Testimonials

I felt like I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. Charlotte came with no other agenda but to help me stand back and get an overview and start planning with clarity.

In the beginning, there were 3 sole traders with complementary skills and an ethic of hard work. Their new studio, intriguing new name, edgy logo and new printer had cemented their joining. Those 3 sole traders were a ‘real business’. Or were they? Enter Aide de MD, smiling and shrewd, understanding and sharp, explaining why there was work to be done ON the business. It has seemed easy being guided through the maze of business setup, planning, people management, and internal systems. There’s been never ending tactics to manage the intricate elements of running the business, a business that we’ve wanted to mould to our own style. It’s obvious that Charlotte has a wide working knowledge of business, but what has fit us so well is her encouragement of our need to break moulds in our field. She’s guided us with true personality, innovation and human touch. Her sound advice and honest care has helped us to grow our real business well beyond our expectations, in both reputation and financial terms.

In 2010, after 20 years in business, I approached Charlotte to help us deal with some changes in our business and to gain objective advice on how to improve our staff management and develop our own skills. I wasn’t sure of the outcome as I was confident that we had systems in place. However, once the conversation started we realised where we could change to get better results. We worked on improving our internal systems; getting more out of our staff by listening and observing their skills and noticing the quiet achievers who were able to take more responsibility. This enabled us to delegate and gain more from our staff meetings and planning. I personally highly recommend Charlotte as a business consultant to help grow and develop a successful business and would love to have her permanently on my team. I realised that I was too comfortable and also how important it is to change with new staff, to continue to gain respect, and to improve communication with staff and partners. When you’re comfortable in your business is when you need a business consultant because you stop trying so hard. I’ve learnt a lot and gained better life balance so thank you Charlotte for reminding me what I wanted in the first place and showing me how to achieve it.

Charlotte came into my life via a close friend and mentor and I am so glad I took up her recommendation. As CEO of a small NFP with limited resources it is imperative that I keep my focus and Charlotte assists me in doing just that. Through her experience and expertise she steers me through my challenges, making sure I keep my focus both day to day and longer term. Charlotte challenges my thinking, makes me consider options I may not have otherwise, and reinforces my goals. She is a wonderful resource in my business for bouncing off ideas, no matter how obtuse. Thank you Charlotte, for being in my life.

Charlotte helped me to bring discipline and structure in my planning to enable me to better achieve my goals at Mission Australia and more importantly ensure that my work has high impact. She helped me build on what I had already achieved and to claim my authority. I particularly appreciated her willingness to journey with me to incorporate family, personal and other goals which has enhanced my effectiveness as a director of the not-for-profit boards on which I serve.

Lunge Yoga studio had been opened for about a year or so when I engaged Charlotte and at the time I thought things were running smoothly, but I knew there was space for improvement but not sure how to go about it or what needed improving. I always thought there was something I might not already know, that could make the business work better, earn more, etc, but beyond that also find more life balance as well – being in the Yoga and Natural Therapies business. In a relatively short time of working with Charlotte I saw a positive difference in how the business was run and also with my interactions with clients and staff. Running the business side of things felt a lot smoother and less challenging and best of all I found more time to bring back balance as a whole into my own life. This was very important to me to achieve both balances in business and personal affairs as this is the message I give to the clients at Lunge Studio; and so wanted this reflected in my own life. With Charlotte’s assistance the running of Lunge Studio business became a lot simpler and I feel that life-balance was restored as a result. Lunge Studio is about restoring a natural balance back into people lives. Once the business running became more efficient with Charlotte’s guidance I was able to restore life-balance as well.

When Charlotte first told me about her new business venture I was delighted that someone was finally offering this much needed and rare service in Australia. I have now worked on and off with Charlotte for two years plus and at all times found her able to grasp concepts quickly, offer intelligent solutions and above all, listen.

At the time Charlotte joined GOW, our business required someone to put in place some order and organisation around HR initiatives (employee reviews, training and development, etc), business services (legal, insurance, standard contract renewal, etc) and managing our business support team. Charlotte did a great job establishing systems and process/procedure across these business service related areas.

OneBuild Pty Ltd commissioned Aide de MD to assist a number of middle managers with their new roles in senior management. Charlotte was able to assist these managers in better understanding their new position descriptions and what was expected of them in a more senior position. Charlotte’s HR skills became apparent as she was able to get these managers to open up so that she was able to get to the core of any misgivings or stress about their new positions. The benefit for One Build and our new senior managers was that they became confident in their roles and had a sounding board if there were any uncertainties whilst knowing that there would be complete confidentiality. It is my belief that at least one of these managers may have found the transition to senior management a bridge too far without the assistance of Charlotte. All of these managers are still in their senior roles and performing extremely well. I would not hesitate in recommending Aide de MD for similar HR consulting.