14 years ago, I started a business focused on the startup and small employer space. We offer fractional HR services to small employers.

I consider a small employer any employer with 500 or fewer employees. I don't care about revenue—you could be doing 120 million, 600 million—but if you're doing it with 500 employees or less, you are a small employer to me.

I thought it was going to be a really easy transition. My corporate career had been in big business, big employee populations: 3,000 to 125,000. And I thought, this is going to be a breeze.

This is going to be so easy jumping into small employer life with 20 employees, 80 employees. How easy is that going to be?

I was so wrong.

I was in for quite a rude awakening, and those people—those managing HR inside of a small employer—that's who this podcast is for.

Managing human resources in a small employer is like living in a small town.

Everybody's in everybody's business. Most people are related to one another somehow. The mayor is also the sheriff, is also the local dog walker.

You have limited budget, limited resources. It is so vastly different than living in a big city.

And that’s the same for managing HR inside a small employer. It is vastly different than managing inside a larger organization where you may have an entire team and employees you never even meet or see in person.

What I quickly learned is that while the laws may not change, how you manage compliance and things like that doesn't change.

But the way you go about navigating humans—the soft skills needed to manage HR in a small employer—is so different.

You are front and center. You probably feel like everything to everyone, every single day.

On top of that, you may be somebody who doesn't even have a background in human resources.

Think about it: the different types of people managing HR in a 1–500 employee business.

You could have:

• A department of one (a generalist or manager who now has to be an expert in everything).

• A small team (maybe a manager and a recruiter or specialist managing hundreds of employees).

• Bob in finance or Sarah in marketing who are just good at their jobs—so the CEO made them do HR too.

• A CEO managing it all alone—sales, operations, and HR.

The variety of people managing HR in small businesses is wide. And that alone makes the work different.

So when I asked myself, “Do we really need another HR podcast?”—I realized: yes, we do.

We need one focused on that group.

When I started my business, I looked for resources to help me figure it out—how to adapt my big-company HR experience for the small employer space.

And I hit a steep learning curve.

Most HR content—blogs, conferences, vendors—is built for large organizations.

Even “HR Department of One” tracks are compliance-focused. They cover time management, how to get it all done, how to run payroll.

That’s important—but what I needed was something else.

What I needed was support on how to navigate humans in a small business.

How to handle the fact that when you have 30 employees, everyone’s in each other’s business, everyone’s related, and one toxic employee can derail the whole organization.

That’s what I want to give you in this podcast.

We’re calling it The HR Connection because managing HR in a small business can feel like being on an island—especially if you're the only HR person.

You have no team to bounce ideas off. You have to keep a certain distance from employees. You can’t be as friendly as others might get to be.

It can feel isolating and lonely.

If you don’t have a community, you don’t have anyone to say:

• Am I interpreting this right?

• Am I thinking about this the right way?

• Can I vent about this challenge?

That’s what we hope to be—a community you can lean on.

Through videos, the podcast, and other content, we want to share real insights and build a real community you can use every day.

Our clients are all under 500 employees.

We offer full fractional support—sometimes we are their whole HR team; sometimes we just do ad hoc projects.

But it’s always inside of a small business—with limited budgets, limited hours, and limited resources.

I started alone, but now I have a team—and the difference that makes is incredible.

Having people who share the same experiences, the same challenges—it’s comforting. It’s a better way to work.

So if you’re managing HR in a small employer—whether you’re a CEO, a marketing manager, or an actual HR pro—I hope this podcast becomes your new community.

You won’t get “big budget” or “high resource” solutions here. You’ll get advice tailored exactly to where you are.

We see you. We hear you. And we’re here to support you.

Whether you’re watching or listening—maybe on your commute—I hope you’ll subscribe and come back often.

This is The HR Connection. Welcome.