Maha Judeh, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Sono Bello, is a value-driven leader who made a conscious decision to choose Human Resources as a career path.
Early in her management career, she discovered that she enjoyed leading and inspiring people, and creating a positive impact on culture while meeting business needs. Finally, she reached a point in her career where she wanted to elevate and focus on specializing in an industry.
“I took time to assess my accomplishments and the aspects of my jobs that I enjoyed, as well as my long-term goals. After reflecting on what I value, Human Resources was a clear career choice for me,” Maha recalls.
“Clear is kind, unclear is unkind” – Brene Brown
Leaving her comfort zone to start a new career path in HR
Before joining Sono Bello, Maha worked in the healthcare industry as well as technology, architecture, and retail. When she transitioned from retail management into HR, she developed the skillset to lead and inspire people to work towards their potential while driving the business forward.
This skill set was very valuable from the beginning of Maha’s career as an influential leader. Today, she is recognized for her capacity to identify and address a variety of challenges in the fields of strategic human resources and recruiting, with extensive expertise in developing, implementing, and managing initiatives that contribute to organizational performance.
She also has extensive knowledge and a track record of accomplishment in management, leadership, change management, business merger and acquisition procedures, employment law, employee relations, recruiting and orientation training.
“My greatest achievement was taking a risk by leaving my comfort zone and starting a new career path in HR. I have achieved tremendous success through intentional focus, self-motivation and determination. A proud moment as a successful leader was when I was promoted to Senior Vice President at Sono Bello,” Maha recalls.
As Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Sono Bello, Maha’s responsibility spans the overall daily operations of the Human Resources function as well as developing strategic initiatives to align with the business.
One of the aspects that she enjoys most about HR is the variety of work they do and the various areas of focus. Because of this variety, a typical day is hard to define, but may include working on any one or a combination of these areas:
- Employee Engagement
- Performance Management
- Succession Planning
- Total Compensation
- Training and Development
- Risk Management
- Company Culture
- Organizational Development
“If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down” – Unknown
Always looking for solutions to better support the team
Maha observes that Sono Bello, in just over a decade, has grown into an industry leader in aesthetics with 80+ locations spanning across the United States. Sono Bello’s growth is made possible by an amazing team of board-certified surgeons that are now 185 strong, as well as an entire team of dedicated Sono Bello team members that has grown to over 1,200. With eyes to the future, the company looks forward to opening even more locations and expanding internationally beginning with Canada.
As a leader in a growing company, her focus has always been to create a highly functioning HR team that continuously feels inspired and engaged. She also aims to support all functions of the organization and provide superior service to all her team members.
The combination of Maha’s retail and healthcare experience has added tremendous value to her role at Sono Bello. It has allowed her to understand the nuances of the business and contribute in a meaningful way in areas such as process efficiency, performance management, and team member relations.
Maha notes that, as with all industries, HR is moving toward a more automated and data-driven paradigm shift. Information is the foundation of everything and utilizing invaluable data from her team members and putting it towards actionable change, is growing more and more important.
Maha remarks that while change can be hard, the use of technology to automate processes, helps them focus on their team members, their ideas and how to better promote productivity. As an organization, Sono Bello is always looking for solutions to better support their team emotionally and physically, reevaluate current training and onboarding programs and more.
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great” – John D. Rockefeller
You must find your “why”
Maha defines success as accomplishing goals while leading and helping others to accomplish their goals. She measures her success by how she has led and inspired others to achieve success in their careers. “I am a value-driven leader, identifying my values early in my career and aligning my actions to my values in everything I do has allowed me to achieve success,” she maintains.
Maha believes that the greatest lessons come from your biggest failures. They teach you things about yourself that you may not otherwise know, such as resilience, grit and tenacity. She notes that self-reflection is key and it is important to ask yourself, “What could I have done differently? What could I have done better?”
“I surround myself with people that I respect and people that inspire me. It is important to me to surround myself with positivity and people who are creating a positive impact. I have a strong sense of loyalty and invest heavily in the growth and development of my team. The sense of responsibility I feel to inspire them to achieve greatness motivates me every day. You must find your ‘why’,” she insists.
“Nothing can dim the light that shines from within” – Maya Angelou
Maha’s goals for the future of Sono Bello include continuing to expand its HR department and providing a deeper level of support to different functions, team members and the organization.
Her main message to aspiring leaders is to identify your values and determine what you want your brand to be as a leader. Removing emotions from situations, operating from a place of authenticity and not letting your ego interfere is vital.
She also believes that lifting others as you rise and sharing the experience and skills you have acquired through your career journey can be very valuable. Lastly, sharing constructive feedback, even when not positive, is something to not be afraid of, as this is how we make steps toward growth and improvement.
“I never lose, I either win or I learn” – Nelson Mandela
