Hiring conversations have changed — and not necessarily for the better.

In this episode of The Hiring Room, Renee Beckman sits down with HR leader and executive coach Nikole Maculan to unpack what is happening inside today’s interview process and why so many candidates leave feeling disconnected from it.

Nikole shares her journey from accounting to strategic HR leadership and into executive coaching, reflecting on how mentorship, curiosity, and self-awareness shaped her approach to leadership. The conversation moves into the realities of modern interviewing: scripted questions, limited dialogue, compliance driven fear, and the growing gap between process and people.

Renee and Nikole explore the difference between coaching and advising, why powerful questions matter more than canned answers, and how leaders can restore trust in hiring. They also discuss the art of termination, the responsibility organizations carry when making employment decisions, and the role AI is beginning to play in shaping candidate evaluation.

This episode is a candid, experience driven conversation for leaders who want to bring structure, clarity, and humanity back to the hiring process.

🎙️ HOSTED BY RENEE L. BECKMAN

Renee Beckman is a leadership and management recruiter with over 25 years of experience placing accounting, finance, and HR leaders across growth stage and mid market organizations. She is the creator of the SearchOS hiring framework and founder of MSeed.

MSeed helps companies build smarter hiring engines so leadership teams make better hires with fewer interviews using structured process, clear must haves, disciplined interviewing, and leadership alignment, while never losing sight of the human side of hiring.

Learn more at
www.mseedinc.com
linkedin.com/in/renee-beckman

Founder led sales works. Until it doesn’t.

In this episode of The Hiring Room, Renee Beckman sits down with Susan Wiemeyer, a former enterprise sales leader turned fractional CRO, to explore what changes when companies move from founder driven selling to building a scalable sales organization.

Susan draws on decades of experience leading sales teams inside large global companies and explains how those same principles must be adapted for small and mid market businesses. They discuss why sales success depends on disciplined process, coaching, and forecasting, not instinct or personality.

The conversation covers how to manage and develop sales teams, what consistently separates top performers from average ones, and why misaligned compensation plans and unrealistic quotas quietly undermine revenue growth. Renee and Susan also address cold outreach, LinkedIn selling culture, and why sales continues to be misunderstood despite being the engine behind every business.

This episode is a practical conversation for founders, CEOs, and leaders who want predictable revenue without burning out their teams or relying on guesswork.

🎙️ HOSTED BY RENEE L. BECKMAN

If you’re building a company and hiring feels harder than it should, this is the work we do.

MSeed, led by Renee Beckman, helps growth stage and mid market companies build smarter hiring engines so leadership teams make better hires with fewer interviews using a repeatable hiring process called SearchOS. Our work goes beyond traditional recruiting. We design hiring systems, interview frameworks, and decision models that align people strategy with business outcomes.

Everything you hear on this podcast reflects how we operate in real searches, structured process, clear must haves, disciplined interviewing, and leadership alignment, while never losing sight of the human side of hiring.

Learn more about our Advisory, Executive Search, and SearchOS Cohorts at
www.mseed.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-beckman/

In this episode of The Hiring Room, executive recruiter Renee Beckman speaks with CFO and entrepreneur Annette Welsh-Kastner about leadership, hiring, and the realities of leaving corporate life to build a consulting business.

Annette built her career leading finance and accounting teams in middle market and growth stage companies.

As a CFO, she managed large teams, executive stakeholders, and complex business operations. Today, she runs a consulting firm supporting multiple organizations at once, which brings flexibility and autonomy along with constant responsibility and decision pressure.

This episode explores:

• The true cost of entrepreneurship and executive freedom
• Work life integration for leaders and founders
• Revenue accountability and business ownership stress
• Leading teams as an external advisor
• Hiring strategy and hiring for attitude
• Coaching, mentorship, and leadership development
• Women in executive leadership and workplace dynamics
• Navigating authority and influence in male dominated industries
• How career ambition evolves with family and life stages

This conversation is especially relevant for CFOs, founders, executives, HR leaders, and professionals considering entrepreneurship or fractional leadership roles.

Hosted by Renee L. Beckman

If you’re building a company and hiring feels harder than it should, this is the work we do.

MSeed, led by Renee Beckman, helps growth stage and mid market companies build smarter hiring engines so leadership teams make better hires with fewer interviews using a repeatable hiring process called SearchOS. Our work goes beyond traditional recruiting. We also design hiring systems, interview frameworks, and decision models that align people strategy with business outcomes.

Everything you hear on this podcast reflects how we operate in real searches, structured process, clear must haves, disciplined interviewing, and leadership alignment, while never losing sight of the human side of hiring.

Learn more at www.mseed.com

Entrepreneurship is often described as freedom, but the path to it is rarely linear.

In this episode of The Hiring Room, host Renee L. Beckman sits down with Heather Winandy to explore career evolution, visibility, and what actually happens when capable people outgrow the roles they were hired into.

Heather shares her journey from administrative leadership and project management inside large organizations to coaching, speaking, and entrepreneurship. Along the way, Renee and Heather discuss job hopping versus career strategy, why high performers in support roles are often overlooked, how neurodiversity shows up at work, and the mental and emotional shifts that occur when structure, deadlines, and certainty disappear.

The conversation also touches on advocacy, networking, referrals, DEI and neurodiversity programming, writing and speaking as credibility builders, and why many professionals feel “invisible” long before they ever consider working for themselves.

This episode is for professionals navigating career transitions, questioning traditional paths, or trying to understand how their skills translate beyond a job title.

Hosted by Renee L. Beckman

If you’re building a company and hiring feels harder than it should, this is the work we do.

MSeed, led by Renee Beckman, helps growth-stage and mid-market companies build smarter hiring engines—so leadership teams make better hires with fewer interviews using a repeatable hiring process called SearchOS. Our work goes beyond traditional recruiting. We design hiring systems, interview frameworks, and decision models that align people strategy with business outcomes.

Everything you hear on this podcast reflects how we operate in real searches: structured process, clear must-haves, disciplined interviewing, and leadership alignment—while never losing sight of the human side of hiring.

Learn more about our Advisory, Executive Search, and SearchOS Cohorts at
www.mseed.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-beckman/

Hiring decisions now carry legal, cultural, and operational risk that many companies underestimate.

In this episode of The Hiring Room, Renee Beckman speaks with labor and employment attorney Neil Dishman of Jackson Lewis about what has changed for employers heading into 2026. They discuss Illinois’ new AI disclosure laws, interview boundaries, criminal background checks, cannabis testing, and how hiring decisions are increasingly scrutinized.

The conversation focuses on real-world scenarios leaders face every day and why unstructured hiring processes create exposure. Neil explains how employers should think about risk, compliance, and consistency without losing sight of the human impact hiring decisions have on people’s lives.

If you’re building a company and hiring feels harder than it should, this is the work we do.

MSeed Search, led by Renee Beckman, helps growth-stage and mid-market companies build smarter hiring engines—so leadership teams make better hires with fewer interviews using a repeatable hiring process called SearchOS. Our work goes beyond traditional recruiting. We design hiring systems, interview frameworks, and decision models that align people strategy with business outcomes.

Everything you hear on this podcast reflects how we operate in real searches: structured process, clear must-haves, disciplined interviewing, and leadership alignment—while never losing sight of the human side of hiring.

Learn more about our Advisory, Executive Search, and SearchOS Cohorts at
www.mseed.com

[email protected]

In this episode of The Hiring Room, host Renee Beckman sits down with Denny DeDecker, Controller at Sollitt Construction, for a candid conversation on how ownership models fundamentally shape leadership behavior, culture, and long-term performance.

Denny brings firsthand experience leading inside private equity–backed organizations where growth expectations are aggressive, pressure is constant, and certainty is limited. He contrasts that environment with his current role in an employee-owned company (ESOP), where shared ownership, long-term thinking, and collective accountability change how leaders operate and how teams perform.

This is an honest discussion about leadership fit—why some executives thrive in private equity environments while others burn out, how ESOP structures create different incentives, and why understanding the business deeply (and surrounding yourself with smart people) ultimately makes you a stronger leader and a better hire.

This conversation explores:

• How private equity ownership impacts leadership behavior and decision-making
• Why ESOPs create stronger long-term accountability
• How pressure and uncertainty influence culture and retention
• What types of leaders thrive in private equity environments
• How ownership models affect performance incentives
• Why self-awareness matters more than title or compensation
• The difference between solving business problems and blaming people

This episode is essential listening for executives, finance leaders, HR professionals, and founders evaluating leadership fit, ownership structures, and long-term culture in growth-oriented organizations.

Hosted by Renee L. Beckman
If you’re building a company and hiring feels harder than it should, this is the work we do.

MSeed helps growth-stage and mid-market companies build smarter hiring engines—so leadership teams make better hires with fewer interviews using a repeatable hiring process called SearchOS. Our work goes beyond traditional recruiting. We design hiring systems, interview frameworks, and decision models that align people strategy with business outcomes.

Learn more at www.mseed.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-beckman/

In this episode of The Hiring Room, host Renee Beckman sits down with Juli Johnson, a seasoned Chief Human Resources and People Officer, for an honest and wide-ranging conversation about culture, confidence, and what it really takes to build strong organizations.

Juli shares her non-linear path into HR, including a decade spent outside the function before stepping into people leadership. She explains why that experience shaped how she approaches culture, influence, and trust, especially in environments where HR has historically been undervalued or underutilized.

The conversation explores imposter syndrome and confidence at senior levels, including how even experienced leaders can feel unqualified when reading job descriptions or navigating career transitions. Renee and Juli discuss why this feeling is more common than most people admit, and how organizational culture either amplifies or eases that pressure.

Juli also reflects on her experience as the first Chief People Officer at her previous company, where the organization earned multiple workplace awards. She explains what made that success possible, including leadership readiness, honest self-reflection, and ensuring that people strategy was more than a symbolic role at the table.

From there, the discussion turns to hiring and performance. Drawing from books like Who and Nine Lies About Work, Renee and Juli examine why most companies hire based on static job descriptions instead of clearly defined outcomes, and why goal setting often fails when it is not translated from the corporate level down to individual roles. Using sports team analogies, they explain how strong organizations are built by balancing strengths across teams, not by searching for “perfect” candidates.

The episode closes with a candid look at accountability, trust, and growth, including why employees must take ownership of their development and why organizations must create environments where it is safe to ask for support, admit gaps, and learn.

If you are a leader, HR professional, or executive navigating hiring, culture, or career transition, this conversation offers practical insight grounded in lived experience.

What You’ll Learn

• How strong HR and people functions are built from scratch
• Why imposter syndrome affects even senior leaders
• How to hire for outcomes instead of task lists
• Why goal setting often fails inside organizations
• How trust and clarity drive engagement and performance
• What great teams do differently than average ones

Connect with Juli Johnson

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

Hosted by Renee L. Beckman

If you’re building a company and hiring feels harder than it should, this is the work we do.

MSeed, led by Renee Beckman, helps growth-stage and mid-market companies build smarter hiring engines so leadership teams make better hires with fewer interviews using a repeatable hiring process called SearchOS. Our work goes beyond traditional recruiting. We design hiring systems, interview frameworks, and decision models that align people strategy with business outcomes.

Everything you hear on this podcast reflects how we operate in real searches: structured process, clear must-haves, disciplined interviewing, leadership alignment, and a strong focus on the human side of hiring.

Learn more about our Advisory, Executive Search, and SearchOS Cohorts at
www.mseed.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-beckman/

What happens to leadership, trust, and mental wellness when AI becomes a cognitive presence on the team?

In this episode, Renee Beckman sits down with Jeanine Stewart, PhD, neuroscientist, former provost, and executive leadership coach, for a wide-ranging conversation on how leadership breaks down when humans are promoted without training, and how neuroscience explains both the damage and the solution.

Jeanine shares her uncommon path from decades in academia to senior leadership roles as a chief academic officer, and then into the corporate world working with Fortune 100 leaders. Along the way, she saw a consistent pattern. Good people rise into leadership roles without preparation, guess their way through complexity, and unintentionally cause harm, not because of bad intent, but because they do not know what they do not know.

The conversation explores how neuroscience and positive psychology illuminate what effective leadership actually requires, including trust, listening, and what Janine describes as neural synchrony, the biological process that allows humans to feel safe, connected, and capable of high performance in groups.

From there, the discussion turns to AI. Janine introduces the idea of the multi-cognitive workplace, an environment where humans now work alongside non-human cognitive systems that do not follow social norms, do not behave consistently, and do not engage the human brain the way other people do. She explains why this creates subtle but real stress, confusion, and disengagement for employees, even when leaders do not realize it is happening.

Renee and Jeanine also examine the unintended risks of AI-driven coaching tools, the limits of automation in leadership development, and why replacing human judgment with screens can erode trust, intuition, and mental wellness, especially for women and early-career employees.

The episode closes with practical leadership guidance, including how new managers should approach so-called problem employees, why listening comes before advising, and how leaders can avoid the trap of checking the box instead of actually solving people problems.

If you lead people, build teams, or are navigating leadership in an AI-enabled workplace, this episode offers a grounded, science-based perspective on how to evolve without losing the human core of work.

• Why good leaders fail without training and how neuroscience explains it
• How trust and performance are built through neural synchrony
• What the multi-cognitive workplace means for leaders and teams
• Why AI does not behave like humans and why that matters
• The mental wellness risks of remote work and screen-based leadership
• How to manage difficult employees by listening first
• Why leadership requires engaging the whole person, not just output

If you are building a company and hiring feels harder than it should, this is the work we do.

MSeed, led by Renee Beckman, helps growth-stage and mid-market companies build smarter hiring engines so leadership teams make better hires with fewer interviews using a repeatable hiring process called SearchOS. Our work goes beyond traditional recruiting. We design hiring systems, interview frameworks, and decision models that align people strategy with business outcomes.

Everything you hear on this podcast reflects how we operate in real searches. Structured process, clear must-haves, disciplined interviewing, leadership alignment, and a strong focus on the human side of hiring.

Learn more about our Advisory, Executive Search, and SearchOS Cohorts at
www.mseed.com

Hiring decisions change people’s lives, and most companies do not treat them with that level of responsibility.

In this episode of The Hiring Room, Renee Beckman sits down with Kristine Ritzler, HR Manager at Prairie Capital Advisors, to unpack what thoughtful, ethical hiring looks like inside a growing professional services firm. From ESOP culture to onboarding accountability, Kristine brings a grounded, process driven perspective shaped by both her analytical background and real world HR experience.

Kristine shares how she found her way into HR through accounting, why understanding the business must come before applying HR frameworks, and what it is like to be an HR team of one supporting multiple offices with different leadership styles and personalities. She explains how culture can be consistent without being identical, and why two things can be true at the same time.

The conversation goes deep on hiring philosophy. Why “perfect on paper” candidates still fail. How subjective gut reactions can quietly sabotage hiring decisions. What recruiters and hiring managers miss when they rush to fill seats. Kristine also shares real interview stories, including overly eager candidates and culture misalignment, and explains why sometimes the most ethical decision is not to hire someone, even when they look like a slam dunk.

Renee and Kristine also tackle AI in hiring and HR. Kristine offers a pragmatic view on where AI is genuinely helpful, such as summarizing notes, creating a starting point, and supporting HR teams of one. She is equally clear about where it falls short, especially when it comes to understanding culture, context, and people. The takeaway is simple. AI is a tool, not a decision maker.

Finally, Kristine outlines her approach to onboarding and why managers often underestimate its importance. She explains why 30 and 90 day check ins reveal more about organizational gaps than employee performance. She closes with a principle that runs through the entire episode. Be empathetically direct in hiring, onboarding, performance management, and leadership.

If you are a founder, executive, or HR leader trying to scale a team without mis hires, endless interviews, or broken onboarding, this is the work we do.

MSeed, led by Renee Beckman, helps growth stage and mid market companies build smarter hiring engines, combining executive search with hiring advisory, interview design, and decision frameworks that align people strategy with business outcomes.

Learn more at www.mseedinc.com

• Why ethical hiring starts with understanding the business, not filling a role
• How to assess culture fit without relying on vague or biased gut feel
• Why perfect resumes still lead to bad hires
• How to onboard new hires responsibly, and why managers often get it wrong
• Where AI helps HR teams, and where it does not
• What empathetically direct leadership looks like in practice

Kristine Ritzler is the HR Manager at Prairie Capital Advisors, a professional services firm specializing in investment banking, valuation, and ESOP advisory. As an HR team of one, Kristine supports a multi office organization and focuses on hiring, onboarding, performance, and culture through a business aligned lens.

What makes a startup feel “magical” and how do you build that kind of culture on purpose?

In this episode, Renee Beckman sits down with Kristina Creed, a high-impact HR leader with deep experience moving between early-stage companies and larger organizations, to break down what it really takes to thrive in a startup environment. From the “messy middle” of undefined roles to the pace of hypergrowth, Kristine explains why certain people flourish in startups while others struggle, even when they look great on paper.

Kristina shares what she saw inside a rocket-ship startup that scaled fast and was acquired quickly, including the culture signals that matter most: leaders who stay close to hiring, values that actually show up in day-to-day decisions, and teams built around collaboration rather than silos. She also unpacks a key insight most companies miss: in early-stage environments, you often have to hire for how someone operates, not just what they’ve done.

The conversation also goes practical. Kristina explains how to interview for startup readiness (resourcefulness, comfort with ambiguity, and “I’ll figure it out” energy), why support functions like HR and finance need full business context, and how communication becomes the difference between stability and chaos during periods of change like acquisitions.

Finally, Renee and Kristina tackle AI in HR and recruiting: where automation genuinely helps (especially in high-volume screening) and where leaders still need human judgment, oversight, and context to avoid risk and cultural erosion.

If you’re a founder, HR leader, or operator navigating growth, this episode is a grounded playbook for building a culture people want to be part of—and a company that can scale without losing what made it special.

• The traits of people who thrive in startups (and why “big company success” doesn’t always translate)
• How to create a “magical culture” that is real, not just slogans on a wall
• Interview questions that reveal resourcefulness, collaboration, and comfort with ambiguity
• Why founder involvement in hiring protects culture as you scale
• What acquisitions require from leadership communication and transparency
• Where AI fits in HR and recruiting—and where it should not replace humans

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

Hosted by Renee L. Beckman

If you’re building a company and hiring feels harder than it should, this is the work we do.

MSeed, led by Renee Beckman, helps growth-stage and mid-market companies build smarter hiring engines—so leadership teams makes better hires with less interviews using a repeatable hiring process, called SearchOS. Our work goes beyond traditional recruiting. We also design hiring systems, interview frameworks, and decision models that align people strategy with business outcomes.

Everything you hear on this podcast reflects how we operate in real searches: structured process, clear must-haves, disciplined interviewing, and leadership alignment—while focusing on the human side of hiring.

Learn more about our Advisory, Executive Search, and SearchOs Cohorts at www.mseedinc.com