Andy Storch

In 2016, I had a young family and good job working for a great company. On paper everything looked perfect, but inside I felt like something was missing. After some deep reflection and a lot of personal development, I realized that I had been stagnant and the biggest thing missing was growth. 

So I went on a journey of personal reflection, growth, and development as well as exploration to truly own and build a career that I loved. My journey created the framework that became my first book, Own Your Career Own Your Life, which I published in November, 2020 to teach and inspire others to own their careers as well. 

Because while not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur (I love it for some reason), but I do believe that everyone wants to feel happy and fulfilled in their career and everyone can benefit from taking more ownership and being more proactive in building their careers as well as their personal brands. 

That book was a game-changer for me and I've gone on to follow my dreams of becoming a keynote speaker and trainer teaching people to own their careers and prepare for the future as well as build their personal brands to achieve more success. 

Today I speak in organizations around the world to improve engagement, performance, retention, and career mobility. I also love working with leaders to teach them how to support and coach their people to own their careers and achieve more. 

My newest book is called Own Your Brand, Own Your Career (with Mike Kim) and is a bestseller on Amazon.   And I host two popular podcasts: 
The Talent Development Hot Seat
The Own Your Career Show 

If you are looking for a dynamic speaker to motivate and inspire your people, look no further. I'd love to work with you. And if you want to hear more from me, I also host two popular podcasts: 
🎙️The Talent Development Hot Seat - weekly interviews with L&D leaders and gurus
🎙️The Andy Storch Show - Daily short hits of experience and insight to help you own your life

My speaking topics include: 
🎤 Owning Your Career and Preparing for the Future
🎤 Owning Your Personal Brand
🎤  Setting Yourself up for Future Success
🎤  Building a Mindset of Growth and Resilience 
🎤  Modern Leadership - how to be a great leader in today's modern world 

If you are looking for a dynamic speaker for your next event, reach out and let's talk. 

Learn more at andystorch.com or reach out to book something.

Author and Speaker

I am on a mission to teach and inspire more people to own their careers. I do this via my book, podcast, speaking engagements, and training program. Companies hire me to teach their people how to own their careers so that they are more confident, engaged, have more conversations with their managers, and stay with the organization longer, which saves the company thousands of dollars. 

I've worked with companies across multiple industries and spoken to employees all over the world. 

I have worked with several different organizations and pride myself on a fundamental understanding of what is needed to drive successful career development and growth.

Whenever I decide I want to do something big like write a book, start a podcast, host a conference, start a business, or become a keynote speaker, I always start with a vision and then ask what I need to learn. And who I can learn from. 

Then I go find those learning resources and people and invest my time and money in learning as much as I can from them, and implementing the lessons.

Why wing it when there are so many great learning resources out there. 

When I decided to start my first podcast in 2017, I took an online course and reached out to some podcasts in my network to ask for their advice.

When I decided to write my first book in 2020, I took an online course and reached out to several authors in my network. 

And when I wanted to become a keynote Speaker, I read books about it and started studying what other speakers do to be successful. 

It’s the same for anything else. No point in reinventing the wheel or trying to make it all up ourselves. This is why it’s so important to invest in continuous learning and build your network to set yourself up for future success. 

I have chapters on each of those topics in my first book, Own Your Career Own Your Life and plan on writing a new book this year about how to use these things to truly own your future. 

Do you invest in learning resources when you are ready to do something new? What are you learning this year?

Btw this post is also the subject today’s (short) episode on The Andy Storch Show. Check it out!

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In 2018 I started The Talent Development Hot Seat Podcast as a way to connect with and learn from Talent Development leaders. Along the way I was also going to L&D and HR conferences to meet people and grow my network and I found them all to be so boring. 

So in 2019 my friend Bennett Phillips and I hatched a very audacious idea - why don't we host our own conference? 

Neither of us had ever hosted any events before but we figured we knew lots of great facilitators and had pretty good networks, how hard could it be? 

Well it turned out to be way harder than we anticipated, but luckily we were a great team and got a lot of help from partners like BTS and Advantage Performance Group and from wonderful people like Maggie B., Lauren V. Davis, Michelle W., and Jonathan Hodge. 

We also landed some amazing keynote speakers like Josh Bersin, Liz Wiseman, Christine DiDonato, Julie Winkle Giulioni, and 📚Michael Bungay Stanier, thanks to help from those partners and our network. 

With all of that help and great speakers, we managed to persuade over 100 amazing talent leaders to buy tickets and attend. But first we had to reschedule because a wildfire came into the town and the hotel was evacuated. 

But the Talent Development Think Tank conference finally happened in January, 2020, and it was a huge hit. Everyone said they loved it. Why? Because we recruited great talent and we made it all about them (not us). 

It has been six years since that conference and I'm still so proud of us for pulling it off. Two guys who had never run anything like that before. And it proves that we can accomplish just about anything with the right resources, connections, and support as well as a growth mindset and the willingness to try. 

Hosting that conference gave me the confidence to go launch the Talent Development Think Tank Community, publish my first book, and become a keynote speaker among other things. And I've hosted it twice more since then. 

Now I'm thinking about hosting my next event and I still get nervous but I know what's possible when I have the right vision, get the right support, and just try. 

What are you proud of doing despite having no experience?

I believe in treating people with kindness, empathy, and respect. And on this MLK Day, I wish we had more people who believed in the same. That doesn't mean I don't get angry or frustrated about things. But I don't see the point of leading with hatred or treating others poorly. 

There will always be things and people we disagree with or that cause us to feel afraid of losing money, status, or love. But I promise that when we elevate others, we all rise up as humanity and that there is more than enough money, love, and success to go around. 

This is why we need to work to raise others up, not beat them down. 

Too many people let their ego dictate their decisions (we all have one) or lead with hate when they feel threatened for some reason. I don't want to be that way. I'd rather lead with kindness and respect. 

What about you? 

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 🙏🏼

One of the most common goals I hear every year is: “I want to read more books this year.” Here's a simple shift I made that resulted in reading a lot more books (and the topic of today's episode on The Andy Storch Show):

I always loved reading and wanted to read more books, but every night I would open a nonfiction book when I went to bed. Then I would read two pages and fall asleep. 

The result? I read on average about 2 books a year. Not great. 

Everything changed when I read The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and made one gigantic shift:

I moved nonfiction reading from the evening to the morning. 
But not for long blocks of time. Just 15–20 minutes each morning. A cup of coffee and a quiet space. No distractions. 

One chapter a day adds up fast.

That single habit took me from two to 25–30 books a year.

But there is another really important shift that needs to be made as well and I'm recognizing it again lately: 

We need to remove distractions, and the primary one is the smartphone. 

When my phone is nearby, my attention is shorter or nonexistent.
When it’s in another room (or on airplane mode), I actually read longer.

So if you want to read more (especially nonfiction) this year, try reading for 15 minutes in the morning with your phone off or in another room. 

Bonus tips:
📚 I read fiction at night to unwind and I love it.
📵 And my phone never sleeps in my bedroom.

If you want to read more nonfiction books this year, you don't need more focus or willpower. You need a better plan and fewer distractions. 

If reading more in 2026 is one of your goals, start here:
✔️ 15 minutes each morning before the day gets started
✔️ Fewer distractions
✔️ Try reading fiction at night to unwind

That’s it.

If you prefer audio, reading more is the topic of today's short, 5-minute episode on my short-form podcast, The Andy Storch Show. Check it out. 

Curious—what’s the biggest thing that gets in the way of your reading right now?

Owning your Personal Brand is not about becoming an influencer. It’s about being intentional with how you show up at work and the reputation you build as a result. 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking and sharing insights with employees at Glaukos Corporation as part of their Glaukos World Cafe series and we had an important discussion about the components of building an owning a personal brand and the benefits of being more intentional. 

We discussed the importance of
🔷 Self-reflection to build self-awareness 
🔷 How you show up and interact with others 
🔷 Keeping your shoes on in meetings (IYKYK) 
🔷 Acting like an Intrapraneur and proactively solving problems 
🔷 Leveraging LinkedIn to build an external brand 

I am very passionate about this important topic because I know that doing quality work is not enough to attract opportunities in today’s corporate world.

We have to be mindful of how we are showing up and who knows about the work we are doing. 

Thanks to Molly (Ottele) Sype, MS and team for inviting me to speak and to everyone at Glaukos who showed up and engaged. I would love to hear your takeaways. 

I am rooting for each of you to build strong, intentional brands. 

And for anyone who didn’t get to attend you can learn the same principals by reading my new book, Own Your Brand, Own Your Career, that I published with Mike Kim last year. We also have a free workbook on our website (link in comments). 

Cheers! 

#PersonalBrand #Ownyourbrand #ownyourcareer #GlaukosWorldCafe

I have been speaking more in companies about personal brand and one of my favorite moments of the sessions is when I ask people to think about someone they have loved working with… and someone they have not enjoyed working with.

The room or the chat window usually lights up with impassioned comments explaining why they loved or hated working with someone and the comments tell an important story.

Because “brand” isn’t your logo.
It isn’t your LinkedIn headline.
It isn’t your job title.

Your brand is the experience of YOU.

It’s what people say (and feel) after:

🔷 a meeting with you
🔷 a project with you
🔷 an email from you
🔷 a tough conversation with you

And here’s the part most people don't understand:

You already have a brand. And even if you’re not intentional, you’re still building one… just by default.

In my keynotes and workshops, we often discuss three simple pillars:

➡️ Self-awareness - Know what you stand for, what energizes you, and what you want to be known for.
➡️ Your interactions at work - The little things matter more than we want to admit: reliability, curiosity, follow-through, how you show up in meetings, how you make others feel.
➡️ Visibility / thought leadership - Not “becoming an influencer.” Just making it easier for the right people to understand your value.

One of the best comments I heard recently in Q&A was this:
“I used to assume people would just know the good work I do. And it’s just not true. People are busy.”

Exactly.

Doing great work is table stakes.
Being known for it is what creates opportunity.

If your organization wants to help employees:

💥 take ownership of their careers
💥 communicate their value without being “salesy”
💥 build credibility and internal influence
💥 show up with more intention and confidence

…I’d love to come speak to your team.

#personalbranding #careerdevelopment #leadership #talentdevelopment #learninganddevelopment

How do you balance humility with building your personal brand? How do you make sure people know about your work without bragging? How does someone who is introverted and shy get past the fear of self-promotion? 

These are questions I get asked a lot and they are not easy to answer. But the are important to ponder. 

Because there is a myth that if you just put your head down and work hard, you'll be rewarded. But the truth is that quality work is the table stakes. But you also need people to know about your work and accomplishments. 

The other myth is that if you talk about your work, people will be annoyed or think you are arrogant. But that's also not true. Because it's all about your approach. 

I once heard that the difference between confidence and arrogance is that confidence is believing in the value you provide and arrogance is believing you have nothing else to learn from anyone. Is that true about you? 

It's ok to be confident in your value and proud of the work that you do. And as long as you know that you still have more to learn (we all do), it's doubtful that anyone will see you as arrogant. 

You can remain humble and still be proud, be excited, and talk often about the work you are doing. The things you're learning. 

And no, you don't ever have to post pictures of yourself doing the "superman" pose on LinkedIn. That's just a bonus :-) 

Are you building your personal brand? 

You can find more insights and concrete, actionable advice, in my book, Own Your Brand, Own Your Career, that I wrote with Mike Kim. Find it on Amazon.

Hi I’m Sam.

I help HR consultants, Fractional HRs, Executive Coaches and Benefit Specialists to generate consistent revenue from the right clients.

I do it with MindAbility Business Club, where we:

- Have bi-weekly calls to build your business knowledge
- Get you unstuck from the day-to-day challenges
- Give you a community you can rely on for questions and support
- Encourage collaboration with other specialised business owners
- Share access to our library our training resources

All with the aim of helping you build a consistent business you can rely on.

Some of our community member wins:

🚀 Increased a contract from $10,000 to $25,000
🚀 Increased revenue from $9,000 to $18,000 per month
🚀 Gone from $0 → $270+ revenue in the first 9 months
🚀 Make more money whilst reducing hours worked by 30%
🚀 Replaced their $120k corporate income in less than 3 months

If you need support tailoring our expertise and advice to help you grow your HR / People business…

Send me a DM to sign up for the MindAbility Business Club!

Sam Eaton

How to build a $1M HR consultancy in 2026

without burning out or racing to the bottom on price.

Most HR consultants don't fail because they lack experience. They fail because they rebuild corporate life under a new logo.

1. They chase clients instead of building a business model.
2. They take every project instead of creating predictable income.
3. They mistake "busy" for "steady."

That's what we're changing.

27th January, 5 PM (UK) / 12 PM (EST), I'm running a live Masterclass for HR consultants and coaches who are ready to scale beyond their calendar with something more stable, and a lot more satisfying.

➙ We'll strip away the fluff
➙ Rebuild your model for steady income and
➙ Give you the clarity to scale with confidence

All this without losing your sanity in the process.

If you're ready for predictability, structure, and calm growth…
Comment "PAYCHECK" below and I'll send you the link, no strings attached

You left corporate to start an HR business - I'll make sure you never go back

HR businesses are rapidly joining AI communities right now.
And on the surface, that makes complete sense.

People want to learn.
They want to stay relevant.
They want to do right by their clients.

What I’m noticing, though, is a growing gap between what’s being taught and what HR leaders actually need in practice.

There’s a lot of focus on tools and prompts.
Much less on client acquisition, workflow design, automation, and reducing manual workload in a way that actually scales a business.

AI in HR is about being trusted.
And the next phase of AI in HR will be practical, commercial, and measurable.
And it will look very different from what most communities are pushing today.

More soon.

The moment most HR proposals go out, the deal starts to drift.

Not because the client “lost interest”, in fact, it’s because your proposal made it easy to delay.

It’s usually a “pick one” menu, five pages of context, and a soft line like “Let me know your thoughts.” So the buyer does what any busy operator does. They park it. They mean to come back. They don’t.

Then the founder starts the awkward chase. Follow-ups, “just checking in”, more calls, more tweaks. More manual work. Same outcome.

A proposal should close the loop, not open a new one.

Here’s the fix I want you to try for 30 days:
Don’t send proposals, book the next step (walk-through).
Keep the proposal concise.
Minimal outcome. Minimal scope. Straightforward pricing.
A clear decision deadline, and walk them through on the call.

You’ll lose fewer deals to silence, and you’ll get hours back every week.

FYI: I'm hosting huge Masterclass this week on the topic "From trading time to $1M HR Business”
If you want to get ahead and make 2026 your breakout year, DM me “Masterclass”

(Only a few places left)

“I can do that too” might be the most expensive sentence in HR consulting.

I hear it from smart HR founders all the time. A client asks for “one more thing” and the founder says yes, because they don’t want friction. They want to look easy to work with.

Then the week gets eaten. Custom work, extra calls, new deliverables, constant tweaks. The team gets confused because the scope keeps moving. The founder jumps back into manual work to keep quality high. Margin quietly disappears.

That sentence turns your offer into a buffet. Clients stop buying a defined outcome. They start buying access to you.

The fix? Be clear (It doesn’t make you tough to work with)

Have a default scope that you sell hard. Anything outside it becomes a paid add-on with a price and a timeline, or a separate project, or a clean no. No debating on WhatsApp.

--
FYI: I'm hosting a huge Masterclass in a few days on the topic "From trading time to $1M HR Business”

If you want to get ahead, and make 2026 your breakout year, DM me “Masterclass”

(Only a few places left)

Most AI advice for HR is just screenshots of ChatGPT.

“Look, it wrote a policy.”
“Look, it drafted a job ad.”
“Look, it summarised a meeting.”

Nice. But you’re still the one doing the work.

Implementation is when your week gets lighter. When follow-ups happen without you remembering. When proposals don’t need three rewrites. When reporting isn’t a late-night job. When the admin stops eating the hours you should be using to lead, sell, or switch off.

Screenshots don’t change a business. Workflows do.

--
FYI: We hosted a huge Masterclass yesterday on the topic "From trading time to $1M HR Business”

If you missed it and want the replay, simply DM me “Replay” and I’ll send it over.

Does this first week already feel like we have jumped straight to June?

And honestly, how good is that feeling.

This week I spoke with more than 50 people, and what stood out was the energy. So many founders and leaders genuinely excited about what they are building, where they are heading, and how they want this year to feel, not just what they want it to produce. Those conversations are always a privilege, and they remind me why I love this work.

Now it is my turn to slow things down a little. A bit of rest and recovery, plenty of walks, some proper downtime, and a couple of good fiction books waiting patiently on the shelf. Wishing you all a very happy Saturday, and space to enjoy it in your own way.

--
As a small note before I sign off, I'm hosting a huge Masterclass in a few days on the topic "From trading time to $1M HR Business”
If you want to get ahead, and make 2026 your breakout year, DM me “Masterclass”

(Only a few places left)

I see a lot of HR businesses delivering constantly and still feeling behind financially.

Yesterday I met a HR consultancy founder who said, “We’re slammed.”
Then she slowly added, “But I’m not paying myself what I should.”

This combo usually means one thing: You are selling effort, not outcomes.

You are winning work, but the margin is bleeding out through “just a quick call”, custom proposals, bespoke deliverables, and most harming, “Founders doing the hard-manual parts because no one else can.”

You stay busy, but the business is stagnant.
Busy is not proof you have a strong offer. It is often proof you have weak boundaries, and a shit ton of manual workload.

If you want profit, tighten three screws (This is exactly what I told her):
A clear scope, a paid diagnostic or minimum fee, and a delivery & growth system that doesn’t stall if you take a week off

--
FYI: I'm hosting huge Masterclass next week on "From trading time to $1M HR Business”

If you want to get ahead, and make 2026 your breakout year, DM me “Masterclass”

(Only a few places left)

Most HR founders I know don’t fear sales. They fear sounding desperate.

They’ll do great delivery. They’ll handle tough clients. They’ll fix a messy team situation. No problem.

But the moment it’s time to follow up, ask for the meeting, or talk about price, they freeze. Not because they can’t sell. Because they don’t want to look needy.

So they hide behind “relationships”. They wait for referrals. They post vague content. They tell themselves the market is slow.

Meanwhile the pipeline goes quiet and they end up doing more manual work to “make up for it”, custom proposals, free consults, extra deliverables. Busy again. But revenue still stagnant.

One thing I learned after building multiple businesses is confident follow-up doesn’t sound desperate. It sounds organised.

Desperate is chasing at the end of the month because you avoided simple pipeline habits all month.

Decide your follow-up rules in advance. “I follow up 3 times over 10 days. Then I close the loop.” and stop making it emotional.

--
FYI: I'm hosting huge Masterclass This week on the topic "From trading time to $1M HR Business”

If you want to get ahead, and make 2026 your breakout year, DM me “Masterclass”

(Only a few places left)

The HR founder calendar is weirdly predictable.

Week 1: you feel on top of things. Calls booked. A couple warm leads. You think, “Okay, we’re back.”

Week 2: delivery starts shouting. A client wants “one small tweak”. A proposal needs rewriting. Someone on the team pings you for approval. You end up doing the manual work because it’s faster than explaining it.

Week 3: you’re deep in ops. You still reply to DMs, still post, still “keep an eye” on the pipeline, but nothing is actually being pushed forward. Follow-ups slip. Outreach dies.

Week 4: panic week. Next month looks thin. You scramble, discount, take on messy work, and promise timelines you’ll regret.

Then you repeat the month and call it “seasonality”.
It’s not seasonality. It’s founder-dependency.

--
FYI: Tomorrow, I'm hosting a huge Masterclass on the topic "From trading time to $1M HR Business”

If you want to get ahead, and make 2026 your breakout year, DM me “Masterclass”

(Only a few places left)

Chasing overdue invoices feels awkward in HR because your whole brand is “relationships”.

So you wait. You soften it. You hint. Then two weeks pass and now it’s even more awkward.

Here’s how to chase without damaging the relationship. Keep it calm, assume positive intent, and make the next step clear.

Message 1 (Day 1 overdue):
“Hey [Name], quick one. Invoice #[X] for [£/USD] was due on [date]. Can you confirm if there’s no technical issue?”

Message 2 (Day 4):
“Just bumping this. If it’s stuck with finance, happy to resend or add any PO details. What date should I put in my diary?”

Message 3 (Day 7):
“Sharing for clarity, we pause delivery when invoices go past 7 days overdue. As soon as payment is scheduled, we continue from where we left off. Can you confirm the payment date today?”

No making it emotional and long paragraphs. You’re being professional.

--
FYI: I'm hosting huge a Masterclass today on the topic "From trading time to $1M HR Business”

If you want to get ahead, and make 2026 your breakout year, register now: https://lnkd.in/eyNU6eFs

(Only a few places left)

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