catalyze-hr.com

Experienced HR Leadership tailored to the needs of growing companies

You have ambitious growth and transformation goals, but aren’t yet at the scale to justify a full-time HR leader in your company. Fractional HR leadership can be the perfect solution to help address your growing people challenges, including operational, cultural and strategic concerns, and position you for sustainable growth.

I provide fractional HR leadership (25-100% dedication) for Founders and CEOs with ambitious growth goals. I am based in Nashville, TN and open to remote, hybrid and in-person engagements including travel.

MBA, SHRM-SCP certified, formally trained in Change Management and Facilitation.

Mariko Miyamoto

Fractional HR Leader I People Team Builder I Interim HR I Talent Management I SHRM-SCP Certified I MBA I Change Champion I Culture Champion in M&A I Future of Work

To achieve the growth and impact a business needs to be successful, it needs exceptional Talent strategy and management. As a fractional HR lead, my job is to solve for your biggest pain points. From being the first stop for employees, to recruiting and onboarding the right talent, to compensation modeling, I am uniquely positioned to help build an extraordinary employment brand.

Having worn many hats in my career, I’m acutely in tune with what it takes to make a great culture thrive. As a former practitioner, manager, department leader, and agency leader, I know that it’s the people who make a business successful. Whether it’s a human-first employee relations philosophy to navigating change management, every company needs a leader who can solve across all facets of an organization.

I am in a unique position to solve not only HR problems but operational and cultural, and strategic concerns across an organization.

MBA, SHRM-SCP certified, formally trained in Coaching, Change Management and Facilitation.

testimonials

what my clients say

"Mariko really leveled up and professionalized our HR function. She was more than just the HR lead, she was a true partner. And it was more than just identifying risk and avoiding pitfalls - it was also identifying opportunities to advance our process and culture overall.”

"Mariko is a business-minded people leader. She has a healthy approach to marrying the needs of the business with the needs of a people-first organization. Mariko's attention to detail has been greatly appreciated as we mature our people policies and processes. I consider Mariko an excellent partner - she takes the time to understand the needs of the business, pushes back respectfully when she has a differing point of view, and helps us get to the best possible outcome."

"Mariko has brought professionalism to our firm and helped for us to streamline our operations and processes. I have come to rely on her partnership and appreciate her style and ability to meet us where we are. She is the perfect partner to me and I can reply on her to tell me what I need to know."

"Mariko has been an exceptional partner, particularly during our startup phase. She is highly collaborative, consistently stepping in to support the team and contribute wherever her expertise is needed. Her versatility extends well beyond HR, bringing a pragmatic, business-minded approach to every challenge. Mariko is positive, engaging, and a natural problem solver — someone who adds tangible value while making it easy for others to succeed. Her clear communication, professionalism, and practical mindset were critical as we built and grew the company."

"Mariko has been an incredible HR partner and mentor, guiding me through the rough waters every business owner faces with wisdom, empathy, and insight. Through growing pains and an unpredictable economy, she’s helped me and our team navigate change with confidence and clarity. Thanks to her expertise, we’ve built a strong foundation of thoughtful policies formalized into a comprehensive handbook that supports both our people and our mission."

"Mariko is a top-notch consultant. She has served two of our clients and always received rave reviews. She is resourceful and strategic, and is a fantastic partner to her clients!"

"Mariko makes us look good! Her work ethic and work product are really stellar. She is a trustworthy and very fun partner to work with!"

The kinds of things clients need from me

Taking HR matters off the plate of CEOs and senior leaders, acting as HR Partner

employee-facing, solving problems, providing solutions, building out the team you need long-term, adding process that supports the culture and values of the firm

Employee Relations

providing employees with the main point of contact available to them on demand.

handling employee concerns, performance issues, performance plans, employee investigations as a result of a complaint to reduce liability and change systemic issues

Compliance & Risk Mitigation

supporting business strategy by having a handbook hat reflects your policies and practices.

having the appropriate employee agreements, including separation agreements when applicable is critical

Staff Changes

businesses grow and change. having the right person in the right seat is key to all businesses. Helping CEOs move people, adapt roles or exit people is important to get right – for all those who stay and for the departing employees as well.

Candidate-centered full-cycle recruitment

attracting and finding the right talent, designing a hiring strategy and recruiting and onboarding new hires.

freelance, intern and apprentice programs to grow talent from within and supplement externally as needed

Internal Communications

developing employee communications plans particularly through periods of change – new strategies, new launches, and/or team changes, post RIF

Performance Management

creating performance reviews that are clear, drive results, are employee-driven, and inspire behaviors that create success

Employee Experience

developing cultural rituals and events to reinforce values & behaviors that drive business results

Why Fractional? Top 3 advantages

1. Frees up internal resources: This is a flexible and adaptable relationship to support your growing company’s unique needs. A Fractional leader is an embedded team member and helper, not a consultant. They fit into your company culture and are invested in your success. At some point, a founding leadership team starts spending too much time IN the business and not enough time ON the business. Bring someone with experience and skill so you can focus on growing your business.

2. Leverage experience and wisdom: Hiring Fractional means you get an experienced and fully trained contributor who is bringing a fresh set of eyes to your company. They can provide you with objective feedback and fresh ideas to unlock even more from your business.

3. Cost-effective: Carve out a mission and scope that creates immediate measurable value to the business – without a full-time salary and health benefits, vacation, etc. costs. You pay for impact on the business and avoid the cost of full-time staff. When you have the right people in the right seats, you get more done with your resources.

How I work

Fractional HR Leader

Fractional HR Leader. Leverage wisdom and experience in your team without having to hire full-time. Handle all day-to-day operations and help you build for the future.

Interim HR Leadership

Interim HR Leadership – to cover a leave of absence and/or coach a great team how to lead this function on their own.

HR Consulting

HR Consulting – project-based. Put me on a mission or an important initiative. Have me take over the people-related internal issues that distract you from driving growth. I can establish practices, process, routines to allow people operations to run more in the background and create more focus on your business and customers.

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