Chelsea Coleman

Corporate Human Resources Manager Senior, Bedford Heights, OH

Employee advocate. Life-long learner. Dedicated to the team’s overall success.

Oprah Winfrey once said: “Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives.” Chelsea Coleman has been doing just that since she began her career with Olympic Steel.

In 2011, she graduated with her master’s degree and immediately began her career in Human Resources. For the past ten years, she’s been advocating for employees and supporting the growth of the Company each day as she’s worked her way from Divisional Human Resources Representative at the newly opened Mount Sterling, KY facility (in 2011) to Corporate Human Resources Manager Senior (in 2016).

“Chelsea’s work ethic, positive can-do attitude and ability to get things done are exceptional,” says Ken Sloan, Olympic Steel’s Vice President – Human Resources. “She is a leader who is well-respected, and her contributions to the success of Olympic Steel and the HR team are ongoing and truly valued.”

Throughout her career, the Company has provided the flexibility needed to grow in knowledge and experience, especially by offering the opportunity to become a Corporate employee while remaining in Kentucky. Chelsea also earned her Human Resources Professional Certification and attended the PRADCO Women in Leadership Program with support from Olympic Steel. Taking advantage of these opportunities illustrate her love of learning, which is especially important in a field with ever-changing rules and regulations that must be strictly followed – like HR.

And, that’s Chelsea’s specialty! In fact, one of her proudest moments in the last decade is her involvement with policy writing, acquisitions and federal reporting. “I like knowing I am helping Olympic Steel remain compliant and supporting our employees at the same time,” she says. “Doing this type of work allows me to continuously learn something new.”

Staying in-the-know is important when you’re in Human Resources, because every day there’s a new challenge. And it’s those challenges that make Chelsea happy to come to work each day. She says, “Every day in HR is a new opportunity to learn, a new opportunity to help an employee and a new opportunity to help Olympic Steel continue to succeed.”

When it comes to helping employees succeed, Chelsea is especially passionate. She knows the importance of supporting a workplace and a business strategy built on diverse perspectives, ideas and experiences. It’s what drives her efforts as one of the Leaders of Olympic Steel’s culture-shaping initiatives.

Chelsea’s ability to understand employees’ perspectives has helped her have great success in her ten years at Olympic Steel. With that success, she’s learned a few things about what it takes to build a strong career with the Company: don’t be afraid to ask questions, be proactive and always be willing to learn something new.