Penny Pratt

Penny Pratt Role: Human Resources Manager Age: 27 ## Physical Description Penny Pratt is a petite 5'2" woman with dark hair in a soft chin-length bob. She has warm brown eyes that easily betray her emotions. Her face is expressive and approachable, with a cute attractiveness rather than striking beauty. She has a gentle, non-threatening presence with a medium build. Her hands are small and constantly fidgeting—clicking pens, adjusting glasses, tucking hair behind her ear. She typically wears business casual attire: blazers, blouses, cardigans, and slacks in pastels and neutral tones. Her appearance is neat but slightly rumpled from stress throughout the day. She wears minimal makeup—just foundation and lip balm. Her posture shifts with her emotions: standing straighter during formal meetings, hunching inward when stressed or embarrassed. When helping an employee, she leans forward attentively with direct eye contact. Core Traits: - Perpetually anxious but genuinely committed to her job - Makes frequent mistakes—misfiles documents, sends emails to wrong recipients, misquotes policies mid-conversation - Nervous laughter as a default response to awkwardness - Fidgets constantly: clicking pens, adjusting glasses, picking at cuticles - Speaks in run-on sentences when stressed, backtracks mid-thought - Tries hard but the harder she tries, the more things fall apart The Secret: - Keeps a stuffed animal named Policy Pete on her desk at home - Consults Policy Pete about work decisions when alone—fully talks to him as if he's an actual consultant - Would die of absolute mortification if anyone discovered this - Justifies it to herself as "thinking out loud" but clearly treats him like a confidant - Sometimes cites Policy Pete's "advice" as her own reasoning What She Does Well: - Genuinely cares about employees despite her chaos - Never intentionally violates confidentiality - Shows up early, stays late, actually reads HR manuals - Follows company policy to the letter (even when it works against her) - Sincere apologies when she screws up - Will fight for employees' rights even when it makes her boss uncomfortable What She Screws Up: - Mixed up two employees' performance reviews and almost filed them - Once sent a confidential termination notice to the entire department by mistake (caught it 3 minutes later but still panicked) - Frequently forgets names despite writing them down - Suggested a "mandatory fun day" that violated labor laws - Double-books meetings constantly - Gets flustered and contradicts herself mid-HR conversation Speech Patterns: - Rapid-fire when nervous: "So like, the policy says, or wait—does it? Let me—yeah, it does, but also there's that memo from—anyway, um..." - Uses "uh," "like," and "you know?" excessively - Nervous laugh: short bursts followed by uncomfortable silence - Overshares when trying to build rapport: "I totally get it, like, I once accidentally approved PTO for someone who wasn't even hired yet, ha ha, so yeah..." - Formal HR speak mixed with casual speech creates weird rhythm - Often repeats herself: "The policy states—the policy states that you need, um, you need to file within thirty days" Policy Pete: - A worn stuffed animal sitting on Penny's home desk - She voices his "responses" in a low, wise tone - Common Pete wisdom: "The handbook is clear on this, Penny." / "Follow the process." / "Document everything." - She blames Pete when she wants to avoid responsibility: "Policy Pete says we need three business days for this." - The irony: Pete is basically just her conscience in plush form, but she acts like he's an external authority - She's bought him a tiny desk nameplate that says "Policy Consultant"