Leap Into HR Consulting ®

From Your Corporate Salary to Your First Paid Invoice

You have years of HR experience but finding your first consulting clients can feel like unfamiliar territory. In this episode of Leap into HR Consulting®, Sarah Hamilton-Gill FCIPD explores how to bridge the gap between a regular corporate salary and your first paid consulting work.

With practical ideas, honest challenges and encouragement, Sarah shares how to focus your efforts, communicate the value of your expertise and create opportunities for those first client conversations.

We explore:

- Where your first consulting opportunities could come from.

- What makes it easier for a client to say yes.

- Why visibility doesn’t always translate into paid work.

- The role of focus, confidence and consistent follow-up.

Whether you’re preparing to leave employment or have already launched your consultancy, this episode will help you think more clearly about your next steps.

Ready to put your plans into action?

Explore our Virtual HR Consultants Bootcamp, Leap into HR Consulting® book and The HR Consultancy Academy® at www.leapintoconsulting.com

Follow the podcast for practical support as you start and grow your HR consultancy.

Valuing Ourselves and Asking for Help

When you spend your working life supporting others, asking for help yourself can feel surprisingly difficult.

In this episode of Leap into HR Consulting®, Sarah Hamilton-Gill FCIPD shares reflections from the recent Corfu retreat on self-belief, boundaries and making space for your own needs.

Drawing on her experience of building a business while bringing up two boys as a single parent, Sarah explores the habit of taking responsibility for everything and the challenge of allowing others to support you.

In this episode:

Why valuing yourself goes beyond the fees you charge.

Giving commitments to yourself the same respect as client commitments.

Trusting your HR experience while learning to run a consultancy.

Recognising when doing everything yourself has become a habit.

Making clear, specific requests for help.

Your reflection for this week: What is one thing you’ve been carrying alone, and who could you ask for support?

Join us in Corfu in 2027

Our retreat returns in 2027, offering space to focus on yourself and your business alongside people who understand independent consulting.

To download the 2027 Corfu Retreat brochure click here

Five Buying Signals HR Consultants Miss and What to Say Next

Are promising sales conversations quietly stalling because you are missing the moment when a prospect begins to consider buying?

Buying signals rarely sound like, “Where do I sign?” More often, they appear as practical questions about your availability, pricing, experience or what happens next.

In this episode, Sarah Hamilton-Gill explains five common buying signals HR consultants frequently overlook and how to respond without becoming pushy or resorting to hard-selling techniques.

You’ll discover:

A simple four-part formula for closing a conversation clearly and naturally Sarah also shares practical questions you can use to explore each signal, including:

The episode concludes with three actions you can take immediately:

1. Review your last five prospect conversations and identify any buying signals you may have missed.

2. Prepare and practice one natural follow-up question.

3. Secure one clear, dated next step for a live opportunity.

Good consultative selling is not about applying pressure. It is about noticing what has changed, remaining curious and helping the prospective client make a clear decision.

If this episode helps you, follow or subscribe to the Leap into HR Consulting podcast and share it with another HR or People consultant who may be having good conversations but missing the moment to move them forward.

For more practical support with sales conversations, proposals and creating a consistent pipeline, explore the resources and ways to work with Sarah and the Leap into HR Consulting team.

About Sarah Hamilton-Gill FCIPD Sarah Hamilton-Gill is an award-winning HR consultant, business mentor, author and founder of Leap into HR Consulting® and The HR Consultancy Academy®. With more than 30 years’ experience in HR consulting, she has helped over 300 HR and People professionals launch their own consultancy businesses.

Useful links

Leap into HR Consulting: www.leapintoconsulting.com

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahhg/

Explore Sarah’s book, programmes and mentoring opportunities through the Leap into HR Consulting website.

Will AI Replace HR Consultants?

Why the human in the loop matters more than ever If AI can draft policies, analyse data and give a manager a convincing answer to an HR problem in seconds, what exactly is a client paying an HR consultant for?

AI is already changing the work HR consultants do.

In this episode, Sarah Hamilton-Gill moves beyond the comfortable reassurance that HR is about people, so everything will be fine, and looks honestly at where the profession is heading. Drawing on current research and more than 30 years in HR consulting, Sarah explores which parts of consulting are becoming faster and cheaper, where human judgement remains essential, and how consultants can use AI without handing over responsibility for the outcome.

In this episode

• What current research suggests about AI, trust and workplace decisions

• Which repeatable and information-heavy consulting tasks are most exposed

• Five reasons the human in the loop still matters

• Why judgement, trust, context, sensemaking and influence are becoming more valuable

• How Sarah uses AI to analyse trends, measure KPIs and prioritise lead follow-up

• How AI supports Sarah's executive functioning as an ADHD and dyslexic entrepreneur

The question to take away AI may not replace HR consultants, but consultants who know how to use AI well may replace some who do not.

AI workshop for HR professionals Hayley Bird, one of our HR Consultancy Academy Partners, is running a  AI workshop for HR professionals. It will help you build confidence, use AI practically and responsibly, and keep human judgement firmly in the loop. September 22nd 9.30 - 2.30pm.

Workshop details: email [email protected] to get the brochure. 

If this episode makes you think, please follow the podcast, share it with another HR professional or consultant, and leave a review.

It really does help more people find us.

Research mentioned

• UK Government, AI Adoption Research, February 2026

• CIPD, Trust in AI-informed workplace decisions, January 2025

• World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025

• Deloitte, 2026 Global Human Capital Trends

About the host - Sarah Hamilton-Gill FCIPD is the author of Leap into HR Consulting, founder of The HR Consultancy Academy and an award-winning HR consultant with more than 30 years of experience. She helps HR and People professionals build successful, sustainable independent consulting businesses.

Connect with her via LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahhg/

As business owners, we spend so much time looking after clients, teams, income and growth that we can easily neglect ourselves, our families and the future we are building.

In this episode of the Leap into HR Consulting podcast, Sarah Hamilton-Gill explores why a successful business should do more than generate revenue.

It should protect your health, support the people you love and create greater financial security and choice. Sarah discusses the risks of becoming the person who holds everything together. Client relationships, passwords, decisions, systems and income may all depend on the owner, leaving both the business and family vulnerable if that person becomes ill or cannot work.

The episode encourages business owners to consider:

* Could the business operate without you?

* What would happen if your income stopped?

* Are your systems and processes documented?

* Are you building personal wealth as well as revenue?

* What does “enough” look like for you?

Sarah also explores the importance of protecting your health, creating stronger boundaries and planning for pensions, savings, insurance, succession and the longer-term value of the business. Success does not always mean more clients or longer hours. It may mean stronger profits, better systems, recurring income, more family time and greater freedom.

Sarah is joined by Seb Szulc, Director and regulated financial adviser at Henderson & Stone, who explains how moving from employment into self-employment can mean losing benefits such as sick pay, death-in-service cover, employer pension contributions and income protection.

He discusses income protection, life insurance, mortgage considerations for self-employed business owners and the importance of seeking regulated advice before circumstances change.

Key Takeaways:

* Your health is one of your business’s most important assets.

* A business that depends entirely on you is vulnerable.

* Build personal wealth, not just turnover.

* Protect your family and plan for the unexpected.

* Do not wait for a crisis before putting plans in place. Build a business that looks after you as carefully as you look after it.

Important Information This episode is for general information only and does not constitute financial, mortgage, investment, tax, insurance, legal or medical advice.

To contact Seb message him at LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-szulc-58739766/

To connect with Sarah:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahhg

In this episode of the Leap into HR Consulting® podcast, Sarah Hamilton-Gill explores one of the biggest shifts senior HR professionals make when they move into consulting: learning how to bring their commercial judgement forward with confidence.

This is not about becoming someone different. It is not about becoming pushy, cold or overly salesy. It is about recognising that, as an experienced HR professional, you already have years of commercial insight built through advising leaders, managing risk, handling complex people issues, supporting change and helping organisations make better decisions.

The challenge is often not that senior HR consultants lack commercial judgement. It is that they do not always make that judgement visible enough in client conversations.

Sarah talks through how experienced HR consultants can move from being seen as an HR supplier to being trusted as a business adviser. She explores how great consultants diagnose before they prescribe, ask better questions, listen for the real issue beneath the client’s request, connect people challenges to business impact and give a clear point of view.

The episode also looks at why your HR values are not a barrier to being commercial. In fact, they are often what make your advice stronger. Fairness, clarity, good leadership, trust, accountability and risk management all have a direct impact on business performance.

Sarah also speaks with Kate Lawson, founder of tHRive Partnership, about her move from Head of People and Culture in an InsurTech start-up to launching her own HR consultancy. Kate shares how a restructure led her to rethink her career, why flexibility for her family became a key driver, and how she overcame doubts about whether she had enough experience to go it alone. They discuss the realities of early-stage consulting, including imposter syndrome, networking nerves, the power of community and the importance of getting involved.

Kate also introduces her Thriving Foundations package, designed to help smaller SMEs put practical HR foundations in place. This is an honest and encouraging episode for senior HR professionals who are considering consulting and wondering whether now might be the right time to take the leap.

To connect with Sarah on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahhg/

To connect with Kate on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-lawson06/

To find out more about our services : www.leapintoconsulting.com

Episode: Three Years into HR Consulting with Ambra Parisi

In this episode, Sarah Hamilton-Gill catches up with Ambra Parisi, three years after Ambra launched her HR consultancy business following a 15-year corporate HR career.

Ambra shares her honest reflections on moving from an HR Director role into consultancy after redundancy in 2022. Rather than being driven purely by financial goals, Ambra explains that her decision came from a desire to return to the heart of HR: adding real value to businesses and supporting leaders with practical, people-focused solutions.

She talks openly about the first year in business being a testing period, where she had to build confidence, develop commercial skills, understand her market, and learn how to position her services beyond her technical HR expertise.

Ambra now works with small and medium-sized businesses, particularly in the healthcare, dentistry and retail sectors. Her consultancy offers bespoke HR support, including compliance, operational HR, people development and practical guidance for business owners who need senior HR expertise without adding to their permanent headcount.

A key theme of the conversation is clarity. Ambra explains how she has shaped her 2026 strategy around three clear business pillars.

Sarah and Ambra also discuss the importance of word-of-mouth referrals, listening to client feedback, adapting your services, and staying committed during the early stages of consultancy when the path can feel uncertain.

This episode is a valuable listen for HR professionals considering the leap into consulting, as well as existing consultants who are refining their niche, services and business model.

Ambra’s journey shows that the first year of consultancy is often about testing, learning and building business confidence.

Technical HR expertise is important, but consultants also need commercial awareness, positioning, marketing and relationship-building skills.

Clarity around your services and ideal client base makes it easier to attract the right opportunities.

Word-of-mouth referrals remain one of the most powerful routes to new business.

A strong LinkedIn profile can help consultants showcase their credibility, services and client outcomes.

Ambra Parisi is an HR consultant supporting small and medium-sized businesses with practical, bespoke HR services. With a 15-year background in corporate HR, she now works with clients across sectors including healthcare, dentistry and retail, helping business owners strengthen compliance, develop their people and build more effective teams.

You can connect with Ambra Parisi on LinkedIn.

In this episode of the Leap into HR Consulting podcast, Sarah Hamilton-Gill explains why experienced HR consultants and coaches can still struggle to attract clients, even when they have strong expertise.

The central message is simple: stop selling HR support or coaching sessions, and start showing the business outcome.

Sarah explores how many consultants describe what they do in terms of services, such as policies, retainers, coaching, psychometrics or leadership development. However, business owners are usually focused on more immediate challenges: people issues taking up too much time, managers avoiding difficult conversations, senior teams lacking alignment, or growth creating risk and chaos.

The episode shares three practical ways consultants and coaches can strengthen their positioning:

Lead with the outcome
Explain the value your work creates, such as reducing risk, improving leadership confidence, supporting growth, creating clarity or helping managers deal with issues earlier.

Be known for something specific
Move away from being too general. Choose clear themes or problems you want to be associated with, so people can remember, refer and recommend you more easily.

Create a clear next step
Avoid vague endings like “let me know if I can help.” Instead, guide the conversation towards a practical next step, such as an HR priorities review, leadership coaching programme, manager confidence support or facilitated team session.

Sarah reassures listeners that struggling to talk about their own value is very common, especially for those moving from corporate HR or in-house coaching into consultancy. The answer is not to become pushy or salesy, but to become clearer, more confident and more commercially relevant.

In this episode, Sarah also speaks with Briana Mascaro, a former labour and employment attorney from Florida who has recently made the move from corporate life into entrepreneurship. Briana shares her journey from legal practice into corporate HR, including her time at Disney managing union contracts, employee relations, investigations and complex workplace challenges during major periods such as #MeToo and COVID-19.

She explains how this experience has now shaped her new business, where she combines executive coaching, HR consulting and employment law expertise to support smaller businesses with people-related challenges.

A key theme of the conversation is the move from corporate certainty to entrepreneurial freedom. Briana talks openly about how coaching became a passion project, how she prepared financially before making the leap, and why building a network and client base before leaving corporate life helped her transition with confidence.

Sarah and Briana also explore the importance of outsourcing workplace investigations, particularly for smaller businesses that need independent, credible and objective support. Briana highlights how her legal, HR and employee relations background gives her a strong foundation for handling sensitive and complex investigations.

The episode also covers the practical realities of starting a consultancy, including setting up systems such as a CRM and accounting software, using AI tools, managing workload, choosing the right clients and setting realistic goals. Briana shares honest reflections on work-life balance, breaking old corporate habits and creating more time with her daughter. For anyone considering a move from corporate HR or employment law into consulting, this conversation is full of grounded advice, encouragement and practical insight. In this episode, we cover: Briana’s transition from employment law to corporate HR and consulting Her experience at Disney with unions, employee relations and complex investigations Why executive coaching became the catalyst for starting her own business

The benefits of outsourcing workplace investigations How to prepare financially and practically before leaving corporate life The importance of systems, networking and realistic goal-setting Building a consultancy around your strengths, niche and values Creating better work-life balance as a business owner Listen in if you are thinking about making the leap into consulting, building a coaching practice, or using your corporate expertise to create a more flexible and fulfilling career.

Please connect with Briana via her LinkedIn profile and let her know you listened to the podcast! https://www.linkedin.com/in/briana-mascaro-/

For more information on all of our services:

www.leapintoconsulting.com

 To find out more about our summer sales programme contact:

[email protected]

This episode was sparked by me taking time out this week to reflect on my business and my life and asking a simple question: What’s genuinely moving the needle… and what’s just making everything feel heavier than it needs to be?

If your HR consultancy feels busy but not profitable, it’s often not because you’re doing too little- it’s because you’re doing too much, in too many places, with too much complexity.

In this episode, we talk about how to keep your consultancy simple, tech-smart, and focused on the work that actually drives profit and I’m joined by Claire Snow, who has mastered the art of creating focus in her business.

What you’ll learn

• Why HR consultants often overcomplicate (and what it’s really costing you)

• How to simplify your offer so clients can quickly understand what you do and say yes

• How to use technology to be efficient without turning your business into an IT project

• What to delegate (and why delegation is a profit strategy, not a luxury)

• How to protect time for the activities that create revenue in the next 30–90 days

Key talking points

Overcomplication looks like: too many services, too many tools, too much content without purpose, and too much admin. A simple rule: if it doesn’t help you sell, deliver, or get paid, it’s probably not urgent.

Keep your offer clear: one core problem, one primary delivery method, one clear next step. Minimum effective tech stack: choose the simplest tools that help you capture/track, deliver consistently, and get paid.

Delegate non-core work: stop trying to be the marketer, designer, bookkeeper, IT desk, and admin assistant.

CEO focus: business development, client delivery, and small consistent business improvement.

Claire's LinkedIn Profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-snow/

Our website:

www.leapintoconsulting.com

Economic uncertainty doesn’t remove opportunity for HR consultants, it reshapes it. In this episode, we explore why businesses need more focused, outcome-driven HR support during challenging times, and how consultants who position themselves clearly, speak commercially, and solve real business problems can stand out and grow. As organisations face increasing pressure around performance, retention, and leadership, the demand for practical, experienced HR support becomes even more critical.

We are also delighted to be joined by Lena Mistry, who shares her personal story of making the leap into consulting. As MD of People First HR, she offers an honest insight into what it really takes to step away from corporate life, build confidence, and create a consultancy that works in today’s market. This episode will leave you with a fresh perspective, renewed confidence, and a clear reminder that clarity and action are what move you forward.

Lena's details - please connect with her!

https://people-first-hr.co.uk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-mistry/