When you’re building a business, hiring your first team member feels like a milestone — and it is. But it’s also something else entirely: a turning point in how you lead, how you grow, and how much risk you’re (often unknowingly) taking on.

In this week’s episode of Business Origin Stories, I sat down with Vicky Brown, longtime HR expert, founder of her own firm, and yes, a former opera singer, to talk about what really happens when founders start building teams… and why so many of them wait too long to get help.

Don’t Avoid HR Until It’s Too Late

Most founders don’t think they need HR. At least, not until something goes sideways. Maybe they get a legal notice. Maybe there’s a weird situation with a contractor. Maybe they just have a gut feeling that something’s off.

Vicky sees this all the time. Her company acts as an HR department for small and midsize businesses, and most of her clients show up after something’s already on fire.

But here’s the thing: HR isn’t just about compliance. It’s about building systems, supporting your people, and actually giving yourself space to lead. And it’s so much easier (and honestly, cheaper) to build it right the first time than to untangle a mess later.

That Contractor Might Actually Be an Employee

One of the biggest and most common mistakes founders make? 

Misclassifying employees as independent contractors.

It seems harmless enough. You don’t have to run payroll, the person agreed to the setup, and everyone’s happy. Except, that’s not how it works. Especially not in California.

Vicky walks us through the ABC Test and explains why hiring someone to do work that’s “core” to your business—like marketing, sales, or client service—might legally make them an employee, no matter what you both thought you agreed on.

The part most people miss is that it doesn’t matter what you meant to do. If you get it wrong, you’re still on the hook.

These things are fixable, but only if you’re willing to look at them before they become problems. That’s exactly what Vicky’s built her business around: helping founders lead with clarity, structure, and just enough support to stay grounded.

Why Growing a Team Means Growing Into a Leader

Hiring your first team member is the moment your role as a founder truly shifts from doing the work to leading the people who do it.

Vicky calls it a new muscle. Suddenly, you’re not the one wearing all the hats. You’re the one holding the vision, setting the tone, and creating the kind of environment where other people can thrive.

It can feel uncomfortable at first. But it’s also the exact shift that allows your business to grow beyond you.

From Opera to HR: Vicky’s Unexpected Origin Story

Vicky didn’t set out to start a business. In fact, she was happily working in corporate HR and performing with the LA Opera when a layoff in 2001 changed everything.

A former CEO asked if she could help him get the HR side of his new company set up. One favor turned into another, and before long, she realized she’d built a company.

She officially incorporated later that year. That client stayed with her for nearly a decade. And now, 25 years later, her firm supports small businesses all across the country.

Her background in opera may seem unrelated, but it gave her discipline, structure, and a deep respect for communication — skills she brings into her leadership and client work every single day.

What Vicky Wants You to Know

Here’s the advice she kept coming back to (and honestly, it’s gold):

• You don’t have to be an HR expert, but you absolutely need someone who is.
• Hiring is a legal decision, whether you realize it or not.
• Vision matters, and your team can’t follow what you don’t clearly communicate.
• Leadership is a role shift, not a personality trait.
• Creating space to think isn’t optional. It’s actually your job.

Want to hear the full conversation and get Vicky’s take on what modern team culture actually looks like, how to create systems before they’re urgent, and why she still recommends taking time to learn, pause, and ask for help?

🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

And don’t forget to grab Vicky’s free HR guide for small businesses right here.