The person behind the practice

01 — Five Industries, One Instinct
Before The Human Layer, Anabel's path into HR wasn't a straight one. A degree in tourism specialized in business led to two years in finance at Jumeirah Group. From there she moved through startups, hospitality, software, and mining, where she developed her skills in the world of HR. Before seven years in human resources finally gave her a name for what she'd been doing all along: reading people, across teams in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Whatever the title, the instinct stayed the same, paying more attention to the people in the room than the job description said to.

02 — PA and HR, Closer Than Expected
A few roles into her time in Dubai, Anabel's job became PA and HR, close enough to high-caliber households and principals to see, firsthand, exactly what they needed and how rarely they got it. That proximity never left her. It's part of why the Personal & Executive Support side of The Human Layer isn't an afterthought, she's sat on the other side of that desk.

03 — What Two Years Running an Agency Taught Her
In 2024, she then ran her own recruitment agency for two years, with a business partner. It taught her even more, including a hard-won observation: when two candidates are equally qualified, the reason one gets the offer and the other doesn't is almost never the resume. It's fit, a kind of read on a person that spreadsheets and keyword-matching were never built to capture.

Every search starts the same way: not with a job description, but with a genuine curiosity about the people, the organization, and the details that never make it onto paper.