TroopHR gives lonely HR leaders a support network of thousands — powered by Circle

Tracy Avin founded TroopHR as a series of quarterly dinners for HR leaders who felt isolated in their roles. When the pandemic hit, she moved the community onto Circle, transforming a one-way email newsletter into a centralized platform where thousands of HR professionals now connect, learn, and level up. With an 80–85% retention rate, 60% referral-driven growth, and close to five years of searchable content, TroopHR has become the trusted home base for HR leaders across industries and career stages.

“If Circle didn’t exist, I’m not sure where TroopHR would be. You can have the best idea in the world, but without the tools to execute, it stays an idea. Circle allowed us to operationalize our business and our community.” — Tracy Avin, Founder, TroopHR

Before

From quarterly dinners to a digital home for HR leaders

Tracy Avin started TroopHR over a decade ago, long before it had a name or a brand. It began as a Gmail account and a simple idea: organize quarterly dinners where HR professionals — mostly heads of people at early-stage, venture-backed startups — could sit together and talk openly about their work. “If I had a nickel for every time an HR leader told me they felt like a lone wolf or on an island of one, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here,” Tracy says. The isolation was pervasive, especially among leaders at small and midsize businesses who had no peers in their own organizations to turn to.

“They’re constantly seeking insights and resources from each other. They just didn’t have a safe space to do it.”

When Covid arrived in 2020, Tracy’s husband encouraged her to finally scale the idea beyond in-person gatherings. She interviewed more than 50 HR leaders to understand what they needed from a community, and the answers confirmed what she’d seen at those dinners: people were yearning for connection and for answers during a time when “a bright light was being shown on HR leaders to have the answers when no one had answers.” That research became the foundation for TroopHR’s official launch.

Challenge

One-way communication couldn’t keep up with growing demand

Before TroopHR launched on a platform, the community operated as an email newsletter list. Communication was one-directional, and Tracy was at the center of every conversation. Members reached out to her individually looking for answers or introductions, but there was no way for them to find and support each other. “There’s only one of me to go around,” she explains.

“Before Circle, communication was completely one way. It was me answering every question, and there’s only one of me to go around.”

The model was unsustainable. As word spread and more HR leaders wanted in, Tracy couldn’t personally facilitate every connection or answer every question. She knew the community needed a platform that would let members connect directly with each other — while still feeling personal and on-brand.

Solution

An early bet on Circle that paid off

TroopHR was one of Circle’s earliest adopters, joining the platform in late 2020. Tracy evaluated several community platforms before deciding that Circle offered the flexibility, customization, and branding control she needed. “We chose Circle for the flexibility, the customization, and the ability to run on a platform that still felt like the TroopHR brand,” she recalls.

The move immediately shifted how the community operated. Tracy recruited eight seated HR practitioners as advisors to help anchor the early discussions and share what she calls “hard-earned insights.” Circle became the central location where members could seek out each other’s support rather than routing everything through Tracy.

“When we moved TroopHR to Circle, it became less about me and more about the community — which is what we were building all along.”

Today, TroopHR runs 3–5 virtual sessions per week on its own, while members generate an additional 5–10 user-created events weekly. The platform also houses close to five years of searchable content — past event recordings, session recaps, forum threads, and blog posts — all available through Circle’s search. Tracy uses workflows to automate onboarding and re-engagement, sending personalized check-ins from herself and her Troop Experience Lead to keep members connected. “Circle lets us automate so much of that,” she says. “The messages come from us — they feel like TroopHR — but Circle handles the technology so we can do it efficiently at scale.”

Transformation

A self-sustaining network that changes careers

TroopHR is now a fully organically grown community with thousands of HR leaders across industries and company sizes — from Fortune 100 to early-stage startups. Sixty percent of members come from referrals, and the community maintains an 80–85% annual retention rate. When TroopHR surveyed more than 1,000 members at the end of the year, 85% said they’d be “very disappointed” if the community went away. Only six people said “somewhat disappointed.”

“Our community is changing lives on a daily basis — together.”

The career impact is tangible. Tracy recalls one of the first members who emailed to say she’d gone from director to VP after three years of trying — a breakthrough she attributed to the connections and strategic insights she gained through the community. That member has since reached the C-suite. “Those are the moments that make everything we do worthwhile,” Tracy says. “That’s why we started TroopHR, and why we’ll keep growing it.”

Beyond individual career growth, TroopHR has become a real-time resource during moments of crisis. When an executive order on immigration sparked panic among HR leaders earlier this year, a member posted that she had 40 employees traveling internationally and was rushing to bring them back. Within hours, TroopHR connected members with immigration partners through a live streaming event on Circle, providing real-time updates and clarity. “Circle gave us the ability to publish content, connect people, and stream live events with real-time updates — something I never could have done on my own,” Tracy says.

“It feels organic, and honestly magical, to see what this community has done for a profession that carries so much imposter syndrome. People now have the confidence to level up and find that next opportunity.”

Looking ahead, Tracy isn’t chasing a membership number. Her North Star is continuously optimizing the member experience — and she sees Circle as a partner in that. “A lot of communities are really just transactional message boards,” she says. “That’s not what TroopHR is. We’re about creating meaningful moments between colleagues.” As the HR profession continues to evolve, that’s exactly what keeps their members coming back.