In this episode of Heart of The Brand, host Roman Kirsch interviews Oana Breen, Director of People Operations and Culture at Interactive Strength. Interactive Strength scaled from 15 to 100 employees in four years while navigating the unique challenge of building culture across two distinct workforces: corporate teams and customer-facing personal trainers. Oana's approach centers on a counterintuitive insight: culture must evolve with every new hire, not remain static. With a master's degree in organizational culture and leadership, she brings a rare academic foundation to startup people operations, focusing on intentional culture evolution rather than rigid culture preservation. Her framework uses customer feedback as a direct input for talent decisions, creating a measurable connection between hiring choices and business outcomes that most people leaders overlook. Topics Discussed Building intentional culture evolution frameworks that allow strategic change while maintaining core values during hypergrowth Scaling people operations from 15 to 100 employees while managing two distinct talent pools with different success metrics Using customer feedback data as primary input for talent acquisition and performance evaluation in service-based businesses Evaluating mid-market HR technology solutions and calculating ROI on people operations tools for 100-person companies Managing cultural integration when hiring internationally versus building globally distributed teams for US-based operations Implementing listening frameworks that uncover organizational needs across departments, verticals, and individual growth trajectories Balancing AI automation in recruiting while preserving human judgment for culture fit and customer-facing roles Designing talent acquisition processes that serve diverse customer bases without creating discriminatory hiring practices

Jackie Shaw is building OneSkin's people infrastructure from the ground up as their first in-house people leader, navigating the unique challenge of scaling culture across a 40-person remote-first team where 85-90% work remotely while their R&D scientists operate in San Francisco labs. In a longevity skincare company founded by four PhD scientists, Jackie bridges the gap between highly technical research teams and business operations, creating systems that maintain psychological safety in a high-stakes environment where experimental failures can cost millions. Her approach prioritizes proactive infrastructure building over firefighting, embedding wellness as a core career strategy rather than a perk, and using strategic context-switching to address the constantly evolving needs of a scaling startup. Topics Discussed Building remote-first culture systems while maintaining connection between distributed teams and on-site R&D labs Creating transparent communication frameworks that translate complex scientific work into accessible company-wide understanding Developing psychological safety protocols for teams working in high-stakes research environments with significant financial risk Implementing recognition systems and morale-building strategies during intense work periods and external pressures Designing intentional onboarding experiences that begin before day one and emphasize value alignment Managing context-switching across benefits administration, talent acquisition, culture building, and strategic planning as a solo people leader Establishing data-driven people metrics in science-heavy organizations while maintaining space for gut-based decision making Scaling hiring across vastly different roles from PhD scientists to graphic designers while maintaining consistent candidate experience

Stephanie Cleverly operates as a one-person people team at Because, a 30-person remote e-commerce startup selling bladder incontinence products to older adults. The unique challenge: building a passionate, engaged culture when your entire workforce is decades younger than your customer base. As the company's first formal HR hire, Stephanie has navigated everything from processing 14,000 applications for a single role to achieving 97% employee satisfaction and Great Place to Work certification—all while managing recruitment, engagement, compliance, and culture solo. Her approach centers on systematic employee feedback, responsible growth planning, and leveraging AI to scale a team of one into an efficient people operations function. Topics Discussed Operating as a solo HR leader in a remote startup environment and prioritizing competing demands Building candidate screening processes that assess passion and customer empathy when employees don't use the products Managing massive applicant volumes (14,000+ applications) as a remote company using only LinkedIn for recruiting Implementing quarterly engagement surveys to drive decision-making and achieve Great Place to Work certification Creating scalable cultural rituals like weekly all-hands meetings that may need evolution at 100+ employees Establishing weekly AI learning sessions to democratize tool adoption across a remote team Planning responsible headcount growth while avoiding the mass layoff trap of overhiring Deciding when startups should invest in people operations versus fractional HR support

In this episode of Behind the Brand, host Sam interviews Alexandra Bodnar, Chief Legal and People Officer at ThirdLove. ThirdLove demonstrates how combining legal and people functions creates a proactive cultural framework that prevents problems before they escalate. As an employment lawyer who transitioned into dual leadership, Alexandra has built a system where legal risk mitigation and people strategy work in tandem—resulting in a collaborative, mission-driven culture that scales across hybrid teams. Her approach proves that treating "all legal problems as people problems" creates stronger preventative systems than traditional reactive HR models, particularly for founder-led companies navigating product innovation and rapid market shifts. Topics Discussed: Combining legal and people operations into a unified leadership function for proactive problem-solving Building mission-driven culture in consumer brands that attracts talent beyond the target customer demographic Designing hybrid work models that balance product collaboration needs with distributed team flexibility Creating Individual Employee Plans (IEPs) for every employee regardless of promotion timeline or seniority Implementing cross-functional interview processes to assess collaborative fit across departments Adapting employee engagement strategies for post-COVID workforce priorities (career growth over social events) Encouraging AI tool experimentation while managing data security and risk mitigation Scaling internal promotion pathways while strategically hiring external expertise for emerging capabilities

Taylor Roa, Head of People & Talent at January, shares how a nine-year-old Series B company achieved something virtually unheard of in startup culture: zero layoffs through every market cycle while maintaining sustainable growth. As January approaches their hockey stick growth moment after years of disciplined scaling, Taylor reveals how they're reinventing their hiring approach to double their team size while preserving the cultural elements that drove their success. His framework for building lean, efficient teams through AI-powered recruiting and intentional culture evolution offers a blueprint for sustainable scaling without the typical startup growing pains. Topics Discussed Building sustainable growth cultures that survive market downturns without layoffs Creating writing-first cultures that enable async collaboration and thoughtful decision-making Developing outbound recruiting strategies for companies without strong brand awareness Implementing AI tools across people operations to increase team efficiency by 50-200% Managing cultural evolution during controlled growth phases rather than hypergrowth Building people functions that amplify founder strengths instead of fixing cultural problems Designing lean team structures that can scale to IPO with plateau headcount models Creating hiring processes that prioritize exceptional talent over rapid volume scaling  

In this episode of Heart of the Brand, host Diana Alexandrovna interviews Anjuli Mauer, CEO & Founder at People Pace. Anjuli reveals how scaling companies unknowingly destroy their culture through inconsistent compensation decisions and misaligned performance systems - and how to fix it before it's too late. After building HR departments at multiple Berlin startups including Flaconi, she discovered that most culture problems stem from operational failures, not values misalignment. Her approach prioritizes getting foundational processes right before layering on cultural initiatives, helping companies avoid the costly mistake of trying to fix culture after scaling without proper systems. Topics Discussed: Building operational excellence as the foundation for sustainable culture Creating compensation frameworks that reinforce rather than undermine values Scaling HR processes from 50 to 500+ employees without losing cultural consistency Implementing performance management systems aligned with company values Using AI and automation to eliminate administrative burden and focus on strategic work Establishing transparent promotion criteria that reduce bias and increase fairness Managing culture evolution during rapid growth phases Building HR departments that add strategic value rather than just administrative support  

Charlotte Theiß, People Lead at Hive, has built a dual-world people strategy that successfully manages both warehouse operations teams and distributed tech talent across seven European locations. As Hive scaled from 30 to 450+ employees, Charlotte developed specialized people teams and frameworks that acknowledge the fundamentally different needs of fulfillment associates and office workers while maintaining one unified culture. Her approach to sustainable growth, skills-based hiring, and meritocratic performance management has enabled Hive to transition from "do more with less" startup culture to a mature organization focused on development and ownership without losing its core identity. Topics Discussed Building specialized people teams for warehouse operations vs. tech talent Scaling culture sustainably through value evolution and meritocratic decision-making Implementing skills-based hiring over traditional credential requirements Creating internal mobility pathways that enable rapid career progression Transitioning from hiring manager-led recruitment to centralized talent acquisition Balancing on-site collaboration needs with distributed team management Using AI tools like Notion AI for internal knowledge management and documentation Developing feedback culture that drives both individual and organizational growth

In this episode of Heart of the Brand, host Roman Kirsch interviews Valerie Mann, Chief People Officer at Elder. Elder is disrupting elderly care by connecting families with carers through their marketplace platform, and Valerie has developed a unique approach to building mission-driven culture without sacrificing performance. As Elder scaled their team while maintaining their social impact focus, Valerie created frameworks that balance empathy with accountability, turning mission alignment into a competitive advantage rather than a performance liability. Her approach includes embedding business context into every cultural touchpoint, developing "Swiss knife" hiring criteria for adaptable talent, and using performance metrics to validate cultural health rather than relying on abstract sentiment measures. Topics Discussed Balancing mission-driven culture with performance accountability in social impact businesses Creating hiring frameworks that identify adaptable "Swiss knife" talent for scaling environments Embedding business context and metrics into cultural communication and decision-making Developing Employee Value Propositions (EVP) that define what keeps talent engaged beyond initial attraction Using performance data to measure cultural effectiveness rather than traditional sentiment surveys Building empathy-driven recruitment processes while maintaining high performance standards Integrating AI considerations into talent acquisition and skill development strategies Managing hybrid work arrangements with specific focus on collaboration and training challenges  

Michael Jones, VP of People at aware®, has mastered the art of scaling dual cultures within a single organization. As aware® grew from 10 to 30 employees while launching physical blood-testing locations across Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, Michael discovered that building one unified culture across both digital headquarters teams and on-the-ground medical operations was not only impossible but counterproductive. His approach of intentionally designing two complementary cultures - while maintaining shared values and communication touchpoints - has enabled aware® to maintain tight team cohesion during rapid expansion while delivering consistent customer experiences across diverse work environments. Topics Discussed Building two distinct but aligned cultures within a single organization Scaling culture across distributed teams with vastly different work environments Creating systematic onboarding programs for medical staff and operational teams Implementing communication touchpoints that connect virtual and physical teams Adapting HR practices for the shift from remote-first to hybrid work models Using AI tools strategically for recruitment while avoiding algorithmic bias Building culture resilience during the transition from purely digital to physical operations Developing structured interview processes and candidate evaluation frameworks