This episode features Part 1 of a conversation with Bukky Osifeso, founder of TAG HR Consulting. In Part 1, Bukky shares what it actually takes to become a trusted advisor to the C-suite. She breaks down how to build credibility early in your career, gain business fluency without a seat at the executive table, and show up human-to-human, not just as an HR enforcer. From navigating late-night Slack pings to designing high-trust relationships that drive strategic impact, Bukky offers a blueprint for becoming the right hand your CEO didn’t know they needed. Whether you’re new to HR or looking to lead with more influence, Bukky’s approach will help you skip the posturing and earn a real seat at the table.
This episode features Part 1 of a conversation with Bukky Osifeso, founder of TAG HR Consulting.
From building people-first cultures at Netflix and Disney to launching her own game-changing consultancy, Bukky is redefining what modern HR leadership looks like. With over 20 years of experience across some of the world’s most respected brands, she brings a rare blend of big-company insight and startup agility to everything she touches.
In Part 1, Bukky shares what it actually takes to become a trusted advisor to the C-suite. She breaks down how to build credibility early in your career, gain business fluency without a seat at the executive table, and show up human-to-human, not just as an HR enforcer. From navigating late-night Slack pings to designing high-trust relationships that drive strategic impact, Bukky offers a blueprint for becoming the right hand your CEO didn’t know they needed. Whether you’re new to HR or looking to lead with more influence, Bukky’s approach will help you skip the posturing and earn a real seat at the table.
Guest Bio
Bukky Osifeso is a seasoned HR executive and the founder of TAG HR Consulting, a boutique firm specializing in Fractional HR leadership and end-to-end people solutions for startups and small to mid-sized businesses. TAG helps organizations build scalable HR infrastructure, shape impactful people strategies, and cultivate strong leadership cultures through tailored consulting, audits, organizational design, talent development, and strategic advisory support.
With over 20 years of experience, Bukky has held influential roles across leading global brands including 7.5 years at Netflix, 11 years at Disney, and 2.5 years at Amgen. Her career has been anchored in transforming organizations through purpose-driven leadership, people-first strategies, and a deep understanding of business operations.
Based in Valencia, California, Bukky is a proud wife and mom of three (ages 12, 8, and 4). Outside of work, she finds joy in daily walks (Over 500 days!), travel, and creating floral arrangements that reflect her creative spirit. Her leadership brand? Authentic and human. Period.
Guest Quote
“ I always say this thing where I wanna be the HR person that I will call when I have a need. I love that. So I need to be able to trust me every time I look in the mirror.”
Time Stamps
[00:41] Meet Bukky Osifeso: From Netflix & Disney to TAG HR
[02:13] Big Company Lessons That Still Shape Her Leadership
[03:45] Building Credibility: Why HR Ops Still Matters
[05:32] Becoming the Exec’s Trusted Advisor (Without Saying Yes to Everything)
[09:32] What Early-Career HR Gets Wrong About Influence
[11:26] How to Speak the Language of the Business
[14:21] Real Access, Real Talk: Building Human-First Partnerships
Sponsor
I’m Telling HR is brought to you by Rippling, the #1 rated HR workforce management system that eliminates the friction from running a business. Visit Rippling.com to learn more.
Links
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Connect with Bukky on LinkedIn
Learn more about TAG HR Consulting
Connect with Leighton on LinkedIn
[00:00:00] Bukky Osifeso: Some of the things that I find that HR folks do is they try to be very HR and like I try to pride myself in being the least HR person you'll ever meet. Yes, I have the title, but I'm like, when I walk in the door, it's spooky nice to meet you, forget the title. Right. And I think one of the things that happens is that HR title is sometimes can be a block.
Right and is throw that out the door and just go in straight human to human first name to first name. Engage with them in a way that allows them to see you for who you are and vice versa.
[00:00:39] Leighton Martin: Welcome to I'm telling hr. The Go-to podcast for ambitious HR professionals who wanna shake up the status quo, make a real impact and fast track their careers. Brought to you by Rippling. I'm your host, Leighton Martin HR business partner, and I'm here with Bukky Osifeso, founder of TAG HR Consulting, offering on demand HR expertise.
Bukky has more than 20 years of experience in hr. She's an expert in building people for cultures that actually scale. She's led global teams and programs at iconic brands like Netflix and Disney. She runs her own consultancy tag hr, where she helps build startups and scale ups, design talent strategies that are human high impact and built for growth.
She brings a rare mix of big company insight and startup speed. Today she will join us to discuss building people first cultures modern talent strategy for startups and scale ups and DEI that drives business impact. So Bukky, welcome to the show. So, so excited you are here. Thank you. I'm
[00:01:39] Bukky Osifeso: gonna have you do all my intros.
I love Dar.
[00:01:41] Leighton Martin: I mean, I'm here. I'm available for hire.
[00:01:44] Bukky Osifeso: That's a Fullon bio.
[00:01:46] Leighton Martin: I mean, and there's so much. So we are so thrilled to have you. I think this is gonna be a really great conversation. So to kick things off and kind of set the stage, let's start with your story. You have worked behind the scenes at, you know, these powerhouse companies that I just mentioned, Netflix, Disney, and now you run your own consultancy.
So. How did those early experiences really shape the kind of HR leader that you've become?
[00:02:10] Bukky Osifeso: Yeah, uh, great question. So I started my HR journey at Amgen, a biotech company in thousand Oats. And that experience was actually foundational. I worked behind the scenes, so all the different operations of HR is where I got my first start.
And I feel like it was actually really impactful because then fast forward to where I am now, I can speak the speak because I know. How things are done behind the scenes. So that was hugely foundational, uh, transitioning into Disney. I was there for, uh, a little over 11 years and I, I think there was so many different parts of the organization that I touched, but one of the things that I took away from my experience at Disney was just the.
Sheer virtue of culture, excellence, and history. Right. And also legacy, I think, was, uh, foundational for me in just partnering with the HR teams. Netflix, what a joy it was to come in there at 3000 employees and come out of there at a little, over 12,000. I mean, it was. Such a magical experience of being able to just like help kickstart what felt like a pivotal moment at Netflix from an HR standpoint.
[00:03:22] Leighton Martin: Thank you so much for that. And I feel like the piece around kind of like HR behind the scenes, I think is super relatable. Thinking about folks that are earlier in their HR career, what do you think, you know, knowing how the sausage is made, so to speak, behind the scenes, like why does that still matter?
Like even if you don't wanna stay, maybe in that HR ops role.
[00:03:41] Bukky Osifeso: Oh, it matters a ton. It gets you credibility. It gets you a seat at the table. It gets you trust. Listen, the leaders will come to you for the simple stuff first. Some of it is really just to check to see how much you know, if that's what you do.
But also it's a way to just have some quick wins, right? So they come to you with like payroll question, or they come to you with, you know, a salary adjustment or a benefit question. Like all these things seem very trivial and simple. But the more knowledgeable you are about all of those things, like how the sausage is made behind the scenes, it gets you credibility.
And so then when they have the big stuff, when they have the complex leadership issue or the reorg that they've never, you know, done before and they really wanna get in there and actually whiteboard with you, they'll call you because you happen to know how payroll works. I mean, it seems. Silly, but it really is, uh, how you gain trust and how they trust you from a credibility standpoint.
But honestly, I've, I've seen it get me in so many doors. The fact that I knew how payroll system worked or benefits or even just like running a report and being able to share what the promotions were over the last year or so. I mean, again, very simple, very early career stage, but. All of those things matter in the long run.
They inform the decisions that we make in the long run. And so just being able to understand what those things are actually is, um, like I said, foundational
[00:05:08] Leighton Martin: plus one to all of that could not agree more. And it's like, to your point earlier, building those, you know, quick wins that. Builds your trust and credibility, which brings us, honestly to our next topic perfectly.
So you've worked super close with exact set high growth companies. How do you build the kind of trust that you know gets you on speed dial?
[00:05:28] Bukky Osifeso: Oh, good question. You know, I always say this thing where I, uh, wanna be the HR person that I will call when I have a need. I love that. So I need to be able to trust me every time I look in the mirror.
Right? So that's the first start. Then I think when I enter into engagements with leaders, first of all, I operate with all leaders at all levels. I, I take them as just straight human, right. Human to human right. I think what happens sometimes is you get tripped up by a title, right? One's title says, chief exec, blah, blah, blah, right?
And suddenly it's intimidating. And so I remove all of that and I just say human to human. So when we start engaging, my first interaction with the leader is. What are some things that we need to, you know, be able to agree and disagree on? And how will we navigate that right? When I need to challenge you, what does that look like?
We won't always agree, and so where do we find those moments where we actually can have real talk and disagree? When can I call you out? I need to be able to have permission to be able to do that. I'm not your Yes ma'am. Right? And I will say that upfront contracting. And if a leader finds that what they need is someone who will do exactly what they say, when they say it and how they say it, I will very confidently tell them they're in the wrong relationship with me.
'cause I will not be doing exactly what they say at every given point in time. However, we will disagree and then commit a very coined, um, Netflix culture, um, phrase. What that means is basically we will say we disagree on a specific topic, but the commitment is to actually execute against what the business needs, whether it's from the leader side or or on my side.
The one of the things that you asked about speed dial is I tend to get really raw and, and I get to know the client so intimately that I know what they do early in the morning. I know they take long walks and I know they're gonna go play golf at a certain time of the day. They do their best thinking late at night.
If I'm gonna hit them with a really complex question or an issue that I need them to be resolving, I'm gonna know when they actually can actually offer me some real insightful responses. And the truth is, it's vice versa. We'll be engaged in a conversation and I've said very boldly to a leader. Gimme a second.
After my walk in the morning, I will let you know what I think. And I think that just helps your leaders know you're human, right? Like you're not a robot. I don't have all the answers in an instant. And I think when you can be that vulnerable, peel the layers down and just be able to have the human to human engagement, it feels safe.
It feels honest, it feels real, and they will have you on speed dial. I blur lines actually between business. I know I'm probably. Not popular with this, but one of the reasons I'm able to build serious trust with my business leaders is to say, we're all navigating this thing together. At the most senior levels.
They're not working a nine to five job, nor am I right. And so we need to get to the point where we can actually engage with each other in productive manners and not focusing on a specific timeframe of the day. And when we've had that established trust upfront, we can. Crank out a reorg on a text. Yeah.
Get it done, literally. And then we'll document it later. Yes. But that's, that's the kind of credibility you build and that sometimes actually the on the fly engagement is what sticks. The ones you sit in the room and chat, chat, chat all day long, have the three hour meeting. Sometimes it's unproductive.
[00:09:09] Leighton Martin: So much of that resonated and just like that human to human, I think is so, so important.
That segues us nicely, I guess, you know, if we're thinking about more of those like. Really in their career. Green HR folks, like what do you think are their biggest misconceptions when they think, like, how should they build trust with their, with their leaders?
[00:09:29] Bukky Osifeso: I think the biggest misconception is one, have to show up super buttoned up and have all the answers.
I, I do think there's a level of candor that I'm not sure if. Early HR folks understand that is their responsibility. And I, I like to be influential in a way that builds trust, but also moves the needle. Right? And one of the things that I found even early in my career is a leader is at the level that they are because they've earned their way there.
And most times, I will say nine times outta 10. The leader that, uh, an HR business partner is, or any HR level person is engaging with, is usually higher than that HR partner. So there's a hierarchy already built in. And what I like to, you know, sort of say to early career folks from an HR standpoint is assume you're both at the same level.
Actually sometimes assume you're at a higher level, right? And when you enter into that mindset. It allows for you to be able to say the thing that is unsaid or unpopular, allows for you to build trust and respect with the leaders very quickly. And again, it takes you out of that like nervous energy state where you're just wanting to say the perfect right thing all the time, and the leader just needs what's true and, and all the fluff and all the sort of, uh, what I call HR speak is unnecessary to actually get the work done.
[00:11:03] Leighton Martin: Everything you're saying just really, really resonates. You know, I'm curious 'cause you know, here we are talking about trusted advisor and really being that confidant on, and you show up with both that like people expertise and business fluency. So I guess, how do you typically learn to speak, you know, the language of the business without having a seat in the C-suite?
[00:11:22] Bukky Osifeso: One of the biggest pieces of advice that I still use today as an HR practitioner, you have not done your job if you don't know what the business that you support does. And so I take pride and also really intentional about when I engage with a business leader or client at any level, right? I always say to them, okay, so your title is senior engineer, blah, blah, blah, whatever the thing is, explain your job to my five-year-old.
And when that I understand every single person's job in that way, it allows me to connect the dots. Also, I'm more useful to you when I understand what you do, how you do it, who you do it with. Therefore, my counsel to you isn't generic. It's actually coming from a place of strategy and understanding. And sometimes when you don't understand what a business does, an employee does, you end up giving wrong advice because.
You want to offer them what they are asking for. And sometimes the more I understand a business and the leader and what they do, I tend to be a mirror holder, right? And sometimes what they come to me for is not what they get because I'm like, I know what, you're a business and I know what you do, and based on this, this, and this, it sounds to me like.
The problem sits right here across the table from me. Let's talk about that. But then when they're the person in the vulnerable state coming to you with questions because you don't have enough understanding of the things behind the scenes for what they do, you end up giving them what feels good, right?
And this role is not all about feel good. It's a truth, right? I'll tell you a funny story. When I was at short, when I was at, um, Disney, I don't even know if my colleagues know this. I used to take our admins out to get their nails done. They would give me all the tea, and it was my strategy for building relationships, but also getting firsthand insight into a business.
So that allowed me to actually do my job way faster and more effectively because. Before I walk in the door, I already have the gist, right? I go in with the leader, they're trying to fill me in. I'm like, yep, yep, yep. I already know all of that. Let's move on. Right? And then we get to the real business. And so, you know, a lot of you know, HR leaders, I will say, as they grow in their career, they stay up here.
And I will say, if you wanna have real impact, you gotta come back down. Yes.
[00:14:03] Leighton Martin: Literally yes. Bring it back to the human side of exec partnership. You know, you mentioned earlier those late night techs, those walks. What does, you know, real access look like, and I guess how do you manage those boundaries while still being effective?
[00:14:17] Bukky Osifeso: The boundary thing is funny because I think it means so many different things to different people. Some people are like, yeah, I can take a call when I'm sitting at the parking lot waiting for my kids to be picked up. And some people are like, absolutely not. You know? And so it just kind of depends. And I think if you are not super rigid about how you engage with a client and you basically take each relationship for what it is, it allows you to be able to have a little bit more fluidity and then the access, right?
The access, I will say is built from trust. And that trust is really, again, back to the credibility that I talked about. It's being able to understand where the, the leader's vulnerable states are. Right. Some of the things that I found is the leaders will have, they have a boss, right? They have a leader.
They have a team that they're trying to posture and show up well to. They have an entire, sometimes an entire organization that is depending on them for the right decisions. And they need a safe place to be able to go to just be like, I have no idea what I've been doing. I had a thought last night. It's not a fully formed thought.
I'm thinking things through. I am their person for all of those things. It's safe to actually go through the iterations of the pen to paper of the design that they're thinking about or the, their thoughts about a serve specific employee or team member on their team. Without judgment, just being able to be the person that is there to listen and then offer advice in hopefully ways that allows them to be able to make informed decisions on their own that they can own.
And so once you've been able to establish that with a leader, it takes time and it also takes a level of vulnerability on your end as well. Right. Some of the things that I find that HR folks do is they try to be very HR and like I try to pride myself in being the least HR person you'll ever meet. Yes, I have the title, but I'm like, when I walk in the door, it's Bukky nice to meet you, forget the title.
Right. And I think one of the things that happens is that HR title, it's sometimes can be a blocker, right. Throw that out the door and just go in straight human to human first name to first name, engage with them in a way that allows them to see you for who you are and vice versa. That actually yields dividends over time because they then are just seeing you as their, you know, sort of right hand.
And, you know, some of the things that we say, a tag is like, where are your CEO's Right hand? And, and it's, the reason why is you just break down all of those layers, all of those things that. Sometimes are built in to an organization to create hierarchy and distance. Yeah. Once you break that down, I think then you the access and fluidity with the client.
[00:17:02] Leighton Martin: Completely agree. That's a wrap on part one of our conversation with Bukky Osifeso. We covered what it really means to build trust with executives, how to show up as a strategic partner, not just a policy enforcer. And while dropping the Polish Perfection Act can actually earn you more credibility. In part two, we're diving into the massive 700 person global reorg booklet, how she approached international org design empowered local teams and navigated change without losing the people at the center.
So whether you're scaling fast free organizing, or just trying to lead with more intention, you won't wanna miss it. So be on the lookout for part two. Thanks for tuning in to, I'm Telling HR brought to you by Rippling. I'm your host, Leighton Martin. Want more? No fluff insights for bold HR leaders? Hit the link of the show notes to join.
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