Who we are.
The values our team commits to:
Daring to Disrupt: We challenge the status quo and seek groundbreaking solutions.
Courageous Innovation: We embrace bold ideas and conscientiously push boundaries.
Standing Up for Diversity: We champion inclusive environments and opportunities for all.
Valuing Progress Over Perfection: We prioritize building and flying our plane simultaneously.
Our mutli-disciplinary team brings depth and empathy. We’ve guided ventures from Series A to Forturne 50 and led organizations trhough aware-winning transformation.
We believe in levelling the playing field for founders, innovators and entrepreneurs and we hold our ourselves to that standard.
Meet our creators.
James – Founder & Head of Talent
James Burke powers HPP’s evolution. He founded The Ladder in 2004, then boldly rebranded 10+ years on to expand the mission. He then co-created Perform IQ with PhD-level psychologists, blending performance science with predictive analytics, fine-tuning it into a series of masterclasses for scale-ups, PE/VC, and digital businesses.
Never one to sit still, James also devised and launched People-as-a-Service with Australia’s foremost HR leaders. Pushing further, he co-founded Growth-as-a-Service & Forebrite with Vlad, leaning into software and AI early on to help entrepreneurs, disruptors, and innovators pull their biggest growth levers. In his world, the power of new technology means he’s just getting started.
Off the tools, you’ll find him learning the art of renovation, enjoying a Guinness, working out, or flailing about in the water still trying to surf.
Sophie - Head of People Strategy
Sophie Needham anchors the centre of excellence behind our People Practice. Authentic and outcomes-driven, and a champion of the business case for DE&I, she’s our go-to for HR strategy, org design, and change initiatives, with a wealth of experience across tech, digital, media, and consulting.
Her superpower is turning ambiguity into actionable plans that deliver impact. A sharp communicator and hands-on operator, she has a knack for aligning people strategy to business goals, building high-performing teams, and lifting engagement across the full talent lifecycle through cleverly devised and beautifully executed initiatives.
A confidante to CEOs and exec teams, outside of work Sophie recharges with family, the outdoors, live music, and new dining finds.
Fay - Senior People Partner
Fay Theiss builds talent operating systems for innovation ventures, scale-up & PE portfolio companies, turning messy change into high-functioning teams and fit-for-purpose systems. A champion our PaaS offering, she expertly diagnoses where organisations get stuck so results land.
Her craft blends strategy and execution. Fay has stood up HR from scratch, hardwiring systems and operating rhythms through workforce planning, success profiles, performance frameworks, and manager coaching that turns expectations into habits. She’s also at home rolling out ATS/HRIS and analytics, architecting leadership and onboarding initiatives, and rebooting the employee experience end-to-end.
In possession of Brazilian, Italian and Australian passports, Fay is perhaps unsurprisingly a hybrid-work advocate, our self-appointed cultural ambassador and resident bon vivant.
Sam - Head of Client Strategy
Sam Yee is our Head of Client Strategy and leads HPP’s Fractional team. Her superpower is turning complexity into competitive advantage. With roots in data & analytics, market & customer research, sales & marketing, and digital product development, Sam turns signal into strategy and strategy into momentum.
Alongside her portfolio career and 15+ years in digital media, sport & entertainment, Sam has steered digital transformations, unlocked industry-defining product-led growth, and helped sports start-ups to reimagine the future. Disruptive technology industries like HR, health, education, and sports are her jam.
A trusted coach and mentor who sets crisp priorities and lands outcomes, Sam is known for her insatiable curiosity and contagious energy. The latter extends to being a true-blue Aussie and die-hard Sydney sports fan.
Vlad – Head of Growth
Vlad Mehakovic is the kind of growth strategist that founders and exec teams keep on speed dial. Part creative technologist, data analyst, innovator, and strategic marketer, he brings a particularly unique breadth & depth of experience from leadership roles that have spanned Series A through to the ASX 100.
A long-time ally of James, Vlad co-built Forebrite’s early prototypes with ventures like Laundromap, Providoor, MoleMap, MedView and Hanrob to crack product-market fit. He breaks down the barriers to scale by engineering winnable growth strategies and driving profitable revenue with a ruthless focus on outcomes.
A former CMO, CTO and CEO, he translates the impossibly technical stuff into instantly usable playbooks. Outside work he’s a health nut, devoted husband, and new dad of two. So yes, weekends are always fully booked.
Emma - Partner & Head of Operations
Emma Delory is our operations maestro and research specialist, the engine behind HPP’s day-to-day rhythm and growth infrastructure. She streamlines workflows, builds the systems that scale, and turns insight into sharp marketing and social content.
An early adopter, Emma leads our AI stack and has integrated ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, and Gamma. A key player across People-as-a-Service and Growth-as-a-Service, she’s as comfortable interviewing candidates as she is crafting proposals and playbooks for new clients.
Multilingual with global experience in senior marketing and consulting, Emma has hired across continents and run large-scale growth workshops. Outside work she’s a wannabe yogi, fashion tragic, and devoted dog-lover with a healthy approach to food (weekends excluded).