It was in her nature to help people in any way she could, such as advocating for her fellow students during college, frequently writing about students' experiences on campus, and helping them voice their opinions and concerns.

Ian and her team also promoted school events, such as the university's environmental initiatives, and how students can contribute to them in simple ways. This led to roles such as head of retreat facilitators, which had greater responsibility, including people management.

"I helped facilitate students during retreats. I addressed their concerns, provided peer counseling, and compiled reports. It's similar to HR, but for students," she explains with a chuckle. These experiences foretold her later career in HR.

Upon entering the corporate world, Ian brought her commitment and hands-on approach to leadership. “When I was doing my practicum, I was already excelling in tasks related to human resources,” Ian says. “Such as building that strong persona during recruitment interviews.”

She made sure that her practices included creating an encouraging culture of continuous learning and ensuring that the environment within the organization she's managing values collaboration as they work towards their shared goal of enhancing their skills and achieving success.

Learning by trial and error, every day was a hustle, and Ian refused to back down. Pride, sweat, and maybe a few tears went into those six months.

Despite, at times, feeling the pressure of suddenly leading a corporate team, Ian stepped up. When everyone else bailed, she stood her ground and made tough calls, shaping her leadership skills to what she has today at Frost.

For the last couple of years, Ian has been thriving as Frost's Talent Acquisition and Development Partner. She oversees various aspects of human resources operations, such as strategic recruitment, policy creation, and the creation of competency matrices.

She also learned how to manage payroll operations. "So right now, I'm not just overseeing recruitment and training, but the payroll operation, as well,” she says. “From studying the basics of payroll operation, I can now validate it before crediting it to our partnered bank."

Together with the Talent Management Group (Frost’s HR Department), she created employee engagement activities aimed at nurturing a sense of belonging and enhancing morale among Frost’s talents. These also include enhancing our end-of-week activities or planning team-building activities to nurture collaboration.

Ian seamlessly collaborated with the executive committee, ensuring all decisions and initiatives aligned with the company's vision and goals. “At Frost, it’s easier to align with the executive team and even the legal attorney since I can directly discuss important matters with them,” she says.