Answers to the questions
I hear most often

Fractional HR means you get a senior HR leader working with your business on a part-time or project basis — without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire. You get the same level of expertise and strategic thinking as an HR Director or VP HR, but structured around what you actually need right now.

A traditional consultant typically comes in, delivers a report or project, and leaves. Fractional HR is more embedded — I become a working part of your leadership team, understanding your business, your people, and your goals over time.

Not quite. Outsourced HR usually means handing off transactional admin to a third-party provider. Fractional HR is strategic and leadership-level — working alongside your business on the decisions that actually move things forward.

There's no hard or fast rule. Fractional HR is often the clearest fit for businesses with people complexity but not enough scale to justify a full-time senior HR hire. That said, smaller businesses and startups frequently benefit just as much - especially when they're setting things up properly from the start or working through a specific challenge. If you're wondering whether it makes sense for you, that's exactly what a discovery call is for.

Often, yes. An HR manager handles day-to-day operations well but may not have the experience or confidence to sit at the leadership table or navigate complex issues. I can work alongside your existing HR team, providing the senior-level thinking they may not have yet.

Yes — and it's one of the things that sets me apart from most HR consultants here. I spent the majority of my career in senior HR roles in the UK, including as Head of HR for a UK and Ireland business, before relocating to the US. I understand both systems from the inside, not from a translated checklist. UK employment law works very differently — there's no at-will employment, statutory notice and redundancy rules apply, and the Employment Rights Act 2025 is now phasing in through 2026 and 2027. Whether you already have UK staff or are planning your first UK hire, I can help you get it right.

Yes. The US catches a lot of UK businesses off guard — at-will employment, state-by-state variation, health benefits, and worker classification all work differently from what you're used to. Having run HR on both sides of the Atlantic, I can help you build your US people function properly from the start: how to hire, what documentation you need, which state rules apply to your team, and what good looks like for a US employer.

Yes. I'm based in the Triangle and work with businesses across Apex, Cary, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and the wider Wake County area. For local clients, in-person work is available where it adds value — on-site for an investigation, a leadership session, or getting to know your team. I also work with businesses elsewhere in the US and internationally, so being local isn't a requirement — but if you are, you have the option of someone who can be in the room.

My deepest experience is with operational businesses - construction, logistics, distribution, manufacturing, and regulated services where workforces are complex. However, I'm not limited to those sectors. I also love to work with not-for-profits, startups, and smaller businesses. What matters more to me than your industry or headcount is whether I can genuinely help - if there's a fit, I'd love to talk.

Every engagement starts with a discovery call to understand what you need. From there we agree a scope — a defined project, a set number of days per month, or an interim arrangement — with clear deliverables and handover points.

Both. Most work is a blend — remote for strategic and documentation work, on-site when it matters, such as leadership meetings, investigations, or restructuring conversations. I'm based in the Raleigh-Durham area.

Usually within a week or two of agreeing scope. For urgent interim situations I can often move faster. The discovery call is the quickest way to work out what's possible.

Rates depend on the scope, structure, and duration of the engagement. Project work, monthly retainers, and day-rate interim arrangements are all priced differently. I'm transparent about fees from the start — the best way to get a sense is to have a conversation.

Fractional means I'm working with you part-time alongside other clients. Interim means I step in full-time to cover a gap or lead a transition. Both are available depending on what you need.

Absolutely. Project-based work is a significant part of what I do — HR compliance audits, handbook builds, job architecture, pay structure reviews, and restructuring support. If you have a defined problem in mind, we can scope it as a standalone project with a clear timeline and fixed output.

Yes. Complex employee relations — grievances, disciplinaries, investigations, performance management, and terminations — is an area where senior HR experience matters enormously. I can lead or advise on these situations, managing risk and maintaining documentation that protects the business.

Yes. This is one of the areas where senior HR judgment matters most. Deal value is protected or destroyed on the people side: leadership retention, culture integration, org design under pressure. I work with owners, investors, and advisers on pre-deal HR due diligence, integration planning, and post-close people integration. Available as a discrete engagement or embedded alongside the leadership team through the transition.

Yes — but the kind of HR you need looks different at that size. Federal thresholds like FMLA kick in at 50 employees, but employment law obligations start from your very first hire: I-9 compliance, state-specific wage and hour rules, anti-discrimination law, and proper classification of workers as employees or contractors. The businesses that get into the most trouble are often the ones that waited until they felt big enough to take HR seriously. Getting the foundations right early is significantly cheaper than fixing them later.

An HR compliance audit is a structured review of your employment practices against current federal and state law — covering everything from your offer letters and I-9 records to your leave policies and pay practices. If you've been growing without a dedicated HR function, or you've expanded into new states, there's a good chance there are gaps you don't know about. An audit tells you exactly where you stand and what to fix, in priority order. It doesn't have to be alarming — think of it as a health check.

Quite a lot, and it varies significantly by state. Each state has its own wage and hour rules, leave entitlements, pay transparency requirements, and termination obligations — and some, like California, New York, and Illinois, are substantially more complex than others. Operating in multiple states without state-specific HR policies and documentation is one of the most common compliance gaps I see in growing businesses. It's fixable, but it needs proper attention rather than a one-size-fits-all employee handbook.

If you have employees based in the UK, yes — significantly. The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the most substantial reform to UK employment law in a generation. It's phasing in through 2026 and 2027 and covers day-one unfair dismissal rights, changes to zero-hours contracts, strengthened trade union rights, and much more. US businesses with UK staff often underestimate how different the UK employment framework is from the US — there's no at-will employment, and the obligations around dismissal and redundancy are materially different. If you have UK employees and haven't reviewed your practices against the new Act, that's where to start.

It depends on the scope and structure of the engagement. Project work - a compliance audit, a handbook build, a restructuring — is typically priced as a fixed fee based on what's involved. Ongoing fractional support is usually structured as a monthly retainer for a defined number of days. Interim arrangements are day-rate. What I'd say is this: fractional HR costs a fraction of a senior HR hire — and you only pay for what you actually need. The discovery call is the right place to talk through what would make sense for your situation.

Yes. Whether you're facing a state labor department audit or an internal due diligence process ahead of investment or acquisition, I can help you understand what's required, identify gaps, and get your documentation in order.

Usually with an honest look at where you are. Most businesses that haven't had formal HR have gaps they're aware of and gaps they're not. A compliance audit is often the right first step — it maps what you have, what's missing, and what the risk level is for each gap. From there we can prioritize, and you'll have a clear picture of what needs to happen and in what order. It's less overwhelming than it sounds once you can see it laid out.

Yes — this is a significant part of what I do. When leadership teams aren't functioning well, the whole organization feels it. I work with newly formed teams, teams going through transition, and teams that have developed patterns that aren't serving them well. Work typically includes facilitated team sessions, individual leader coaching, and a practical framework the team can use beyond the engagement. I'm also a licensed Insights Discovery facilitator, which gives teams a shared language for how they work together and where the friction comes from.

Insights Discovery is a psychometric tool based on Jungian psychology that helps people understand their own working style and how they come across to others. As a licensed facilitator, I use it with leadership teams and intact teams to build self-awareness, improve communication, and reduce the friction that comes from people simply working differently from each other. It's practical, non-threatening, and tends to land well with operational leaders who are skeptical of anything that feels like therapy. The results are concrete — teams leave with a shared language and a clearer sense of how to work together more effectively.