Insurance changes, community impact, and why empathy still wins.

In this episode, Melanie Zakrzewski, Payroll and Benefits Supervisor at Kendall Hunt Publishing and Westmark Enterprises, joins us live from isolved Connect in Chicago to break down what happens when HR leads with people first. From overhauling a 15-year healthcare plan to building bikes for local kids, Melanie shares how culture shows up in the small moments—and how empathy transforms HR from a function into a force.

We dig into managing benefits communication, involving spouses in the process, and navigating fear and uncertainty during change. Plus, Melanie explains why “smile files” matter more than you think, and what advice she’d give to any HR pro just starting out.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Meet Melanie Zakrzewski from Kendall Hunt and Westmark

02:18 — Switching insurance providers after 15 years

03:59 — Communicating change with empathy and clarity

06:06 — Good Works Committee: culture beyond the office

07:41 — Building goodwill and community trust

09:35 — Why empathy is the most underrated HR skill

13:18 — “Being a people hero means…”

14:45 — Smile files and the power of small recognition

This conversation was recorded live at isolved Connect in Chicago.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.

You can learn more about isolved here: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with the guest:

Melanie Zakzerwski LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-zakrzewski/

Website: http://www.kendallhunt.com/

Connect with Us:

William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

Connect with us on social:

Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined/

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/WRKdefined

Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com/

You can’t automate empathy—and that’s the difference.

In this episode, recorded live at isolved Connect in Chicago, industry veteran Pamela Stroko joins William Tincup to talk truth in HR tech. With over two decades across Oracle, analyst firms, and practitioner trenches, Pamela cuts through the noise around AI, hiring mistakes, and vendor hype.

She shares lessons from launching The Five Talents That Matter podcast series, what 300,000 listens taught her about real talent signals, and why most companies are still getting hiring wrong—by design. From her earliest days in HR to her sharpest critiques of today’s tech landscape, Pamela makes one thing clear: connection still wins.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Meet Pamela Stroko: from practitioner to Oracle to analyst

02:24 — The Five Talents book and podcast: a talent strategy case study

04:46 — 85–95% of execs say they’re hiring the wrong people

06:15 — What you can’t teach: innate traits that drive leadership

08:11 — Getting honest about the cost of bad hires

09:02 — First impressions of isolved and what energy signals in a vendor

11:04 — Real customer love: isolved’s people-first approach in action

13:35 — How isolved’s roots shaped its culture and impact

15:00 — What vendors get wrong: overpromising features and roadmaps

17:12 — Why authenticity and humanity still differentiate great software

20:33 — AI can’t fall in love. That’s still your job

This conversation was recorded live at isolved Connect in Chicago.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.

You can learn more about isolved here: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with the guest:

Pamela Stroko LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelastroko/

Connect with Us:

William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

Connect with us on social:

Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined/

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/WRKdefined

Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com/

What happens when long-tenured employees meet new tech, and a swim coach becomes the HR lead? You get creative adaptation, empathy in action, and a code of conduct for kids.

Live from isolved Connect in Chicago, Samantha Kenworthy, HR Coordinator at Skyline Center, shares how she’s navigating digital transformation in a nonprofit world—where mission matters, tenure runs deep, and change doesn’t come easy. From training employees to check their own pay stubs to surviving accreditation and building HR systems from scratch, Samantha’s story is one of real-world resilience.

We explore her unexpected journey into HR, how she’s personalizing legacy systems, and why being a People Hero starts with protecting your own energy while showing up for everyone else.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Meet Samantha Kenworthy, HR at Skyline Center

01:32 — Legacy employees, new tools, and user adoption challenges

03:15 — Small wins: self-service and digital literacy

04:19 — Accreditation survival and nonprofit compliance

05:40 — From “Sure, I’ll try HR” to full system overhaul

06:12 — Why you can’t inherit someone else’s HR system

08:11 — Mission-driven HR and nonprofit motivation

09:05 — Doing HR at swim practice: the code of conduct story

12:00 — Youth sports, parents, and HR chaos off the clock

13:36 — Being a People Hero means showing up and staying filled

This conversation was recorded live at isolved Connect in Chicago.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.

You can learn more about isolved here: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with Us:

William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

Connect with us on social:

Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined/

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/WRKdefined

Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com/

Implementation doesn’t end at go-live. That’s where the real work begins.

In this episode, live from isolved Connect in Chicago, we sit down with Sandy Barnett and Theresa Breunig—Directors of Optimization at isolved—to unpack how the optimization team bridges the gap between system setup and business outcomes. From recalibrating systems post-launch to unlocking untapped value inside isolved, they share how their work helps HR teams save time, stay aligned with changing priorities, and become the heroes their people need.

We talk about streamlining processes, driving adoption, preventing burnout, and how tools like predictive analytics and AI-powered chat features are reshaping HR’s role in the business. This one’s about making the system work for the people—not the other way around.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Meet Sandy and Theresa from isolved's Optimization Team

04:05 — What optimization really means post-implementation

07:10 — Saving time, boosting satisfaction, and delivering impact

10:10 — Calibrating systems as businesses evolve

13:00 — Why AI and chat features are game-changers

15:00 — The power of an integrated HCM ecosystem

17:00 — Predictive analytics in action

18:56 — What “People Heroes” really means

This conversation was recorded live at isolved Connect in Chicago.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.

You can learn more about isolved here: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with the guest:

Sandy Barnett LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandy-barnett-41936311/

Website: https://www.claconnect.com/

Theresa Breunig LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresabreunig/

Website: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with Us:

William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

Connect with us on social:

Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined/

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/WRKdefined

Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com/

This isn’t about phishing emails or stolen credit cards. This is payroll fraud—organized, scaled, and already inside your systems.

Live from isolved Connect in Chicago, fraud prevention leader Steve Lenderman sits down with William Tincup to reveal the silent crisis sweeping payroll operations. From transnational crime rings and deepfakes to credential farming and spoofed login portals, this episode unpacks the tactics that make fraud not just inevitable—but invisible.

Steve breaks down what most HR teams get wrong, why prevention isn't just an IT job, and what it really takes to protect employee data and paychecks. Forget the hoodie-wearing hacker trope—these are structured organizations with org charts and playbooks.

If your payroll process still relies on passwords, hope, or outdated KYC checks, this one’s required listening.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Meet Steve Lenderman, Head of Fraud Prevention at isolved

01:04 — Why fraudsters are targeting payroll, not just banks

02:16 — The business of fraud: organized crime and economic desperation

04:01 — Pirates, playbooks, and the modern model of digital theft

06:02 — Why most KYC programs don’t actually prevent fraud

08:26 — Continuous monitoring and perpetual KYC

11:00 — Biometric authentication and passkeys: the future of security

14:33 — ACH transfers, onboarding errors, and Nacha compliance

16:07 — What payroll gets wrong that HR can’t afford to

18:10 — Top security hygiene tips for every HR practitioner

22:00 — Credential farming, SEO poisoning, and the rise of GenAI-powered scams

This conversation was recorded live at isolved Connect in Chicago.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.

You can learn more about isolved here: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with the guest:

Steve Lenderman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-lenderman/

Website: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with Us:

William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

Connect with us on social:

Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined/

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/WRKdefined

Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com/

Forget buzzwords and look at what’s actually holding HR teams back. It’s not AI. It’s paper.

In this episode, we sit down with Amberly Dressler, VP of Corporate Marketing at isolved, to unpack her new book Center the Pendulum and the real stories that inspired it—from applicant tracking bottlenecks to generational filing cabinets in Alaska. Amberly shares what it means to document transformation, why naming real customers matters, and how HR leaders can shift from resistance to readiness.

We get into the friction between employer needs and employee expectations, how to prioritize digital transformation, and why mentorship and succession planning still move the needle more than any shiny tech.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Meet Amberly Dressler of isolved

01:07 — Writing Center the Pendulum and blending fiction with real HCM stories

02:20 — Why change is the recurring character in every HR story

04:48 — From pushback to progress: change management in action

06:56 — The business case behind HR tech decisions

08:28 — Paper applications and missed talent

09:46 — Succession planning and mentorship in HR

10:39 — When priorities matter more than data archives

11:36 — AI interest vs. operational reality on the ground

13:30 — Regional Connect events and customer-centricity in motion

This conversation was recorded live at isolved Connect in Chicago.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.

You can learn more about isolved here: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with the guest:

Amberly Dressler LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amberlydressler/

Website: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with Us:

William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

Connect with us on social:

Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined/

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/WRKdefined

Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com/

Sometimes HR isn't about solving problems—it’s about hearing them clearly.

Live from isolved Connect in Chicago, Donna Miller, Employee Relations Manager at Phil Long Dealerships, shares how three decades in the automotive industry shaped her people-first approach. From turnover challenges to commission delays, Donna opens up about what she’s hearing from the ground and how she’s helping leadership respond with empathy and urgency.

We talk about fixing payout gaps for new hires, facilitating PTO cash-outs during personal crises, and what it means to be truly reliable in HR. Through patience, presence, and quiet consistency, Donna models what employee relations is really about: showing up when it counts, not when it's convenient.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Meet Donna Miller of Phil Long Dealerships

01:05 — From front office to HR leadership over 30 years

02:00 — Managing employee relations through COVID

03:01 — Turnover, commission delay, and why sales teams leave

04:09 — Restructuring pay cycles to retain talent

05:05 — PTO cash-outs and supporting employees in crisis

06:34 — Building long-term trust through short-term action

08:00 — The power of loyalty and being seen by your employer

08:43 — Advice for new HR pros: patience isn’t optional

10:16 — Reliability, empathy, and consistency as HR currency

12:58 — When life gets hard, what keeps you moving

This conversation was recorded live at isolved Connect in Chicago.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.

You can learn more about isolved here: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with Us:

William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

Connect with us on social:

Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined/

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/WRKdefined

Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com/

When you're the only HR pro in the building, control is easy—letting go isn’t.

Live from isolved Connect in Chicago, Emily Arthur, HR Director at Riverhawk Company, shares what it means to run people ops solo at a 100-person manufacturing firm in upstate New York. From recruiting skilled CNC machinists to building talent pipelines with local colleges, Emily walks through how she handles hiring, onboarding, culture, and compliance—while learning to step back and let managers lead.

We explore the myths of HR ownership over culture, what it takes to be a real partner to leadership, and how being a people hero sometimes means not being the hero.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Meet Emily Arthur, HR Director at Riverhawk Company

01:13 — From higher ed to manufacturing HR

02:22 — The challenge: recruiting skilled CNC machinists

04:00 — Building a community college internship-to-hire pipeline

06:41 — Culture is everyone’s responsibility, not just HR

08:14 — Knowing when to jump in—and when to step back

10:53 — Delegation, scaling, and growth in small orgs

13:25 — Advice for new HR pros: set up systems, not dependencies

15:14 — Why HR should work without you, not because of you

16:49 — Caring about people without calling them "family"

17:57 — HR outside of work: nonprofit board leadership and self-awareness

22:13 — How isolved powers solo HR success

23:10 — What role Emily would hire next—and why

This conversation was recorded live at isolved Connect in Chicago.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.

You can learn more about isolved here: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with Us:

William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

Connect with us on social:

Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined/

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/WRKdefined

Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com/

Michelle Hamilton from Adore Me joins the Heroes of HR podcast to discuss flexibility in job applications, navigating career changes, and the value of community. With insights from isolved’s customer service excellence and the People Heroes community, this episode is packed with actionable advice for HR professionals.

In this episode, we look at HR, job applications, career growth, flexibility, community, customer service, isolved, Adore Me, Michelle Hamilton, and People Heroes. Michelle emphasizes that job descriptions are guidelines, not barriers, and shares strategies to empower HR professionals through supportive networks and exceptional service standards.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM solution modernizes HR, benefits and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing & more.

You can learn more about isolved here: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

Connect with WRKdefined on your favorite social network

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Share your brand across the WRKdefined Podcast Network

In this episode of the Heroes of HR podcast, Jaylene Owens shares her experiences as an HR professional in Sitka, Alaska, navigating the unique challenges of talent retention and employee wellbeing in a remote community. From the critical importance of mental health to leveraging AI and automation to enhance HR processes, Jaylene highlights the role of ‘People Heroes’ in creating a supportive work environment. With isolved as a trusted HR solution, she offers actionable strategies for overcoming obstacles and prioritizing self-care as an HR leader.

We explore HR, talent retention, mental health, AI, automation, employee experience, isolved, People Heroes, wellbeing, and HR challenges to uncover practical insights for today’s HR professionals.

00:00: Who is Jaylene Owens?

03:03: Challenges in HR: Talent Retention and Wellbeing

06:06: The Future of HR: Embracing AI and Automation

08:54: Understanding the Role of People Heroes

10:58: Describing isolved: A Comprehensive HR Solution

12:00: Recharging the HR Battery: Self-Care Strategies

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM solution modernizes HR, benefits and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing & more.

You can learn more about isolved here: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with Jaylene Owens here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlineberry/

William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

Connect with WRKdefined on your favorite social network

The Site | Substack | LinkedIn | Instagram | X | Facebook | TikTok

Share your brand across the WRKdefined Podcast Network