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My Approach

Ashton Blaha, Owner & Consultant

I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. My grandparents, parents, and siblings have all owned or run businesses and carry that very entrepreneur spirit. That shapes how I see HR, not as a function that exists alongside the business, but as one that sits at the center of it. ​ I've spent over a decade building People infrastructure across both ends of the spectrum, starting at a global financial institution with 10,000+ employees, then moving into scaling startups across real estate technology, healthcare, and identity security. I've built HR functions from scratch, run M&A integrations, implemented systems, designed career and compensation frameworks, and set up international hiring infrastructure. The through-line across all of it: companies need People infrastructure that actually supports how they're trying to operate.   I started AB Consulting to bring that experience to companies that are growing, changing, and doing meaningful work, without the overhead of a full-time hire.

Beliefs that ground my work.

HR is a business function, not a support function.  The best People leaders operate like a CFO operates, with data, accountability, and a real point of view on the business. Without that, it's just HR for HR's sake. â€‹

 

The strategy is only as good as the infrastructure underneath it. Most People initiatives fail at execution, not design. Having a clear philosophy matters. Having the systems and processes to actually run it is what makes it real.​

 

The right People leader isn't always a permanent one. For a specific challenge or a defined stretch of work, senior People judgment doesn't have to come with a full-time seat. It's a fit question, not a budget constraint.​

 

Good HR is right-sized, not one-size-fits-all. What works at 500 people breaks at 50. What's built for a large enterprise can crush a growing company. The work has to be designed for where you actually are.

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