Carol ran circles around every HR Generalist I've ever worked with. She came in during a lean, high-growth period and built the People Operations foundation for an entirely new employee population from scratch: onboarding, safety protocols, benefits, and payroll. She kept payroll flawless and stepped in on a multi-state compliance audit where auditors called Babylist's HR processes "grades above" what they typically see. And she has the most epic sense of humor. Any team would be lucky to have her.
Carol Vilchez-Smith, PHR · Orange County, CA · Remote
From human resources to a resource for humans.
People Operations leader · Builder · Career coach
I've spent 15+ years in human resources, and the part I love most hasn't changed: helping people do their best work. Today that means leading People Operations teams, coaching professionals toward their next role, and building the products, websites and AI tools that help small businesses grow.
CERTIFIED
People Ops · Builder · Coach
Carol Vilchez-Smith, PHR
Ways to work with me
Hire me, contract me, or have me build it.
Pick the lane that fits. Each page has the details, pricing and how to start.
People Ops & HR
Full-time, fractional or project work across compliance, leave, benefits and performance.
Digital products
Your know-how turned into a branded book, toolkit and store.
Websites
Shopify stores and custom-coded sites, built and maintained.
AI setup
Claude or ChatGPT set up with your voice and the workflows you repeat.
Career coaching
Resumes and LinkedIn rebuilt by someone who does the hiring.
Selected work
Recent work, from HR programs to live websites.

Aligned Salons
A 149-page book, an 8-tool toolkit and a Stan Store launch for a salon business coach.
Read the case study
Scentrica
A Shopify store for authentic designer and niche fragrance, with shopping by brand, vibe and notes.
See the build
Simply For Me Bible
A custom-coded site with a personalization quiz, Stripe checkout and an AI chat box in every study.
See the build
popperformancegroup.com
This site. I designed, wrote and coded it, including the pricing tabs and payback calculator.
See the buildLeave vendor RFP
Ran the search end to end for a 650-person company and picked a vendor the team wanted to work with.
See the resultBabylist's first retail showroom
Onboarding, policies, benefits, pay structure and HR systems, built from zero.
See the resultReturn-to-work for birthing parents
A 4-day week at 100% pay for six weeks, designed with executive leadership.
See the resultAI for a People team
A Benefits Admin bot, Zapier leave feeds and Monday.com boards that saved hours every week.
See the resultCompany-wide compliance refresh
One annual refresh across four workforce segments, documented and audit-ready.
See the resultGo deeper
More about me and the work.
People Ops leader, builder, coach.
Where I started, what I build now, and how I work.
Read my story Selected impactEleven results, start to finish.
The challenge, what I did, and what changed, for People Ops programs and builds.
See the results Skills stackThe tools behind the work.
HR systems, Stan Store, Shopify, Netlify, Supabase and the Anthropic API.
See the stack ExperienceNine companies, fifteen years.
From a Whole Foods payroll desk to AI-enabled People Ops at Babylist.
See the historyKind words
What it's like to work with me.
From managers, peers, and partners across Babylist, United Sports Brands, and beyond.


Let's talk
Let's talk.
Hiring for a People Ops role, or want help with your career search? Book a time here. Starting a digital product, website or AI project? Email me and I'll send my intake form.
Book a time
Thirty minutes, on Google Calendar. Pick any open slot and you'll get the invite right away.
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