Welcome to Rooted: A Podcast About Nature & Wellbeing.

If you've been following along, you might notice something's different—we have a new name. What started as The Growth Collective has evolved into Rooted.

In this episode:

• Why the shift from Growth Collective to Rooted happened
• The Camino revelation: we ARE nature, not separate from it
• What "rooted" actually means and why it matters now
• Where the podcast is headed and what's staying the same

This isn't just a rebrand. It's a deepening—a recognition that this work is about remembering our essential connection to the natural world and reclaiming wholeness, grounding, and renewal.

The conversations aren't changing. We're still exploring nature connection, wellbeing, and what it means to thrive as natural beings in an increasingly artificial world. Same curiosity, same peer-level dialogues, same commitment to root causes over surface solutions.

If you've been here from the beginning—thank you for walking with me. If you're just discovering this podcast—welcome.

Next episode: I'll share the full foundation of what Rooted is about—the frameworks, the invitation, and why this work matters now.

This episode features an organization that is truly doing the deep work necessary to evolve culture. My guests, Mychal Coleman Associate Vice President of Human Resources at Grand Valley State University and Lindsey DesArmo, Interim Director of Talent Management at GVSU, began the journey of culture evolution when they realized a few years ago, they were losing what had made their organization great for so many years and it was time to review and reset with a goal to reach higher by 2025. In this episode, Lindsay and Mychal walk through the steps their team took to evolve their approach to HR and strategy resulting in evolution of the role of HR within the organization and further establishing wellness into the employee experience.

What I love about this episode is how it brings the beginning of culture evolution to life. From the need to have senior leadership on board and involved in the conversation to the reality that change takes time and can be uncomfortable for some, yet when worked through intentionally it delivers a reward worth investing in… a culture that supports thriving humans and organizational sustainability.

Connect with Mychal Coleman Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.gvsu.edu/hro/hr-transformation-timeline-1118.htm LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mychal-coleman/

Connect with Lindsey DesArmo

Email: [email protected] Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desarmli/

Connect with Susan Morgan Bailey Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmbailey/

Dr. Marcus Collins is back on the podcast to talk about his new book For the Culture: the power behind what we buy, what we do, and who we want to be. Listen in a Marcus highlights why it's essential to be clear on what you stand for as an organization and the importance of being intentional about building culture; why we buy the things including why we buy including the idea that showing up to a job every day is a worthwhile endeavor beyond a paycheck; and, the power of the too often neglected role of storytelling in the workplace to motivate.

Connect with Marcus Collins Email: [email protected] Website: www.marctothec.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marctothec/

Connect with Susan Morgan Bailey Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmbailey/

My guest for this episode is Victor Cho. A passionate consumer advocate, Victor was most recently the CEO at Evite where he led the company successfully through COVID-19 and returned it to growth, financial health, and a successful corporate buy-out. He is also the creator of the 4th Stakeholder Framework on improving stakeholder capitalism.

Victor believes for society to thrive, we must shed what he calls the Mercenary Business approach and embrace a more balanced stakeholder model. Unfortunately, many organizations find it hard to balance even just the first three primary stakeholders (Shareholders, customers, and employees). When you add Society (the 4th stakeholder) to the mix, that balancing act becomes even more challenging. Gratefully, Victor has developed a framework to help organizations maximize impact and overcome the challenges that stand in the way of achieving balance between all the stakeholders. Listen in as we discuss a bit about the history of business and capitalism, the power of listening to stakeholders and the idea that considering the relative impact of various actions in combination with thinking about the broader whole can equal more than the sum of its parts.

Connect with Victor Cho LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-cho-/ www.victorcho.com - Free leadership frameworks and courses www.4thstakeholder.com - A practical framework to help businesses become better citizens

Connect with Susan Morgan Bailey Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmbailey/

50 years of research has shown an individual's sense of purpose and understanding of how they matter to an organization predicts motivation, productivity and the performance of an individual and the overall business. A lack of feeling relevant and connected to the purpose within a job or organization is one of the drivers of the Great Resignation, Quit Quitting or whatever term is being used to refer to good old fashioned disengagement. This suggests that one of the most important steps an organization can take to engage and attract great talent is to help them understand how they matter to the organization, the people they work with and the work that is done.

Zach Mercurio is back on the Growth Collective podcast for a third time to talk about lessons he's learned through his own research and the work he has done with hundreds of companies to help them cultivate positive cultures that enable more meaning, mattering, motivation, wellbeing and performance.

Listen in as we talk about how mattering sounds touchy feely but it's not, the power of making sure employees feel seen, the incredible impact of creating a culture that humanizes, dignifies and grows people and considerations for organizations navigating the hybrid/return to office world.

Website: www.zachmercurio.comLinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachmercurio/ Twitter: @zachmercurio Connect with Susan Morgan Bailey Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmbailey/

People are living longer and that can mean they are working longer. Where there was once a 1st act – work and then a second act – retirement, there now may be a 3rd or even 4th act. The effort to attract and engage great talent has pushed organizations to invest in the wellbeing and growth of all of their people – meeting them where they are at and offering them more of what they want – opportunities to learn and earn longer.

This conversation features Dr. Jean Accius. At the time of this interview, he was serving as Senior Vice President of Global Thought Leadership at AARP. AARP is the largest non-profit in the US focused on empowering people to choose how they live when they age with a focus on health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. They provide a range of resources for people over 50 and advocating for this population is at the heart of their mission.

Jean is a passionate champion and catalyst for changing how the world sees and values aging. He is an internationally recognized thought leader on aging, longevity, equity, health systems transformation and modernizing the delivery and financing of long-term care.

Listen in as we discuss a range of topics around building a competitive future for all through the workplace, highlighting new ways of thinking about mentoring, the benefits of investing in learning and development and the need to reinvest and reinvent organizations to align with the evolving talent market.

Connect with Jean Accius Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/accius4/

Connect with Susan Morgan Bailey Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmbailey/

Historically, about 1 in 4 working adults in the United States met clinical criteria for having a behavioral health condition. The consequences of leaving anxiety, depression, alcohol, drugs, and other common behavioral disorders unidentified and untreated have negative impacts in several areas relevant to employers. These problems influence absenteeism, presenteeism, health care treatment costs, workplace safety risks and more. Many of these behavioral health conditions became more prevalent since the start of COVID-19 pandemic and organizations are focusing like never before on providing support for mental health to their employees.

This episode focuses on an underutilized mental health resource that has been around for decades – the Employee Assistance Program also known as an EAP.

My guest for this episode is Dr. Mark Attridge, a thought leader with deep expertise in the mental/behavioral health field. Mark brings a unique scholarly approach to his consulting and this discussion.

We start with the basics – what is an EAP and then move on to steps employers can take to insure they are maximizing their investment in their EAP as a component of a broader culture strategy to support mental wellbeing in the workplace.

Connect with Mark Attridge Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markattridgephd/

Connect with Susan Morgan Bailey Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmbailey/

There are many reasons driving employee disengagement and departures these days. The latest episode aims to shed light on how to address one of the drivers – lack of connection. My guest, Art Markman and I explore the difference between family, neighbors and strangers – how you treat them and what you expect from them and what we can learn from these differences and apply in the workplace to increase connection and organizational commitment.

Art Markman, is a professor of psychology and vice provost of Academic Affairs at the University of Texas Austin. Art is the author of smart thinking and habits of leadership, smart change, brain briefs, and, most recently, bring your brain to work.

Listen in as we explore the non-rational, human dimension of organizations, walk through a foundational framework for thinking about connection at work and the 3 questions people leaders should be asking their team members regularly.

Connect with Art MarkmanEmail: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/art-markman-93aa6a22/

Connect with Susan Morgan Bailey Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmbailey/

Dr. Richard Safeer leads the employee health and well-being initiative, Healthy at Hopkins at Johns Hopkins Medicine. He also advises the institution on matters related to health plan benefits, occupational health and the employee assistance program. He has published many journal articles and regularly speaks on employee health and wellbeing, in particular on how to create healthy workplace cultures.

In January 2023, his book, "A Cure for the Common Company" will be released and that book and his culture building blocks serve as the foundation for our discussion. Listen in to learn steps an organization of any size or type, with or without a budget can take to create a culture of wellbeing.

Connect with Richard Safeer LinkedIn - @Richard Safeer

Connect with Susan Morgan Bailey Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmbailey/

It is possible to offer a highly engaging and rewarding work experience in a manufacturing environment and this episode provides insight into a few ways to accomplish this goal. This episode features truckbed cover and accessory manufacturer, Diamondback Covers CEO, Ben Eltz and Chief People Offer, Morgan Forney. Listen in as Ben and Morgan share their perspective on creating a workplace employees love by focusing on 4 bottom lines – Finance, Customers, Community and Employees and how utilizing company values to guide decision making in each area has helped them grow successfully and sustainably.

Connect with Diamondback Covers Website: www.diamondbackcovers.com Ben Eltz - https://www.linkedin.com/in/beneltz/ Morgan Forney - [email protected]

Connect with Susan Morgan Bailey Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmbailey/