When the Road Leads to the Unexpected

Last year, I took on my first client after starting my HR consulting gig and transitioning from industry to independent consultant. Since that time, I met with some amazing startups looking to scale their people operations for early-stage businesses that weren’t quite ready for a full-time HR leader but still needed counsel on how to set up their people processes for success.

Throughout this journey, I’ve worked with some amazing companies and stellar Founders/CEOs as a fractional Chief People Officer and I’ve loved every minute of it. I got to be the CEO (that's "Chief Everything Officer") to build my startup business TopscaleHR and make it what I wanted it to be - to support early Founders to help scale their people operations. As an entrepreneur, I got to experiment and take risks as a business development manager, content & program creator, marketing & social media moonlighter and principal consultant all at once. I had the privilege of choosing my own clients, selecting the work that I do, and ensuring that I enjoyed the choices I made. 

It’s been 8 months and sometimes things happen in life and our careers that we didn’t anticipate or plan. My very first client was a small startup focused on the food tech industry. The CEO reached out to me in September to discuss a full-time CPO opportunity at the company he had just joined called ChefHero. I had just left my last full-time role at Coinsquare in August and I was excited to indulge in consulting rather than full-time HR so we agreed on a fractional CPO role which was great. 

To be honest, during those 8 months, I didn’t expect the following:

• To be working with a CEO (Jordan Huck) as a true partner, that values culture and people as much as revenue and growth. It's amazing to work with a leader that values HR the way some leaders claim they do...but honestly, his actions speak the truth.
• To be working with employees (we call them Heroes) who genuinely care about the work they’re doing and come in to work every day with tenacity, grit and a real hunger to build those moonshot dreams. And they're super kind which is so important when you build culture.
• To be working with a leadership team that isn't afraid to get into the trenches with their people to push through the hard times and celebrate the wins that consistently bring us together. Leaders that focus on strategy and execution are great, but you have to be willing to do the hard things to gain big rewards.
• To be part of a company that truly values diversity, inclusion and belonging from the top of the pyramid down to ground zero (hey, I'm proud to say I'm part of a leadership team with 3 women at the top).

So, I'm excited to share that I will officially be joining ChefHero as their permanent CPO, working alongside a team of world-class leaders. I'm thrilled to take on this role full time to continue building and scaling the company into something bigger than we could ever imagine, alongside the BEST people you could ever wish to build dreams with.

Success requires that you support and believe in the people you work with. Sometimes if you're really lucky and you find those right people, the road can lead you to the most extraordinary possibilities. 2020 is going to be an incredible year - I still believe that (no matter this crazy pandemic) because you have to dream big to win big.