We Are More Than HR
We are a partner in your company’s growth
Who We Are
HR was never meant to be a one-person job.
If you’re juggling employee issues, compliance, hiring, payroll, benefits, performance, and everything in between, it’s no wonder you’re burned out. You can’t be an HR expert in everything—and you shouldn’t have to be.
That’s why we built Good Carma.
We’re an extension of your team, bringing the right HR expertise when you need it—without the cost or commitment of building a full HR department. We help leaders solve the people problems, build better systems, and get out of reactive mode.
Because great HR isn’t just about policies. It’s about giving your people—and your business—the support they need to thrive.
Our Team
Cara Barnes
Cara is a mom, an avid ukulele player, and someone who has spent her career proving that HR can be strategic, engaging, and human. With 8 years in Human Capital Management and 15+ years in Business Development & Sales, she brings an edge that sets her apart from most HR professionals: she knows that at its core, HR is about getting buy-in, building trust, and moving people toward a shared goal.
A UC Berkeley graduate with double degrees in Rhetoric and Gender Studies, Cara has a lifelong fascination with the power of communication and human connection. Throughout her career, she has partnered with CEOs and leadership teams through growth, change, executive transitions, and the complicated people challenges that don’t come with a playbook.
No matter the room, one instinct has never left her: organizations aren't built on policies—they're built on people. And rallying people around a vision takes the same skill as selling one. That belief, combined with the idea that no single HR person should be expected to know or do everything, is what Good Carma Consulting is built on.
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Stefanie Hatlin
Stefanie is a mom, an olympic weightlifter and a people strategist who knows how to get things done. With a BFA in Dance and a career that began onstage, she went on to lead operations for arts and culture nonprofits and founded Squid MGMT, producing some of Seattle’s leading performance artists touring around the world.
At Imperfect Foods, Stefanie moved into HR during a period of rapid growth and change. Today, leaders rely on her to communicate directly, spot compliance risks and organizational blind spots, and turn complicated people challenges into clear action. Her expertise spans employee relations, manager coaching, compensation, compliance, and organizational design.
Stefanie brings structure where there is ambiguity, accountability where there are gaps, and the follow-through to make sure the work gets done. She believes organizations run on people—and people do their best work when expectations are clear, leaders are equipped, and employees are genuinely cared for. That’s what she brings to Good Carma as Cara’s partner and a trusted advisor to growing organizations.
Partner + Chief Human Resources Officer
Riegel is a mom of two boys, a sustainability champion, and an HR professional who has spent over a decade building the talent functions that shape a company’s culture. She was the first in-house recruiter at Imperfect Foods, working alongside Stefanie to scale the people function from Series A to Series D, and hired 500 sales associates to launch Uniqlo’s flagship San Francisco store.
Across every stage of her career, Riegel has seen the same thing: hiring great people is only the beginning. The real work is building the kind of culture that makes them want to stay. Her experience spans talent acquisition, employer brand, and people strategy, with a focus on connecting what a company believes with how it actually shows up for its people.
Now, she brings that perspective to Good Carma, telling our story, sharing our values with the world, and connecting us with people-first organizations.
Employer Brand & Culture AmbassadorRiegel Niederman
Leigh Ann Bywaters
Leigh Ann is a tennis player, a family person, and an HR professional who has spent more than a decade making sure the details behind a great employee experience actually work. From payroll and benefits to HR operations, she has supported employees across multiple states, including Florida, Alabama, Texas, and California, navigating the complexities that come with keeping growing teams compliant and cared for.
With a degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of West Florida, Leigh Ann understands both the systems that keep a business running and the people those systems are meant to serve. She believes the best HR processes should do both: work seamlessly behind the scenes and make employees feel supported along the way.
At Good Carma, she brings that combination of precision and people-first thinking to every client, creating HR operations that are thoughtful, efficient, and built to work in the real world.
Payroll Specialist
Sharon Loretizo
Sharon is a lifelong learner, a natural problem-solver, and an HR professional whose career has always centered on helping people. With experience across customer relations, office operations, and recruitment, she has worked with teams in a range of industries and seen firsthand how the right combination of people and processes can keep an organization moving forward.
With a degree in Nursing, Sharon brings an unexpected but natural perspective to HR: empathy paired with structure. She’s dependable, adaptable, and always looking for ways to make things work a little better. No matter the challenge, her approach is grounded in listening, learning, and finding a practical way forward.
At Good Carma, Sharon brings that steady, thoughtful approach to the details that keep people operations running—supporting the team, taking on new challenges, and making a positive impact wherever she can.
HR & Talent Acquisition Coordinator
Carolina Barajas
Carolina is a mom, a Dallas explorer, and an HR operations professional who knows that some of the most important work happens behind the scenes. She has supported people operations across industries and organizational stages, working throughout the employee lifecycle and helping teams navigate periods of growth, change, and transition.
Fluent in English and Spanish, Carolina brings curiosity, care, and a deeply service-oriented approach to her work. She thrives in evolving environments, learning quickly, jumping in where she’s needed, and making sure both clients and teammates feel supported along the way. For Carolina, great HR operations are about more than keeping things moving—they’re about making the experience better for the people moving through them.
That’s what she brings to Good Carma: a willingness to dig in, a genuine desire to help, and the flexibility to meet clients wherever they are.
HR Operations Coordinator Let’s Talk.
What HR headaches are keeping you up at night? Reach out and let’s work on them together!