Stride helps people who work for themselves be more productive and successful. This week we chatted with the one and only Hetal, our People Operations Lead, about her love for her teammates, food, and the Golden State Warriors.

Can you introduce yourself and your position?

I’m Hetal, People Ops Lead at Stride.

What were you up to before you joined Stride?

Before Stride, I spent two years at the County of San Mateo Office working on Employee Engagement and HR programs for county employees. I’ve always been extremely passionate about People and Culture, and I learned many valuable lessons through my prior experiences!

It's a beautiful weekend in San Francisco—where can we expect to find you?

On Saturday mornings, I’m almost always going for a run on the Embarcadero, followed by the Ferry Building Farmers' Market for coffee and some local yummy eats. I live in the Mission District, so you can find me spending time at Dolores Park soaking up the sun and eating a ton of tacos from my favorite taqueria, Pancho Villa. I’m a HUGE Bay Area sports fan (Warriors, Raiders, Giants) so if any of those teams are playing, I’m either going to the game or catching it on TV with friends!

How would you describe your job to a 5-year-old?

My job at Stride is to make sure that the people who work here are happy, healthy, and are having a lot of fun! An important part of my job is listening, so I always make sure to have my listening cap on. My goal is to make Stride the most awesome place to work, ever!

What's the most rewarding part about working at Stride?

Being a part of the journey and watching our company grow, learn, and develop. My 1st year has been filled with many exciting challenges and wins that we’ve gone through together as a team. Our company is truly built on relationships—we take time to build meaningful connections that lead to trust, understanding and belonging. We are passionate about going above and beyond to support one another and our members.

What’s the best part about being the People Ops Lead?

This will sound cliché, but hands down the best part of my job is the PEOPLE! People Ops involves wearing many different hats—no day is the same! There are often unexpected tasks, projects, and situations that come up. Some days are really hard, but nothing is better than being able to connect with my teammates and having such a big impact on their journey at Stride.

What's your favorite Stride memory?

My favorite Stride memory was participating in our Greenlight Hub Events during Open Enrollment of 2017. I was able to travel to New York City, D.C., and Philadelphia with Jenny, our stellar MX Director, to get our members signed up for health insurance on the spot! It was beyond meaningful for me to be able to engage with our members, get to know them, and help them with such a challenging mission of finding the right insurance plan for them and their families. My day to day is so involved in our internal Stride team, so being able to connect with our members face-to-face was amazing!!