Cita James on HR, Growth, and Building People Teams at Cloudflare

Hello everyone. My name is Sitta James. I am a people team business partner in AMIA. I joined Cloudflare in June of 2021 and I actually am the London office as a people team business partner at Cloudflare. I support all of the AMIA region along with um some of the US as I started in the US and providing people team support at a strategic level to our leaders as well as all of our employees and that could be whether something is small such as a question regarding your career development or if it's something about that's a organizational change. I am originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I went to the University of Central Oklahoma for undergraduate graduate degree which was in corporate communications. I then went on to the University of Oklahoma for my master's degree in HR. From that point I moved to Texas and began working in HR at a company called Ericson. And that's when I started as a HR coordinator um which I've held many different positions um at different companies and different industries um in HR that have led me to um Cloudflare in 2021 which was post pandemic. So I started with Cloudflare um and it was during um we were everyone was still at home. So that was June June of 2021 in Austin. Um, from that point on I worked for a little less than a year before I made the trip to Lisbon and I was able to work there on a succumbent for 6 months providing some people team support as we grew the Lisbon office. From that point on, I thought my journey was over from a European standpoint and I went back to Austin for a few months when I got a call from our um head of people business people team business partners here in Europe and asking if I would come to London and do a maternity leave cover. Originally, I was on the fence about coming to London as I had visited um prior and it was cold during the summertime and coming from Austin, Texas. That was a little bit of a shock, but I ultimately decided to come for a year. Um that was in 2022 and here we are in 2026 and I am still here. So, I had a pretty unique journey. I've worked in three different um locations with Cloudflare um and it's been a yeah been like I said it's been about 5 years now coming to Cloudflare and working in HR been a highlight of my career like I said I've worked in different industries education logistics they all have their own um niches where you know what what HR actually the service HR provides here at Cloudflare we really get to partner with our leaders so that's something that has been a highlight for me I work with uh a lot of great leaders um especially here in um uh EMIA and my team. That's probably been uh if anyone asked me my favorite thing at Cloudflare, it would be my team. I feel like I get a chance to work with very smart, talented individuals. So, so collectively I've been able to learn a lot. I've been in roles before where I' it's been a team of one so myself and you know definitely have to go outside for resources and make sure that I'm you know I'm keep keeping up with industry trends HR is a field that's evolved and grown over time when I started it was originally I mean was definitely looked at as a administrative function of the company used to be called um you know professional like the professional team or professional services or administration there's been different names um for the people team but we have evolved to being business partners like where we're truly partnering with the business starting you know like I said sometimes from the beginning um on a organization or or it's a lot that goes into um the people aspect of it so that's the most important part right so getting into HR was I'd say I say at the time you know if someone's going into HR now I would think that the best piece of advice that I can give is to do internships which luckily here at Cloudflare We have a great initiative where we're hiring 1,111 interns and I think that's uh super important to get people in the door, get them a little bit of experience and that's probably going to be the best way to involve and grow within the industry. I think one of the things I can say it's not necessarily project based um but it's more about the you know journey. When I came to Europe and specifically London, I did not have a lot of experience working outside of the US and I pretty much had to had a crash course in learning uh the differences cuz there are plenty of differences from laws and you know rules, regulations, protocols and things like that that I had to hurry up and get up to speed on. So, I think that's probably what I'm most proudest, you know, like of as far as for my professional journey is being able to go to different places and adapt quickly. So, yeah, that's what I would say is a highlight for me. Women's Empowerment Month and just in general is so important to recognize. I myself personally am always involved in service activities surrounding International Women's Day through my sorority. So I I've been doing this for the past 20 years celebrating women. We are such a force to be reckoned with specifically at Cloudflare. You look around and you see so many great women leaders. Um and you know we even start with our founder Michelle just to think about you know how she's made her mark in the industry and looking at the theme for this year give to gain. You know they say who who much is given much is required. And I think that, you know, there are plenty of women that have come before me, before us, that have like set the foundation and paved the way for women's rights. And so I feel like it's all, you know, it's up to all of us current to make sure we continue on that journey. Um, and like I said, give to gain, you know, it's it's required. It's I feel like it's a requirement for us to make sure that we're bringing uh you know women young girls forward to the front um as where we belong where we've always been. It's you know important in tech industry sometimes we are um a lot of times we're under reppresented. So it's important that we make sure that we go back to the beginning you know and make sure that we have young girls that are interested in tech and know specifically now we have the you AI and what AI is you know transform how AI is transforming the industry to make sure that we have you know women in positions that are going to you know uh be part of that transformation. A tip that I would give to someone starting out in HR would be to make sure that you are networking. That is the most important piece of of getting into this field is networking because you only know what you know sometimes. And there are people that have been in the industry for quite some time that have a wealth of knowledge to pass on. Yes, things are changing and they're changing quickly. So you have to make sure that you adapt and I would say you know become a part of professional organizations get your certifications and as a result of getting your certifications you have to continue your education because it's a constant learning. It's a field in which you constantly learn and it's a field that you have to stay up you know to date on any local laws that change. So I think if you're getting into the field, you want to make sure you have great mentorship and that you're a part of a professional organization. The best way I've used a AI so far is as a part of is data compilation. I think one of the great things so far about AI is being able to gather data quickly and put it in a format that makes sense to all users. So as a part of a you know what we do on the side of HR it's and whether that's employment surveys or looking at frameworks looking at profiles AI has really been transformative and being able to gather the information quickly and help us at least pro provide a foundation to move forward and work with leadership on how this can be useful from a people team standpoint. I think my go-to productivity hack is breaks. you know, it's easy to sit and just work. Um, get up and hit the, you know, hit the ground running and work. But sometimes I think, um, taking a just a quick step away, whether that's even outside to get fresh air if I'm working at home and and coming back so that way I can, you know, clear my mind and keep moving forward. I think that's super important that everyone takes breaks. It also prevents burnout. And that could be on a day-to-day basis or over a longer period of time. We are in an industry, like I said, that's moving very, very fast. So sometimes uh just a quick step away from the um computer can help improve productivity for the remainder of the day.