Punk Rock HR

My guest is Ita Olsen, founder and CEO at Convey Clearly, and she’s here to offer advice for communicating with confidence. If you’ve ever wondered, “How do I improve the sound of my voice?” or thought, “I hate my voice and I want to fix it,” then we recorded this episode just for you. So sit back and enjoy my conversation with Ita Olsen.

My guest is Zoë Harte, chief people officer at Upwork, and she’s here to answer our burning questions about the future of work. Zoë is passionate about the gig economy, remote work, and diversity and inclusion — all of the issues facing a critical inflection point in the coming months. So sit tight, enjoy the conversation, and prepare to face the future.

My guest is Mylena Sutton, the founder of Voltage Vista LLC and a self-proclaimed leadership development fanatic. Mylena’s entrepreneurial story resonates with me — and will for so many of you, too. If you’re thinking of leaving your corporate HR job to take up your own consulting business in 2021, we recorded this just for you.

On this episode of Punk Rock HR, I’m turning the tables on myself. Author and thought leadership coach Michael Bungay Stanier interviews me about my new book, “Betting on You: How to Put Yourself First and (Finally) Take Control of Your Career.”

My guest is Kim Foley, a media and communications consultant and author of “Virtual Meetings With Power and Presence: The Ultimate Guide to Online Meetings.” She works with clients to help them look amazing on Zoom, and she shares her Zoom tips and tricks to make sure you do, too. After all, a great Zoom presence isn’t just about looking great — it’s about communicating your ideas clearly and with credibility.

In our first episode of 2021, I’m joined by Kate Yuan. During the day, she works in business development at Alibaba Cloud. However, on the weekends, she does something even more important: She volunteers for her county’s suicide hotline. She joins me to discuss her experiences as a volunteer and how you can discuss suicidal thoughts and ideations with someone. Please note: This episode of Punk Rock HR covers topics like depression, anxiety and suicide. If you are sensitive to these topics,...

Punk Rock HR is underwritten by Headspace for Work. In this last episode of 2020, I’m going to be talking about Pfizer. That’s right, I’m talking about the global drug company, my former employer, and the place where I decided to end my career in human resources. Back in 2012, Mitt Romney made the statement that corporations are people. At the time, I hated it because I loved Barack Obama. But, in retrospect, he was right. Companies are made up of people--good, bad, and indifferent. Just...

Punk Rock HR Episode 140: Punk Rock HR is underwritten by Headspace for Work. My guest today is Derek Irvine. Derek has been in the human resources business for a long time, helping companies just be more human and more civil to one another. Today, he holds the position of Senior Vice President for the company Workhuman. Derek is also the author of the new book, Making Work Human. Derek and his co-author believe that by building a sense of belonging, purpose, meaning, happiness, and...

Punk Rock HR Episode 139: Punk Rock HR is underwritten by Headspace for Work. Today’s guest is Madison Butler. She is a human resources professional, a recruiter, a talent acquisition leader, and someone who is very passionate about startups. However, the reason that she’s on my podcast today is that no matter where she goes, Madison is unapologetically herself. Her self-confidence shines through no matter where she is, whether in real life or on social media. Madison speaks her mind even...

Punk Rock HR Episode 138: Punk Rock HR is underwritten by Headspace for Work. My guest today is Robert Glazer. He’s the founder and CEO of a company called Acceleration Partners. But he’s also the author of one of my favorite newsletters, Friday Forward. Robert has made the 52 most impactful stories from that weekly email into an incredible book. Friday Forward the book will give you the inspiration you need to reach your goals, lead others, and ultimately fix work. Whenever somebody is...

Punk Rock HR Episode 137: My guests today are Deepa Purushothaman and Rha Goddess. They are the founders of nFormation, which is a first of its kind, app-based community created by women of color for women of color. The community provides a safe space for these women of color as well as career advancement opportunities. Deepa and Rha are on the show today because they are really trying to reimagine traditional power structures. They not only want to help more women of color find their...

Punk Rock HR Episode 136: Every once in a while, I get to lean into my punk rock roots and do something a little different on this podcast. On today’s show, I’m introducing you to David Mahmoudieh and his new movie called Snake Dick. David is the writer and director of this film and today we are talking about his creative journey. You don’t just wake up one morning and say, “I’m going to write and direct a film.” There’s actually a lot of heartache and a lot of lessons learned along the...

Punk Rock HR Episode 135: I’ve got a book coming out in January and there’s a chapter in there all about money. There are some key themes in it that I’ve learned from friends. These include tips like budget, pay yourself first, and, more importantly, that debt is the single biggest thing that can hold you back, both personally and professionally. Obviously, money is messy. That’s why I have an expert on today’s show to help us sort through the basic things that we need to do to live simply...

Punk Rock HR Episode 134: Today’s guest is Heidi Spirgi. She is the Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Cornerstone On Demand, an HR technology company. Heidi has done a little bit of everything, but the common thread of her career has been helping organizations to unlock the best of their employees through emerging practices and programs, building cultures that ensure people can be the best version of themselves at work, and leveraging technology to do all of that. Heidi is someone...

Punk Rock HR Episode 133: In case you haven’t heard, I have a new book coming out called Betting On You: How to Put Yourself First and Finally Take Control of Your Career. The journey of writing a book has been both straightforward and surprising. Throughout each step of the process, something happened to my health or my family, making it a journey for sure. The easiest part of it all is writing the book; the business of publishing, on the other hand, is extremely complex. Beyond the many...

Punk Rock HR Episode 132: My guest today is Pierre Thiam. He was raised in Senegal, but he is a New York-based chef, author, restauranteur, social entrepreneur, and culinary ambassador. Pierre is best known for bringing West African cuisine to the global fine-dining world. He is also the Executive Chef and co-owner of Teranga, a fast-casual food chain from New York City. Pierre’s company, Yolele Foods, advocates for small farmers by opening up new markets for crops grown in Africa. Its...

Punk Rock HR Episode 131: My guest this week is Hannah Olson. She is the co-founder and CEO of an organization called Chronically Capable. Hannah had her dream job right out of college but later contracted Lyme Disease. Her treatments for her chronic illness got in the way of her job. Frustrated, she thought there had to be a better way. So, she created that better way: Chronically Capable. It’s a technology platform, an ATS, and really a community that tries to match individuals with...

I recently gave a keynote to a company called Curo Comp. It was about truth versus reality when it comes to talking about money at work. I’m so jazzed about this topic that I wanted to tell you about it. Years ago, I interviewed for a job and the VP of HR was full of himself. At the end of the interview, I asked him what differentiated their HR department from others. He gave a long answer full of buzzwords, but he didn’t believe in any of it. That was in 2004, but even now every trend I...

Punk Rock HR Episode 129: My guest this week is Brant Menswar. Brant is a top 10 motivational speaker, critically acclaimed author, award-winning musician, podcast host, and the CEO and founder of Rock Star Impact, a boutique agency that teaches people and organizations how to cultivate value-based leadership. Brant is also the author of a new book called Black Sheep: Unleash the Extraordinary Awe-Inspiring, Undiscovered You. And I'm so excited that he came by to talk about...

Punk Rock HR Episode 128: Lindsay Crittendon is the head of Headspace for Work. If you thought that was a meditation app on your phone, so did I. However, it is actually so much more than that. They work with businesses across the spectrum to help them identify the best ways to improve the workplace. Mental Health Awareness Day is coming up on October 5th. Honestly, it should be every day. We need to be having consistent conversations on this topic and on the effect work can have on our...