Your leaders are your culture carriers, and if your organization wants to build real cultural advantage, they must be clear on a handful of critical behaviors. In this episode, CEO Heather Haas and leadership consultant BJ McKay of ADVISA sit down with Todd Wuestenberg, Chief Culture Officer of Haverkamp Properties, to explore the third of five drivers of cultural competitive advantage: Leader Effectiveness.

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Together they break down what Leader Effectiveness actually looks like in practice and how to foster it across an organization. Heather and BJ bring decades of insight from their work supporting leadership and culture development, while Todd offers his grounded perspective of how this driver shows up in day-to-day leadership.

What if your company values were not just words on a wall, but a living part of your culture that shapes every hire, fire, and daily decision? Live from CultureCon 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin, Nikki Lewallen Gregory sits down with Eliza Jackson of ButcherBox for a conversation that turns traditional HR playbooks upside down. With a background that spans finance, kindergarten classrooms, and fast-growing startups, Eliza brings a real and grounded perspective on building values driven organizations that actually walk the talk.

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From passing on high performers who are not aligned with company values to ensuring every employee has access to a coach, Eliza shares how ButcherBox weaves culture into every level of the business. You will hear how they focus on mindset over skillset, maintain startup like agility at scale, and nurture a culture of constant improvement while keeping people at the center.

What if the way we treat healthcare employees is the reason patient care falls short? In this episode of WorkPossible, Elaine and Hattie talk with Sven Gierlinger, Chief Patient Experience Officer at Northwell Health, about how true transformation in healthcare begins behind the scenes with the people delivering care. Drawing on his background in hospitality and healthcare, Sven shows why exceptional patient experiences depend on investing in the employee experience, from redefining luxury in hospitals to empowering frontline staff to innovate and lead change.

Sven shares powerful insights from his own journey as a patient who was temporarily paralyzed, revealing how small human moments can define recovery and how empathy, authenticity, and proximity, not hierarchy, create lasting impact. This conversation challenges old systems and invites leaders to stop doing things by default and start designing workplaces where people are free to care and be cared for.

Pete Savage and Greg Livings are back to decode one of the most overlooked drivers of company culture: culture signals. From a restaurant that turned things around by upgrading its patio decor to a company that fumbled a milestone moment for 7,000 employees, this episode is full of sharp insights and real-world lessons.

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They break down how to spot what’s truly resonating, drop the weak stuff, and create moments that stick. With practical tips and tools, you’ll learn how to plan and communicate your culture strategy with clarity and purpose.

ADVISA CEO Heather Haas and leadership consultant BJ McKay spill the T in ATLAS, delving into the second of five essential drivers for creating cultural competitive advantage: Trust and Shared Purpose.

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Heather and BJ define what this driver really means and provide practical tactics any organization can use to promote it.

From blowing up the resume to embracing AI in ethical and human-first ways, Natasha dishes on how leaders can stop playing it safe and start rethinking talent. They explore the magic of unlearning, why potential matters more than pedigree, and how to build hiring processes that actually reflect the world we live in today.

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If you're tired of rinse-and-repeat recruiting and ready to reimagine the future of work, this episode is your permission slip to challenge the status quo and lead with heart and strategy.

Live from CultureCon 2024, Nikki Lewallen Gregory talks with Faatima Khan about building trust-filled spaces where people feel safe to be real. Through stories from mood elevators to office pranks, they show how intention, grace, and vulnerability drive authenticity and offer simple ways to slow down, ask better questions, and build culture.

Nick and Zach sit down with Pete and Greg from CultureShape to dive into the tools and insights that are helping leaders make culture intentional, measurable, and lasting.  From the “Culture Wheel Playbook” to lessons learned from hundreds of conversations with leaders, this episode explores how to move culture from a buzzword to a business driver, and why intentional planning makes all the difference.

Whether you’re a culture team of one or twenty-one, you’ll leave inspired to plan smarter, gain executive support, and turn big ideas into sustainable impact. 

In this episode of "Culture Starts Here", ADVISA CEO Heather Haas and leadership consultant BJ McKay discuss the concept of Cultural Competitive Advantage, focusing on the ATLAS framework – five drivers that organizations can leverage to align their culture with the goals of the business. 

Heather and BJ delve into the importance of the first driver, 'Activation from Above,' emphasizing the role of leadership in shaping and maintaining a healthy organizational culture. 

Dr. Julia Wiener joins Nick and Zach to share her journey from growing a business from her garage into an international company with more than 300 employees and now leading JW Strategies. She reveals how agility and quick pivots fueled innovation, why creating space to fail fast matters, and how subtle leadership behaviors shape culture more than words on a wall. From messy team mergers to scaling culture in high growth environments, Julia offers honest lessons and looks ahead at how AI is reshaping work while reminding leaders to keep the human side strong.

In this episode of "WorkPossible," Elaine and Hattie sit down with Martin Fitzpatrick, Global Employee Communications and Engagement Director at Ericsson, to challenge some of the most outdated practices in the workplace.

This is a conversation about ditching the rulebook, designing experiences that work for humans, and reimagining how leaders and employees engage with one another. Because work should feel possible, not prescribed.

What happens when two self-proclaimed non-event planners find themselves organizing conferences year after year? 

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In this episode, Nick and Zach pull back the curtain on the lessons they have learned and the unexpected moments that make their events memorable. From food trucks to puppet shows to the not-so-sexy “Boxed Lunch Experience,” they share the highs, the hiccups, and the humor of building a community driven conference.

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They also offer a glimpse of what is next, including their first ever topic specific gathering on AI.

Welcome to the kickoff of "Culture Starts Here," a new series from The CultureCon® Podcast in partnership with Advisa!

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Meet Heather Haas, CEO of Advisa and former principal, and BJ McKay, a track coach turned leadership guru. They show how culture is not just an HR project, it is a strategic lever for growth, alignment, and performance.

Heather and BJ introduce ATLAS, a five-part framework for building cultures that work, where systems support people, data drives clarity, and leadership is intentional from the top down.

Ever wondered if doing good can actually grow your business? Nathan Stuck shows it is not only possible but the future of work.

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In this kickoff to the CultureCon® Podcast, Nick and Zach welcome their first guest: Nathan Stuck, purpose driven leader, TEDx speaker, author, and founder of Profitable Purpose Consulting. He breaks down what B Corp certification really means (hint: it is more than a sticker on your packaging), why employee volunteer hours matter, and how brands can balance impact with authenticity.

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Whether you are B curious or already part of the community, Nathan brings insight, humor, and practical strategy to help you rethink what success really looks like.

What would the employee experience be like if we trashed the playbook? In a world where the workplace is being redefined daily, hosts Hattie Roche, Co-Founder and Strategy Chief at Fauna, and seasoned Chief People Officer Elaine Page join CultureCon® co-founders Nick Lombardino and Zach Blumenfeld to flip the traditional employee experience conversation on its head. They explore how a casual chat evolved into a bold research initiative, why it’s time to unlearn how we “do” work, and what happens when we let people create the questions.

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This kick-off episode of WorkPossible sets the stage for an exciting series of conversations with leaders rethinking leadership, culture, and employee experience. Tune in for fresh perspectives, future-focused thinking, and ideas bold enough to actually change things.

Nick and Zach kick things off with the wild and wonderful origin story of CultureCon®: from roundtables and zero event planning experience, to surprise Vegas marquees and full-on imposter syndrome. 

Along the way, they share the heart behind why CultureCon exists: to make work suck less and to build authentic connections that go far beyond job titles. You’ll laugh, you’ll learn, and you’ll get a sneak peek at the incredible stories and topics coming your way.

Hosted by Nick Lombardino and Zach Blumenfeld, they’re taking the CultureCon® experience beyond the conference. Launching this week, the Official CultureCon® Podcast brings you candid conversations with bold thinkers, everyday culture shapers, and unique voices pushing to make work better for everyone.