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About Novo Insights

Practitioners First.
Always.

This firm was built by people who've sat where you're sitting. That is not a positioning statement. It is how we are built.

Why We Built This

A Different Kind of Firm Starts With a Different Kind of Experience.

Paul Reiman spent his early career as a consultant before one of his clients asked him to come inside and build something from scratch. Leading Rewards and HR Operations as a practitioner, he saw the same pattern repeatedly: too much consulting work was designed around what looked good in a deliverable, not what actually worked when someone had to run it on Monday morning.

He started Novo Insights because he believed the work could be done differently. The name came from a leader who told him the thing that made working with Paul different was that he could always expect the problem to be looked at in a new way. Novo, Latin for new, became both the name and the conviction.

Jessica Pontious brings a practitioner perspective shaped entirely from the inside, the kind that only comes from having owned the function, not just advised on it.

Together, they lead Novo Insights with a simple belief: that better compensation work starts with people who have actually had to live with the consequences of it.

Recognized by the industry. Trusted by clients.
WorldatWork Contributors
Featured speaker at nearly every Total Rewards conference for over a decade. Compensation Advisory Council member. Published authorship across the team.
CompTech Research Pioneers
Creators of the CompTech Category Landscape: the profession's most comprehensive independent map of compensation technology providers and categories.
Totally Rewarding Chats Podcast
Co-hosted with Salary.com's VP of Product Strategy. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, and the WRKdefined Network.
The People Behind the Work

Meet the Team

Practitioners, analysts, and problem-solvers. Each one bringing real-world experience to every engagement.

Paul Reiman
Paul Reiman
Managing Partner

Almost three decades in compensation, across consulting and in-house leadership. Creator of the CompTech Category Landscape and one of the profession's most recognized voices. Known for translating complex pay data into clear, actionable strategy and for asking the questions others miss.

Outside the office: musician, youth sports coach, and bass guitarist for The Salary History Ban(d).
Jessica Pontious
Jessica Pontious
Partner

Brings a practitioner's lens shaped by more than a decade as an in-house Rewards and HR leader at some of the largest restaurant and hospitality organizations in the country. Known for making sure compensation strategies land, not just make sense on paper.

Outside the office: thrill-seeking F1 fan who travels the world to watch races at new circuits.
Stephanie Hogge
Stephanie Hogge
Principal Consultant

Connects data to real business value, with a precision clients notice and return for. Brings a deep background in incentives and executive pay, with over a decade in-house at the intersection of analytics and rewards.

Outside the office: trivia obsessive with a standing ambition to appear on Jeopardy! Winning, of course.
Samantha Noble
Samantha Noble
Consultant

Keeps complex projects sharp, on track, and grounded in what the client actually needs. Seven years in compensation consulting have built deep focus on market pricing, benchmarking, and scalable pay structures.

Outside the office: sourdough baker and caretaker of a starter named Missy Mis'dough'menor.
Lauren Miest
Lauren Miest
Senior Analyst

Turns complex data into insight that actually drives decisions. A decade of compensation experience across energy and hospitality has sharpened both her analytical eye and her operational instincts.

Outside the office: sports enthusiast who has attended professional-level events across seven different sports.
Neeraj Nautiyal
Neeraj Nautiyal
Senior Analyst

Brings a global lens and a genuine appetite for emerging technology that makes every engagement sharper. Rooted in a decade of compensation and benefits experience across in-house and consulting roles.

Outside the office: devoted follower of great stories, he is always hunting for the next plot twist.
How We Think About the Work

What We Believe

Our approach to our business, our clients, and our work is guided by our core values.

Impact Matters Most
Focus on the outcome and how change can become reality, and everything else falls into place.
Data Always Wins
What we can measure is better than what we hear. Intuition is a starting point, not a conclusion.
Challenge "Best Practices"
Most were designed for a world that no longer exists, and no one has stopped to question them. We do.
See the Connection
Piece together disparate data, learn from adjacent spaces, and apply what others haven't thought to try.
Different Lenses, Better Answers
The best answer rarely comes from a room that thinks alike. Different perspectives produce better outcomes.
Make It Easy
Remove complexity. Life is hard enough.
People First, Always
Compensation is personal. We never let a clean deliverable make us forget the people living with the outcome.
Don't Forget to Smile
Life is too short to be unhappy. Bring the energy, enjoy the people, and don't forget to smile.

Ready to Pay Differently?

We work best with organizations that want compensation done right, not just done. If that is where you are, let's talk.

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