Mary Sonner started her career in retail and worked her way up to become head of human resources at Tusculum College. She began as a troubleshooter closing underperforming retail stores and later managed her own store. Sonner then transitioned into human resources, taking a recruiting job and advancing in the field. She enjoys the business side of HR, such as compensation and benefits. Sonner believes HR is important for managing expenses, hiring the right people, and ensuring employee engagement or termination when needed. The most interesting aspect of HR for her is its variety. Her advice is to understand an employer's culture and work to engage employees once hired, as well as network and seek internships in the field.

1. Human Resource Development Professional Interview
I had the pleasure of interviewing with Mary Sonner, head of human resources (HR) at
Tusculum College, for this assignment. Sonner was very informing about the human resource
field of study and also with the developing aspect of HR. Although, she started in retail she has
climbed her way up the human resources ladder and became quite successful at her profession.
Mary Sonner started working in retail through while in undergrad and in doing so became
a trouble-shooter for different stores that had certain problems; during this position Sonner was
in charge of closing stores down that were causing issues. Next Sonner found the specific issue,
solved it, or kept the store closed down if the issue could not be resolved. Upon graduation
Sonner moved to Louisiana be in charge of a retail store where she strictly was a “fixer” to solve
personnel, theft, and merchandise issues of a particular company. After working for a few years
she decided to take a recruiting job for HR and moved up the ladder from there.
Mary Sonner stated that she enjoys the business end of HR looking at compensation
structure, looking at benefits, negotiating benefits etc. Sooner stated that pulling references is
her least favorite thing to do in human resources. Mary Sonner values being a support system
and producing information that leads individuals and/or companies in the right direction they
need to go. Sonners stated that a very important formal preparation for her was networking with
other HR professionals and leaders of corporations, businesses, and organizations. Another
preparation that was important to Sonners was the SPHR and SHRM certifications.Having certain
certifications is important to show proof that you’re updated and most importantly have
knowledge of the field; along with the degree you must have in order to climb the ladder.

2. Sonner believes that the importance of HR is very well-respected by different businesses
and organizations for the simple fact that human resource is in charge of compensations and
benefits which is the largestexpense in any business.Human resources is alsoin charge of having
the right people in certain positions in a business; the turnover rate can be increased by having
the right method/orientation that individuals will buy into and become engaged which helps the
company succeed. HR is also important for the opposite of the last statement; if an employee is
not buying into the system and becomes disengaged HR must take the proper steps to get this
individual to move in the direction of the company or become terminated. The most interesting
opportunity of HR for Sonners is the different aspects of the field.
The best advice I received from Mary Sonners is wherever I’m blessed to work I must buy
in and understand the company along with their culture. Once on board I can work for the
engagement of the company. She also suggested that I start reaching out to different SHRM’s
and start networking and even interning if the opportunity is presented.