Abby Duran is a strategic Human Resources executive and advisor, with 25+ years of experience in developing and implementing people programs that drive and complement business priorities in entrepreneurial and transitional environments. She joins Flex HR as a trusted advisor to senior leaders in achieving business results through people has helped her inspire trust and team engagement through transparent communication, setting realistic expectations, celebrating achievements and failures, all with a sense of humor. Abby’s experience has spanned diverse industries including technology, beauty and consumer products, luxury retail, sports and entertainment, non-profit and legal, with emphasis on talent development, employee engagement and communications, re-structures and the “people integration” aspect of mergers and acquisitions.
Abby’a recent consulting focus has been on executive coaching and human resources advisory, centering on agile start-ups, private equity, non-profits and small-to-mid-size companies. A strong believer in proactively growing talent for key roles, she specializes in providing individual coaching for “leaders on the rise” and clients in the midst of career transitions.
As a journalism major and former business reporter, Abby was able to segue her writing skills and curiosity to interviewing candidates and matching them with their dream jobs as a recruiter. Abby’s most pivotal experience was as Vice President HR for various business units and brands at L’Oréal USA, spanning a 21-year tenure, that encompassed different channels of distribution in mass market, luxury, professional hair care, and dermo-cosmetics categories as well as supply chain. She further solidified her experience with mergers, acquisitions, and scaling businesses for growth, while building teams for launches of L’Oréal’s European brands in the US market. It was during this time that Abby attained the Associate Certified Coach designation from the International Coaching Federation, to assist and advise leaders through organizational transformation initiatives.
Perviously, Abby was Chief Human Resources Officer at Saks Off 5th, the off-price luxury retailer with 100+ stores in the US and Canada, where she rebuilt the HR function, following a restructure of the company’s business model. She oversaw the COEs of Employee Experience (Talent Acquisition, Talent Management & Development, DEI), Total Rewards and the HR Business Partner & Employee Relations teams.
Abby holds an M.S. in Human Resources Management from The New School, and a B.A. in Journalism & Latin American Studies from New York University. A fun fact is that Abby is bilingual in English and Spanish. She leverages her diverse HR background and complements her coaching approach with predictive workplace performance tools, in which she is certified. She has also earned a certification in workplace investigative interviewing from Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates.
When Abby is not at work, she loves to read biographies (interested in people’s origins and how their experiences shaped who they are); steming from her original career as a journalist and curiosity about people and what makes them “tick.” She also enjoys traveling, playing golf and skiing. Abby is an animal lover and currently has cats she fosters on occasion until they have found their forever homes.