In this episode, host Michael Bernzweig talks with Trisha Daho, founder and CEO of Empowered, about how professional services firms can grow faster by treating people, culture, and leadership as strategic priorities. Trisha explains how culture impacts engagement, retention, and long‑term revenue, how Empowered uses assessments, people advisory, and fractional Chief People Officer roles to drive change, and why leadership development must focus on human skills like emotional intelligence, self‑reflection, and genuine care. She also describes her leadership ascension and intensive programs designed to prepare the next generation of partners and leaders.

In this episode:

• Why culture and people strategy are critical for 800% growth over a decade
• How to assess and address culture gaps without triggering defensiveness
• The role of fractional Chief People Officers in mid-market firms
• Practical steps to embed AI into organizational strategy effectively
• The importance of leadership alignment and honest performance evaluations
• Why employee engagement statistics reveal the urgency for cultural change
• How to build resilient leaders for hybrid, multi-generational workplaces
• The three-phase roadmap for AI adoption: from foundation to scaling
• Strategies for detecting early warning signs of cultural wobble
• Filling topic gaps with AI to enhance thought leadership

Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Introduction to Trisha Daho and her expertise in culture and leadership in professional services
• 01:24 - Trisha’s personal journey from Big Four to entrepreneurship
• 02:36 - Why neglecting culture results in 800% less growth
• 04:06 - Key learnings in transitioning from corporate to founder mindset
• 05:36 - Building honest, transparent culture assessments
• 06:53 - Common signs that culture, leadership, and people are wobbling
• 08:13 - What exactly do culture and people initiatives entail?
• 09:34 - Embedding culture into performance management and leadership development
• 12:40 - Implementing and scaling fractional Chief People Officer roles
• 16:00 - How leadership ascension programs accelerate talent development
• 20:40 - First steps for firms starting their culture improvement journey
• 21:44 - Strategic AI roadmap: from foundation to pilot, scale, embed
• 33:07 - Using honest culture assessments to surface issues
• 36:53 - Updating SEO and AEO strategies in the age of AI
• 38:23 - Pricing strategies based on capacity and scarcity
• 40:09 - Measuring success in fractional CPO engagements
• 41:51 - Practical three-phase AI implementation roadmap
• 44:08 - Identifying and filling content gaps with AI
• 45:36 - Final thoughts: invest in culture and leadership for sustainable growth

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In this episode, host Michael Bernzweig sits down with Noelle London, founder and CEO of Illoominus, to explore how HR teams can turn scattered people data into AI‑ready intelligence. Noelle explains why most mid‑market organizations rely on IT tickets and manual reports to answer basic workforce questions, and how messy, inconsistent data across dozens of HR systems blocks strategic decisions. She shares practical steps to improve data quality, connect the full employee journey, and use AI for self‑serve insights on tenure, turnover, and internal mobility so leaders can respond to change with confidence.

• 00:00 – Introduction to Noelle London and Illuminus’s mission to unify HR data
• 00:29 – The entrepreneurial journey of Noelle and founding Illuminus
• 01:23 – Challenges of disconnected HR systems and scattered data
• 02:39 – How entrepreneurship taught Noelle about creative problem solving
• 04:10 – The evolution of HR technology and the need for connected data
• 06:07 – Navigating societal and technological shifts impacting the workforce
• 08:02 – Common issues mid-market organizations face with HR data access
• 09:38 – The urgency of data foundation for AI readiness
• 11:20 – How Illuminus unifies employee journey data for strategic insights
• 12:18 – Power of AI in making quick, data-driven workforce decisions
• 13:18 – Enabling self-serve data access for HR teams
• 14:47 – Building a community of shared learnings for HR innovation
• 16:19 – Solving high turnover costs through integrated data analysis
• 17:48 – Encouraging organizations to connect core HR systems first
• 19:22 – Preparing data foundations for AI, analytics, and predictive modeling
• 20:49 – Key practices for normalizing and cleansing HR data
• 23:23 – How to prioritize growth levers for testing without a dedicated data team
• 24:16 – Conducting cost-effective A/B tests with limited traffic
• 26:39 – Moving from scattered data to trusted, action-oriented HR insights
• 28:24 – Using impactful storytelling to build trust with leadership
• 30:12 – Framework for testing new strategies efficiently and effectively
• 31:09 – Tools and resources for creating impactful experiment audits
• 33:29 – Initial steps for unifying data from multiple HR platforms
• 36:42 – Starting with core HR systems before expanding data integrations
• 38:32 – Cadence and documentation best practices for continuous testing
• 41:43 – Making sense of emerging workforce trends through metrics
• 45:17 – Running experiments with low traffic environments
• 48:08 – Final advice: fixing data foundations as a strategic priority for HR modernization

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In this episode, host Michael Bernzweig sits down with Chris Brown, partner and CTO at Wow Remote Teams, to unpack why hiring has quietly become one of the biggest growth bottlenecks for modern companies. Together, they explore how remote work truly changed access to talent, why nearshoring to Latin America helps solve time zone, culture, and skill gaps, and why cost efficiency should be the outcome rather than the sole strategy. You’ll hear which roles are best suited for nearshore teams, how to think about data and security across borders, and how expanding your talent radius can drive speed, continuity, and long-term retention across tech, operations, and support functions.

Key Topics:

• How nearshoring expands access to skilled talent in Latin America with cultural and time zone alignment.
• The primary bottleneck of hiring in fast-growing companies and how remote work alleviates it.
• Strategies for building high-performance remote teams, including onboarding, trust, and long-term retention.
• The impact of AI on workflows, automation, and evolving business models.
• Practical steps for transitioning to hybrid pricing models and cross-department collaboration.
• How remote work transforms leadership mindsets around talent acquisition and team integration.
• Tools and frameworks to assess workflow alignment and prevent technology-driven inefficiencies.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to nearshore talent and remote team scaling

01:23 - Chris Brown’s journey from CTO to staffing expert

02:39 - How Latin American talent outperforms domestic hires in cost and quality

04:45 - The transformation in client hiring processes through nearshoring

06:50 - Building trust and ensuring compliance in Latin American markets

07:18 - Effective client acquisition via word of mouth and inbound marketing

09:01 - The challenge of outbound sales and market warming strategies

10:36 - Leveraging referral partnerships for client growth

12:04 - How remote work reduces hiring bottlenecks and costs

13:54 - Quantifying the hiring bottleneck for founders and executives

15:12 - Remote work as a strategic advantage in global talent access

17:34 - Mindsets leaders must unlearn to embrace remote/nearshore hiring

19:39 - Comparing nearshore vs offshore models and operational benefits

21:57 - Real-world example of Latin American hires transforming team performance

23:56 - Long-term retention and cultural alignment in Latin America

25:28 - Cost efficiency versus quality and skill level improvements

27:00 - Practical considerations for security, data, and support roles

30:07 - Interactive Q&A highlights from the live event

31:52 - How AI influences business strategy and workflow friction

35:35 - Rethinking SaaS pricing amid variable LLM costs

40:07 - Reframing nearshore talent as a strategic lever, not just a cost cut

44:44 - Mapping cross-department workflows to support collaboration

47:36 - Managing business efficiency loops and resource fulcrums

49:15 - Onboarding practices for remote Latin American hires

51:25 - Balancing governance and flexibility in enterprise workflows

53:23 - Final insights: expand your talent pool, treat remote hiring as infrastructure

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