About Us

Peopleopolis, LLC is a boutique human resources consultancy specializing in small to medium-sized California companies. We provide a whole spectrum of services that prevent and solve people problems, beginning with finding the right people, so that our clients can focus on the business they're in.

Peopleopolis (formerly known as The H.R. Department) was founded by Jan Bowler in 1991, in response to the demand for recruiting and human resources expertise from companies too small to justify a dedicated HR professional. Since then, the market for our services has expanded to include larger organizations that have in-house HR staff, but need to outsource projects or portions of the HR function affordably. Peopleopolis has consistently grown due, in large part, to client referrals. Our staff now includes:

Jan Bowler SPHR

In her 13 years as principal of Peopleopolis, Jan Bowler has helped clients throughout the U.S. and in Eastern Europe with all aspects of the people side of business. Her primary focus has been in her home state of California, where she has dealt extensively with California employment regulations.

In total, Jan brings 20+ years of HR and recruiting experience to Peopleopolis. Before founding the consultancy, Jan was the director of human resources at Lakeshore Learning Materials, where she created and managed the HR department while the company grew from 100 to 500+ employees. Early in her career she also created and ran her own small business for four years; it was the spark for her initial interest in entrepreneurial companies and the people who make them go.

Before finding her passion in recruiting and HR, Jan held positions in operations, marketing, and public relations. She completed the Bachelor's in Business Administration program at the University of Redlands and UCLA's Executive Management program at the Anderson School of Business. Jan holds a credential as a Senior Professional in Human Resources from the Human Resources Certification Institute.

Michaelle Fox Hayward

Michaelle brings three years of recruiting and five years of project management experience to the firm. Her prior positions cover fifteen years at small, competitive technology companies and include experience in product development, competitive research, recruiting systems development, and administration. Michaelle holds a bachelor's degree in English from Bryn Mawr College.

Sunshine W. Topping

With five years of recruiting and director-level human resources experience, Sunshine brings versatility as well as expertise to Peopleopolis. She has staffed organizations in periods of dramatic growth and has confronted the challenge of downsizing large numbers of employees. In addition to her hands-on experience, Sunshine holds a BA in English from the University of Colorado and pursued an MA degree in Social Work at the University of Hawaii.