Welcome to the Punk Rock HR Podcast, hosted by the influential and unconventional Laurie Ruettimann. This podcast breaks away from the traditional constraints of the HR world to bring you candid and compelling conversations with some of the most disruptive and innovative minds in the business. Each episode, Laurie dives deep into critical topics surrounding the real world of work, exploring the modern workplace's nuances, and challenging the status quo of HR.Guests range from renowned thought leaders, authors, and entrepreneurs to HR professionals and individuals who have reshaped the way we approach work and organizational culture. Punk Rock HR...
Latest episodes
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34 min
315: Reference Checking with James Lord
James Lord says a background check tells you whether someone has been convicted of a crime, but a reference tells you about their character. He has spent nearly 20 years in HR tech…
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35 min
314: Job Searching with Stefanie Fackrell
Stefanie Fackrell was laid off in 2023 and decided to bet on herself. The next two years tested that bet hard. Her brother, who was also her best friend, was killed by a drunk driv…
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1 h 07
313: You're Not Broken. The System Is.
Laurie sat down with Meg Bear and Amy Wilson on their podcast, the Meg & Amy Show, and the conversation was good enough that she wanted to share it with Punk Rock HR listeners too.…
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43 min
312: Blowing Up the HR Playbook with Lisa Sterling
Lisa Sterling said "absolutely not" when she was first asked to take a Chief People Officer role. Not because she didn't care about people, but because everything she believed abou…
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37 min
311: The Business Case for Caring with David Barrett
Most companies have no idea how their employee experience actually compares to their competitors. Not because the data doesn't exist. Because nobody's looked at it. David Barrett,…
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30 min
310: Fixing a Broken Benefits System with Rae Shanahan
Twenty-six years in benefits gives you a particular kind of clarity. Rae Shanahan knows what the industry got right, and she's direct about what it got wrong. Now Chief Strategy Of…
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35 min
309: Closing the AI Confidence Gap with Gemma Versace
The CEO is pumped. The engineers are burnt out. And HR is the last to know. Gemma Versace is Chief Client Officer at X-Team, and her company's research on AI talent strategy should…
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48 min
308: Leading Into the Unknown with Tameka Vasquez
Tameka Vasquez grew up in tech, where moving fast and breaking things was gospel. Then she started working with leaders outside that world and realized the gospel didn't travel. Mo…
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43 min
307: The Engineer Who Won't Use AI with Andrew Norcross
Andrew Norcross built NASA's website. He built the New York Times' website. He's been engineering the infrastructure of the internet for 20 years. Now he's building fences and pain…
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46 min
306: Living Better to Lead Better with Scott Eblin
Most leadership advice skips the body entirely. Scott Eblin doesn't. The executive coach and author of Overworked and Overwhelmed has spent 25 years helping C-suite leaders perform…
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35 min
305: Global VA Agency for Stigmatized Industries with Amari Leigh
Amari Leigh didn't plan any of this. She volunteered at sex worker charities and women's health organizations, sent her CV to every reproductive justice charity she could find, and…
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30 min
304: Joyful Workplaces with Yolanda Fraction
Yolanda Fraction, organizational development consultant, doctoral student in IO psychology, and author of Joyful Workplaces, joins Punk Rock HR to make the case that joy at work is…
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31 min
303: Healthy to 100 with Ken Stern
What actually helps people live longer, healthier lives? According to longevity expert Ken Stern, it’s not just diet, exercise, or the latest health trend. The biggest factor might…
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32 min
302: Becoming Trustworthy: Race and Solidarity at Work with Karen Fleshman
Karen Fleshman joins Punk Rock HR to talk about race, power, and the uncomfortable yet necessary work white women must do to build trust across differences. As the founder of the I…
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36 min
301: The Manager Method with Ashley Herd
Ashley Herd, founder and CEO of Manager Method and co-host of HR Besties, joins Punk Rock HR to talk about what it actually takes to lead people well. A lawyer turned HR executive,…
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30 min
300: The Reality of Work Tech in 2026 with Mary Ellen Slayter and Steve Smith
Mary Ellen Slayter and Steve Smith of Rep Cap join Punk Rock HR to talk about the state of the job market, the reality behind AI hype, and what’s actually changing in work tech and…
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41 min
299: The Human Cost of AI in HR with Scott Stratten
Scott Stratten, speaker and author joins Punk Rock HR to talk about the hype, fear, and noise around AI in HR. Instead of focusing on tools, he asks why they exist in the first pla…
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28 min
298: Navigating AI and Global Work with Laura Maffucci
Laura Maffucci, Head of HR at G-P, joins Punk Rock HR to explore how AI and global employment solutions are reshaping the HR landscape. From “agentic AI” and compliance challenges…
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56 min
297: Supporting Caregivers at Work with Blair Whitman
Blair Whitman, VP of Client Success at Homethrive, joins Punk Rock HR to talk about the stigma around caregiving, why it’s a workforce issue, and how companies can move beyond perf…
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35 min
296: Real HR with Robin Schooling
Robin Schooling, a luminary in the HR field, joins the Punk Rock HR Podcast for a compelling conversation about her new book, “Real HR: What It Is, What It Can Be, and How to Get T…