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Episodes
The AI Era Might Reward the Most Human Leaders W/David Hanrahan
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As AI reshapes the workplace, many leaders feel pressure to become technical experts overnight. But in this conversation with David Hanrahan, SVP of P...
When trust is missing at the top, HR feels like climbing Everest without oxygen W/Angela Kiniry
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When trust is missing at the top, HR doesn’t just feel hard — it feels like “hiking Mount Everest without oxygen”. In this episode of We’re ...
How an HR Leader Decides When Change Is the Right Move W/ Jeff Bettinger
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What does it really take for an HR leader to decide that change is the right move? In this episode, Jeff Bettinger shares the real story behind multip...
Staying Curious as an HR Leader While Navigating Complexity W/Matt Taylor
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of We’re Not Recording, Matt Taylor, VP of Global HR at Endpoint Clinical, reflects on what it really means to stay curious as an HR...
Integrity Opens the Door and Courage Takes the Wheel W/ Valerie Workman
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Integrity isn’t a slogan in this conversation—it’s a decision that comes with real risk. In this episode, Valerie Workman recounts the moment sh...
Your Employee Has Two Full-Time Jobs? W/Tracy Simek
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When remote work took off during the pandemic, so did a risky new trend: people secretly working two full-time jobs at once. In this episode of We’r...
Leaving the Safety Net of a Big Company to Bet on Yourself W/Andrea Cooper
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of We’re Not Recording, Melanie Naranjo sits down with Andrea Cooper, Chief People Officer at Talkspace, to unpack her winding caree...
When Personal Reinvention Becomes your Next Job
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of We’re Not Recording, Melanie Naranjo sits down with Carey Albertine, SVP of People & Culture at Voltus, Inc., to talk about w...
When Your Résumé Feeds Imposter Syndrome W/Jevan Lenox
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this candid conversation, Chief People Officer Jevan Lenox reveals how an impressive résumé can actually intensify imposter syndrome — especial...
The Perfect Match When a Legal Mind Meets a Human Heart
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a legal mind meets a human heart, the gray areas of work and life start to make a lot more sense. In this episode, Match Group’s Vice President...
Diversify Your Happiness: Stop Putting All Your Happiness in One Basket
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this Halloween-themed episode of We’re Not Recording, Melanie Naranjo sits down with Lamari Brayboy III, Head of HR and People Operations at Thou...
Strategic Parental Leave — and the Conversations Leaders Avoid
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this candid episode of We’re Not Recording, Roxanne Petraeus—Ethena’s CEO and an expectant mom—joins VP of People Melanie Naranjo to unpack...
Everyone Needs an Executive Coach — and Maybe a Policy on Protests?
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of We’re Not Recording, Roxanne Petraeus and Melanie Naranjo dive into the surprising parallels between executive coaching and leade...
Company Culture Alignment Over Culture Optics w/ Ian White
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of We’re Not Recording, hosts Roxanne Petraeus (CEO @ Ethena) and Melanie Naranjo (VP of People @ Ethena) sit down with Ian White, F...
Leading Change Without Losing Trust
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it really take to lead through change without breaking the trust that makes leadership work? Roxanne Petraeus (CEO @ Ethena) and Melanie Nar...
Brex: From Scaling Fast to Recalibrating Deep W/ Heather Dunn
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Brex grew fast — maybe too fast. When Heather Dunn stepped in as Chief People Officer, the company was fresh off hypergrowth, layoffs, and a complet...
How the CEO ‘Roxanne’ Does Her Own Performance Review
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Most CEOs would rather eat tax forms than fill out a performance review. Roxanne Petraeus is no exception. In this episode, Melanie corners Roxanne in...
Posting Through the Fear: HR, Grief & Going Viral W/Justin Clifford
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Roxanne and Melanie sit down with Justin Clifford (CEO @ Bereave) to unpack what happens when the personal smashes into the professional. From six wee...
Spicy Takes: College, Unlimited PTO, and Work Conversations Gone Off the Rails
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are college degrees even still relevant to get a job? Unlimited PTO might actually work. And the way we talk at work? Let’s just say disagreements e...
How a People-First CEO Hires, Handles Crises, And Owns Mistakes W/Ben Sesser
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it really look like when a CEO leads with people first?In this episode, Ben Sesser — CEO & co-founder of BrightHire — sits down with...
Why HR Belongs in the Boardroom W/Katelin Holloway
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of We’re not recording, Roxanne Petraeus and Melanie Naranjo explore why HR leaders deserve a permanent seat in the boardroom. With ...
Perks, Paychecks, and Pissed-Off Employees W/Kelli Dragovich
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Roxanne Petraeus and Melanie Naranjo sit down with Kelli Dragovich, four-time CPO and co-creator of HR Heretics, for a candid conversation about today...
The Wildest HR “Oops” Moments from LinkedIn
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Layoffs announced to the wrong people. A CEO’s very personal voicemail sent company-wide. Salary spreadsheets dropped in Slack for all to see. Roxan...
Your AI Just Took Compliance Training
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Roxanne and Melanie go down the rabbit hole of AI Agent Mode—yes, the one that can take your compliance training for you. What starts as a conversat...
Managers Revolt Over AI in Performance Reviews W/Ashley Herd
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Ethena announced it would start including “AI fluency” in performance reviews, half the managers pushed back—hard. Roxanne Petraeus and Mel...
What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Ditch the Managers, Skip a Generation, Almost Hire Spies. W/ Heather Doshay
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this spicy episode, Roxanne and Melanie sit down with Heather Doshay, Partner and Head of Talent at SignalFire, to unpack the most chaotic headline...
Not Another AI Hype Episode: Just Tools That Actually Work w/Emily Mabie from @Zapier
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
No buzzwords. No “AI will change everything” monologues. Just three people—Roxanne, Melanie, and Emily—talking about the actual AI tools they ...
Psychological Safety, Feedback Drama, and Other Leadership Nightmares w/Gina des Cognets
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Roxanne and Melanie sit down with Gina des Cognets to unpack why feedback can feel like a landmine—and what to do when it is. They get into fear on ...
We Really Didn’t Want to Talk About the Coldplay Thing
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This isn’t the episode we wanted to record, but the Coldplay CEO-CPO news took over our feeds—and apparently everyone else's too. So here we are. ...
Can a leader be too authentic? W/ Christina Luconi
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Roxanne chats with Christina Luconi — former Chief People Officer at Rapid7 and current startup whisperer — about entitlement in ...
What to do when facing an incompetent manager
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast episode, Roxanne and Melanie explore workplace dynamics, focusing on disagreements between employees and managers, as well as differin...
Short employment stints
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Roxanne and Melanie discuss short employment stints, sharing their experiences and examining societal judgments. They explore th...
A hiring process gone wrong
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Roxanne and Melanie discuss a hiring process that went awry. It seemed as though a candidate was on track to be hired, but over ...
What a scathing Glassdoor review says about your company culture w/Ashley Herd
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ashley Herd, Melanie Naranjo, and Roxanne begin a discussion on leadership, empathy, and employee relations. They explore the balance between employee...
Influencing leaders w/ Carrie Berg from @Teladoc
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Carrie Berg from Teladoc Health discusses leadership, growth mindset, and gender dynamics in the workplace. She emphasizes the need for empathy in lea...
Should you have AI requirements when hiring? w/ Anna Binder from Asana
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Roxanne, Anna, and Melanie discuss HR, leadership, and AI's role in the workplace, who could it potentially replace and how can employees prepare them...
Culture problem - When an AI screenshot goes viral
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Roxanne and Melanie discuss various themes related to leadership and company culture, as well as the impact of AI on job securit...
An ethical revolution w/ Rob Chesnut
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Roxanne and Rob Chesnut discuss the complexities of business ethics, emphasizing integrity, the challenges of ethical decision-making, and the importa...
The position of people leaders
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Melanie and Roxanne discuss the evolving role of Human Resources, particularly the Chief People Officer. They emphasize the need for alignment between...
Work/Life balance?
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Melanie and Roxanne discuss the concept of work-life balance. They explore how much emphasis should be placed on work compared to personal life. Is it...
Onboarding talent and investing in their future w/ Ali Partovi
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ali Partovi is a long-time investor in Ethena and an early backer of companies such as Uber, Airbnb, Facebook, Zappos, and Dropbox. He talks about how...
A forced happy workplace
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Melanie and Roxanne discuss employee engagement in corporate culture and 'forced fun.' Instead, aligning employee satisfaction with performance metric...
Reducing barriers of communication w/ Amy Jin
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Roxanne and Amy discuss effective team communication and leadership, sharing strategies like visual cues. And utilizing the six thinking hats method ...
AI’s effect on managers
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Roxanne and Melanie discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming workplace dynamics by raising expectations for new employees and changing...
Meta communication & intent w/ Amy Jin
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Roxanne and Amy discuss the importance of different personality types within a team, the value of naming emotions to facilitate better communication, ...
Making AI work for you w/ Robin & John Horton
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Roxanne joins husband-and-wife team John and Robin Horton to discuss AI technology use cases, what's useful, and what's a waste of time. Expected Parr...
Company Got your Back?
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Melanie and Roxanne discuss employee support - what it means to "have your back", workplace dynamics, and generational expectations. They highlight ch...
No salary negotiations
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Turning away a rockstar candidate over $5,000 isn’t easy—but those are the stakes with a no-negotiation salary approach. What started as a test qu...
Over complicating performance
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What should your management do when an employee is underperforming? What is the process of employee termination? Are there ways to get an underperfo...
Ex-Salesforce EVP Leyla Seka’s leadership wisdom.
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s an interesting time to be a woman in tech. Whether as a leader or investor, women still face systemic challenges—whether it's being unfairly ...
LinkedIn drama at work
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Who knew a post about resume typos could stir up so much drama on LinkedIn? In this episode, Melanie and Roxanne dive into the debate, exploring how t...
Stupid DEI?
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, Melanie and Roxanne unpack the viral headlines around DEI (did Jamie Dimon really call DEI initiatives ‘stupid’?), the real ...
Culture & IRL social connections. w/ Andy Dunn from Pie
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sadness, loneliness, and culture—each deeply shaped by relationships and connections, or lack thereof. Today’s guest, Andy Dunn, co-founder of Bon...
Backchanneling & LinkedIn drama
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is backchanneling a dirty word? In this candid conversation about a common yet controversial pre-hiring practice — backchanneling — Roxanne and Me...
To pitch sizzle or steak? w/ Hunter Walk from Homebrew
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this candid conversation about what makes a successful founder, Roxanne sits down with prolific early-stage investor, Hunter Walk of Homebrew. Hunt...
A spicy take on DEI
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this first of many candid conversations, Roxanne and Melanie tackle the topic of DEI training in the workplace...starting with the question, "has D...