Not that long ago, many SMEs saw fractional services as an 'end of the road’ stopgap - great for plugging a crisis or shoring up an under-resourced project at the last minute. All drama. No joy.

I’ve interviewed hundreds of people over many years but there’s five minutes in every hiring conversation that’s almost always awkward: the moment you’re invited to name your number. For a lot of brilliant humans - especially introverts and many women - this is where confidence gets wobbly, words get stuck, and perfectly good leverage quietly walks out the door.

For years, the fastest way to lift your pay seemed simple: switch jobs and collect a BIG bump. That playbook is far less reliable today.