This Isn’t About Handbooks
Stay True to Your North: Don’t miss the magic.
“I know this is the right decision… but I still feel awful.”
That’s what a client said to me this week as we prepared for a tough conversation.
It’s also what made me finally sit down and write this.
I’ve been struggling to find the words to describe what I do.
Technically, I’m an HR Consultant. But most days, that title feels too neat for the messy, human work I actually do.
Yes, I write policies. Yes, I do investigations. Yes, I help small businesses navigate employee relations, hiring, and terminations.
But if you were to follow me around for a day, you wouldn’t see me buried in compliance manuals.
You would see me on Teams with a business owner who’s been quietly agonizing over a decision for weeks.
You’d hear me on the phone, gently coaching someone through the guilt they’re carrying about letting someone go.
You’d read the first draft of a message I helped rewrite, not just for clarity, but for compassion.
People call me for HR.
But they stay because I help them feel less alone.
That’s what this work really is.
Not just writing the handbook - walking you through the moment you realize someone on your team isn’t aligned with what that handbook says.
Not just performance management - helping you figure out how to give honest feedback to someone you actually care about.
Not just terminations - coaching you through the heartbreak of choosing what’s best for your business and your team, even when it’s hard.
More than anything, I’m someone in your corner.
Because here’s the truth no one talks about enough:
Business ownership is isolating.
Leadership can be incredibly lonely, even when your calendar is full, your inbox is overflowing, and your team is depending on you.
There are questions you can’t ask your employees.
Doubts you can’t bring to your investors.
Frustrations you don’t want to dump on your partner at the end of the day.
And so they stay in your head.
Looping. Heavy. Unspoken.
This is where our work begins.
Sometimes what you need most is a space to say the quiet thing out loud.
To name the worry. To untangle the mental knots.
To talk through the “what ifs” and the “am I overreacting?” and the “I wish this didn’t feel so hard.”
Other times, it’s dreaming out loud.
It’s brainstorming the “someday” goals that have been sitting on the shelf.
It’s mapping the first steps toward a vision you’ve been carrying for years.
It’s figuring out how to make the idea in your head a real, living, breathing part of your business.
Because once you say it, we can work on it together.
We can plan.
We can act.
We can move forward.
Two real moments from this week:
Termination support with a first-time leader
She texted me at 7:32 AM: “Are you sure I’m doing the right thing?”
We had already talked it through. She knew the answer. But she needed someone to hold the emotional weight with her. To remind her that being clear isn’t cruel and that ending things well is still leadership.
Facilitating a repair conversation between team leads.
Tension had been simmering for months. Mistrust, assumptions, silence. We set the ground rules, named what was happening, and took it slow. It wasn’t magical. But it was progress. And progress matters more than perfect.
This is the work I do.
It’s not glamorous.
It rarely fits into a bullet-pointed scope of services.
It’s human, it’s real, and it’s often invisible.
Sometimes I describe myself as an HR Consultant.
Sometimes a coach.
Sometimes a people strategist.
But really? I’m someone who walks with business owners through the gray areas, helping them think through decisions, brainstorm solutions, listen to them, and bring their best ideas to life.
Because leadership isn’t just about getting it right.
It’s about being real while you figure it out.
And it’s about having someone in your corner who believes your big dreams are possible.
This is the magic - the part no policy can teach you.