Business psychologist · consultant

The whole company runs through one person . We work out what keeps it that way — in the team and in the owner's own role .

I work with founders and leadership teams at the intersection of psychology, HR and operational management. I look at why the same pattern comes back after every reshuffle of people.

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About me

For 15 years I was accountable for the people and for the profit. Now I trace where the two come apart.

I'm Ekaterina Buyan, a business psychologist and consultant for business owners and leadership teams. My background: 15 years inside companies — HR Business Partner, HR Director, and in the final years the Chief Operating Officer role alongside it. Pharma, advertising, construction, hospitality and entertainment. Alongside that — clinical psychology, gestalt therapy and sexology. This combination earns the right to speak about business in the language of business, and about the psyche in the language of clinical practice.

I work one-on-one with owners and with leadership teams. Every decision is tested against both a psychological frame and business logic — without an «either–or» choice.

1:1 approach · Confidential

Areas of work

You can start with yourself or with the team

One-on-one work with the owner

1:1 format. Clarity in management decisions, energy, work with what stops the company from growing faster than the owner themselves.

Hourly or in packages

Working with the team

An external audit and group work. A clear picture of what is happening inside the team and a plan you can rely on — or a series of sessions to build shared agreements. The format is chosen for the task, and the two can be combined.

2 directions · on request

Who this is for

Who recognises themselves in this work

Fits

Owners and CEOs of small and mid-sized businesses: 20–500 employees, revenue ₽50M – ₽3B per year.
Leadership teams in active growth or restructuring.
When growth is hitting people, not strategy: hidden conflicts, blurred roles, the owner stuck in operations.

Doesn't fit

Micro-businesses (< 20 employees) and pre-seed startups — too few processes and team for an audit to make sense yet.
Large corporations (1,000+) — different competencies and legal frameworks.
Requests for a wellness format or team-building — there are specialists with the right profile.

Three situations from practice. Details changed, patterns real.

Case 01

The owner stuck in operations

Client: Founder of a digital agency, 60 employees.
Core issue: Eighth year of running the company — stuck in operational decisions, lost the pleasure of the role, unable to hand off key tasks to the COO they hired a year earlier.
What we did: A program of 12 one-on-one sessions. Working through patterns of mistrust toward the team and re-negotiating the contract between the owner and the COO.
Effect: Three areas of responsibility were redistributed; the owner stepped out of the operational cycle, freeing up ~15 hours a week for strategy.

Case 02

A hidden conflict between two founding partners

Client: A production company, 280 employees, two equal co-owners.
Core issue: Growing tension between partners — overlapping responsibilities, conflicting directives down the chain, diverging strategic priorities. The team caught «between two bosses».
What we did: A 4-week extended audit — a series of deep interviews with each owner separately and jointly, plus the leadership tier. A report with a map of functional overlaps and a model for splitting responsibilities.
Effect: The partners' functional scope was formally split, and agreements on personal interests were legally recorded. «Double directives» downward stopped within 2–3 months — the partnership preserved.

Case 03

A team that looks aligned

Client: B2B consulting, 90 employees, a leadership team of 6.
Core issue: Projects stalled at the seams between departments. Outwardly aligned, internally — no shared language of priorities, plus two unresolved personal histories between key managers.
What we did: A one-week light audit revealed the root cause was interpersonal dynamics, not process. Then — a series of six group sessions with the team.
Effect: The team converged on a shared language of priorities and a single decision-making order. By the owner's estimate — projects move through cross-department seams ~30% faster.

All cases are composite: built on real patterns of work with clients, with specific details changed or recombined to prevent identification. A standard practice in premium consulting.

How I work

Three principles the work stands on

Confidentiality

No client names, no logos. Case studies are composite, assembled from patterns, so the evidence doesn't reveal anyone specific.

Business language

The conversation runs in the language of management decisions and business outcomes. Psychology here is a tool.

Working with the system

The symptom is rarely where the pain is. We look at the system: owner, team, processes, agreements. We change where the shift produces manageability.

The strategic session — the entry point to work

A paid 60–90 minute meeting. Diagnostics of the request, hypotheses about the causes of the misfires, and recommendations for the format of further work. No free consultations, no «sales» calls.

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