Erin Cavender is the Executive Vice President of Finance and Operations at HRchitect with over 22 years of experience in finance. Get to know Erin, her all-time favorite restaurant and her favorite HRchitect employee perk in this month’s HRchitect spotlight.
Hometown: Frisco, TX
Alma mater: University of Oklahoma
All-time favorite restaurant: I really love Lou Malnati’s in Chicago. Their deep dish pizza is delicious and every time we go to Chicago, it is my top choice.
Last book you read: I just read Inside Out, Demi Moore’s memoir. I didn’t know much about her beforehand, but I found it a very enjoyable and entertaining read. It was really good if you have not read it.
Favorite vacation destination: I’m going to have to say the Bahamas. My husband and I went there for our honeymoon and we took our girls back there two years ago for a family vacation. We want to go back again– we love it!
What do you like to do when you’re not working? Number one, I love to be with my family. My second favorite activity would have to be playing tennis.
In your own words, what do you do at HRchitect? I oversee Finance and HR. In a nutshell I make sure the company’s Finances are in order, our employees are paid, and that we invoice our clients. From an HR perspective, I make sure that everybody has a good onboarding experience and that we take care of our employees.
What did your career path look like before joining HRchitect? Right out of college, I moved to Dallas from Oklahoma and started working in Finance for an oil, gas and chemical company. Then, I began working in finance at American Airlines and worked there while I was getting my MBA. After I earned my MBA, I went to work for another chemical company in the area, and then worked at a smaller accounting firm for about a year after I had my second child. That was my last job before I joined HRchitect.
How did you find out about HRchitect, and what made you join the company?
Frustrated with my commute and being so far from home with two young children in my previous role, I realized that I wanted to join an organization that focused on better work/life balance. I posted about the type of role I was looking for on a neighborhood website. Someone at HRchitect saw my post and reached out, as they had an opening in their Finance team that matched with my experience. I connected with Matt (our President & CEO), interviewed, and here we are eight years later!
What is a typical workday like for you?
I don’t really have a typical workday however I do like to get up and start working for a while before my kids wake up so I like to start around 6AM.
How do you stay connected to the others on HRchitect’s management team in a virtual environment? I’m on the phone with all of the members of the management team every few days at least if not more often. One of the things I love is that the management team is very approachable, has an open-door policy, is willing to listen and loves to hear new ideas. A good word to use to describe our company is collaborative.
As a 100% virtual organization, what tools or technologies have made the biggest difference for you and your finance and operations teams?
I would say simply having good Wi-Fi and internal systems that are intuitive and easy to use have made the biggest difference for remote collaboration with my team. For example, our BOX cloud storage makes information easily accessible. Although we are virtual, my team and I still enjoy meeting in person regularly when we’re able to.
Which employee benefit or perk that HRchitect offers do you enjoy the most and why?
For me, it is definitely the ability to work from home. I like to be close to my kids and keep an eye on them. I also enjoy being able to get up early and walk ten steps to my office to begin my workday.
Also, this isn’t exactly a perk but I love that HRchitect moves with the times really smoothly. Our company in so many ways is proactive, not reactive. You can especially see that with the COVID-19 pandemic. Right off the bat, we made it a point to stay more connected and hold events like trivia nights and happy hours for employees to have some fun, relax, and stay connected.
Learn more about Erin https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-cavender-88010a7/