done
different.
Hey, I’m Natalie CAIRNS.
I don't do things the way they've always been done. I do them different.
For over 20 years, I’ve worked inside some of the world’s most complex organisations and I’ve seen what happens when businesses treat people as resources instead of humans. The results are always the same: high turnover, disengaged teams, leaders burning out, and cultures that quietly collapse from the inside.
I built Done Different because the old playbook isn’t working. And the leaders who are brave enough to admit that are the ones I work with.
WHAT I DO
I work at the intersection of people, performance, and leadership across three verticals that are different in focus but united in philosophy.
HR
HR Done Different is where I partner with founders and CEOs to fix the people problems that keep them up at night. Not with more policies. With clarity, strategy, and the kind of honest conversations most consultants avoid.
This is where the P.L.A.Y. Formula™ lives my signature framework that shifts organisations from chaos to clarity by putting people before policy, leading with data, activating culture, and delivering commercial results that actually stick.
And for those who need expert HR support without the full-time overhead, HR for HR delivers it on demand. Whether you’re a growing business that isn’t ready for a permanent hire, or an in-house HR professional navigating complex people challenges alone this is the subscription that puts a senior HR partner in your corner, whenever you need one.
Speaking
Speaking Done Different is a talent representation agency for voices that matter. I curate and represent a roster of world-class speakers all working within the human performance space — connecting them with the stages, organisations, and audiences where they can create real impact.
Performance
Performance Done Different is the biggest frontier. Through the Human Performance Lab, I explore what it actually means for humans to perform at their best not just professionally, but as people. This is the home of Human First, my speaker series bringing world-class thinkers to the UAE, and Unstressable, the science-backed stress transformation programme that I am the COO for in partnership with Mo Gawdat and Alice Law.
WHY I DO IT
A personal experience early in my career cracked something open in me.
When my father died unexpectedly in 2008, I was asked if I’d be back at work the next day. That moment the absence of humanity in it became the fuel. It still is.
I walked away from a finance career, started over in an admin HR role, and built back from scratch. Not because I had a plan, but because I knew the system needed someone willing to fight from inside it.
WHO I'M HERE FOR
CEOs and founders who are done pretending their people strategy is fine when it isn’t. Leaders who want truth over comfort. Organisations that know culture is their competitive advantage and need someone to help them build it with intention.
I’m based in the UAE, embedded in its business landscape, and deeply committed to the region’s potential to lead the world in what human-centred performance actually looks like.
As a marathon finisher, I know what it takes to stay the course when things get hard. It’s the same steady focus and long-game thinking I bring to every client partnership.