PERRY SHOLES – SPHR/SCP
Perry Sholes is President of Progressive HR Strategies Inc. Perry is a Business Executive with success in creating economic value through Human Resource leadership. He has helped to drive profitability at complex global organizations that include private equity portfolio companies, large public companies and privately-owned businesses. Perry has a unique background in Human Resource management in that he spent the early part of his career in Operations starting as an Hourly Employee and General Manager at McDonald’s Corporation, District Manager at Taco Bell Corporation and Regional Foodservice Manager at Target Stores Corporation. All roles with p&l, operations, training and people development responsibilities.
His Human Resources skills were developed in the consumer products (CPG) industry at Nabisco Foods Company Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc. Over the course of 10 years of service he advanced from sales training to eventual leadership responsibilities for the corporate functions of the Kraft Foods Latin America HQ in Miami. Perry left Kraft Foods International to return home to Louisiana just after hurricane Katrina with a mission to be close to family and help rebuild.
Back home in Louisiana and the restaurant business he joined Raising Cane’s team as VP Crew Resources. He also went on to start his New Orleans based HR consulting firm, Progressive HR Strategies in early 2007. A Mentor and CAO at Thomas and King Inc. a privately-owned operator of (87) Applebee’s and (6) Johnny Carino’s casual dining restaurants recruited him to be VP Talent Management & Inclusion and subsequently VP HR, where he served until the company sold in 2014. His recent human resources experience was in a private equity organization, Last Call Operating Company; Fox & Hound and Champps Sports Grill concepts (formerly Cerberus Capital Management portfolio company). He served as SVP HR until the company was sold in 2016.
These roles have enhanced his ability to lead through course changes, operate within slim margins and grow the organization’s talent development infrastructure and build highly capable and service oriented HR teams. Perry has many years of expertise as the functional leader of human resources management, leading functions such as talent acquisition, training design and facilitation, leadership development, talent management, succession planning, benefits strategy and administration, compensation, employee engagement, diversity & inclusion and risk management. His combined operations, p&l, people leadership, business executive and HR executive experience spans over 30 years.
Perry received an Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) from the University of South Florida and his B.S. in Marketing from Tampa College. He is a certified HR professional (SPHR and SCP), certified Myers-Briggs Practitioner, and certified PDI Profilor 360 Assessment.
Perry has held several board positions from multiple associations including Women Foodservice Forum, Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance, Girl Scouts Louisiana-East and Society Human Resource Management (SHRM) Kentucky and Louisiana. He is the President and Founding Member of the Kraft Foods Alumni Network.
Progressive HR Strategies is a Consulting company with significant corporate experience. Primary focus is engaging leaders to drive meaningful changes and to help improve your business results through human capital initiatives.
Key competencies in: Executive and Talent Search, Harassment Prevention & Culture Training, HR on Call (retained HR Services) and Employee Benefits Consulting.
Human Resources ConsultingLinking Business Imperatives to Individual Results
Our Associates have equally as impressive experience.