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What can leaders learn from comedians? As it turns out—quite a lot.

In this episode of The Culture Coach Podcast, Wendy Brand sits down with Kevin Hubschmann, founder of Laugh.Events and author of the Laugh Rx newsletter, to explore how laughter and improv translate into powerful leadership and culture skills.

Kevin shares his journey from being one of the first employees at a SaaS company to building a career in comedy—and eventually creating team-building experiences that blend fun and professional development. Along the way, he discovered that the very skills comedians use on stage—listening, curiosity, collaboration, and resilience—are the same ones that help leaders and teams thrive.

You’ll learn:

• How laughter and improv build trust and psychological safety on teams
• Why active listening and curiosity are essential leadership superpowers
• What comedians can teach us about failing forward and building resilience
• Simple improv-inspired exercises you can bring into meetings to energize your team
• The connection between laughter, stress reduction, and improved workplace wellbeing

Whether you’re a CEO, HR leader, or team manager, this conversation will inspire you to see humor not as a distraction, but as a tool for culture transformation.

Connect with Kevin Hubschmann

• Website: https://www.laugh.events/
• Newsletter: https://laughrx.laugh.events/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-hubschmannn/
  
  

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a leader who could use both a laugh and a new perspective on culture. And don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of The Culture Coach Podcast.

____________________________
With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful.

The Empowered C.E.O.: https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/

Culture Strategy Session Calls:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategysessions/

CONNECT WITH ME
Website: CultureCoachWendy.com
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/
Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy
YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy

The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

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What does it take to keep your people’s fire alive—and build organizations where everyone can thrive?

In this episode of The Culture Coach Podcast, Wendy Brand sits down with Telle Whitney—computer scientist, co-founder of the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, former CEO of the Anita Borg Institute, and author of Rebooting Tech Culture: How to Ignite Innovation and Build Organizations Where Everyone Can Thrive.

Telle brings decades of experience leading in technology and building communities for women in computing. Together, we explore:

💡 Why so many employees enter organizations with passion and leave a few years later feeling burned out or undervalued
 💡 Telle’s Six Cs of Culture—creativity, courage, confidence, curiosity, communication, and community—and how leaders can bring them to life
💡 How to move beyond the numbers and create environments where people’s best ideas can flourish
💡 The critical role of storytelling, collaboration, and belonging in driving innovation
💡 Practical ways leaders can model curiosity, encourage courage, and design more inclusive workplaces

If you’re a leader who wants to build an intentional culture that keeps people engaged, inspired, and performing at their best, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Telle Whitney

🌐 Website: tellewhitney.com
📖 Book: Rebooting Tech Culture

Connect with Wendy Brand

🌐 Website: culturecoachwendy.com

 📧 Subscribe to the Culture Compass Newsletter for weekly strategies on intentional culture
🎙️ Follow The Culture Coach Podcast on your favorite podcast platform

____________________________
With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful.

The Empowered C.E.O.: https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/

Culture Strategy Session Calls:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategysessions/

CONNECT WITH ME
Website: CultureCoachWendy.com
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/
Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy
YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy

The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

Send us a text

In this episode, Wendy Brand unpacks why clarity and focus are the quickest wins for CEOs and culture leaders. Without them, even the best teams slip into misalignment, decision fatigue, and constant firefighting. With them, leaders reclaim their energy, teams align around what matters, and culture becomes the system that drives results.

You’ll hear:

• Why clarity is the foundation of every thriving culture
• The difference between clarity and focus—and why you need both
• The hidden costs of operating without clarity (and how to stop paying them)
• A simple 3-step practice to reclaim clarity and focus in just 30 days

If you’ve ever felt like you’re carrying the weight of your business alone, this episode will show you how clarity creates momentum and focus protects it.

✨ Ready to put this into action?
 At the end of September, I kick off two programs designed to help you operationalize culture and lead with energy, clarity, and confidence. 

Sign up today!

• The Empowered CEO – A 6-month accelerator for women CEOs ready to stop being the bottleneck and start building a self-managing culture. https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/
• Culture Strategy Lab – A quarterly implementation community for CEOs, HR leaders, and founders who are done talking about culture and ready to build it into their systems. https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/

____________________________
With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful.

The Empowered C.E.O.: https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/

Culture Strategy Session Calls:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategysessions/

CONNECT WITH ME
Website: CultureCoachWendy.com
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/
Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy
YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy

The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

Send us a text

This week, I break down each of the five biggest reasons culture transformations fail—straight out of the latest Harvard Business Review article and echoed in my own work with organizations.

Learn practical ways leaders can avoid these pitfalls and build an intentional culture that actually sticks.

And if you’re ready to go deeper:
 👉 Join the Culture Strategy Lab ($57/month community launching Sept. 29) for coaching, frameworks, and real-world solutions. https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/

 👉 Explore Culture Strategy Sprints (3-month group intensives) if you want to map and execute your next culture initiative. https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategysprints

 👉 Or, for CEOs ready to lead from the front, The Empowered CEO opens in September with a strategy retreat in Texas Hill Country this January. https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/

Culture isn’t a side project. It’s your strategy.
How are you making sure yours doesn’t fail?

____________________________
With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful.

The Empowered C.E.O.: https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/

Culture Strategy Session Calls:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategysessions/

CONNECT WITH ME
Website: CultureCoachWendy.com
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/
Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy
YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy

The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

Send us a text

In this episode of The Culture Coach Podcast, I’m pulling back the curtain on three powerful programs I’ve created to help leaders design intentional cultures that prevent burnout, increase performance, and create thriving organizations.

All three programs officially open on September 29th, but you don’t have to wait—when you sign up now, you’ll start receiving updates and get immediate access on launch day.

Here’s what I cover in this episode:

• Why I created these three programs and how they work together
• The difference between community, sprint planning, and CEO-level support
• How to choose which path is right for you or your organization

✨ The Programs:

Culture Strategy Lab – A community designed for leaders who want research, frameworks, and live support each month to build culture intentionally.
🔗 culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab

Culture Strategy Sprints – 3-month sprint programs where you’ll create and implement a clear, actionable culture plan that aligns with your business strategy.
🔗 culturecoachwendy.com/strategysprints

The Empowered CEO – A 6-month program for CEOs who want to grow their own leadership capacity while building an intentional culture that scales.
🔗 culturecoachwendy.com/ceo

Whether you’re a CEO ready to lead with confidence, or an HR leader building culture strategy, there’s a place for you to start.

🎧 Listen in to decide which program is right for you—and get ready to take action on September 29th!

____________________________
With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful.

The Empowered C.E.O.: https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/

Culture Strategy Session Calls:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategysessions/

CONNECT WITH ME
Website: CultureCoachWendy.com
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/
Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy
YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy

The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

Send us a text

As 2025 winds down and 2026 approaches, it’s the perfect time to make sure your workforce is ready for the year ahead—not just your business plan. In this solo episode, Wendy Brand shares why workforce planning should go hand-in-hand with your strategic objectives, and how to make sure your people plan supports your business plan.

Tips on how to:

• Align your workforce with your top business objectives
• Identify and close skill gaps for future success
• Conduct a “culture gap” analysis alongside your skills assessment
• Use a simple grid tool to evaluate individuals, teams, and engagement
• Forecast talent needs and build your leadership pipeline
• Ensure new hires and promotions are true culture champions

Wendy also explains how integrating culture into your workforce plan can boost productivity, profitability, and innovation—and why HR leaders and CEOs need to be at the same table from the start.

If you’re ready to put the right people with the right skills and the right behaviors in the right roles, this episode will give you the framework to get there.

Resources & Links:

• Learn more about The Empowered CEO program for small group CEO coaching: culturecoachwendy.com/ceo
• Join the free Culture Strategy Planning Session for HR leaders: culturecoachwendy.com/strategy-sessions

____________________________
With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful.

The Empowered C.E.O.: https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/

Culture Strategy Session Calls:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategysessions/

CONNECT WITH ME
Website: CultureCoachWendy.com
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/
Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy
YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy

The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

Send us a text

In this solo episode of The Culture Coach Podcast, Wendy dives into a common but critical leadership crossroads: realizing that the leadership style, team structure, and culture that got you this far… may not be what gets you to your next level.

Inspired by a real coaching conversation with a new CEO, Wendy walks through the process of stepping into a broader, more strategic leadership role. She explores questions every senior leader should be asking themselves mid-year:

• Is my leadership philosophy still serving me and my team?
• Do my mission, vision, and core values still align with where we’re headed?
• Does my team have what they need—clarity, direction, support—to truly thrive?
• Am I showing up with the energy, intention, and strategy required for what’s next?

Wendy also shares practical ways to reset your leadership approach, reengage your team, and recalibrate your goals for the back half of 2025—so you don’t just finish the year strong, but with alignment and purpose.

Plus, get a sneak peek into her upcoming programs launching in September:
 👉 The Empowered CEO™
👉 Free Culture Strategy Session – Aug 19

Whether you're a CEO stepping into a bigger role or an HR leader shaping the future of your culture, this episode is a timely reminder that growth requires evolution—and intentional leadership is the key.

____________________________
With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful.

The Empowered C.E.O.: https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/

Culture Strategy Session Calls:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategysessions/

CONNECT WITH ME
Website: CultureCoachWendy.com
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/
Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy
YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy

The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

Send us a text

At just 19 years old, Carson Wagner founded Lifetime of Love Nannies with a mission to provide purpose-driven, high-quality care for families and children. What began as a bold leap into entrepreneurship has grown into a nationally recognized agency with three thriving locations and a team of over 75 dedicated employees.

Carson’s unwavering commitment to inclusive, ethical, and relationship-centered childcare has earned her numerous awards and accolades, recognizing her leadership, innovation, and impact on the childcare industry.

In this episode, you’ll hear how she creates a sense of belonging among employees, including those working directly with clients and those working in their corporate office. She discusses her hiring practices which are tightly connected to core values and how she leads in a multi-generational workplace.

If you want to contact Carson and her team, you can visit their website at:
https://lifetimeoflovenannies.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carson-wagner-17a96b197/

____________________________
With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful.

The Empowered C.E.O.: https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/

Culture Strategy Session Calls:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategysessions/

CONNECT WITH ME
Website: CultureCoachWendy.com
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/
Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy
YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy

The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

Send us a text

Hello culture fans!

In this week’s episode of The Culture Coach, I’m joined by Linda Carlisle—

Linda is a fractional corporate communications partner, helping business leaders, VCs, private equity firms, and their portfolio companies solve communication and culture challenges in the Moments that Matter™, including mergers, acquisitions, organizational restructuring, leadership changes, turnarounds, business process redesigns, technology implementations, and workforce reductions.

From employer branding and hiring practices to 30-day new hire interviews and intentional exit interviews, Linda shares how to create a culture where people feel seen, heard, and valued—right from the start.

If you're a CEO who’s tired of hiring for skills and firing for fit—or wondering why your team isn't quite clicking—this episode will give you the tactical strategies and deeper mindset shifts to help your internal culture reflect the brand promise you're making to the world.

If you want to connect or work with Linda, you can find her here:

Website: https://www.lcarlisle.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindakcarlisle/

____________________________
With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful.

The Empowered C.E.O.: https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/

Culture Strategy Session Calls:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategysessions/

CONNECT WITH ME
Website: CultureCoachWendy.com
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/
Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy
YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy

The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

Send us a text

Tired of putting a Band-Aid on your people problems? 🩹

🎙️ On this week’s episode of The Culture Coach Podcast, I sat down with Ted Whetstone—executive coach, systems thinker, and former left-brainer turned whole-brainer.

Ted helps senior leaders stop reacting and start redesigning the way they think, lead, and collaborate. 

Here’s a taste of what we covered:
 🔁 Why systems thinking is a leadership superpower
 ⚡ The difference between incremental improvement and breakthrough change
 🌱 How to unlock your team’s full potential—without micromanaging

If you’re a CEO or executive ready to move from control to clarity, this one’s for you.

Ted is an exceptional executive coach who helps senior leaders unlock greater influence, innovation, and impact by transforming how they think, lead, and collaborate. 

Ted has coached clients across industries, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies, working with leaders at every stage—from emerging executives to seasoned C-suite veterans. 

Prior to founding his coaching practice, he ran companies and held broad operational roles both domestically and internationally, building a global perspective that fosters trust and results across diverse communities. Ted holds a B.S. from Cornell University and is an ICF-certified professional coach.

If you want to work with Ted you can find him here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tedwhetstone/

Website: https://www.tedwhetstone.com/

____________________________
With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful.

The Empowered C.E.O.: https://culturecoachwendy.com/ceo/

Culture Strategy Session Calls:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategysessions/

CONNECT WITH ME
Website: CultureCoachWendy.com
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/
Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy
YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy

The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/