Humanize Your Workplace

On this week’s episode of Humanize Your Workplace, we are joined by Carrie Krott.

Carrie is currently a Senior Talent Specialist at Benco Dental Supply Company specializing in talent acquisition, associate relations, compliance, and performance management. With over 9 years of experience in the HR field, Carrie is experienced working across all levels of an organization, delivering excellent customer service to internal and external clients.

Carrie has a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Marketing from Pennsylvania State University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Legal Studies with a Concentration in Human Resources Compliance from Drexel University. Carrie holds a current SHRM-CP certification and is an active Notary Public for the state of Pennsylvania.

In addition, Carrie is an active volunteer in her community. Carrie is currently on the Board of Directors for NEPA SHRM and has held advisory board and co-chair positions at United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA and Penn Foster. Carrie is also a religious education teacher and youth sports coach.

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On this week’s episode of Humanize Your Workplace, we are joined by Kwame Christian, M.A., Esq.

Author and speaker Kwame Christian is the Director of the American Negotiation Institute and a respected voice in the field of negotiation and conflict resolution. Christian has conducted workshops throughout North America and abroad, and is a highly sought after national keynote speaker.

Host of the world’s leading industry podcast, Negotiate Anything, Christian is dedicated to empowering others through the art and science of negotiation and persuasion. Now downloaded nearly two million times, Negotiate Anything has a dedicated and growing following with listeners in more than 180 countries.

Christian’s TEDx Dayton talk, Finding Confidence in Conflict, was ranked the most popular TEDx Talk on the topic of conflict in 2017, and has been viewed more than 150,000.* His best-selling Amazon Book, Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life has helped countless individuals overcome the fear, anxiety and emotion often associated with difficult conversations through a branded framework called Compassionate Curiosity.™ (*September, 2020)

In addition to his role at ANI, Christian is a business lawyer at Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP. He represents businesses in a broad scope of legal needs including contract negotiation, business formation, transactions, employment, and general business and legal counseling.

Christian serves as an adjunct professor for Otterbein University’s MBA program, as well as The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law in its top-ranked dispute resolution program. 

To access the free Ultimate Negotiation Guides from the American Negotiation Institute, visit the website. 

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On this week’s episode of Humanize Your Workplace, we are joined by Rebecca Southern Mills.

Rebecca Southern Mills is passionate about helping leaders navigate the complex world of people management and cultivate high-trust workplace environments.

She’s had over 9 years of HR experience working in nonprofit organizations. Most recently, she spent over 4 years at Wellstar Health System, one of the largest healthcare systems in Georgia with over 24,000 employees, as a Sr. HR Consultant supporting their corporate departments. She’s had the privilege of partnering with hundreds of leaders and departments including IT, Finance, Supply Chain, and clinical departments, and a wide range of employees and leaders from hourly to salaried, on-site to remote, front-line supervisors to SVP’s, and first-time leaders to seasoned ones. Her experience includes hundreds of investigations, disciplinary actions, and very direct conversations, but she’s gotten to do fun things too! She’s conducted leader training classes, guided leaders in building trust with their teams and creating healthy environments, and helped employees understand their value.

After her daughter was born, she wanted to continue providing HR support for leaders but with more flexibility. In March 2020, she founded Simplecated and became a freelance HR consultant.

As you can imagine, Rebecca has gained an endless supply of (very entertaining) stories, and it’s tough to completely shock her. She also knows what kinds of situations managers can find themselves encountering at 10:00am on a Tuesday and how to help them sort through it.

Rebecca believes that having high-trust work environments is key to truly succeeding as a company. How managers treat their employees and respond to situations sets the tone for the workplace. She also understands that people are complex; laws and company policies can be intricate and cumbersome. Her goal is to simplify this complicated world of management by breaking down complex scenarios into practical, realistic steps and solutions that effectively lead to positive, healthy workplace cultures.

She holds a Bachelor’s in HR, a Master’s of Divinity, and a PHR certification. If you can’t find her, she’s rounding up another cup of coffee. Check out her Simplecated blog, and connect with her on LinkedIn.

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On this week’s episode of Humanize Your Workplace, we are joined by Charisse Fontes.

Charisse is the Founder of Culture Circle, where she creates healthy and inclusive workplace cultures. Her focus is Humanity in the Workplace, which is anchored by her mission-driven project called Humanity Power, which is dedicated to ending the 'isms that plague our Humanity. When Charisse isn't doing this work, she is an active mother of five, studying cultures, religions, and tribes and serving her community as a Birth Doula. You can find her on LinkedIn or send her an email. 

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On this week’s episode of Humanize Your Workplace, we are joined by Andrea Carey.

Andrea Carey is a Canadian Certified Inclusion Professional (CCIP), holds a Masters of Education in Leadership Studies and is a champion of inclusion. Andrea is Brene Brown “Dare to Lead” trained and leads courageously.

Andrea works to support clients to create cultures of belonging and inclusion for everyone to thrive and has worked extensively on inclusion and improved access for Indigenous peoples, Newcomers, persons with disabilities and women and girls. She brings extensive experience in business operations, facility management, human resources, strategic planning, marketing, group facilitation, curriculum development and in product development.

Her passionate, playful and engaging approach to inclusion provides a platform for understanding the challenges, to develop a strategy that aligns the organization’s needs with global trends and connects clients to tools to ensure successful implementation.

Andrea is a volunteer with the Canadian Paralympic Committee as a Board Director and Chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee; and sits on the Board of KidSport Victoria.

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Role modeling

Work/life management

On this week’s episode of Humanize Your Workplace, we are joined by Sara Evans.

Sara Evans serves as the Vice President of Human Resources & Organizational Development for Delaware county Community College (DCCC). Sara has over 20 years of diverse human resources experience and is known as a subject matter expert in the areas of employee engagement, change management, organizational development, HR compliance, and employment law.

Sara started her career working as a HR Assistant and became passionate about the work involved in human resources. Since then, she has continued to refine her skills by working in various HR leadership positions.

Sara Evans holds a B.S. in Business Management from Rosemont College in which she graduated with honors; and a M.S. in Human Resources Development from Villanova University. In addition, Sara currently holds a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and SHRM-CP certifications.

In her spare time, Sara enjoys listening to music, walking, and reading books.

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On this week’s episode of Humanize Your Workplace, we are joined by Laurie Olague.

With over 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector as a volunteer, intern, director, and advisory board member, Laurie has built a reputation as the epitome of a strategic partner who brings people together to achieve results that drive organizational growth. Her biggest passion is helping organizations be better at doing good. Her specialties include program development and evaluation, stakeholder and employee engagement, operations, and events (both virtual and in-person). When it comes to employee and stakeholder engagement, Laurie’s approach centers around stakeholder feedback, compassion, development, and flexibility. 

On this week’s episode of Humanize Your Workplace, we are joined by Katherine Plumhoff.

Katherine Plumhoff is a writer and content strategist who believes in the power of a well-told story. She writes for outlets like Slate and Teen Vogue on topics like technology, feminism at work, and the future of activism. She also partners with companies on their internal and external communication. Before working as a writer and strategist, Katherine worked for Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, where she managed a team focused on emerging markets. Prior to the pandemic, she had spent two years traveling around Latin America, working and writing from cities like Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Antigua. Her to-read pile is always growing and she has never said no to ice cream. Follow her travel writing at kathmeetsworld.com, find examples of her journalism and consulting work at katherineplumhoff.com, and follow her on Instagram at @KPlumhoff.

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