Sitting With Six Years of HRnB

HRnB turns six next week. I've been thinking about what I want to say about that and most of what comes to mind isn't the stuff that usually goes in anniversary posts.

This isn't a 'grateful for the journey' post, or a rundown of revenue milestones and client logos. Just some things that I never expected, in the spirit of appreciation, vulnerability, and success.

Brain-picking

In the first week I introduced HRnB, I got a lot of "pick my brain" reach outs from people thinking about going out on their own. Initially, I had zero information to give, other than what was shared with me; get an accountant, register your business, and do not wait until you feel completely set up to announce what you are doing.

Since then, the reach-outs never stopped. People see the flexibility, autonomy, the posts about loving the work and setting your own schedule, and they think, I could do that. Some of them absolutely can. Others are romanticizing something that might eat them alive.

What I wasn't fully prepared for when I started HRnB is that the work is maybe 40% of the job. The rest is finding the work, keeping the work, managing the business of the work, and being able to sit with the uncertainty of where or when the next project is coming.

I don't say this to discourage anyone. I say it because the solopreneurs who last in this work are not the ones who wanted freedom from a boss and the ability to work from the beach. They are the ones who wanted to build something specific and were willing to do the unglamorous work to bring it all to life.

The comparison trap

Here's something I don't talk about much: I still get caught up in comparison. Someone lands a client I wanted. Another's business seems to grow effortlessly while I keep grinding. Sometimes I hear about another person's opportunity and catch myself thinking, why not me? How did that come so easily?

I've watched people in my network get the visibility I wanted, and I know their work. Some of it's great. Some of it's not. They're just better at marketing themselves. Being good at the work and being good at getting the work are two different skills. That took me a while to accept.

I've learned none of it means I'm failing or falling behind. It's just part of doing this work while watching other people do it too. The highlight reel isn't the whole story and more importantly, the work I build isn't supposed to look like anyone else's.

I didn't set out to build a firm. I set out to build a practice. Something small, more intentional, and rooted in relationships. That's an entirely different measuring stick and it took me a while to stop using someone else's.

trust

Here's what I didn't expect: people reaching out to work with me, not because we've worked together before, but because they trust me based on what they've heard about me and how I show up.

That still catches me off guard. Someone will say, "I've been following your stuff for a while", or, "I've always heard great things about you". Most of my business has come through referrals or my network and it will never be lost on me when someone I've never met reaches out because they know I'll "get it".

Trust isn't something I intentionally cultivated. It grew because I kept showing up as myself: straightforward, with opinions backed by experience, and a why that makes sense. I call it responsible advocacy; being able to read a P&L and effectively communicate how people and finances can never be separate conversations.

If there's something I'm most proud of after six years, it's that. Not the client roster or years in business. It's the fact that people trust me before they even know me, because something in the way I work resonates with how they want to run their organizations.

What I’ve built

Prior to HRnB, I had already spent 10 years working in various HR capacities before going on to help scale a start-up from 40 to 475 people, over a 7 year period. I thought that experience would translate when I went out on my own and it didn't. Don't get me wrong; I've amassed A TON of experience, some of which is truly once-in-a-lifetime. What I didn't know was how to build a business that could hold the kind of work I wanted to do.

What I've built isn't flashy. It's not a team of 10 or a seven-figure revenue line. It's a practice where I get to do strategic, impactful work that matters and with people I respect. It's relationships that span years, not transactions. It's also the ability to say no to work that doesn't align with what I believe in, because I've built something sustainable enough to be selective.

That took six years and HRnB to learn. While I’m curious what year 7 is going to teach me, I'm not rushing it. The foundation is there, and I wouldn't change any of it.

If you've read this far

Perhaps you’re a practitioner, and something here resonated. Maybe you're looking for HR that is more impactful than checking a box. Or, you're a founder or business leader who wants a thought partner more than a vendor, I'd like to talk.

Not a sales call. Just a conversation.