Heart of the Brand

Why All Legal Problems Are People Problems


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In this episode of Heart of the Brand, host Sam interviews Alexandra Bodnar, Chief Legal and People Officer at ThirdLove. ThirdLove demonstrates how combining legal and people functions creates a proactive cultural framework that prevents problems before they escalate. As an employment lawyer who transitioned into dual leadership, Alexandra has built a system where legal risk mitigation and people strategy work in tandem—resulting in a collaborative, mission-driven culture that scales across hybrid teams. Her approach proves that treating "all legal problems as people problems" creates stronger preventative systems than traditional reactive HR models, particularly for founder-led companies navigating product innovation and rapid market shifts.

Topics Discussed:
  • Combining legal and people operations into a unified leadership function for proactive problem-solving
  • Building mission-driven culture in consumer brands that attracts talent beyond the target customer demographic
  • Designing hybrid work models that balance product collaboration needs with distributed team flexibility
  • Creating Individual Employee Plans (IEPs) for every employee regardless of promotion timeline or seniority
  • Implementing cross-functional interview processes to assess collaborative fit across departments
  • Adapting employee engagement strategies for post-COVID workforce priorities (career growth over social events)
  • Encouraging AI tool experimentation while managing data security and risk mitigation
  • Scaling internal promotion pathways while strategically hiring external expertise for emerging capabilities
  • ...more
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    Heart of the BrandBy heartofthebrand