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Mail: hrnextdoor@outlook.com
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Aaronna Martin, CPHR: HR consultant for small and medium businesses in Coquitlam, Port Moody and the Lower Mainland.
Currently, identifying who I am at this moment is challenging. What should I share and what not? The truth is I have had so many versions of myself throughout my lifetime that I really didn’t know where to start. In the 24 hours that we have each day, I wear multiple hats. So here goes. Let’s start from the beginning.
I was born in Malaysia and moved to Canada with my family in 1980 when I was just two years old. One of the first memories I ever had was jumping on a bed with my older sister, who was four years old at the time. We were in a hotel room. I remember a cart with wheels came into our room. I now know it was room service! There was food on wheels that came to our room, bringing dinner to us. I now know my parents, my sister and I were staying in Hong Kong overnight to catch a flight to Canada the next day. My dad carrying me, my mom holding my sister’s hand, with four suitcases, we arrived in Canada. Like every other immigrant arriving in Canada, my parents wanted a better future for my sister and me. They wanted a better future for themselves.
I grew up, lived and went to school in East Vancouver, and in 2010 I moved to Coquitlam, where I’ve since put down my own family roots. Growing up as part of an immigrant family, and now raising my own family here, taught me early on what it means to build something from scratch, to adapt, and to look out for your community. Those values still shape how I show up for the businesses I work with today.
My path into HR wasn’t exactly planned. About 30 years ago, I started at Simon Fraser University studying Kinesiology, until I realized, partway through, that I had a phobia of feet. (Not the most convenient discovery in a program built around the human body.) So I pivoted. I knew one thing for sure: whatever I did, I wanted to work with and help people, just not by touching them. I ended up taking an opportunity working at the Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Centre at UBC’s War Memorial Gym, and it was there that I first got a real taste of HR. It was there that I found what it means to have passion for what you do, with people you thrive with, and to have fun while doing it. I dropped out of Simon Fraser University and went on to complete the HR program at BCIT in 2005 while I continued to work, and the rest, as they say, is history.
For years after that, I worked in HR inside big corporate walls: writing policies, hiring, firing, planning team events, sitting in boardrooms far removed from the day-to-day reality of running a business. Along the way, I earned my CPHR designation in 2018, deepening my expertise even as I felt myself pulled toward something more personal. Corporate HR was steady work, but it never felt like the point. The businesses that needed real HR help the most were the ones without a people team, without a handbook, without someone to call when an employee situation got messy: business owners who never had anyone in their corner.
So one day, I decided to go all in for myself for once. I wanted to be the HR person small and medium businesses could turn to: not a distant department, but someone next door. Someone who picks up the phone, who knows your business by name, and who treats your team like it matters, because it does.
That’s how HR Next Door started.
Community has always been part of who I am. Over the years, I’ve volunteered at senior care homes, hospitals, Union Gospel Mission, the SPCA and various other community groups. Most recently, I’ve been serving as a Facilitator with The Fountainhead Network and Site B in Port Moody. Whether it’s a business or a neighbourhood, I believe in showing up for the people around you.
Building this business myself, I even taught myself to build my own blog and business website, and I’ll admit, I loved the learning curve. But it also taught me something I now tell my clients all the time: there’s real value in DIY, until there isn’t. Eventually, it’s worth bringing in a professional who knows the ropes, so you can get back to focusing on what you do best. Book a free 30-minute consultation to talk it through. That’s exactly the role I want to play for your business’s HR.
Today, I work with small and medium-sized businesses across Coquitlam and the Lower Mainland who need real HR support without the overhead of a full-time HR department. Whether it’s hiring, policies, employee relations, compliance, or just knowing who to call when something tricky comes up, I’m here for it, the way a good neighbour is. I am approachable, dependable, and genuinely invested in seeing you succeed.
HR shouldn’t feel intimidating or out of reach. It should feel like having someone trustworthy right next door. Everything I do comes back to four things I care about most: fun, passion, collaboration and integrity.
Tell me what is going on. I will tell you honestly whether I can help and roughly what it would take.
We agree what carries the most risk, what can wait, and what it will cost to put right.
Documents written, training run, problems handled, on a timeline that fits around your business.
The short version of why this business exists and who it is for.
When I’m not helping business owners navigate HR, you’ll find me being a wife and mom, walking my two labradoodles with my family along the Coquitlam River Trails, catching a Broadway musical or a concert, or settling into a local coffee shop or library with a good book.
Say helloGood HR is local. These are the professional and business communities I belong to.
Alliance 360 SisterhoodA community helping women entrepreneurs grow professionally, personally and authentically.Visit site 
Resilient Women in BusinessA business academy and community for women who are serious about growing their business.Visit site 
CPHR BC & YukonThe professional body for Chartered Professionals in Human Resources in British Columbia and Yukon.Visit site 
The Fountainhead NetworkA Port Moody coworking and media space built around networking, content and events, where I serve as a Facilitator.Visit site Five to fifty people, no HR department, and a founder who is quietly doing all of it between everything else.
Shift work, safety obligations and high turnover - where getting the paperwork wrong gets expensive fast.
Small budgets, big mandates, and boards that need policies that will actually stand up to scrutiny.
Work should feel good, not heavy. I bring energy and lightness to a field that’s often seen as dry or intimidating.
I genuinely love this work, and it shows in how I show up for clients and their people.
HR works best as a partnership, not a directive. I work alongside business owners and their teams, not over them.
Doing right by people, even when it’s the harder or less convenient path, is non-negotiable.
She investigated a harassment complaint for us as a neutral third party. Documented, fair, and finished on time. Both sides felt they had been heard, and that mattered more than anything.
Marcus AhmedOwner, Ahmed Autobody - Port MoodyHiring used to take us six weeks and a lot of guessing. Aaronna rebuilt our job descriptions and interview guides, and we filled two roles in under three weeks with people who stayed.
Laura ChenOperations Manager, Bright Path ChildcareWe had eleven staff and no handbook. Aaronna wrote one we actually use, trained the managers on it, and did it without making anyone feel policed. Two years on it is still the first thing new hires read.
Dana MercerOwner, Mercer Dental Studio - CoquitlamI called her about one termination I was dreading. She walked me through the ESA notice, drafted the letter, and sat in on the meeting. It was handled properly and quietly, which is exactly what I needed.
Sunil KapoorDirector, Kapoor Mechanical - Port CoquitlamOur board wanted a respectful workplace policy that would hold up under scrutiny. Aaronna delivered it in plain English and then briefed the whole team. No jargon, no lecture, just clear expectations.
Jenna TorresExecutive Director, Tri-Cities Community SocietyThe free HR audit was not a sales pitch. She found four gaps, told me two could wait, and fixed the other two on a fixed fee. That honesty is why we keep calling her.
Rob PatelCo-founder, Northgate Retail GroupA free 30-minute consultation. Bring the problem, not the job title.