A Merger Almost Cost Me My Job. It Became the Best Thing That Ever Happened to the Companies I Work to Serve.

A merger almost cost me my job. It became the best thing that ever happened to the companies I work to serve.

When I was told my position was being eliminated, my first instinct was to find another full-time role.

I started applying. I received offers. On paper the path forward was clear.

But something had already shifted. And I think I knew it before the merger ever happened.

A year earlier, a founder I knew asked if I would help a software company with their compensation programs.

I said yes. We worked together for four months, building their early-stage comp structure from the ground up.

After the merger news, I took a fractional masterclass with John Arms to understand what fractional actually meant as a model.

That is when the lightbulb went on.

I had already done fractional work. I just had not called it that.

And more importantly, I realized there was an entire market of companies that needed exactly what I knew how to do but could not afford a full-time VP of Total Rewards or a traditional consulting firm.

Throughout my career, friends and colleagues who moved to smaller organizations would say the same thing to me.

Scott, I would love to work with you but I cannot afford you. I heard that repeatedly for years.

The fractional model solved that equation.

They cannot afford all of me. But they can afford a portion of me. And a portion of me is more than enough to solve the challenges they face.

Stop the Guesswork. Build the Guardrails.