Our Team

 

 Valerie Reif

FOUNDER & CEO

Valerie is the Founder and Managing Partner of Talent Advisers.  She brings over 20 years of Human Capital Management experience, including C-Suite and Director level roles with top retail brands, such as Boot Barn, ASICS, Kenneth Cole, and J.Crew. 

Valerie is a Business Partner to executives and leadership for organizational structure and development, growth strategies for existing and future business initiatives, succession planning, and talent assessment. She will align HR initiatives with the culture and direction of the organization to ensure maximum efficiencies and goal attainment.

CREDENTIAL: SPHR

 

Dianna Lew

SENIOR HR CONSULTANT

Dianna Lew is a passionate HR Professional who has over 15 years of diverse human resource experience. She is a subject matter expert in the areas of talent development, management training, process improvement, HRIS, compliance, payroll, employee relations, workers comp, policy development, compensation along with HR, leave of absence and benefit administration.

She has spent much of her career working in a wide range of industries ranging from retail, automotive, manufacturing, marketing to gaming with a focus on full employee life-cycle needs. She has experience working with all business sizes, but mostly with start-ups to mid-size businesses.

 

Jocelyn McQuarrie

SENIOR HR CONSULTANT

Jocelyn brings multiple talents in the organizational, management, people relations, training & guidance related to helping businesses with their HR needs. Her expertise has been culled in different worlds - from running retail regions and determining business strategies, to supporting and articulating HR roles to help drive the success of the organizations. She has built a career of enhancing, guidance, HR Strategy, and a close alliance and support of the business, creating a partnership that provides a strong synergy with business strategies and goals.

Her career has primarily been in the retail space - both from the store side to the Supply Chain arm. Jocelyn is a true generalist, who can focus and build targeted strategies for the business. She has expertise in the following areas: talent management, employee relations, employee mitigation, manpower strategies, legal compliance management (wage and hour, EEOC claims, handbook and policy, etc.), recruitment, DEI work.

CREDENTIALS: SPHR-CA, SHRM-SCP

 
 

Ashley Miller

SENIOR HR CONSULTANT

Ashley Miller is an accomplished human resources professional with ten years’ experience in-house HR and six years consulting. She has held a variety of HR generalist roles including Director HR at The Bugman and Business Partner at Hertz and SmileCare.

Her HR background extensive and comprehensive with experience and proven success in many facets of the filed including but not limited to: employee relations, compliance, wage and hour, leave of absence, Talent management, data and metric analytics, project management, and HRIS implementations. Her consulting has provided opportunities across a broad range of industries.

CREDENTIAL: SPHR

 

Sheer Best

HR CONSULTANT

Sheer Best is a HR professional with experience across a multitude of industries — hospitality, construction, automotive, and retail. Having served as a department of one, she built HR functions from the ground up—implementing compliance frameworks, improving processes, and advising leadership teams to support both business goals and employees.

Active in the HR community through her leadership with PIHRA, she brings both technical knowledge and a people-first approach to every engagement, helping companies strengthen compliance, culture, and the overall employee experience.

CREDENTIAL: SPHR

 

Kim Ross

HR CONSULTANT

Kim Ross has extensive experience in HR operations, payroll administration, benefits management, and compliance. She provides expert guidance on HR situations, helping clients navigate  employee matters with professionalism and care. She provides clients with support in HRIS administration and audits, new hire onboarding, and leave of absence management, while ensuring adherence to best practices and compliance requirements. She assists with recruitment by drafting job descriptions, coordinating the hiring process, and pre-screening candidates.

Kim received her Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Advertising from the University of Texas, Austin.