona, but the people managing the business influence what the workplace culture is. Workplace culture is created by the expectations and realities interpreted amongst each other. If it does not align it is because the participants of the culture are not speaking in the same language (business language, not English).

One of the first rules for emerging leaders in the HR field is to "learn the business". Understanding the business allows one to view the organization as separate from the people that operate in it. Only then can one truly understand how procedures, operations, and the people of the business create the culture of the workplace. When issues arise in either of these three prongs, a strategic HR business partner can help support workplaces in challenging moments, identify resources and solutions, and modernize the way forward.

Whether you are an entry-level worker, an aspiring leader, or a highly driven professional, Katie has experience bridging the communications amongst the talent of an organization and the business. Katie worked in corporate for financial institutions, insurance companies, and manufacturing, ascending her way up to a Director of HR. In 2025, Katie pivoted her focus into fractional HR support with the focus to support an array of businesses in their workplace efforts.

Katie lives in the MidWest with her husband and their pets Major and Minor. You can find her hiking trails, visiting museums, and supporting independent bookstores.