Melissa Theiss

HR Manager

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States10 yrs 6 mos experience

Key Highlights

  • Led scaling from 20 to 1,000+ employees.
  • Established award-winning total rewards program.
  • Advised SaaS startups on people operations challenges.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a SaaS People Operations expert with a strong focus on scaling and talent development.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Start-up ConsultingHr ConsultingPeople OperationsTalent DevelopmentHuman Resources (hr)Customer SuccessAccount ExpansionSoftware As A Service (saas)

Other Skills

ScalingRecruitingTotal Rewards StrategiesStart-upsPeople AnalyticsSales OperationsLatticeManaging TeamsGreenhouse SoftwareRenewalsChurnZeroCustomer SupportDiversity & InclusionTalent StrategyE-commerce

About

I’ve led people and revenue functions at bootstrapped, VC-backed, and post-IPO SaaS companies as they scaled from 20 to 1,000+ people. But, my journey to get there started with two rejections. In college, I studied what I loved — psychology and education. My plan was to do a Fulbright, then go to Harvard Business School (HBS). And, it would've worked except... I didn't get a Fulbright and I got rejected from HBS. So, I had to pivot. I joined a public tech company in a rotational program where I learned product management, human resources, and sales operations. From there, I joined a startup as employee #22 and was a one woman show leading people and finance. Not too long after, I took over the customer success team as well. The next few years were some of the most formative of my career. I had been given a job I had no idea how to do, but was really committed to figuring it out. So, I did. I used my background studying psychology and education to teach myself how to be a leader and to really excel at this little thing called "business." I worked long hours and made a lot of mistakes. I learned a lot the hard way. But I also learned a ton from those ahead of me—through books, newsletters, podcasts, and following top tech leaders. That knowledge was a game-changer. Now, I want to be that resource for others. If you’re a People person learning to navigate the business world and don’t want to figure it all out the hard way—I can help. I help People leaders learn to think like business leaders to land and succeed in their next role. 📩 Subscribe to The Business of People: https://fledgehq.kit.com/ 📞 Book a 1:1 Ask Me Anything (AMA) session: https://calendly.com/fledgehq 📊 ​Bring me in to do a one-time People Ops Diagnostic: https://calendly.com/fledgehq/initial-consultation 📝 Apply to open roles at Kit — where I’m currently the Head of People Operations

Experience

10 yrs 6 mos
Total Experience
2 yrs 8 mos
Average Tenure
1 yr 1 mo
Current Experience

Fledge

2 roles

Career Coach

Promoted

Mar 2025Present · 1 yr 1 mo

  • <4% of HR professionals ever make it to VP. I help People leaders land and succeed in their next role.

Startup Advisor

Nov 2021Present · 4 yrs 5 mos

  • I help founders, COOs, and HR leaders at SaaS startups diagnose and solve their most pressing people and operational challenges — often starting with a People Ops Organizational Diagnostic.
  • Know someone I should talk to? Send me a DM or email me at melissa@fledgehq.com.
  • Partial client list includes Workera (Series B AI for upskilling), Atlas School (Series B EdTech), Innovint (Series A beverage software), ChangeEngine (Series A employee experience platform), Column (Series A public information software), Glowing.io (Seed AI-enabled messaging platform), Telgorithm (Seed API provider in telecom), Kixie (bootstrapped sales engagement platform), NixSheets (bootstrapped FinTech).
Start-up ConsultingScalingHR Consulting

Kit

Head of People Operations

Feb 2025Present · 1 yr 2 mos

  • Kit is a powerful marketing platform built for creators, by creators. We’re on a mission to help creators earn $1B using our SaaS email marketing platform. We are 100% remote and 100% independent.
  • We won't sell, raise venture funding, or give up control. The creators we serve are our investors.
  • We are proud to have built a product that our customers love, and we’re looking for people who have enthusiasm and belief in our mission, vision, and values to join our team. Check out open roles at https://kit.com/careers.

Resilia

2 roles

Head of People and Customer Success

Mar 2024Dec 2024 · 9 mos

  • Recruited after Resilia's Series B financing round to mature our People Operations function. Established foundational people programs, like our company operating model, job leveling and career growth frameworks, compensation and benefits philosophy, and manager training series.
  • Resilia is a double-sided impact tracking platform powering the people changing the world. With Resilia, grantmakers equip their grantees with tools to connect, track, and grow their impact.

Vice President, People

Mar 2023Feb 2024 · 11 mos

Column

Head of People Operations

Sep 2021Mar 2023 · 1 yr 6 mos

  • Reunited with previous colleagues at Column, a Series A SaaS company backed by Lux Capital, because people are everything. Got to do amazing things like expanding our global, remote-first workforce to 5 continents, earning Column's Certified B Corporation Status, and establishing an award winning total rewards program with 98% satisfaction.
  • Column is on a mission to make public information systems more valuable, beginning with public notice.
RecruitingTalent DevelopmentTotal Rewards StrategiesStart-upsPeople Operations

Quorum

3 roles

Vice President of Operations (People and Revenue Operations)

Promoted

Sep 2019Mar 2021 · 1 yr 6 mos

  • Embarked on a high-growth adventure as a founding member of the executive team at a bootstrapped and profitable B2B SaaS start-up recognized as “#1 DC Start-Up to Watch.” Propelled the team and company forward from 20 to 200+ team members while reporting to the CEO and overseeing people operations, sales operations, and customer success.
  • As the VP Operations, hired replacement VP Customer Success and transitioned to establish a revenue operations team that implemented sales forecasting, commission plans, and other processes before bringing on our first outside investor, Serent Capital. Earned accolades for Top 5% performance as department head, including track record of retaining and promoting high-performing team members.
  • Served as the Executive Sponsor for the Inclusion and Diversity Council that worked to build an environment where all team members could flourish and earned awards for being the "Best Tech Workplace for Diversity in DC" (2019 and 2020 TIMMY Awards).
Human Resources (HR)Software as a Service (SaaS)RecruitingTalent DevelopmentTotal Rewards StrategiesPeople Analytics+6

Vice President of Customer Success

Promoted

Apr 2017Sep 2019 · 2 yrs 5 mos

  • Invested in people and process to retain, expand, delight, and support customers while scaling business operations. Grew the Customer Success team from 3 to 30+ team members across support, success, expansion, and operations. Increased gross revenue retention (+8%) and earned reputation for best-in-class customer experience (4.9/5.0 on Capterra).
Account ExpansionRenewalsChurnZeroManaging TeamsCustomer SuccessCustomer Support

Director of Operations

Jan 2017Apr 2017 · 3 mos

  • Joined as employee #22 to be part of building a tech company that we could be proud of. Started out as a one-person HR and finance team.

Axon

Senior Associate, Leadership Development Program

Jan 2015Jan 2017 · 2 yrs · Scottsdale, AZ | Amsterdam, Netherlands

  • Pivoted from teaching into technology by joining a leadership development program where I completed rotations in product management, international sales operations, business development (M&A), and served as the Chief of Staff to the President while Axon was one of the fastest growing public companies in the US ($198 to $344M in revenue).
  • From tools to de-escalate conflict to connected cameras that capture the truth, the Axon network of apps, devices, and people strive to make the world a safer place to live.
Software as a Service (SaaS)

Education

Harvard University

Bachelor of Arts with Honors — Psychology | Undergraduate Teacher Education Program (UTEP)

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