HR That Works for YouFor businesses with 20 to 40 people
What if the people sidedidn't land only on you?
An afternoon when nobody needs you to settle anything. A hard conversation you walk out of steady, instead of replaying it for three days. That future isn't a bigger company. It's this one, with the people side finally shared.
Right now, it's yours to carry. The call you're not sure how to make. The situation you've been hoping resolves itself.
You're not winging it. You've just been doing it alone.
We come beside you for the hard calls, and we equip your team to carry it too, so it stops being only yours.
It starts with a conversation, not a contract.
- An afternoon when nobody needs you to settle anything
- Walking out of the hard conversation steady
- A people issue handled before it reaches your desk
- Someone in your corner you can just call
- Trusting it's covered, even when you're not in the room
- Feeling taken care of, for once
Our approach
Beside you, never above you
You have grown your business by caring about the work and the people who do it. Somewhere along the way, the people side landed mostly on you. Hiring, a tricky employee situation, the handbook you keep meaning to finish. It is a lot to carry alone.
That is where we come in. You know your business best. We are not here to lecture you or hand down verdicts. We read your situation, give you honest advice, and walk through your options together, so you make the call with confidence instead of fear.
And we do not create a dependency. We build your team's ability to handle the people side, so it stops landing only on you. We are here to be a partner in the growth of your business, and to leave you more capable than we found you.
You're not just a good boss. You're becoming the kind of leader who builds other leaders.
The framework
The People-First Advantage
Real people practices are not a big-company luxury you earn once you are larger. At your size, they are your advantage. An owner who truly sees their people offers something the big employers cannot fake, and it is the reason good people come and stay. You're not too small to do this right. You're exactly the right size. Our work together follows five steps.
-
Set Down the Weight
Stop carrying every people problem alone, and stop being scared into compliance. You get a partner beside you who respects how you run your business.
-
Name the Vision
Get clear on what you want your business to be like to work for, and start building around the advantage only your size can offer.
-
Make the Real Calls
When a hard people situation lands, you work through real options inside the guardrails, weighed against where you want to go. The law is a guardrail, not a wall.
-
Build the Leaders
Your managers learn to think about people well, so the capability lives in your business instead of in a consultant's inbox.
-
Freed Up and Leading
Leaving early for your kid's game, and no texts pull you back. A manager handles something sensitive, and what you feel is proud, not anxious.
This is where the journey lands. Good people stay, the churn stops resetting you, and the business finally builds momentum, with a team that carries the people work beside you.
Built on seven working beliefs, earned over 30 years in HR. Among them: the law is a guardrail, not a wall. You deserve options, not verdicts. And the goal is to equip you, never to keep you dependent.
Ways to work together
Start where you are
Some owners want a steady partner. Some want help with one specific thing. There is no set package you have to squeeze into. We figure out what fits.
The People-First Advantage Partnership
Fractional HR leadership shaped to your business. You may not need a full-time HR leader, but you do need the expertise. You get a trusted advisor for the big decisions, a steady partner for the day-to-day, and honest judgment for the nuanced calls, without the full-time overhead.
The partnership also builds your people. We equip your managers and owners with the skills and confidence to lead well: behavioral interviewing, communication, conflict resolution, and employee engagement, so the people side does not rest on one person.
What it brings youYou feel as competent with your people as with everything else you've built. And when something lands, it no longer lands only on you.
A La Carte HR Projects
Sometimes you need expert help on one specific thing. A handbook that finally fits your business. A hiring process that finds the right people. A compliance gap you want closed. You get targeted support without a long-term commitment, and you keep the systems we build together.
What it brings youThe gap that's been quietly nagging you is closed, in a system that fits how you actually run. One less thing living rent-free in your head.
Try the work before the partnership
Two smaller ways in: a free guide for the first 24 hours after a sticky people situation, and a $47 working session where you bring one stuck decision. Both are just below.
What it brings youA low-stakes way to feel how this works before anything bigger.
Two ways to start
Small first steps, real results
You do not have to begin with a partnership. Begin with the thing that helps you this week.
Free guide
The First 24 Hours After a Sticky Situation
Something just happened with one of your people, and you're not sure of the right move. This short guide gives you the first right moves for those first 24 hours, so a hard moment doesn't quietly become a bigger one.
What it brings youSteady footing in the exact moment owners usually lose it.
Get the free guideNo cost, no pitch, just the first right moves.
Working session · $47
The Confident Call
The nuanced people call, where you want to do the right thing and stay out of trouble. Bring that one stuck decision. You leave with a filled-in decision matrix and real options inside the guardrails, so you can make the call with confidence instead of sitting on it.
What it brings youYou walk out steady, with a call you can stand behind and no pit in your stomach.
Book The Confident CallHR guidance from 30 years of experience. Not legal advice.
Who you'll work with
Dr. Kimberly D. Washburn
The nuanced people call that stops you cold? I've spent more than three decades inside those moments. I'm Dr. Kimberly Washburn, and across many industries I've been the person owners and leaders call when something happens with one of their people.
You don't need a program dropped on your desk. You need someone who can see how your systems, your team, and your leadership fit together, and who connects problems with solutions through a caring, coaching-centered approach. That's the work I love: helping you build a high-performing, loyal team that grows with your business.
And you shouldn't need me forever. As both consultant and coach, I guide you through learning, doing, and reflecting, so the change lasts after I'm gone. What I care about most is helping you know yourself as a leader and bring out the best in the people around you, in a workplace culture you're proud of.
Beyond the work, I am a dedicated spouse, an animal lover, and a Pacific Northwest resident. My values of compassion and connection show up in everything I do.
Questions owners ask
Frequently Asked Questions
We're a small team. Are we even big enough to need HR help?
If you have employees, you have people situations, and those do not wait until you are bigger. Most of the owners I work with are running growing businesses of roughly 20 to 40 people and have been handling the people side themselves. You do not need a full HR department. You need the right support at the right moment, sized to where you are now.
Is there a way to try this before we commit to a partnership?
Yes, two. The First 24 Hours After a Sticky Situation is a free guide with the first right moves for the moment something happens with one of your people. The Confident Call is a $47 working session where you bring one stuck people decision and leave with a filled-in decision matrix and real options inside the guardrails. Either one shows you how we work before you decide on anything bigger.
Do you just hand us a template and walk away?
No. That is the thing I do not do. Every business communicates and operates differently, so I read your situation and shape the work to it. And I do not create a dependency on me. I build your team's ability to handle the people side, so you are more capable after we work together, not more reliant on an outside consultant.
What does working together actually look like?
It starts with a conversation, not a contract. We talk through what is on your plate, and I bring back a clear proposal shaped to your real needs. Some owners start with one specific project, like a hiring process or a handbook. Others want ongoing HR guidance without the full-time cost. There is no set package you have to squeeze into. We figure out what fits.
We're already stretched thin. Will this be one more thing to manage?
The opposite is the goal. The point of this work is to take the people side off your plate and leave your team able to carry it. You should feel freed up, not more managed. I handle the complexity so you can get back to running your business.
What if we have a tricky situation and we're not sure what to do?
That is often exactly when owners reach out. The nuanced people call, where you want to do the right thing and stay out of trouble, is where 30 years of experience helps most. You do not have to have it figured out before we talk. We can figure it out together.
You've been carrying the people side alone. You don't have to.
Tell me what's on your plate. The goal is never for you to need me forever. It's to leave you more capable than we found you. We can figure it out together.
Schedule a Conversation