HR Headaches + CFO Brainpower: Gwen Ivory Edition

Episode Overview

CFO/coach Tabitha Smith and host Vanessa sit down with Gwen Ivory, SPHR, SHRM-SCP—ex-Fortune 500 people-ops pro turned founder of ANOVA HR Solutions (Houston, TX). She parachutes into small companies, torches compliance risk, and builds hiring engines that don't bankrupt the P&L.

Featured Guest

Gwen Ivory - ANOVA HR Solutions brings 20 years from energy, tech, and construction giants to <100-employee firms who need big-company expertise without the $120K salary. Lean plug-and-play HR packages that cost less than a part-time admin, plus she teaches you how to actually live the policies.

What You'll Learn

Compliance Without Panic - Gwen's 90-point audit catches wage & hour violations, I-9 disasters, PTO confusion, and medical-leave risks before the DOL does. Bespoke handbooks (no copy-paste templates) tie to your state regs and culture. Her weapon: Stay interviews quarterly to fix flight-risk problems before resignation emails land.

DIY HR Tech Stack - Calendly free tier for bookings, Microsoft 365 SharePoint for doc vaults, LinkedIn Sales Nav feeding HubSpot CRM, Meta Business Suite with $75/month Fiverr VA handling content. Big-company systems at small-business pricing.

People Metrics That Move the Needle - Track weekly: new leads → coffee chats → signed SOWs, project clients converted to retainer (%), networking "two solid contacts" rule, time-to-fill vs. budget. Tab's CFO overlay: keep labor cash-out vs. recurring revenue at >35% margin.

Founder Operating System - Sunday planning with sticky-notes and calendar blocks, voicemail idea captures, hard lanes for work/kid/me time (6-year-old + mani + Netflix). Secret: schedule 20% white-space for surprise audits and school calls.

Low-Cost Wellness Wins - Free: 60-second "Health/Safety moment" at meeting kickoffs. Under $15: gym/meditation subsidies. One-time: sit/stand desks and fruit over donuts. Culture: SharePoint wellness hub with mental health auto-responders.

Key Takeaways

• Fractional HR = Fortune 500 expertise at 1/10th the price
• Audit first, panic never
• Stay interviews beat exit interviews
• 20% calendar white-space is essential, not optional
• Wellness requires intention, not budget

Nerd Fuel

Podcasts: Mind the Business (AmEx/iHeart), Increase Your Impact (Justin Su'a), Prince retrospectives

Books: Straight Up by Trent Shelton, Zero to One by Peter Thiel

Who This Is For

Small business owners drowning in HR compliance, founders considering their first HR hire, leaders losing good people. Perfect for 10-100 employee companies ready to professionalize people operations without corporate overhead.

TSAT Tell'em Tab—steal-worthy playbooks before your espresso cools.