Brianna Carney runs CrewBloom across 20+ countries and is building Betty, a voice AI that handles outbound qualification so humans can spend more time on higher-value work.

Her operating system is disarmingly simple: work comes second, standards stay high, AI augments people, and leaders model the culture. She also happens to be the first person with a chronic condition to run a marathon on every continent. She has a “marathon, not sprint” mindset that shows up everywhere in how she leads.

In this conversation, we get practical about hiring, firing, retention, burnout, global compliance, and where AI actually belongs in staffing.

Here are our favorite bits from the episode:

• Why “work comes second” raises performance

• How to fire faster without losing humanity

• The retention cadence: human huddles, buddy calls, transparent growth talks

• Delegation that works: train well + define 30/60/90 + write the why

• Stop modeling burnout… no 9pm emails, visible calendar boundaries

• Where AI fits now (outbound SDR) and next (inbound)

• Global hiring playbook: compliance first, then capability

• The “eighth chance” mistake and how to avoid it

If you lead distributed teams, hire globally, or want to use AI without breaking trust, this episode gives you a field kit you can put to work tomorrow.

Listen to this episode of ‘Founders & Empanadas’ with Brianna Carney everywhere you get your podcasts.