Michelle E.

Building a company is exciting. Figuring out HR from scratch? That part's usually not. I'm Michelle, a Senior HR Professional (SPHR) with 15+ years of experience helping businesses get their people operations right from the ground up. I specialize in working with early-stage and growing companies that need a real HR partner, not a stack of generic templates or a costly agency retainer. Here's what that looks like in practice: you're hiring fast, your handbook doesn't exist yet, someone just filed a complaint, and you have no idea if you're compliant in three states. I've been in that room. I know how to triage, stabilize, and build something that actually works. What I help with: HR audits and compliance gap assessments Employee handbooks (multi-state, built for your actual culture) Employee relations, investigations, and performance management HRIS selection, implementation, and optimization Onboarding frameworks that scale with your growth Leave of Absence programs, benefits administration, and payroll support Manager coaching and HR policy development I've supported startups from their first hire through rapid scale, including building onboarding and Leave of Absence programs for a SaaS company that grew from 200 to 600+ employees in under two years. I've also worked with a YCombinator-backed HR platform supporting 30+ growing startups simultaneously, and I've held the SPHR certification, the senior-level HR credential, since 2021. My clients tend to describe working with me as finally having someone in their corner who speaks both people and business. I'm not here to overwhelm you with HR jargon; I'm here to make sure you're protected, compliant, and set up to grow. If you're building something and want HR done right the first time, let's talk