Hi, I’m
Michele Vespi
Made in NYC, Reside in Naples,FL
Summary
Authentic and highly intuitive leader with over 23 years of experience cultivating innovative, winning teams and helping to lead scalable, fast-paced growth within ambitious organizations. With a distinctive leadership style that brings humanization, empathy and honesty to the forefront, and blends the world of nurture and no-nonsense, I work with teams to meet company issues head-on through collaboration, strategy and creative solutions. As a leader, I take what I do seriously, however, I do not take myself too seriously and promote an environment where we can find humor in the day-to-day. Life is too short, and we work too hard, to not have fun alongside our journey to success.
Overview
23
years of professional experience
Timeline
Founder & CEO
Evergray Consulting, LLC.
09.2019 - Current
Global Chief People Officer/COO
Beautiful Destinations
09.2019 - 11.2022
Head of People & Operations / Sr. Director
WeGrow / WeWork
04.2018 - 08.2019
Chief People Officer
Success Academy Charter Schools
04.2012 - 04.2018
Vice President, HR / US Head, Campus Recruitment
Jefferies & Company
05.2000 - 04.2012
Skills
- Adaptability
- Communication
- Crisis Management
- Culture Influencer
- Emotional Intelligence
- Employee Relations
- Executive Coaching
- Executive Leadership
- Organizational Structuring
- Performance Management
- Planning & Strategizing
- Problem Solving
- Talent Architect
- Training & Development
Work History
Evergray Consulting, LLC.Naples, Florida
Founder & CEO
09.2019 - Current
Job overview
- Accomplished Executive providing expertise and consulting services in People and Operational Strategy through innovative approaches and creative solutions.
Beautiful DestinationsNew York, NY
Global Chief People Officer/COO
09.2019 - 11.2022
Job overview
- Beautiful Destinations (BD) is a multi award winning strategy, creative and content studio with one of the world's largest & most influential online travel communities (over 50 MM social following) and the global leader in multi-platform travel & lifestyle content.
- As Executive Advisor, I provide coaching and consulting services to the CEO and Executive Leadership team by aligning to the company's goals and strategies to determine what changes can be made to better serve BD and its executive team across People and Operations.
- As Chief People Officer and Chief of Strategic Operations, I led all day-to-day operations across all divisions; Beautiful Destinations, Beautiful Hotels, Beautiful Cuisines, Beautiful Matters; People, Operations, Creative, Pre and Post Production, Client Services, Social, Strategy and Finance.
- Cultivated and strengthened lasting client relationships that led to over 60% increase in retention YOY.
- Retained 100% top performers across all levels.
- Transitioned company to a fully distributed global workforce; grew global presence and business development opportunities by establishing an entity in UAE and increased revenues by nearly 30%, further diversified the makeup of the organization and strengthened company culture across EMEA and North American regions.
WeGrow / WeWorkNew York, NY
Head of People & Operations / Sr. Director
04.2018 - 08.2019
Job overview
- WeWork is a global provider of co-working spaces that previously had launched several ventures across technology, health, wellness and education, inclusive of WeGrow; a private school established within WeWork's HQ in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.
- As Head of People and Operations for WeGrow and Sr. Director for WeWork, I led day-to-day operations for WeGrow, inclusive of all employees across HQ, school-based staff, and supporting key people initiatives within new business ventures under WeWork's expansion efforts.
- Launched first-ever education venture for WeWork, WeGrow; custom built 10,000 sq. ft interactive learning landscape; designed a progressive curriculum infused with Montessori and Reggio Amelia pedagogies for children aged 3-9.
- Designed, executed and oversaw a full scale talent management and performance program for all 40+ WeGrow staff.
Success Academy Charter SchoolsNew York, NY
Chief People Officer
04.2012 - 04.2018
Job overview
- Success Academy (SA) is one of the largest charter school non-profit organizations with 47 schools that serve the New York area and over 17,000 students.
- As Chief People Officer, I led a team of 50+ people and was responsible for the performance management, compensation, training, and employee relations of 2,400+ employees across 47 different high-performing K-12 public charter schools and central network office.
- Consistently met 100% of hiring goals; averaging 1500+ hires per year for instructional and non-instructional staff.
- Created new innovative programs to meet recruitment and training goals - org’s first internship program, strategically designed to elevate quality, retention and scaling of instructional hires; designed and scaled Military Veteran (MilVet) recruitment initiative; hired three Veterans to administer program efforts, growing organization's Veteran staff count from 4 to 46 in less than 10 months; implemented performance management tools; online training and collaboration forums; competency-based mid-management and supervisory leadership development.
Jefferies & CompanyNew York, NY
Vice President, HR / US Head, Campus Recruitment
05.2000 - 04.2012
Job overview
- Jefferies is a diversified financial services company engaged in investment banking and capital markets, asset management and direct investing. Jefferies offers a full range of investment banking, equities, fixed income, asset and wealth management products and services.
- Throughout my career at Jefferies, I led efforts in talent acquisition, development and management, employee culture and relations. I was integral in establishing Jefferies as a true competitor to "bulge bracket" banks across US campus efforts, elevating its brand and ability to effectively scale with top tier Analysts and Associates and world-class training programs.
Personal Interests
- Quality time with my family, and raising my two children to be good humans
- Eating my husbands incredible food (it helps that he's a Chef)
- Animal lover
- All things astrology and crystals
- Spectator of most sports and practitioner of Mixed Martial Arts
Professional Studies
Human Resource Management Certification, Villanova University, Online Certification Program
Liberal Arts & Sciences, Nassau Community College, Long Island, NY
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