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HR Mixtape

HR Mixtape

Written by: WRKdefined Podcast Network
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HR Mixtape is a weekly human resources and business leadership podcast for HR professionals, people leaders, and executives navigating the real work of managing people. Episodes cover human resources strategy, HR compliance, workplace culture, leadership development, employee experience, payroll and HR technology, and the future of work. Whether you work in HR, talent management, people operations, or business leadership, HR Mixtape offers practical insights, expert conversations, and real-world perspectives to help you lead with confidence in today’s evolving workplace.All rights reserved by WRKdefined Careers Economics Management Management & Leadership Personal Success
Episodes
  • Gym to Boardroom: Building Resilience Through Physical and Mental Habits

    Gym to Boardroom: Building Resilience Through Physical and Mental Habits
    Jun 2 2026
    Too many people treat resilience like a switch: either you have it or you don't. But what if the real way to build it is by showing up for hard things again and again, even in your off-hours? In this episode, fitness and wellness coach Nicole Zapoli draws a direct line from the weight room to the workplace, sharing how the discomfort you push through in a tough workout is the same mental muscle you call on when work gets hard. Nicole is a professional fitness coach, owner of NZ Fitness, and author of Live FIT From the Inside Out, with 25+ years of experience training athletes, busy parents, and working professionals around the world. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why "toughen up" is the least helpful thing you can say to someone struggling with resilience • How consistent physical training builds the mental framework to stay steady under workplace pressure • What leaders can borrow from great coaches: balancing honest feedback with genuine care to build trust that actually motivates performance [00:00:34] Nicole's background: from competitive fitness to resilience coaching [00:01:39] Why "just toughen up" misses the point of real resilience [00:02:08] How tough workouts train the mental muscle of resilience [00:03:37] Acknowledging discomfort vs. letting it stop you [00:05:50] Nicole's SHIFTS Framework and the power of daily habits [00:06:56] The stick-shift story: how steady, patient support changes everything [00:10:30] How leaders can become the calm, guiding voice for their teams [00:12:19] Balancing direct feedback with genuine care in the workplace [00:17:01] Why people respond better when they know you actually care [00:18:55] Closing thoughts: using trust to motivate and build resilience Nicole Zapoli is a professional fitness and wellness coach, owner of NZ Fitness, and author of Live FIT From the Inside Out: The 6 SHIFTS to Living Your Strongest, Healthiest, and Happiest Life. With over 25 years of experience, a Pro card in natural bodybuilding (Figure & Sports Model), and ranking among the top 5% CrossFit Games Open athletes, Nicole is a leading expert in holistic wellness, having trained thousands globally. Brought to You by Paylocity Paylocity is the fastest growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: resilience, workplace resilience, fitness coaching, mental health, HR leadership, daily habits, SHIFTS Framework, leadership development, employee wellbeing, performance culture, growth mindset, Nicole Zapoli, NZ Fitness, HR Mixtape, Paylocity
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    20 mins
  • Meeting Intelligence: Making Every Interaction Count

    Meeting Intelligence: Making Every Interaction Count
    May 28 2026
    Your meetings are costing you more than you think. Between time lost to bad notes, missed context between conversations, and documents that take days instead of minutes, the hidden tax of poor meeting intelligence adds up fast. Artem Koren, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Sembly AI, is building the fix. His team started in 2019, well before AI was a buzzword, with one simple idea: if technology can understand what happens in a meeting, it can do a whole lot after one. In this episode, Shari and Artem unpack what it really takes to implement AI listening tools responsibly: How to vet AI vendors on security, and the questions that separate good tools from risky ones. Why transparency, not restriction, is the right answer to employee trust concerns. What a $100,000 investment in meeting AI actually returns, and why the number might surprise you. Timestamps 00:16 Artem introduces himself and Sembly AI's origin story 00:38 What 'augmented work' really means for everyday teams 02:05 How Sembly AI carries meeting context well beyond the call 03:00 Product deep dive: artifacts, agentic research, and infinite memory 04:52 Why context continuity changes everything for collaboration 05:35 Addressing security and data privacy concerns head-on 08:42 Table-stakes questions every buyer should ask an AI vendor 10:21 Sovereign data storage explained in plain English 13:35 Transparency in action: how Sembly AI makes its presence known 16:03 The ROI case: $2.5M return on a $100K investment Guest Bio Artem Koren is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Sembly AI, a meeting intelligence platform that transforms conversations into actionable insights across Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and WebEx. Artem started Sembly in 2019 with a straightforward premise: technology that understands meetings can do far more useful work after them. Today, Sembly's agentic AI builds a living library of meeting content, generates documents from entire interview pipelines, and has been shown to deliver a 25x ROI for its customers. Artem is a vocal advocate for transparent, consent-driven AI, and brings a product builder's clarity to the complex questions organizations face when adopting AI in the workplace. Brought to you by Paylocity Paylocity is the fasted growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: meeting intelligence, Sembly AI, AI collaboration, HR technology, data privacy, SOC2, sovereign data storage, agentic AI, meeting ROI, AI vendor vetting, augmented work, change management, psychological safety, employee trust
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    23 mins
  • Cornered Office: Why Leadership Mental Health Can't Wait

    Cornered Office: Why Leadership Mental Health Can't Wait
    May 26 2026
    Leaders are burning out quietly, and most organizations are still pretending it isn't happening. Mel Doman, organizational psychologist, author, and founder of the Workplace Mental Health Method, has spent years equipping leaders at Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce with the skills to have real conversations about mental health at work. In this episode, she breaks down why we've systematically dehumanized leaders, what that costs us, and what we can do about it right now. What you'll take away: Why leaders need a "fence, not a door" when it comes to emotional expression at work How gender-based emotion shaming affects everyone, regardless of gender identity What U.S. organizations can learn from the global concept of "duty of care" Timestamps 00:02 Intro: What is the HR Mixtape? 00:16 Mel's background: from clinical therapy to organizational psychology 01:06 The moment Mel decided to leave clinical work and why 03:38 Why shared language is the foundation of mental health conversations 04:48 Introducing Cornered Office and why she wrote it 08:20 Leaders are human too: the forgotten truth in organizations 09:30 The Nike/Air monologue and what it reveals about how we treat leaders 12:00 The fence, not a door: how leaders can navigate vulnerability and authority 13:03 Gender-based emotion shaming and why everyone is affected 18:54 What U.S. organizations can learn from global duty of care practices Guest Bio Mel Doman is an organizational psychologist, author, and founder of The Workplace Mental Health Method. A former licensed therapist, Mel made the shift from clinical practice in 2013 to tackle mental health at a systems level. She has since worked with global organizations including Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce, equipping leaders and teams with the conversational literacy they need to talk about mental health, communication, and team dynamics at work. She is the author of two books, including her latest, Cornered Office: Why We Need to Talk About Leadership Mental Health. Mel has lived and worked across the U.S., U.K., and internationally, giving her a uniquely global perspective on workplace culture. Brought to you by Paylocity Paylocity is the fasted growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: leadership mental health, workplace mental health, organizational psychology, HR podcast, Mel Doman, Cornered Office, duty of care, gender-based emotion shaming, employee wellbeing, people leaders, burnout, HR Mixtape, Paylocity
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    22 mins
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