Partner Spotlight
Shining a light on our women-owned and led partners.
Urban HR Solutions supports Steigerwaldt in custom HR solutions that lead to a high-performance culture. Dawn has assisted with HR compliance, leadership development and coaching, employee relations, and development and strategic workforce development.
What services do you provide? What is your favorite part about your job?
HR Consulting services that include the following: Leadership Development and Coaching; Compliance/Policy; Benefits; and Employee Relations. My favorite part of HR is conducting leadership workshop sessions.
Tell us about your career path so far. How have you gotten to where you are today?
When I graduated from college, I recognized that I wanted to help people achieve success in the workplace. Choosing Human Resources as a profession has been rewarding. It has allowed me to develop strong work relationships and help place individuals in positions where they are able to grow and develop.
I started in an HR Generalist role at a large health care system. This position primarily focused on Compensation and Benefits. After a few years, I transitioned into an HR Business Partner role. This allowed me to gain broad knowledge in multiple HR functions, such as Compliance, Recruitment, Leave Management, Employee Relations, and Leadership Development. My goal was to become a well-rounded, knowledgeable HR individual and climb the HR corporate ladder.
After working in HR for 6 years, I moved into an HR Manager role. I discovered that managing people can be challenging but rewarding. I learned about motivating team members and focusing on each employee’s strengths.
I spent the next 12 years in HR manager and director roles where I had an opportunity to develop my leadership skills and build strong relationships with managers and executives.
I started my own consulting firm in 2019 because I wanted to focus on the HR functions that I enjoy and achieve flexibility and work-life balance. My satisfaction comes from watching my clients grow their companies and be successful.
What challenges have you overcome as a woman in leadership or challenges that women face in your field today? Do you have any advice?
Like many women, I struggled with being confident and assertive early in my HR career. I recognized that, if I wanted to be successful in HR, I had to develop these skills.
Later in my career, I accepted a position with an IT health care firm. This was an adjustment because IT has its own HR challenges – primarily around recruitment and retention.
My advice to women who are just starting out would be to find your voice and don’t compromise your beliefs.
Can you tell us about a woman who positively influenced your life?
I’ve had several women who had a positive influence on me and provided mentoring throughout my career. One of my most memorable mentors worked in a Sales Executive position, and she was the only female on the Sales team. She worked hard, was very determined, and held her ground. This person later became the first woman CEO of this company. Working with her was always interesting. She taught me to focus on providing exceptional customer service and challenge the status quo.
