Kat Creamer, HR and Talent Operations Manager

6:30 a.m. (EST)

Cock-a-doodle-doo!  

I awake, like every other morning, to the sound of our Speckled Sussex rooster crowing in the distance. It’s time to get up and start my daily farm chores before logging into work. We have 12 chickens and three cats waiting outside for their breakfasts. First things first, however: Say “good morning” to my husband, Jeremy.  

7:30 a.m. 

I’m outside on our four-acre property, having already fed all the animals. Our chickens love peanuts as a morning treat, and the cats love to split a can of wet food. I also enjoy a one-mile hike on our trail with the cats following along. I trained them to follow me, and they love hiking almost as much as I do! Rain, snow, or shine, I always make my morning hike a priority.  

8:00 a.m. 

I fill up my Red Cell water bottle, grab a cup of chai tea and a homemade protein bar, and head to my workspace to begin my day.  

8:15 a.m. 

My first 15-30 minutes at work are devoted to reviewing Slack messages and email. Confirming there’s nothing that needs my urgent attention, I dive into my assignments for the day. 

8:30 – 10:30 a.m.  

As Red Cell’s HR and Talent Operations Manager, my morning involves a mix of tasks and projects including auditing our open and live job posts; coordinating and managing onboarding tasks for new hires, including following up with new employees and internal stakeholders; managing our onboarding system, Greenhouse; reviewing any projects or requests from our recruiters; building out interview templates to assist our recruiters as they begin to use our new AI interview scheduling tool, GoodTime; and running reports for our Talent, HR, Finance, and Accounting teams. 

11:00 a.m. 

Around this time, Red Cell typically has Standup, a daily meeting that allows all team members to discuss their top priorities and any roadblocks for the day. It’s also a great way to connect quickly with a member of a different team.  

12:00 p.m. 

We have our weekly Talent and HR team sync with our manager, Red Cell’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Michael Sheets. We review the progress on individual and team projects; discuss updates across Red Cell Partners and our incubations, such as hiring needs or compensation analyses; celebrate wins; and talk through any challenges including any questions we have for each other.  

1:00 p.m. 

It’s lunchtime! I typically have something quick like a bowl of homemade soup that I prepped on Sunday night or a few farm-fresh eggs from our chickens. This is also the time when I go outside to check on how many eggs the chickens have laid. They laid seven eggs today!  If time permits, I will also enjoy another brisk 10- to15-minute hike around the trail on our property.  

1:30 – 4:00 p.m. 

This time is dedicated to meetings with other team members like Sophie Roney, our Director of Recruiting, or Katie Stapp, our Senior HR Manager, to discuss and act on more specific Talent and HR projects. I also regularly have meetings with incubation hiring managers.Today, I’m meeting with Joe Laws, CEO of Trase — an AI agent platform that deploys cutting-edge artificial intelligence to drive immediate ROI and real-world business results for enterprises of all sizes — as well as Mike Herndon and Russ Geraldi from another Red Cell company, Claros — a power management solutions company that is working to make AI more sustainable and widely available  — for updates on their interview plans or hire candidates.  

This time is also dedicated to meeting with members of internal departments and incubations across Red Cell. This afternoon, I’m connecting with Red Cell’s Senior Marketing Manager Léa Bourgade to discuss website and job-board updates. I also talk with members of our IT teams that support our companies to plan onboarding for their new hires.  

5:00 p.m. 

I try to wrap up my day around 5:00 p.m., so I can lift weights in my home gym and/or to go trail running before it gets too dark.  

6:30 – 7:30 p.m. 

I walk around our property to ensure the chickens are all safe in their coops and let the cats inside for the night. It’s also time to freshen up and cook dinner.  

8:00 p.m. 

I tend to log back online for an hour or so before shutting down completely for the night. I do this to check emails and Slack again and prepare for upcoming meetings. 

9:30 p.m. 

Bedtime! Rest and recovery are critical to having another great day tomorrow.