Your people operate the systems, serve your customers, and bring your strategy to life. How you employ, lead and support them isn’t separate from business performance: it creates it.
Yet somewhere along the way, HR practices became separated from the business itself. Somewhere between the compliance obligations, the policies nobody reads and the fear of getting it wrong, HR became something small businesses dread: red tape, a cost, a risk. A thing to deal with later.
But there’s a better way.
At Hypha, we believe looking after people is how great businesses are built.
That means more than writing a policy or handing over a contract. It means understanding what the business is working to achieve, creating the foundations to support it, and embedding the behaviours, systems and leadership practices that make those goals a reality.
Businesses thrive when their people can do their best work.
Every business is a people business
• WHY HYPHA EXISTS
• the name
Hypha (n.) · “HIGH-fuh”
An invisible network that connects and creates a thriving ecosystem.
We built Hypha to make those connections in business, linking your people, leadership and purpose to drive growth.
• ABOUT ME
Hi there, I’m Kylie!
Credentials
- Harvard Business School - 2026 AI Transformation for Leaders
- Swinburne University - 2013 Human Resources Management (HD)
- Member Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI)
I've spent more than fifteen years working inside businesses, seeing what happens when people and business strategy work brilliantly together, and what happens when they don't.
I've built and led people functions through growth, change and complexity, working closely with founders, CEOs and leadership teams in not-for-profit, ASX-listed and global organisations.
When I started working with smaller businesses, I found the same risks without the scaffolding: good owners, good intentions, and a choice between two kinds of help. Packages of policies they don't need, or advice lines that don't know their business.
So I built Hypha to be the third option: a strategic partner that helps small businesses link their practical foundations with their people, leadership and strategic thinking to make them thrive.
Not to “tick a box”, or to look good on a careers page, but because people who are connected to what they're doing push the business further.
The goal isn't to have good HR. The goal is to build a good business.
Outside work, I'm a qualified yoga instructor and always moving, whether that's Pilates, hiking, skiing or going on a run. I've always been drawn to learning, growth and pushing the limits of what's possible, and that same curiosity is at the heart of how I work.
I'm based in Melbourne with my cavoodle, Basil, and we work with small businesses across Australia.
Track Record
• EXPERIENCE
Health & aged care
I spent seven years in health and aged care, including at St Vincent’s, one of Australia’s largest providers. I managed union relationships, applied nine enterprise agreements across three states, represented the organisation in the Fair Work Commission and led four acquisitions in a single year.
Engineering & professional services
At Arcadis, I led a national pay and classification review for more than 1,000 employees, making sure every role was paid competitively for the industry.
Energy & resources
I spent six years across oil, gas and renewables. At Westside, an ANZ-based oil and gas producer, I introduced workforce planning so the team could scale with project demand, and kept people steady through COVID-19 and oil price volatility.
At TotalEnergies, one of the world’s largest energy companies, I set up a shared HR service for three Australian subsidiaries and introduced a new HR system.
Global & ASX-listed companies
For an ASX-listed medicinal cannabis start-up, I built the HR and health and safety function from scratch across Australia, the UK and Canada, and redesigned processes to save more than $313,000 over two years.
Start-ups & growth
For a battery energy storage start-up, I built the people, safety and business operations that made the business investment-ready. That included the organisation structure, the full employee lifecycle from recruitment to exit, and a careers page to support 50% growth.
Before founding Hypha, I led people functions in some of Australia's most heavily regulated industries.
The experience behind the advice
The obligations a small business carries are the same ones these organisations manage.
The only thing that changes is the scale of the answer.
• WHAT WE BELIEVE
Good intentions should become good practice
A few things that shapes our advice:
We tell you what you need to hear.
If something in your business puts you at risk, we'll say so plainly, and we'll tell you what to do about it.
We understand your business before we recommend anything.
We start with how you work because advice that fits is advice that gets used.
People practices should support performance.
HR should earn its place. Every recommendation is weighed against what it costs, what it protects and what it makes possible.
We work alongside you.
We work with you up close, linking your people, your purpose and the business you're building.