Talent All-Stars

Talent All-Stars

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Talent All-Stars episodes

  • The Warehouse Automation Giant That Treats Every Hire as a Business Decision

    Every product you order online passes through a warehouse. Someone decided how that warehouse runs. Dematic builds the systems that make it happen, and when you're operating at that scale, the difference between the right hire and the wrong one isn't just an HR problem — it's a business problem.

    Jenny Ferrell knows this better than most. She started her career recruiting engineers for a small, privately held firm in Phoenix, competing for talent against companies with bigger brands, bigger budgets, and bigger offices. She figured out how to find the right person for a business that couldn't afford to get it wrong, and that ability followed her all the way to Senior VP of HR at one of the world's leading supply chain automation companies.

    Today, she shares the framework she uses to turn talent acquisition from a transactional function into a strategic driver of business results and the hard lesson she learned when she skipped the process and went straight to the solution.

    You'll also hear: 

    • Why recruiting stops being strategic the moment you "throw it over the wall" 
    • How Dematic interviews candidates who've already rehearsed every answer
    • The two things Dematic's CEO actually wants to measure in HR right now 
    • Why hiring for an A-player résumé can be the most expensive mistake you make 

      • Connect with Jenny: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-ferrell-53b832a5

      Learn more about Dematic: www.dematic.com

      Connect with us:

      💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com

      💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/

      💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/

      📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter

      🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter  

      Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

      31 min
    • Why Bally's VP of Talent Says "Rigid Flexibility" Is the Best Way to Scale

      Hiring thousands of employees for a new casino resort launch is a high-stakes race against time. You are operating in an unfamiliar city without established market dominance, all while under the constant scrutiny of industry regulators.

      Jenn Reagan has done it multiple times. As VP of Talent Learning and Development at Bally's Corporation, she's figured out how to walk into a brand new community, earn their trust, and build a workforce from scratch without blowing the whole thing up in the process.

      Her secret? Rigid flexibility. Know exactly what you're doing and expect none of it to go your way.

      You'll also hear:

      • Why the moment you start copying and pasting from your last property is the moment you lose the community
      • How Bally's earns trust in a new city before a single brick gets laid
      • The two numbers she'd give a CEO in a 60-second elevator ride to prove her team is working
      • Why she thinks "learning and development" is almost a four-letter word in hospitality

        • Connect with Jenn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-reagan-7b910241

        Learn more about Bally's: www.ballys.com

        Connect with us:

        💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com

        💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/

        💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/

        📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter

        🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter  

        Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

         

        25 min
      • How Bimbo Bakeries USA Sells a Great Culture Before Candidates Are Even in the Door

        Most large companies don't build their recruiting function intentionally. It grows organically, gets patched when something breaks, and ends up inconsistent across teams and regions. Lori Vickery inherited exactly that situation when she joined Bimbo Bakeries USA in 2016, and spent the next decade fixing it.

        Today, as Director of Talent Attraction, she leads a full end-to-end recruiting function covering frontline bakers, delivery drivers, and merchandisers all the way up to the C-suite, across one of the largest baked goods companies in the country.

        In this episode of Talent All Stars, Lori walks through how she diagnosed what was broken, where she started, and how she built something that works at scale without losing the human element.

        You'll also hear:

        • How eight and a half years managing a Starbucks store shaped everything about how she thinks about talent
        • Why she stopped assuming hiring managers knew how to interview and what she built instead
        • How she uses data to bring senior leaders along before pitching any new process
        • Why she measures quality of hire in years, not days

          • Connect with Lori: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-thompson-vickery-cdr-2ab13051/

          Learn more about Bimbo Bakeries USA: www.bimbobakeriesusa.com

          Connect with us:

          💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com

          💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/

          💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/

          📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter

          🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter  

          Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

          21 min
        • Why Anaplan's Chief People Officer Banned the Word "Backfill"

          Most companies hire reactively. Someone leaves, a role opens, and the team scrambles to find a replacement. Carey Pellock, Chief People Officer at Anaplan, thinks that approach is already outdated.

          Carey has spent years pushing her organization to think differently about workforce planning. Instead of asking "who can fill this seat," she's asking "what skills do we need two years from now, and how do we start hiring for them today?"

          In this episode of Talent All Stars, Carey walks through how she approaches workforce planning in a fast-changing field, what she's learned about leading HR through AI adoption, and how she thinks about the THREE types of employees she sees reacting to new technology.

          You'll also hear:

          • How dreams of being on Broadway turned into a career in HR
          • Why she draws a direct line between performing on stage and leading people at scale
          • The measurement framework she gives CEOs when they ask how to evaluate the people function
          • Why she believes AI is coming for tasks, not jobs, and what that means for recruiters

            • Connect with Carey: http://linkedin.com/in/carey-pellock-1808aa8

            Learn more about Anaplan: www.anaplan.com

            Connect with us:

            💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com

            💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/

            💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/

            📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter

            🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter  

            Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcas

            32 min
          • How Autism Learning Partners Fills Hard-to-Staff Roles Without Sacrificing Quality

            Hiring therapists for in-home child care is challenging because it's not a suitable role for everyone. Many candidates are surprised by the difficulty and realize they are wrong for the job only after being hired.

            Steffanie Chaviano, VP of Talent Acquisition at Autism Learning Partners, has spent eight years solving that exact problem at scale across 60 regions and 16 states.

            In this episode of Talent All Stars, Steffanie walks through the two-step interview process ALP rebuilt from scratch, why they introduced a realistic job preview before candidates ever speak to a recruiter, and how AI automation freed up her team to focus on the work that actually requires a human.

            You'll also hear:

            • How she went from staffing winery workers in Napa to leading TA at a national healthcare organization
            • Why she took a pay cut to break into in-house recruiting, and how she rose to VP
            • How AI fatigue is changing candidate behavior, and what ALP is doing about it

              • Connect with Steffanie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schaviano/

              Learn more about Autism Learning Partners: www.autismlearningpartners.com

              Connect with us:

              💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com

              💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/

              💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/

              📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter

              🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter  

              Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

              33 min
            • SAP's Talent DISCOVERY System: Skills, AI, and the True Cost of a Bad Hire

              SAP has over 100,000 employees, operates in nearly every country on earth, and generates revenue in the tens of billions. So when their Global Head of Talent Discovery says the old way of hiring isn't working anymore, it's worth paying attention.

              In this episode of Talent All Stars, Eric Goldstein explains why SAP ditched "talent acquisition" as a concept, how they're building a skills-based hiring engine from the inside out, and why the real cost of a vacant role has nothing to do with the recruiting fee.

              You'll also hear:

              • How Eric makes the business case to a CFO to invest in the Talent Discovery function.
              • What AI is doing for early-career proximity at a global enterprise
              • The interviewing technique he uses to find out who actually knows their stuff

                • Connect with Eric: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericgoldstein2010/

                Learn more about SAP: www.sap.com

                Connect with us:

                💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com

                💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/

                💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/

                📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter

                🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter  

                Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

                29 min
              • Encore: From the White House to Docusign: What Government and Corporate Leadership Have in Common

                This episode originally aired September 30, 2025—and it's too good not to revisit.

                Jennifer Christie has built one of the most fascinating careers in people leadership: running presidential personnel at the White House, holding senior posts at American Express and Twitter, and now serving as Chief People Officer at Docusign. Safe to say she's seen leadership from every angle.

                In this encore episode, Jennifer breaks down:

                • Why government and corporate leadership have more in common than you'd ever expect
                • How AI is reshaping HR and why the right question isn't "what will it replace?" but "what will you do instead?"
                • The one HR role she considers a must for any aspiring CPO
                • Why internal mobility is about to become one of the most powerful tools in your talent strategy

                  • She also drops some straight-up practical advice for interviewers: stop fixating on bullet points and start digging into motivations and career transitions. That's where the real story lives.

                  Connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-christie-5254866

                  Connect with us:

                  💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com

                  💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/

                  💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/

                  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter

                  🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter  

                  Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

                  29 min
                • Coaching, Culture, and Ecosystem Thinking at Verisk

                  Verisk is a global data analytics company that helps businesses understand and manage risk. Now they’re tasked with completely rethinking how to build a talent pipeline in an industry where the skills didn't exist five years ago.

                  In this episode of Talent All Stars, Verisk's CHRO Sunita Holzer breaks down how the company built a data science recruiting engine from scratch during the pandemic, why they hire for "ecosystem thinking" over technical skills alone, and what it really means to operate in a culture where just doing your job isn't enough.

                  You'll hear how Verisk measures talent success (conversion rates, retention, internal mobility), why they need employees who think about geopolitics and insurance trends as much as their day-to-day tasks, and the company's approach to developing people who can handle a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

                  Connect with Sunita: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunitaholzer/

                  Explore careers at Verisk: https://www.verisk.com/

                  Connect with us:

                  💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com

                  💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/

                  💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/

                  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter

                  🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter  

                  Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

                  26 min
                • The Power of ONE: Hiring Hospitality Heroes at Omni Hotels & Resorts

                  Joy Rothschild leads people strategy for 20,000 employees across 50+ Omni Hotels & Resorts properties, each with its own character and story. But her edge isn't just hiring for a hospitality empire—it's spotting the quiet ones in the corners, the people others overlook, and betting on them before they're ready.

                  In this episode of Talent All Stars, Joy shares her unexpected path into HR, the career-defining moment when a COO stopped her mid-grovel to teach her how to accept a promotion, and why she turned getting fired into a philosophy that now shapes how Omni develops 20,000 careers.

                  You'll hear the origin story of "The Power of One"—a service empowerment program so sticky it survived a rebrand attempt and a pandemic. Joy also breaks down why she'll never let consultants eliminate HR from the hotels, her two-question interview filter, and what "growing the garden" actually looks like at scale.

                  Connect with Joy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-rothschild-9591351/

                  Explore careers at Omni Hotels & Resorts: https://www.omnihotels.com/careers

                  Connect with us:

                  💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com

                  💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/

                  💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/

                  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter

                  🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter  

                   

                  Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

                  36 min
                • Opening Doors and Building Leaders: Inside Crunch Fitness's People Strategy

                  Pamela J. Brown leads talent strategy for 530 Crunch Fitness locations, hiring 500+ personal trainers a year in an intensely competitive market. But her real superpower? Building leaders who build leaders, opening doors for the next generation, and proving that great people strategy drives revenue, not just cost savings.

                  In this episode of Talent All Stars, Pamela shares practical wisdom from 25 years of leading people teams across insurance, financial services, and fitness. She breaks down the exact coaching framework she uses to develop leaders, how she built credibility in a brand-new industry by getting vulnerable, and why leading with service creates opportunities that come back to you in unexpected ways.

                  You'll also hear how Pamela uses AI to audit her own leadership effectiveness, how she distills complex roles into clear hiring criteria (sales, service, science), and what metrics actually matter when you're trying to prove the business impact of your people strategy.

                  You'll learn:

                  • How to position yourself so doors open for you (and how to open them for others)
                  • The exact coaching questions that build leadership capability in your team
                  • Why understanding "the language of the business" is critical for HR credibility
                  • How to choose which technology initiatives to prioritize in 2026
                  • The one metric that proves retention drives revenue, not just cost savings

                  Connect with Pamela: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelabr

                  Follow Multiplying Moves for Pamela’s Thought Leadership: https://lnkd.in/edWard7R

                  Check out Crunch’s website for great career opportunities: https://www.crunch.com/careers

                  Connect with us:

                  💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com

                  💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/

                  💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/

                  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter

                  🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter  

                   

                  Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

                  28 min

                About Talent All-Stars

                From the publisher's feed

                How exactly do high-performing talent, HR, and recruiting teams operate on a day-to-day basis? We find out through conversations with talent leaders at some of the world's most influential businesses.