314 - Building HR from Scratch: From Team of 3 to 40: Courtney Kolar (Chief People Officer, Neighborly)

314 - Building HR from Scratch: From Team of 3 to 40: Courtney Kolar (Chief People Officer, Neighborly)

Courtney Kolar, Chief People Officer at Neighborly, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how she helped build an HR function from a three-person team into a 40-person people organization, the People Services 2020 roadmap that created the foundation for scale, and why every company should operate as if it needs to be IPO ready. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Cloverleaf at cloverleaf.me/mpl [https://cloverleaf.me/mpl/] MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build [https://mplbuild.com]. ----   (03:20) Courtney’s Career Journey: From Kohl’s Store Management to HR (09:27) Neighborly’s Growth: From 600 Employees and 9 Brands to 1,600 and 28 (12:43) Walking Into a Three-Person HR Team & Seeing the Blank Slate (15:17) How the People Organization Grew to 40 Across HR, Comms & Facilities (19:20) People Services 2020: The Four-Year Roadmap to Transform HR (21:48) Building the Foundation: Going Digital, Organizing Policies & Adding Systems (23:07) Manager Training, Change Management & the Resistance to More Structure (26:06) The M&A People Integration Playbook: Inventory, Trust & Culture (30:40) What Came After 2020: Pandemic Pivots & the Next Phase of the HR Roadmap (34:52) What People Services 2030 Could Look Like in the Age of AI (37:56) Reimagining Job Architecture for a Changing Workforce (41:18) Why Every Company Should Operate Like It Needs to Be IPO Ready (44:01) Courtney’s Personal Readiness Plan for the Next Stage of Leadership ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps [https://www.modernpeopleleader.com/newsletter] 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader/] 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-mpl/] 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/] ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

313 - The New Power Duo: CHRO + CTO (Sunaina Lobo, Chief People Officer, Omnissa)

Sunaina Lobo, Chief People Officer at Omnissa, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why the HR-IT partnership is becoming critical in the AI era, how Omnissa is approaching AI transformation with a small but mighty team, and what it takes to build an AI-first culture while maintaining trust and engagement. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at QuickBooks.com/workforce [http://quickbooks.com/workforce] MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build [https://mplbuild.com]. ----   (05:56) Sunaina’s Global Journey Across Eight Countries (07:49) From Aspiring Jazz Singer to HR Leader (09:47) The Power of Sponsors Over Mentors (12:00) What Omnissa Does and Its AI-Driven Digital Work Platform (13:03) Why the HR-IT Partnership Is the New Strategic Alliance (15:39) Leading AI Transformation with HR and R&D Together (19:32) How Omnissa’s AI Leadership Team Operates (22:54) The “Small But Mighty” AI Transformation Team (24:44) Early AI Wins Across Product, Marketing, and People Teams (25:46) The Rise of Employees Who Reinvent Their Own Roles (27:40) Lessons Learned from Omnissa’s AI Transformation Journey (31:31) Building AI Fluency Across the Organization (34:24) Overcoming Fear and Building Trust Around AI Adoption (38:22) Why Thoughtful AI Rollouts Matter More Than Speed (40:44) Reimagining Performance Management with AI (43:10) Looking Ahead: Omnissa’s People Experience Strategy (45:14) Development Days, Manager Excellence & Employee Growth (46:40) Creating a Global Culture with Local Relevance (46:57) The Return of Employee Engagement and Listening Programs  ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps [https://www.modernpeopleleader.com/newsletter] 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader/] 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-mpl/] 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/] ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

312 - How an Army General Mobilized a 30,000-Person Company to Build Talent from Within: Patricia Frost, Chief People & Places Officer, Seagate

Patricia Frost, Chief People and Places Officer at Seagate, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about her military-to-CPO journey, how Seagate built Talent Link to unlock internal mobility, and what it looks like to democratize AI across a global workforce. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Cloverleaf at cloverleaf.me/mpl [https://cloverleaf.me/mpl/] 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at https://hellotilt.com/mplhellotilt.com/mpl [http://hellotilt.com/mpl] 🔗 Explore the 2026 Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report [https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/human-capital-trends.html?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Modern+People+Leader] MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build [https://mplbuild.com]. ----   (07:25) Patricia’s story: four generations of military service (10:39) Transitioning from the military to civilian leadership (19:45) Applying military team development principles to HR (23:19) The internal mobility gap Patricia discovered at Seagate (24:37) Building Career Discovery, now Talent Link, with Gloat (26:16) Using AI to make the most of internal talent (29:29) Shifting from “my team” to “Seagate’s talent” (32:08) Training managers not to hold back internal talent (34:28) Seagate’s company-wide AI implementation strategy (41:17) Seagate’s AI Council, AI Collective, and AI Champions (43:26) CEO-mandated transformational initiatives and BHAGs (47:05) Creating an agent management system (48:01) Redesigning jobs without replacing people (49:40) Why AI agents won’t sit on Seagate’s org chart (52:35) What it means to redesign job roles and workflows (53:14) Seagate’s full job architecture review with Cobrainer (55:08) Skills taxonomy and planning for future talent needs (56:16) Why engineers are embracing job architecture ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps [https://www.modernpeopleleader.com/newsletter] 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader/] 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-mpl/] 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/] ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

311 - How Mejuri Runs: Operating Model, Biz Reviews & Decision Velocity (Kate Railton, Chief People Officer at Mejuri)

Kate Railton, Chief People Officer at Mejuri, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about how Mejuri transitioned from e-commerce into retail, why they've decided to flatten the organization, and the business review cadences and operating model that allow them to move faster. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at https://hellotilt.com/mplhellotilt.com/mpl [http://hellotilt.com/mpl] MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build [https://mplbuild.com]. ----   (08:00) Kate’s Origin Story: Psychology, Sociology & Finding HR (13:00) Joining Mejuri and Building People Ops from the Ground Up (15:15) Why Founder-Led Businesses Are Addictive (16:40) What Mejuri Does: Fine Jewelry for Everyday Celebration (20:00) Mejuri’s Shift From E-Commerce to Retail (34:00) Why Mejuri Flattened the Organization (35:00) Diagnosing Decision Velocity, Clarity & Top-Heavy Management (37:00) Span of Control, Broader Scopes & Founder Access (39:00) Managing Employee Perception During Org Flattening (42:00) Strategic Memo Writing and Business Reviews (44:00) What Goes Into Mejuri’s Memo Template (45:00) Training Leaders to Write Clear Strategic Narratives (46:00) The Lasting Impact of Operating Cadences (48:00) Mejuri’s Weekly, Monthly & Quarterly Business Review Rhythm (50:00) How People Ops Connects to Strategic Pillars (51:00) People QBRs, Retail Metrics & Org Health Signals (55:00) The Amazon-Inspired Operating System Behind Mejuri’s Reviews (58:00) HR Metrics CEOs and ELTs Actually Care About (59:00) Tier One vs. Tier Two People Metrics (01:01:00) The “So What?” Behind HR Reporting ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps [https://www.modernpeopleleader.com/newsletter] 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader/] 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-mpl/] 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/] ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

310 - Rethinking the Manager Role & Career Growth (CPOs of Yelp, Zapier, & Time Doctor @ Running Remote)

Daniel moderated a live panel at Running Remote 2026 with Carmen Amara (Yelp), Brandon Sammut (Zapier), and Vinícius Coelho (Time Doctor) to discuss how AI is reshaping leadership, management, and career growth. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at QuickBooks.com/workforce [http://quickbooks.com/workforce] 🔗 Learn more about Cloverleaf at cloverleaf.me/mpl [https://cloverleaf.me/mpl/] 🔗 Explore the 2026 Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report [https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/human-capital-trends.html?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Modern+People+Leader] MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build [https://mplbuild.com]. ----   (05:07) Talent Development and Why Managing Is Getting Harder (07:09) Employee Clarity, Engagement, and Organizational Alignment (08:29) AI Adoption, Skill Building, and Employee Expectations (10:01) Zapier’s AI Journey: From Hackathons to Business Impact (12:43) Moving Beyond AI Adoption to Strategic Outcomes (13:36) Building AI Functions and Faster Decision-Making (15:21) Yelp’s AI Strategy and Operationalizing AI Across the Business (18:43) How AI Is Changing the Role of Managers (19:30) The Future Manager: More Scale, More Development, or More Building? (22:29) Leadership, Talent Growth, and Manager Evolution (24:36) Fewer Management Roles and New Career Paths (25:28) Leadership Beyond People Management (28:53) Executive-Level Individual Contributors and AI-Enabled Roles (29:42) Flattening Organizations and Growing Without Promotions (32:05) The Challenge of Career Development in Flat Organizations (35:01) New AI-Native Roles and the Rise of AI Automation Engineers (38:30) Helping Employees Grow Through Lateral Development (40:47) Final Advice: Rethinking Leadership and Career Growth (44:15) Audience Q&A Begins (44:54) Developing Future Leaders Who May Leave the Company (47:29) Keeping Management Layers Lean Without Overloading Managers (49:10) Should AI Agents Receive Performance Reviews? (50:45) Why Zapier Created the AI Automation Engineer Role (52:04) Does Managing AI Mean Everyone Becomes a Manager? (53:57) The Future of Early-Career Talent in an AI World ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps [https://www.modernpeopleleader.com/newsletter] 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader/] 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-mpl/] 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/] ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.