fbpx

Excellence in HR Awards Honorees: Kristopher Osborne

Marine Corps Veteran turned startup builder. My mission: Put people first and build companies that do the same!

Favorite Quote: Every person is the creation of himself, the image of his own thinking and believing. As individuals think and believe, so they are. — Claude Bristol

Fun Fact: I drove across the country twice once in 6 days. The other time in 10 days while camping along the way. I don’t recommend trying to do less than 6 days from South Florida to San Francisco.

How do you unwind after a long day of work? Walking on the beach with my dog, Layla.

What challenges have you faced in your career, and how did you overcome them? I feel fortunate to have found my passion scaling companies, advising, training, hiring, and retaining the absolute best is extremely rewarding. It was no easy feat, but with a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck, I found my way. It started by enlisting in the United States Marine Corps early in life. I spent six years in the Marines, during which I was promoted five times, twice meritorious, rising to the rank of Sergeant. While enlisted, I completed my BBA as well as HR work with United Technologies, needless to say; I hate being bored.

The Marines set me up for success for the rest of my life. The military pushed me past what I believed could be possible. The experiences I was exposed to taught me how to do more with less and never give up; that mentality is why I fell in love with entrepreneurship and startups. In every company I have worked for, I’ve pushed myself harder, faster, and more efficiently than the next compounding my experience to create more success.

What has been the most monumental moment of your career thus far? My work with Launch Potato set the new standard for monumental. I joined when we were 20 employees, over the past 2.5 years we have grown to 60 while more than tripling our revenue. Each year we have won more awards for our growth and culture, 2020 we had a total of 10 awards. To summarize why this is currently my most monumental moment outside of this honor:
– 2x Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Companies List
– We have been an advocate of distributed/remote work since day 1
– Inc & Forbes Best Place to Work & Great Places to Work certified – check out the data
– Values aren’t just words on the wall, we build high performing teams, here’s what our team is saying on Glassdoor – Glassdoor 5/5!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten? Following your passion isn’t always the best approach. Hard work and perseverance lead to success. When we push ourselves past what we believe is possible it sets a new standard and your perspective shifts to focus on bigger and better things.

What qualities make for an outstanding HR professional? Empathy, organization, confidence, and grit.

How have you adapted your HR skills to COVID? Luckily we were more than 50% distributed before COVID so skill-wise there wasn’t much that needed to be adapted. I’ve always been strict with my schedule and calendar using the timeboxing method to help keep my days on track which made the transition much easier. I also have regular check-ins will all employees which kept me connected where others may have felt more disconnected with reduced facetime. As an organization, we picked up our communication cadence, implemented new culture initiatives, new virtual experiences, new slack channels, and games in slack.

What are some misconceptions about HR and how do you combat them? Traditional HR is only good for compliance and policies, some see that model as the “fun police.” I’ve never followed a traditional approach, I believe policies should only be made unless absolutely necessary and not impact the 98% of people that do the right thing vs the 2% of people who may try to take advantage. We focus on performance, continuous improvement, continuous feedback, and if there is a gap we work quickly to understand the why then close it. You have to listen to your employees, get advice from your trusted advisors/leadership team, and execute quickly to create positive change.

What do you like most about working in HR? I love to see the progression someone makes from new employee to making a massive impact. It’s exciting to create an organization that is rowing in the right direction together. I enjoy being a catalyst for positive change by caring personally and challenging directly.

You May Also Like

VIDEO: Relive Our Up & Comer Awards Night

We celebrated the honorees during a cocktail reception and an awards ceremony.

Come As You Are: D&I Also Includes Diversity of Experience

SFBW continues the conversation inspired by the admirable work of TD Bank.

SFBW Celebrates Lawyers and Legal Support Staffers Who Exemplify the Best of the Profession

The evening signaled our enhanced editorial coverage of the legal profession in print and online. Read on to find out how you can have your practice featured in the magazine.

Passionate and Intense, A Networking Event Organized by TD Bank and SFBW Addressed Issues of Diversity and Inclusion

Gilda’s Club in Fort Lauderdale was the venue for a spirited discussion.

Other Posts

People Who Need People

SFBW’s annual Human Resources Awards amply demonstrated that ways in which South Florida’s business landscape is built on relationships.

Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale Partners With SFBW for a Special CEO Connect

Our July cover star, Pipeline Workspaces CEO Philippe Houdard, offers compelling remarks about building community—and watching creative types from Spotify, Google, Uber and Microsoft waft through the coworking space he co-founded.

More Than 300 Business Leaders Celebrated the Accomplished Honorees at SFBW’s Annual Prestigious Women Awards

NBC 6 News’s Kristin Sanchez lent her star power as featured emcee, while Island TV was the presenting sponsor of the sold-out event.

Drew Limsky

Drew Limsky

Editor-in-Chief

BIOGRAPHY

Drew Limsky joined Lifestyle Media Group in August 2020 as Editor-in-Chief of South Florida Business & Wealth. His first issue of SFBW, October 2020, heralded a reimagined structure, with new content categories and a slew of fresh visual themes. “As sort of a cross between Forbes and Robb Report, with a dash of GQ and Vogue,” Limsky says, “SFBW reflects South Florida’s increasingly sophisticated and dynamic business and cultural landscape.”

Limsky, an avid traveler, swimmer and film buff who holds a law degree and Ph.D. from New York University, likes to say, “I’m a doctor, but I can’t operate—except on your brand.” He wrote his dissertation on the nonfiction work of Joan Didion. Prior to that, Limsky received his B.A. in English, summa cum laude, from Emory University and earned his M.A. in literature at American University in connection with a Masters Scholar Award fellowship.

Limsky came to SFBW at the apex of a storied career in journalism and publishing that includes six previous lead editorial roles, including for some of the world’s best-known brands. He served as global editor-in-chief of Lexus magazine, founding editor-in-chief of custom lifestyle magazines for Cadillac and Holland America Line, and was the founding editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury Interiors South Florida. He also was the executive editor for B2B magazines for Acura and Honda Financial Services, and he served as travel editor for Conde Nast. Magazines under Limsky’s editorship have garnered more than 75 industry awards.

He has also written for many of the country’s top newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Boston Globe, USA Today, Worth, Robb Report, Afar, Time Out New York, National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Journal, Ritz-Carlton, Elite Traveler, Florida Design, Metropolis and Architectural Digest Mexico. His other clients have included Four Seasons, Acqualina Resort & Residences, Yahoo!, American Airlines, Wynn, Douglas Elliman and Corcoran. As an adjunct assistant professor, Limsky has taught journalism, film and creative writing at the City University of New York, Pace University, American University and other colleges.