How one HR leader turned her passion for music into a career in people

In 2013, Allie Shulman’s mom dropped her off in New York City with a suitcase, a lamp, and a dream to work in music and entertainment.

Like many 20-something creatives post college, Shulman told HR Brew that she knew she needed a day job to make ends meet while pursuing her passion, so she took what she thought would be a short-term job as a recruiter at a staffing agency.

“I was not career driven at all at that point. I just was like, ‘I’m here in New York, how can I live my dream being in a scene and being involved in culture?’” she said. “The job was just a way for me to be able to do that.”

Fast-forward 13 years, and that day job led to a decades-long career in HR. In her current role as VP of people and culture at music streaming company SoundCloud, she’s succeeded in marrying her passion with her profession, and has become the leader she wished she had when she was starting out.

The beginning. Shulman pursued her day job as a means to an end, without expecting it to affect her life in a meaningful way. But it did. Shulman, who had recently come out, said she experienced anti-LGBTQ hate in the workplace and felt unsafe—and no trustworthy leader was available to help her.

“It opened my eyes to know that there must be a job to protect people. There must be something I can do to help someone who’s like me,” Shulman said. “So, I taught myself. I looked into HR roles, and I didn’t have that experience yet, so I just jumped to another recruitment agency.”

While working at another staffing agency, Shulman said she started volunteering at music events company Sofar Sounds where she finally found a community and workplace where she could be her authentic self.

In 2016, the company was hiring, and Shulman noticed it didn’t have a full-time recruiter. She pitched Sofar Sounds’ founder, Rafe Offer, on a full-time recruiter position, and why she was perfect for the job. He hired her on the spot.

“It [was] the most entry-level HR job ever,” she said. “But, I’m meant to go this route, and I’ll find my way back to making more and being successful. I had to just think way further ahead.”

Building a career and learning lessons. At Sofar Sounds, Shulman created an employee handbook, company goals, and a workforce, helping to grow headcount from 25 to 200. She set up the company’s payroll system, suite of health benefits for US employees, and performance management framework. In one role, she did more than some HR pros do their entire careers.

She said she also found a mentor in Offer, who was empathetic and a safe space while she overcame personal and professional challenges early in her career. The example he set for her guides her leadership of early career talent today.

“I was not my best self when I worked at SoFar Sounds. I’ll be honest, when we’re young we have different priorities, and we might just be a little messy,” she said. “His patience, his honesty, but also his empathy for me…He never judged me, and so having someone like that in my corner has allowed me to be that type of mentor to other people too.”

After nearly four years at Sofar Sounds, Shulman left for The Wing, a women-focused coworking space, as its senior people ops manager. She led the company through the Covid-19 pandemic, mass layoffs, and financial uncertainty, or as she describes it, “HR times 1,000.”

“Every single job has humbled me and has helped me learn, and I’m more open than ever to learning now,” Shulman said. “Now more than ever, I’m like, ‘I don’t know it all,’ and that’s a strength, and I used to see that as a weakness.”

Hopes and dreams for the future. After four years as the director of people at Change.org, Shulman’s winding road of a career led her to SoundCloud, where she said she feels lucky every day to marry her love of music and leading people.

“Not a lot of people in my own community get to do, in their day-to-day, what gets them excited, like most excited, I just happen to be doing that at work,” Shulman said. “If you know what you love, and you go after it, it’ll be a part of your life, but you do have to do the work to get yourself in those rooms and in those conversations.”

Shulman said the bumps in the road that she overcame have made her a better people leader, one who aspires to join the C-suite where she can use “power for good.”

“Along the way, I feel like I’ve been really humbled and getting to a place where I can help make decisions,” she said. “I can do it more now than ever with empathy, with the average employee in mind, with knowing that I’m comfortable pushing back with other leaders more than ever.”