Boldside HR & leadership consultants
People pros.
No egos.
Meet Shelley
Founder, HR Consultant & Leadership Coach
Shelley Johnson (founder of Boldside) is the leadership coach you'll want in your corner.
Shell has led large Human Resources teams for over a decade, coaching executives and managers to become leaders people want to follow and build teams people never want to leave.
Author, speaker, and columnist for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. When she's not doing that, you'll find her behind the microphone on the podcast This is Work—an Australian Podcast Awards finalist—where she's helped thousands of people grow in their leadership. You can hear Shell's whip-smart advice, cackling laugh, and work rants here.
Also highly qualified in the important (but boring) stuff, Shell has a Master of Human Resource Management, and Graduate Certificate in Organisational Development under her belt.
You'll find Shell's work featured in many major publications and news outlets around Australia and internationally.
Meet Annabelle
HR Consultant & Leadership Coach
She's our chief people problem solver, resident HR powerhouse, and our team hot sauce supplier.
Annabelle brings a decade of HR experience across various industries, including hospitality, finance, accounting, mining and the not-for-profit sector.
Her mission is to help leaders grow in their skills and confidence so they can achieve epic results.
She has spent the last decade working alongside leaders and helping them take practical actions that lift their performance and fast-track their team’s growth.
Annabelle's list of qualifications is longer than most people's to-do lists. She's got her MBA, a Bachelor's degree in Business, Bachelor's in Commerce and her AHRI HR Practising Certification (oof, impressive, right?).
Meet Scott
Leadership Coach
Scott Smith brings more than slick chair tricks—his zone of genius is helping leaders to turn their ‘aha moments’ into real action.
Scott helps managers unlock their potential and move from technical expert to people leader.
As an executive coach and facilitator, Scott brings a stack of experience from large multinationals like Microsoft and Optus, as well as global tech startups.
Scotty is known for his no-BS approach to leadership—zero jargon and pretence. His mission is to help leaders better understand themselves, address their blindspots, and build high-performing teams.
He started his leadership journey as an individual contributor, moving into direct-line leadership and leading leaders in Global Executive roles. But his all-time favourite achievement has been raising three young adults alongside his wife.
About Boldside
No rulebooks.
No old school HR.
Bold leaders.
Brave culture.
Big results.
Bold leaders. Brave culture. Big results.
Leaders and culture are our bread and butter
You won’t find traditional HR or employment law at Boldside. We assume you've been there, yawned at that, and are ready to see real change. This is HR for the modern business; we focus solely on developing your leaders and culture. Because when you’ve nailed this, unbreakable teamwork and next-level results are all in a day’s work.
We are your people if…
You want fun, cheeky and non-boring HR and leadership development.
You’ve been through a period of rapid growth or significant change, and you’re dealing with complex people or HR challenges.
You’re ready to take your leadership and team to the next level, and are prepared to do the work to get there.
We aren’t the best fit for you if…
You’re looking for traditional HR (think Employment Contracts, Modern Award interpretation, policies and procedures).
If you want “done for you” outsourced HR.
If you’re chasing quick fixes or short term wins. Lasting leadership and culture change is a long game.
