320 - How Moxie's COO built an AI strategy for a people business: Kate Connor, COO, Moxie

0:00AI is a big part of the work that we do day to day and it's a big part of the way that our team is actually doing their work. So, you know, this is a conversation that's happening at our monthly team meetings. We have one off trainings about AI for every new platform that we stand up. We do in depth like laptops open cameras turned on types of training where it's not just watch this video or like listen in on this zoom call. And we also have started to do something called monthly AI hackathons, where the team comes together and solves a problem that or stands up a new workflow or automates a new workflow together using the tools that we have.

0:39But for me, it's really important. AI can't just sit with me and the leadership team. It has to be brought up through the team. If the team isn't understanding how we're using these platforms, both with our clients and in their day-to-day work, then it's like the front desk at SoulCycle, then it's not going to happen, right? So they have to be a part of the strategy. They have to be a part of the design.

1:01Kate Connor: You're listening to the Modern People Leader Podcast, where we go behind the scenes with today's top HR leaders and work experts. We talk to them about how they've gotten to where they're at, what they do every day, and what they see coming next for the future of work. Hope you enjoy.

1:22Kate Connor: Hey, another NPL episode. Welcome to the show, Kate. How are you doing? Hi, I'm doing really well. It's so nice to see both of you. Sometimes I have intake calls where I'm disappointed that it was the intake call and not the actual podcast. And that was the case when we met, I guess, a month or two ago, Kate. And so - That's so flattering. Hopefully we can replicate that magic that we had in our first call, but we're so excited to have you. And we kick off every episode the exact same way, and that's with something called Good News Stories. It could be personal, it could be work-related, whatever's coming to mind for you.

2:03Kate Connor: And we prefer for our guests to go first. If you have something, kick us off. Yeah, I have two. So I could do a personal and a work and they actually kind of coincide with one another. So next week we are hosting our first ever Moxie team retreat. We're flying the entire team into New York City for three days of bonding, of learning, of just togetherness. It also coincides with our 15 year anniversary. So it's like a perfect celebratory moment that's happening. Very excited about that. And then the day after that retreat, I leave for a two week vacation with my family and we go to Long Beach Island in New Jersey.

2:42So like big, big exciting week happening next week.

2:45Kate Connor: Got a lot coming up. And you mentioned that there are some people that have been there since day one, right? They're still here. They're still at Moxie. Yes. Yeah. There's some people I was actually just going through. I mean, I don't want to spoil it from the team, but we're doing some, you know, some fun look back timeline activities at the retreat. There's people who've been here for 15 years, for 13 years. It's our team tenure is pretty incredible. I believe it's 30 % of our team has been here for seven years or more, which in the agency world is just pretty unheard of. So it's not going to be like the awkward, you know, everybody's meeting each other for the first time type of offsite.

3:23Kate Connor: I don't think so. I mean, for the most part, we are bi-coastal. So we do have, most of our team is either in the New York metro area or California. So I think the the meeting of the coasts will be that moment. But I mean, people have seen these names pop up in Slack or email for years and years and years. Even you to go next. Yeah, yeah, I got I got it. It's gonna feel like bad news first. I do this often. It's, you know, my way of building intrigue and excitement in this conversation as early as we can. But the bad news is, I had been in And slump is probably a harsh, too harsh a word, but slump is what I think when it comes to my sales performance at the podcast.

4:08You know, we had an event that I had to cancel. We haven't talked about it, I don't think at all, on the podcast. But we, London, we just did not see the ticket sales that we had hoped and we had to cancel. and that was a large chunk of my like booked revenue that I should have contributed. So that was like a gut punch. And then, you know, summers are weird. We have a pretty consistent like cyclical sales pattern over the years and usually summers are kind of quiet. So I had a few deals that were also kind of in that summer low, but I'm back. We're officially closed on our largest account they renewed.

4:49Super excited to get that over the finish line. And then a couple of my deals that were like in motion, but approvers were on vacation or holiday. Those have gotten back and closed. So like a six figure, you know, deals contributed or revenue contribution week for me. And that so that's pretty cool or near that. I'm probably overstating that a little it, but it feels good to be back. You know, it's like being a salesperson. I don't know what it feels like to be an NBA like shooter or like, you know, like a striker in football, like professional soccer, but you just have to take shots and you're going to miss a lot and it sucks when you miss, but you got to keep shooting.

5:32So, uh, so yeah, here we are. That's what I got.

5:37Kate Connor: I'm going to go. Thank you. It's been a good sales week for sure. I'm going to go personal i'm moving tomorrow morning so from starting at 7 a.m tomorrow i'll be be doing the thing so this is my last recording in this room unless something happens and i can't record from the other house but yeah no i'm i'm super excited we're in the final stretch just getting like all of the items that don't have like a specific category that they belong in and like a box they belong in That's where we're at. We need to find a place to pack all of that stuff up. And so it's going to be a long 24 hours, but I'm excited to be in the new house.

6:23That's really exciting. And is that your good of the week or your bad of the week or where does that kind of fall? It's good news.

6:30Kate Connor: It's good news. I'm really excited for the new house and just for like this next chapter of life for the family. We have a 15-month-old, and right now we're living central-ish in Austin. But our intention was never to be here forever. And so this is kind of like ripping the Band-Aid off type of thing. We knew we'd have to do it eventually. And so we're doing it, and I'm really excited for this neighborhood that we're going to be in. So it's definitely good news. Exciting. It's okay. walk us through the story. I had a lot of fun listening to the story. It's definitely unconventional. It's not the typical, you know, story or journey that people on the show have to getting to CPO or sorry, in your case, chief operating officer, because I know you have a few things under your remit.

7:24Kate Connor: So give us the Kate story, you know, go all the way back to the beginning and catch us up to where you're at today. You know, we hear all kinds of stories in the podcast and I'll never forget the story that was told about a Mexico Beach FMLA backfire. One of their employees was out on approved medical leave and then somebody spots them on Instagram. Feet up on the beach looking a little too okay for someone supposedly recovering. So cue the call from the CEO wanting to pull their leave and all of the panic that followed. but here's the thing. There's actual legal precedent that says a photo isn't proof of anything.

8:05Kate Connor: You can't just yank somebody's protected leave because of how a vacation pick looks. You need real evidence. And that's a trap a lot of HR teams fall into. Making a compliance call based on gut instinct instead of actually knowing the law. And that's exactly the gap 650 has built to close. 650 helps teams manage compliance across the full life cycle, from handbooks and policies to agreements, legal updates, and research. And their AI-powered research center gives you a way to ask employment law questions in plain English so you can better understand what applies and where. Because compliance calls shouldn't be made on gut instinct.

8:40Kate Connor: They should be grounded in real legal clarity. For those of you that want to learn more about 650, go to the link in the show notes and let them know we sent you. Yeah. So I, I mean, I'll go way back to college. I studied political science. I thought I was going to go into international law. Obviously, I'm in a different place today. When I was driving to take my LSATs, I was outside of the building. I vividly remember this, walking in and thinking, I don't actually want to be a lawyer. And I'm really glad I had that realization at that moment and not four years after law school was on the horizon.

9:17And at that time, while I was studying to take the LSATs, I was working at the front desk of an indoor cycling studio called SoulCycle. And at this time, this was like pre-boutique fitness boom and all of that. This was like way in the early days of essentially boutique fitness as a whole. I was working at the front desk at SoulCycle and I fell in love with the culture. I fell in love with being in that studio, the way I felt when I walked in those doors, the way that the team made me feel, the way that the community interacted with one another. It just felt like a place where there was something special that was happening.

9:52And it was coming from both the customers and the people that actually worked in the studios. So I ended up growing at SoulCycle. I was promoted to an assistant manager and then a studio manager and then an area manager. And I spent a decent amount of time working in the field at Soul. And it was such an incredible way to start my career. And I am so thankful that I started at the front lines because it really gave me truly a front door experience as to what it means to interact with your client and your product on a daily basis. I saw the struggles that the teams were going through when they were trying to service our clients.

10:30I saw the issues that came up with customers when they were experiencing our product. And I also got to see the magic that happens when both of those things go right. So it was a really amazing way to start my career and something that I think about something that I think about every day as a leader and where I am now. So keep going back. I was in the field as a field leader. I was then tapped to join the corporate team at SoulCycle to stand up a new department called Talent Development Operations. And in this role, I was really focused on building out programs and processes to help support the instructor community.

11:07At SoulCycle, we reference when we talk about talent, we're talking about the instructors. So I helped to build out ongoing training and development programs that would scale. Our instructor population was dispersed across the country. Training was really best when it was done in person. So how do we build out regionalized in-person training programs so that instructors get the ongoing support that they really needed? Ways to share feedback in a way that is actionable for instructors, building out compensation programs. So while this role sat in operations, it was really a people operations job because we were working on building out programs to support our people, which were our instructors.

11:45So it was a super interesting role that really blended operations and people. And I absolutely fell in love with that type of work. And I'd say that's kind of the beginning of my hybrid career in operations and people. I was with SoulCycle for about eight years. I was there through expansion from the four when I first started up to 90 locations. After I was working in talent development operations, I expanded my role and started supporting both the field and talent operations. So working with studio managers and area managers to help scale the operations for their teams. And then my last role at SoulCycle, I was overseeing company strategy.

12:26I was reporting directly to the chief operating officer, Taryn Laban at the time. That was also an incredible role. Now I had grown up through SoulCycle. I really knew what it took to run a studio, to work in the field, to work with instructors. And this was such great exposure to working with all of the cross-functional leaders to understand all of their pain points, all of their priorities, and then work with Taryn to figure out how do we take all of those priorities and pull together an operating plan so that we can continue to grow and scale the business. And again, every step at SoulCycle was incredibly fascinating and just gave me such great exposure to something that I really didn't know before and gave me such an understanding and respect for other departments that I had never had exposure for, which definitely served me later in life.

13:15After SoulCycle, I made the jump. I wanted to go back to an early stage company. You know, the early days at SoulCycle were a building and it was a startup. It's such an exciting time. And I ended up moving to a company called Kind Body, which is in the fertility space. And I was chief of staff. I, at that time, was overseeing people operations and company strategy. So also, you know, as chief of staff in an early stage company, I'm sure you guys know, like you're also doing whatever comes up in the moment, whatever project that might be. It was a very exciting time in health care and especially in women's health care.

13:51And I joined again in the early days was right around our series A. And this was really the first more like traditional HR type of role I had where I was truly overseeing HR and people operations, standing up foundational programs in recruiting and compensation and the employee handbook and what's our mission statement, our core values, things like that. While I was at Kindbody, Taryn Laban, the COO at SoulCycle, reached out to me with an idea to start IRL Ventures. And while she was at SoulCycle, she had left, ended up doing some advisory work and found that there was an opportunity to bring executive level leadership to early stage startups by working across a portfolio of companies.

14:37So the way that the model work is that we would take a blend of a retainer plus equity and a portfolio of companies and work in a fractional capacity, providing operational leadership to early stage companies who truly need senior level executive guidance and advisory, but they can't afford a full-time in-house COO. So that's kind of the way that we made the model work. And it was so fun, so incredible. We worked with over 20 brands across all different sectors, all different stages. And it was such a fun, it was fun. I really liked this building and growing stage that I was doing both at Kindbody and in the early days of Soul Circle, and then got to do that again with Taryn at IRL Ventures.

15:19And I worked most closely with founders on building out operating plans, people operations, standing up their people operations department, similar to the work that I did over at KindBody, hiring, ways of working, dealing with any sort of employee relations issues. So that was my purview and kind of the ways that I was most supporting founders and helping them to build out their strategy and their operating plans. And then towards the end of my time at IRL Ventures, we also stood off, This is going to feel like a complete pivot, but we also set up an early stage private equity fund where we would acquire consumer brands.

15:55This was also happening around 2024 where venture capital was slowing into consumer brands. Interest rates were making it hard for early stage companies to get loans. So we saw an opportunity to acquire some brands and then build out a portfolio, pop in our operating model, and then help grow them back to a place that was profitable and on the upper trajectory. So now I'm on a completely different side of the table. I'm assessing deals. I'm not talking to investors, helping founders to get their next raise of funding across the line. Now I'm on the other side of the table assessing deals as a potential acquirer, running diligence, talking to LPs.

16:37Very, very interesting work. Very fun. And this was all also happening around the time where I had my second child, Brie. And I started thinking about what do I want to do in this next chapter? And for me, that looked like going back into a business. I wanted to go into a business that wasn't necessarily in the early stage super building life cycle, but I wanted to go back into a company and help grow and scale it to its next chapter, something that was already established and needed help getting from B to C or C to D. And then I was actually connected to another Taryn, which there's not that many Tarens in my life, but there are two and they are like two of the most incredible people that I know.

17:17I was connected to Taryn Langer, who is the CEO and founder of Moxie Communications Group. I started doing some advisory work for her on the operating side of the house. And then last year, I ended up joining full time as chief operating officer. And like you said at the top of the call, my purview is pretty, pretty vast. I oversee operations, people operations, AI, company strategy, essentially everything that's back of house, business operations, finance. That way our team can really focus on delivering our services to our customer. What an awesome journey. and I relate to so many different, a lot of things that you shared, but I think what, what stands out most is like, I could see how in, as you were working through those career changes or like new paths that just kind of popped up seemingly out of nowhere, you know, I could see how that was like a big, a big change or like a big decision at a minimum.

18:20And but now looking back, it all like connects perfectly. And it's like the Steve Jobs quote, like you don't see how the dots connect until you're looking back. But your career is like it feels like a perfect example of that. Thank you. It does feel like that again, like when I started my career, I thought I was going to have a very linear. I'm going to be a lawyer. I'm going to grow in this trajectory. But obviously, that's not what happened. And I think so much of where I got to today has been a result of the incredible people that I've had the opportunity to work with and work for and remain connected to.

18:57I think that's just been such a big part of identifying these new opportunities. Kudos to all the former bosses and mentors. Same in my career, managers. People just see things that sometimes you don't see. And so what a beautiful thing. And so before we move on, there's a lot that we want to cover and we've got to impromptly to get you back to your calendar. But I want to talk about what Moxie does. And so if you were explaining to someone you met at a cocktail party, how would you explain to them your core business and what you do? Yeah. So Moxie is, if I'm going to give the quick one-liner, we are an integrated communications agency.

19:42What that actually means in day-to-day is we take a brand or a company story and we turn it into something that people are actually talking about where people are talking. So that means placing stories in places like traditional editorial publications, in the news, on broadcast TV, at conferences, on podcasts like this, sub-stacks, social channels. it's not necessarily just getting out a new campaign or the name of a brand, but so much of the work that the team does, and they do it so eloquently and beautifully, is getting the message that the brand wants out there in the universe. I think there's like a big difference between those two things.

20:23You can talk about a brand, but are you talking about the brand with the right context, with the right messaging? So that's really what Moxie does.

20:31Kate Connor: And so as an agency, you know, where the product is people's judgment and creativity, I imagine, you know, putting together an AI strategy can be a little bit more challenging. And I say this as somebody who co-runs a business that's media where, you know, it's our judgment and creativity that makes us different. And so today, I know we wanted to talk about AI and how you're thinking about it as this expander, but what does it look like as an expander of a business that's so people heavy, where the creativity and judgment really matters? Yeah, I think it's such a great question. And I'm hearing this conversation around AI in so many different circles, both in the agency services universe, and then also in other types of businesses.

21:23And I think what's so interesting and important for Moxie and our approach is the admin low judgment work is what gets automated first, where we apply AI, right? So the things that eat our staff's time that don't need real judgment. So is there a better way that we can format something? Can we take a first pass at something using AI and our internal knowledge base first and then apply the human as part of the journey? So for us in a people services business, what we're trying to do is figure out how can we get more time out there pitching and putting those stories out there for our clients so we can get more impressions, more views, because that's ultimately what our clients want and what we're really good at.

22:06So anything that we can automate or that we can apply AI to internally in a safe way is on the table for us so that our team can spend more time developing relationships out there with media, with brand partners, so they can, you know, again, get better reach. So for us, we're very transparent with our team about our approach to AI and we're building tools ourselves. We're hosting workshops with the team, understanding from them what the actual day-to-day admin work is and then building a plan around it and actioning on it. And so I want to zoom out and one of the things that you mentioned in your origin story was I think it was around the private equity experience phase where you kind of flip your focus and you're now looking in, going into a business quickly, examining the operations, you know, implementing a playbook of more efficient ways of doing things.

23:09because y 'all are experts in that. And so, and I want to just like take us off track for a little while. And do you think that applying kind of that approach and rigor can be done in an AI transformation project? And so, you know, we're going to talk a lot about the work that you've done, you know, with Moxie, but I'm just thinking, because we still, believe it or not, there's still a lot of HR leaders that are trying to get the engines revving on their AI transformation. And so, you know, I think you have this unique PE or just unique experience in general. And so I'm just curious, you know, what is your take on that?

23:51And, you know, and from there, like, walk us through, you know, how your view on approaching transformations, how you took that in and started that initiative at Moxie. Yeah, I do think that approach is, you know, one way or a healthy way to assess what's actually happening inside the business. And I'm in a unique seat because I oversee all of the people operations, the operational side of the house, the finance side of the house. So I'm looking for efficiencies and ways of building this repeatable, scalable playbook that can be more and more automated and leveraging AI from this. So that's like one perspective I have of how can we run the business more efficiently?

24:35How can we get more data? How can we, you know, kind of build more quickly? And then there's also on the client delivery side of the house of how is our team spending their time? How can we automate or make some of their workflows faster, repeatable, more standardized, leveraging AI tools? So I actually look at those as two separate projects, but we're spearheading both of them at the same time. In terms of our approach to AI, for me, it all starts with safety. If we are not building AI in a safe way, if we are not leveraging tools in a safe way, then we are putting our business at risk, right?

25:14By nature of what we do, we are dealing with a lot of confidential information. We're learning things that are happening before they are announced in the news. So maintaining our clients' trust and protecting confidential information and privacy and data is number one utmost importance. So for us, before we started even leveraging any tool, we built out a very thorough AI use policy in partnership with cybersecurity, CTO advisors, to make sure that we have the right framework in place for when we're assessing any new tool, any new build. It has to meet this type of criteria, ran enhanced security to beef up the back end of our own systems in terms of our databases, encryption, privacy controls, data security, all of that.

26:04So that when we do layer on AI on top of it, we're protecting our core and we're protecting our information. So security, safety is number one. And then innovating and building on top of that, to me, comes second. So we're in that phase now where we've secured the house, we have processes in place, we rolled it out to the team. I think my perspective on AI, and this might be my own perspective, I'm not sure if other leaders share the same thought, but we should be as transparent about AI and our attentions as we are with other strategic objectives. AI and the objectives we have and the projects we have live on our strategic roadmap.

26:46We share it with our team at our team meetings. They're very aware of all of the pilots that we have in progress, all of the things that we are testing off the shelf, all of the platforms that we're building in-house. The team is very involved in our AI roadmap because what I don't want to happen is people build their own perception or their own idea of what they think is going to happen with AI. And then that leads to people feeling unsafe or unsecure about their jobs. We're very transparent that at Moxie, our purview about AI is it's here to be an extension of you. It's here to lift you up. And it's here to actually make you do your job better so that you can grow faster.

27:25You can be more strategic. You can do more for our clients.

27:28Kate Connor: I love this. So you start with security. You put together your AI use policy. You get to a point where you feel comfortable with that. And now you're on to the innovating and building. And you have like these two separate work streams. You have work stream one, how can we just be more efficient in the business and build more quickly? And then work stream two on the client delivery side of the house. And it sounds like for each of these, you have like a vendor stack, or I wouldn't even say that, like a vendor slash like tool stack. So you have a combination of tools that you're building in-house or with consultants.

28:12Kate Connor: You have technology that you're buying to help you do this better and faster. And so I'll just stop right there. Like on that piece, can you give us a behind the scenes on what that full stack looks like? And what did it take to find the suite of solutions that you ended up with? One thing keeps coming up on the podcast, and that's leave. It's one of those processes that everybody has, but very few get right. And we just talked about this the other week with Kim Smith from Tilt. And she framed it in a way that really clicked for me. Not every employee experiences leave the same way. Some want every detail up front, others feel overwhelmed, and just want you to simply tell them what to do next.

28:56Kate Connor: But most companies deliver the exact same experience to everyone. It's one thing to have a compliant leave program. it's another to have one that actually works for the human going through it. And that's where Tilt comes in. Tilt is a leave experience platform that helps teams move beyond one-size-fits-all processes. Using Tilt, companies can tailor the leave experience to each employee's needs, keep managers aligned on coverage and return to work, automate complex workflows like pay and compliance, and give HR the space to focus on support and not spreadsheets. In other words, the tech handles the complexity so that the people team can show up where it matters most as a human.

29:37Kate Connor: Leave isn't just an HR process. These are life-changing moments that can make or break the employee experience. If you want to learn more about Tilt, go to hellotilt.com slash MPL. That's hellotilt.com slash MPL. Yeah, I mean, the first step in all of this after we did our security assessment is I hosted a number of workshops with the team directly to really understand what is taking up time in your day to day that you wish could be automated that would be automated and would improve your time and your output by X. So hosted a workshop with the entire team and these really small groups so we can really get into what's actually happening and built out a prioritized list from there.

30:20So that was step one. I think for us, the team had expressed interest in wanting to use some of the larger LLM models. So we determined which models were going to be right for our business, gave people the option to select across a certain number of those licenses that they can use for their everyday work. Again, making sure that we have enterprise level agreements with all of these platforms. And then so that's kind of more like the day to day type of work that people are taking on in the standardizing process phase. That's where we're working with external AI developers to then build our own proprietary tools that are very uniquely solving a problem that we are trying to that we are experiencing on our team in order to move much more quickly.

31:05That things that are off the shelf just aren't cutting it right now. I will say, I mean, every day features are changing for these large models. New platforms are emerging. Like the space is changing so quickly. And this is something we talk about with our team, that this is our intention with AI. We want to be able to allow you to do more work. We want you to be able to do more strategic work. We want you to be able to have more time for building relationships with reporters and being out there and putting our clients out there. how we get there might shift based off of the changes that are happening in AI in general, right?

31:40One of these LLMs might come out with a crazy new feature set that could solve some of the problems that we're working on on the build side of the house, right? So for us, it's important to maintain that level of flexibility because things are moving so quickly. But again, we are transparent with our team based off of we can't wait for the perfect solution to be built. So for some of these workflows, we have to build it ourself now, and then adapt and grow as the technology changes and as that grows too.

32:07Kate Connor: I think you're on mute, Stephen. Yeah, I got that. One of the things that I think we align on, like, you know, at least we're pretty passionate about is the notion that AI is going to help you expand to kind of use your language, your capabilities and what you're able to do and maybe spend, you know, the space you have to spend your time where you should actually be working and not just like, you know, with what the work brings. But I feel like that's a really hard message to convey over time when the technology is advancing so quickly and it feels like these like every few months there's some new use case that like kind of blows your mind and it's like wow this is going to totally change blah blah blah and the reality is you know it's not going for for humans and for the jobs we have it is absolutely going to have a major impact, but not necessarily in the way that you might have on that like impulsive reaction when you see the tech, the new capabilities.

33:25And I'm just curious as a COO and, you know, a people and culture person, like how do you, how have you approached getting that messaging right, understanding where your people's heads are at and just like continuing to be proactive in like the position of the company. Yeah. I think what's really interesting for us is that AI plays kind of both sides of the coin from, yes, an internal ways of working efficiency, but then also for us, like on the sales side of the house, the work that we do is also actually deeply touched by AI, right? Where our clients' stories are showing up, LLMs and AI is a huge part of what PR looks like today.

34:12And part of the services that we offer include geo-optimization and making sure that the stories that we are writing and placing are helping to improve your rankings on all of these platforms too, right? So for us, having a deep understanding of how these platforms work and how to optimize them is also a part of the strategic work that our team is doing. So they're really feeling it on both sides of the coin in terms of how their workflows can be done more efficiently, how AI can serve as a thought partner for doing some sorts of tasks. But then also on the actual services side of the house, it's something that our clients are feeling too.

34:51And it's part of our responsibility from a strategic perspective to advise and help develop strategies in order to make sure that they are also benefiting from these platforms. So when we think about how we message this to the team, again, I keep going back to this is a conversation that we have with our team all the time. This offsite that we're having next week, this is a part of the messaging that they're going to hear from us over and over. AI is a big part of the work that we do day to day, and it's a big part of the way that our team is actually doing their work. So, you know, this is a conversation that's happening at our monthly team meetings.

35:27We have one-off trainings about AI for every new platform that we stand up. We do in-depth, like laptops open, like cameras turned on types of training where it's not just watch this video or like listen in on this Zoom call. We make our trainings very interactive. So our team really understands the power of the tools. And we also have started to do something called monthly AI hackathons where the team comes together and solves a problem that or stands up a new workflow or automates a new workflow together using the tools that we have. So, you know, we just launched this and we just started doing them.

36:04And we had one of our hackathons last week. And the one that we had last week was more about sharing, like, what are some tips and tricks that you're experiencing with these platforms that you feel like the team needs to know about? And it was awesome because everybody left feeling like they learned at least like three to five new things that they could apply themselves. But for me, it's really important. Like AI can't just sit with me and the leadership team. It has to be brought up through the team. If the team isn't understanding how we're using these platforms, both with our clients and in their day-to-day work, then it's going, it's like the front desk at SoulCycle, then it's not going to happen, right?

36:40So they have to be a part of the strategy. They have to be a part of the design. They have to be a part of, there has to be a lot of training for them in order to make sure that it's not just like something that's talked about at a leadership meeting or a team meeting and then it's never brought up again. It has to really be embedded in the culture.

36:57Kate Connor: And so you mentioned that there are times where an off the shelf platform or maybe like the LLMs just aren't going to cut it for whatever you're trying to build. My first question is, how do you decide when it's time to build something custom? And then once you've made that decision, who's owning that internally? Like if you're working with these external AI engineers, is it different team to team? Or do you have like one person at the company that's dedicated to managing these external AI engineers? How does that process work? Yeah, well, you're looking at her. I am the connector. I am the connector.

37:41So our approach is, you know, and this is, I think with any platform doesn't have to necessarily be AI or with any decision that needs to be done. I think we do a deep dive into here are all of the platforms that are available today. We test them out. We identify what their capabilities are, what their limitations are, what the pricing looks like. We do that diligence first to see what exists in the universe. and then we decide, okay, are we going to buy something that's off the shelf, that's ready, or is there really just nothing that's worth the money right now that solves our problem? And can we build it cheaper or can we build it better suited to our exact use case by leveraging external developers?

38:24So that's kind of the lens that we use. I mean, obviously there's a lot more that goes into making that decision, but that's really our approach is what does the universe look like today, we already know what we need to do. We have our roadmap. Like I said before, it's how we get there. And all of this is so new. So I wouldn't want to just wait for the perfect tool to be built as an off the shelf solution. We can build things ourselves. I mean, it's insane. Like I'm building things. I am not a technical person at all, but I've learned to become a technical person because it served me so well in building my day-to-day work.

38:58Like I've started to build my own dashboards. I've started, I built a whole webpage for a retreat. That's something I could have never done before without, without these types of platforms. So I think just the types of off the shelf tools that exist that even allow you to build your own customized solutions are like, it's something that I didn't even imagine would be in existence like five years ago. And so I want to move on. There's, we don't have a ton of time left. It's just the time just flies by in these conversations. And there's more that we want to get into. Your career has never been purely focused on operations or people or purely focused on people.

39:38The work you've done seems to have really been at the intersection of the two. And so let's talk about how that experience has shaped how you think about culture, not as a standalone HR initiative, but as something that, you know, everyone influences and that the entire organization operates. Yeah. I mean, I am so thankful. And I feel like this is with like, this is like the same benefit that you get from traveling to different cultures and observing how different people live, right? Working across different departments, understanding different priorities and how different teams work has been such a, I've been so lucky to see that because I can apply those learnings than in other departments on other teams, where maybe, you know, someone wouldn't necessarily see that that's an opportunity.

40:26So I'm, I feel very lucky that I've had that experience. In terms of how I think it impacts culture, you know, for me, culture is like the way that you feel when you think about a company. It's how you feel when you are at a company. I think feeling and energy is really highly associated with culture. It's one thing to say we have core values. It's one thing to say that we have all of these culture building initiatives. But at the end of the day, are you telling people, this is a great place to work? I want to build my career here. Like that to me is a true sign of strong team culture. So when I think about that and using my experience across all of these different business lines, there's an interesting balance that you have to achieve.

41:12when you're building out, especially on the people side of the house, people programs and things within the HR realm, you can't ignore what's happening on other sides of the business, right? We can't be hiring if maybe the business is down year to date, or if there's a major issue that's happening with a product release, right? So having an understanding and a relationship with your cross-functional partners is, I think, so important for people leaders because they are then better able to build out people programs that are going to meet the organization where it's at based off of the real pain points people are feeling in real time.

41:49Kate Connor: What would you say, you know, if you think about the work you've done over the last 10 years on both the people and operations side, on which side did you feel like you were always strongest on? And for the part that you felt like maybe you had some gaps, how did you fill those gaps? Like, what are you reading, listening to? Who are you getting mentorship from? I'm just curious how you've gotten to where you're at and you're able to handle both because it's a lot. That's a lot of work. Yeah. I mean, I think at my core, I am an operator, right? I help to identify problems, implement solutions, help drive towards growth.

42:33Like that is innately inside of me. But people are the way and the vessel to get there, especially with all of the companies I've worked with in the services industry, right? Like SoulCycle, the product is what you get when you walk into that studio and you take the class that's put on by an instructor. At Kind Body, it's a healthcare experience that you get that's led by doctors. At Moxie, it is what our team is able to produce from a communications perspective for our clients, right? So all of the types of companies I've worked with have that throughput of there's a service element to it and needing to invest in that side of the house.

43:09I would say, how do I stay on top of what's happening? Moxie, in all honesty, is the first agency that I've worked at. So when I joined Moxie, for me, it was a different type of business model, an agency type of model versus other business models that I've worked with before. So I joined a PR networking group of leaders that meet on a regular cadence across all different sectors. There's one for COOs, there's one for HR leaders that I'm very tapped into that has been an incredible resource for me to just hear what other agencies are experiencing, learn from what they're going through. It's a great network specifically within the PR space and then within subcategories of, all right, what's happening with recruiting right now is actually on a call yesterday with HR leaders in PR.

43:57It was just so incredible to hear, like, we're all kind of hearing the same things in the market right now. We're all experiencing the same things. So that's been a very helpful community to be a part of, to help kind of bridge some of those gaps. Quick digression, like, where are we in the market right now? I mean, seriously, it feels like we're in a weird place. You know, obviously only sharing, you know, things that you can take out of those virtual or actual rooms. How would you describe the market right now from an HR perspective? From an HR and people perspective within this sector, I think, and what we're experiencing.

44:37And again, I think some of this is also unique to Moxie, right? Like we've been around for 15 years. We work with some of the most incredible brands and companies that are out there. So we attract incredibly high caliber of talent, people who have built their careers here who, you know, again, our retention is kind of off the charts in that sense. So what we're seeing is that there is an availability of talent right now. There are plenty of people who want to work at Moxie. I'm constantly interviewing new candidates all the time and the top, top talent. So I don't think that we're necessarily in a situation, it doesn't feel like or it doesn't seem like we're in a situation where there are massive layoffs as a result of AI that are impacting the PR space.

45:21But there's always people that are looking to kind of join our team, luckily.

45:29Kate Connor: Good place to be. Yes. And you mentioned the long tenure. What do you think it is about Moxie that keeps people there so long? I mean, if I could replicate what happens here, I think I'd be a bajillionaire if I could implement and inject this into other companies. I think it's a combination of things, right? I think, like I said before, we attract and we work with some really exciting brands like Aurora and Liquid Death and Goodles and Coterie and Belkin. We work across so many different sectors. The badass lineup right there. I know, I know. I'm going to have my aura ring on right now. We work, we're sector and stage agnostic.

46:10So when you work at Moxie, you're exposed to consumer, tech, healthcare, VC clients of all different sizes, all different stages. We have some companies who are announcing their Series A round of funding. We have some companies that we've helped them go through an IPO, right? So all different life cycles. So there's a lot of opportunity at our company. And I think being sector and stage agnostic is a big differentiator and helps people to have exposure to different types of companies, different sectors, helps to build out their media relations community across all of those. And then what's interesting, I mean, I kind of see a parallel as to my experience working across so many different departments that we're then able to pull on what's happening really well in this one sector.

46:51And can we bring it over here to this other sector? Or can we connect these two brands who maybe this wouldn't seem like a partnership that would make sense on paper, but actually does at the end of the day. So I think we're uniquely positioned from who we get to work with because of the type of work that we do. So I think there's this interesting flywheel that happens where we attract really incredible clients. And that also helps to attract really incredible high caliber team. And that just sort of kind of feeds that flywheel. I'd also say like great culture does start at the top by the leadership team.

47:22We have an incredible leadership team that really cares about the work that we do, the clients that we work with and the people on our team. So I think that is such a big part of what has kept Moxie Moxie for so many years and will continue to do so. But that culture and what makes Moxie so special really trickles down to the rest of the team and culture is carried by the rest of the organization. And it's clear if there's one person on the team who just isn't jiving with the culture because it is so evident. Remind me, how long have y 'all been in business, Moxie? So this is Moxie's 15th year.

48:01We actually celebrate our 15-year anniversary was on Saturday, and we're celebrating next week together. And so much has changed. And just outside of this conversation, think about how much has changed in the last 15 years. It's kind of crazy. Retention is an amazing thing. And like, I would put your retention like at world class like that. That's a great lengths of tenure. And but considering how much has changed, what part of the culture, how have you infused a, an agility or, you know, what is the factor that helps keep you relevant and keeps you all the, you know, keeping, you know, long tenured and, you know, the foundation of a strong culture, but also, you know, allows, gives you a counterbalance to that and allows you to kind of evolve and flex with the times.

48:58Kate Connor: How much compensation risk do you think is hiding in your spreadsheets right now? For a lot of people teams, comp has gotten way more complex than the system supporting it. You got merit cycles, bonuses, incentive plans, approvals, benchmarking, pay equity, transparency requirements. And somehow, a lot of it is still being managed through Excel, manual uploads, or HRIS modules that weren't really built for this level of complexity. And you know, that's all fine and dandy until there are three versions of the same comp file, or one person becomes the single source of truth, or leadership asks why a pay decision was made, and the answer is harder and harder to explain.

49:41Kate Connor: That's where BCom comes in. BCom is a purpose-built compensation platform for organizations managing complex pay programs, especially those teams that I was just referring to that have outgrown what spreadsheets can comfortably handle. It helps people and total rewards leaders run complex comp cycles at the speed of business, connect compensation, performance, and pay equity in one place, create clear governance with clear audit trails, and use AI responsibly with humans still in control of the decisions. If your comp strategy is getting harder and harder to manage, Be Calm is worth checking out.

50:18Kate Connor: You can learn more at becom.com slash MPL. That's B-E-Q-O-M dot com slash MPL. Yeah. I mean, I think like one of our core values is that we are endlessly curious. So just being open-minded to new ways of doing things, open to new people, that is a part of what it makes Moxie Moxie. So I'd say that's just essentially kind of innate as to who we are as a company and the way that we operate. And we hire people and we're lucky to retain people who are operating at the top of their game, who want to go above and beyond, who are ahead of the curve. Again, those are all part of our core values at Moxie.

51:03So when you get a group of people like that together, it is just incredible to see what happens. And for me, as the people leader, it's really important to listen to the team and hear what they want. If I implement a retention program because I think it's going to be successful, maybe. But if I ask my team and I do an engagement survey and I ask the right questions to really understand, like, what would it take for you to stay at Moxie for another seven years? I'm going to get some really great answers there to help then build out what our programs are, how we should be revamping our existing programs.

51:38For example, last year, we made the decision to move from hybrid to fully remote, and we're continuing to do that next year for our teams. And we took that money and invested it in our compensation programs instead in doing this offsite and this retreat, investing in other in-person training moments because people were in the office, but it was more about like, how can I get the conference room to take my Zoom call while I'm in the office? Not about getting that type of connectivity or mentorship that you used to get when you were working in that type of office environment pre-COVID. So for us, again, we listened to the team and we took action and we're seeing the success of that.

52:18Kate Connor: So one final question before we go to rapid fire. In 30 seconds, give us like the rundown of what's happening at the 15 year anniversary. I feel like people love a good like offsite playbook. I was going to say, I can't spoil it for the team, but I sent them a very detailed agenda this week so they know exactly what's happening. But there's a lot of team dinners. There's team happy hours. We have a whole offsite day where we're doing some workshops together in person. Some are moderated by people outside. Some are moxie internal. We're revisiting the past 15 years at Moxie, which I'm really excited.

52:50Our marketing team pulled together a really fun timeline. So yeah, there's a lot of like scheduled togetherness and time to connect with people because that's really hard to do when you're working day to day.

53:04Kate Connor: Well, it sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. And so we finish every episode with something called rapid fire questions. And it's the same set of four questions. And we'll try to get you out of here in the next three minutes. So question one, what's one piece of advice that you'd give to somebody starting in HR and who's at the beginning of their career? I'd say you should understand what AI means for your job. What is one thing that you can learn each week about AI and how you can apply that to your workflows? You're one of the, you might be the first one that has given. We haven't gotten that response.

53:42I'm shocked. I thought you were going to say everybody tells us this. No, literally nobody. And I tell my daughters all the time, like one of two things, you either go use your hands and learn how to do that very, very well. Be a barber or like whatever, or start understanding AI. Those are your options. Sorry for interjecting. If your next question, if your team gave you a superpower nickname, what would it be? I think they would maybe call me the accelerator. I help to solve problems fast. If we think of a new idea, I'm working with a team to figure out how we can just get it out there, do it as quickly as possible.

54:26Let's do it the right way. And yeah, I make sure we have the team and the resources to do it.

54:31Kate Connor: The accelerator. I like that. Okay. Next question. What's a strategy or practice from another company that you'd love to steal? And I feel like you probably have some good ones from the PE and advisory days? I do. Actually, this one, I'm going to go back to SoulCycle. This is more on the culture side of the house. SoulCycle has something called the Core Values Pin Program, where every year you received pins that represented one of our each core values. And throughout the year, you would mail that, put it in the mail or bring it to someone's office and write a note about how that person exemplifies that core value.

55:03And I thought it was just such a wonderful way for a remote or a dispersed team to feel connected, to weave in your culture and your core values. So that's something that's in the back of my mind. I love that.

55:15Kate Connor: I love that. I stumbled over words earlier because I was going to ask, take us down a soul cycle direction. And I like, but so fascinating. We'd love to pick your brain someday or hear more about soul cycle. So last question, who should we have on the show next? I mean, I'm going to stick with Julie and Elizabeth from Solar. Every time I hear them, I am re-inspired. I was actually at the 20-year anniversary a couple months ago, and it was just like a super love fest. I think definitely them, or I think Taryn Laban over at IRL Ventures is building something really cool and interesting and unique too.

55:53So I'm going to nominate those three. Amazing.

55:58Kate Connor: Great, Rex. and last tradition is one word or phrase closed so anything that's coming to mind for you as we close out this episode it could be one word or it could be a few i'm gonna stick with uh brene brown's clear is kind unclear is unkind what do you got steven my goodness i'm gonna go with the accelerator

56:23and i'm gonna go with what's coming to mind for me is soul cycle and that's not a great way of

56:30Kate Connor: of closing out the episode but um you're right there is like such a feeling that you have when you think about a brand and i can picture myself like being inside of a soul cycle right now well in 30 seconds or less like the reason one of the reasons we have these traditions is because I read a book called The Power of Rituals and SoulCycle was by Casper. I can't remember his last name. And SoulCycle was one of the big examples that he gave that just like, you know, really embracing traditions and rituals to like create this super culture effect. So we'd love to talk about that someday. And I love that that's your thing.

57:12because I've been stupid on that. You should definitely talk to our, who is our chief culture officer, Amy Pack. She would be another amazing guest. She was from SoulCycle. We'll add it, but we promise to get you out of this promptly. So thank you so much, Cade, and the person, whoever it was that closed this deal. Thank you. Thank you, Abigail. Abigail, shout out. And now you're part of the fam, so I hope you would come back and chat with us sometime, maybe about SoulCycle, maybe join some of your former colleagues. Thank you. Thank you guys.

57:46Kate Connor: All right. Bye guys. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the modern people leader. We really, really appreciate it. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a five-star rating. It would mean the world to us and connect with us on LinkedIn. We want to know what you think about the show and you can find links to both of our profiles in the show notes. Thanks again for listening and see you on the next episode. You