How To Lead a Small Team Without Losing the Human Side with Yael Eiserike | FoundHer Rising S01 E36

Most advice about growing a service business assumes bigger is the goal. But what happens when you've built something good, you have a small team, and you realize that going massive would break the exact thing that makes the work worth doing?

Yael Eiserike left a career in law to become a therapist, then built a private practice serving attorneys and high-achieving professionals. Today she leads a small team and is deliberate about keeping it that way. In this conversation she and Christine Hakkola get into the real mechanics of that choice: when to hire, how to decide, which clients to turn down, and how to keep the human part of leadership intact once you're no longer working alone.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

👉🏻 You do not need to become an expert in every part of your business. Hiring specialists early costs less than the hours you burn learning what they already know.

👉🏻 The most useful hiring filter is trust, not credentials. If someone makes you feel foolish for asking a question, you will stop asking, and the questions you stop asking become the problems you discover too late.

👉🏻 Boundaries are not the opposite of being humane. Clearly communicated limits are what make warmth reliable for the people who work with you.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 — Introduction

5:20 — The Real Reason She Left a Job She Liked

10:33 — Why Working Inside Someone Else's Practice Came First

16:16 — Hire Experts Instead of Becoming One

21:27 — Building Around a Niche You Actually Come From

26:31 — Two Team Members Two Completely Different Needs

31:41 — Why Boundaries Are Not the Opposite of Humane

CONNECT WITH YAEL EISERIKE

Website: https://yaeleiserike.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaeleiserike

CONNECT WITH CHRISTINE HAKKOLA

Website: hakkolahorizons.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-hakkola

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Interested in being a guest on FoundHer Rising? Apply through the link on HakkolaHorizons.com.

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