You Don’t Have to Follow the Standard Playbook to Build Something That Works | Michelle Griffin

In this episode of Unconventional Wisdom About Conventional Wisdom, Kim Miller-Hershon sits down with Michelle Griffin, PhD, founder and CEO of Griffin Resources, where she helps organizations navigate the complex, often uncomfortable HR challenges that do not come with a standard playbook. With more than a decade of experience, Michelle has guided businesses through process changes, mergers and dissolutions, HR analytics, and leadership development. She also happens to have once petted a wild moose while feeding it a Pixy Stick, a childhood Alaska story that sets exactly the right tone for a conversation about doing things the unconventional way. The conventional wisdom Michelle followed early on, and then threw out, was the consultant's retainer. She researched what everyone else charged, set up a monthly retainer with a set number of hours, and quickly found it fit no one. It was hard to track, hard to keep profitable once drive time entered the picture, and clients disliked it as much as she did, never quite trusting they were getting their money's worth. Around the two-and-a-half-year mark, with 10 to 12 employees already on the books, she made a bold switch to a clocked-hourly model billed at the end of each month. It meant floating nearly three payrolls before the money ever came in, and it still takes real effort to explain to clients, but it solved the fairness problem completely. Clients pay for exactly the work done, nothing more. For small businesses on tight budgets, the model can even go dormant for months and pick back up at the same rates, no contract to cancel. As Michelle put it, she did not have an MBA telling her the "right" way, so she simply had an idea and tried it. Asked what people assume she has figured out but still wrestles with, Michelle is honest about work-life balance. She started as a contractor while finishing her doctorate, meaning only to cover some bills, and grew the business to seven figures in three years while managing a team and writing a dissertation. Her motto was "this too shall pass," but when the doctorate was done, she poured the same hours right back into the business. She admits she has essentially never taken a real day off, though this year she has started protecting her weekends. The reframe that stuck with her is that less is not laziness, and that not doing something does not make her unproductive when the business is still thriving. She is actively working on giving her executive team real authority so she stops being, in her words, a roadblock and a speed bump, which is also the beginning of a genuine succession plan. This episode explores: Building an entire business model by rejecting the standard retainer Why a clocked-hourly, bill-at-month-end model felt fairer to clients and to her Staying nimble enough to go dormant and restart without canceling a contract The real cost of growing to seven figures while finishing a doctorate Why "less is not laziness," and unlearning the grind-harder reflex Giving an executive team authority so the founder stops being the roadblock Knowing when and how to hire in a people-based service business How overpaying for salaries before the work exists can sink a firm Learning to sell someone else's skill set, not just your own Refusing to push a founder's work ethic onto the team Protecting boundaries and training clients to respect them Reframing imposter syndrome as a thought process you can control Why the real conversation lives underneath the situation, not in it If you are a founder or business owner who has become the bottleneck in your own company, this conversation offers a candid, practical look at delegating authority, setting boundaries, and building something that can thrive without you in every decision. Connect with me here: Website: https://www.kimmillerhershon.com LinkedIn:   / kmillerhershon   Newsletter: https://link.kimmillerhershon.com/wid... Webinar: https://webinar.kimmillerhershon.com/... Free Resource: The Delegation Reset: 12 moves to delegate better and live better, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xSxx... Guest Details: Name: Michelle Griffin, PhD Company: Griffin Resources Focus: Outsourced HR, payroll, and recruiting support for organizations nationwide (all 50 states), plus leadership development and complex HR challenges