Embracing Change: A Personal Reflection on Trust and Transformation

As I’ve shared before, one of the founding motivations behind HLA Talent was to create space for life’s meaningful moments; to build a business that doesn’t just serve clients, but reflects the values we hold close as people, parents, and partners. This past week, I experienced one of those moments first hand.

While my LinkedIn feed has been beautifully flooded with back-to-school photos children standing tall in freshly ironed uniforms, proud smiles, and hopeful eyes; closer to home, we’ve had our own quietly profound milestone. The “L” in HLA, my daughter Lily began her first week at a new school.

The Unexpected Invitation to Change

Just two days before the summer break, we received news that a space had opened at a school we felt would be a better long-term fit for her. It was a moment of opportunity but also one of complexity….we hadn’t told her she was on the waiting list! With her older sibling and close friends at her current school, she wasn’t seeking change in fact, she was thriving. So when the news came, it was unexpected! 

A curveball for sure and yet, it became a powerful lesson in trust.

Trust: The Quiet Strength Behind Every Transition

Trust is one of HLA Talent’s core values. It’s not just a word we use in client decks it’s a principle we live by. And last week, I saw it embodied in my six-year-old daughter.

With just 24 hours’ notice, she said goodbye to her class and teachers, packed up to spend the summer abroad and came back to the UK prepared to walk into a new school she’d never visited.

Her questions were simple but profound:

“Dad, what if I don’t like the food?”

“What if I don’t know where the toilets are?”

These weren’t just logistical concerns, they were expressions of vulnerability. And yet, she didn’t let them stop her. She stepped through the gates with quiet courage and open-hearted determination.

One week in, and the verdict came:

“I really like it here.”

Those five words calmed an anxious parent more than any school report ever could.

Change Is Unsettling. But It’s Also Where Growth Lives

At HLA Talent, we work with individuals and organisations navigating change every day: career transitions, cultural shifts, leadership evolution. And what I’ve learned this week is that the same principles apply whether you’re a CEO stepping into a new role or a child walking into a new classroom.

Change is unsettling. It asks us to let go of what’s familiar and trust in what’s possible. But when we meet it with openness, when we surround it with support, and when we anchor it in trust remarkable things happen.

So as we head into a new season, I invite you to reflect:

Where in your life or work are you being asked to embrace change?

And how can trust real, human trust be the bridge that carries you through?

At HLA Talent, we believe in building that bridge. For our clients, for our candidates, and for the little ones who remind us what courage really looks like that helps Build a Better Tomorrow

#GoLily