Grow A Small Business Podcast · Troy Trewin

From Corporate Payroll to $3M Growth: Natalee Leach of The Payroll Collective shares how she scaled fast, built a values-driven team, retained clients, avoided burnout, and turned payroll into a people-first powerhouse. (Episode 758 - Natalee Leach)

·39 min·2 clips

FY23 was $52K, and three years later Natalee is forecasting $3 million.

1. Grow A Small Business Podcast interviews Natalee Leach about The Payroll Collective’s rapid rise from a side hustle to a $3 million forecast. 2. Host Troy Truan frames Natalee as the Melbourne-based founder of a payroll consultancy serving organizations from 500 to 7,000 employees and larger clients above 10,000. 3. The episode asks how a values-driven payroll business grew fast without burnout, debt, or client churn. 4. Natalee says the business began in November 2022 after COVID, when she had her second baby and asked what legacy she wanted. 5. She says mentors helped her learn what to do, while bad leaders taught her how not to do things. 6. She explains that The Payroll Collective is a consulting agency focused on “positive change” in payroll and people spaces. 7. Natalee says the company’s sweet spot is 500 to 7,000 employees, while some clients exceed 10,000 team members. 8. She gives the revenue path as 52K in FY23, 550K the next year, 1.2 million in FY25, and a 3 million FY26 forecast. 9. She says the business has been organic, without investors, without a loan, and with profits reinvested back into the company. 10. Natalee says every client that started with the firm is still with it, which she links to personalized service rather than a cookie-cutter model. 11. She says the hardest operational issue is the “chicken and egg” problem of hiring when pipeline demand is uneven. 12. She describes alternating between needing more work and needing more hires, sometimes within 24 hours. 13. Natalee says the biggest personal strain has been mental fatigue, and she admits she was drinking three coffees a day before making changes. 14. She says the business once operated from a converted bedroom, then moved out of the house, into an office in Melbourne, and already outgrew it. 15. She uses a “house on stilts, on a raft, on a river” image to explain why the business now needs policies, templates, and foundations. 16. Natalee says she hired a client services manager, an assistant, and non-billable support roles because she could no longer sit in every hat. 17. The conversation is practical and interview-led, with Troy pushing for numbers, staffing details, and lessons learned. 18. Natalee’s tone is candid and reflective, mixing humor, frank admissions about exhaustion, and a values-first management style. 19. Best for founders in professional services growth. 20. Less useful for listeners wanting product or e-commerce tactics.

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