Calling Operator with Laura Nicol Ep 50. Emer McCann on Building People Functions & Scaling Orgs
Laura Nicol dials into Emer McCann, Head of People & Chief of Staff at Simply Wall St.
Emer scaled Deputy’s people and culture through hypergrowth (70 to 350 employees) before joining Simply Wall St as employee #15 to build from zero. She’s the quiet force behind the chaos. The puppeteer, the glue, the phrasebook for hard conversations.
Inside this conversation:
- Irishness, “Notions” and confidence. How cultural conditioning shapes self-advocacy.
- When to hire your first people lead (or fractional exec)—and what happens if you wait too long.
- The capacity reality of becoming a new mum while building companies: “I can’t do what I used to do. What’s next is understanding my capacity—and not overpromising.”
- From solo people operator to team of eight: When Deputy hired its first Chief People Officer, Emer’s one-person people function turned into an eight-person team. “I didn’t know any different—I just thought, oh, this is normal, this is what a startup is. But no, that’s not what a startup is.”
- Rebuilding from zero at Simply Wall St: Taking lessons from a wild scale journey—and starting again.
- Gap-filling as a career philosophy: Spot the strategic holes no one else sees—and fill those boots.
- Why Emer spends time in “small little huddles,” mapping what matters to each person before the big meeting.
- Signs of people pleasing yourself into burnout: “You do everything—but don’t do anything really well.”
- Her winning formula: First-principles thinking. Solving for what matters. Tying it all back to the business metrics.
Want to connect with Emer? Find her on LinkedIn.
Also mentioned:
Guest ideas?
Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn.
A note from your host, Laura:
My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons.
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