In episode 47 of Everything is Up, Tammera Hollerich welcomes Jamy Conrad as they delve into Jamy’s background growing up, her transition from healthcare to the tech industry, and the importance of HR professionals in today's ever-changing work landscape. They touch on topics like the role of HR in business strategy, the significance of mentorship, and the evolving nature of employment law.
Tune in to gain valuable insights and perspectives in HR, leadership, and personal growth.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:03:07] Transition from Healthcare to Tech.
[00:06:26] Overcoming Childhood Poverty Challenges.
[00:13:38] Employee Behavior Impact on Teams.
[00:18:07] Human Tendencies and AI Impact.
[00:20:50] Mentors and Emerging Leaders.
[00:26:47] Hacking HR.
[00:32:05] HR Professionals' Career Paths.
[00:34:15] HR as a Strategic Partner.
In this episode, Tammera Hollerich and Jamy Conrad emphasize the significance of finding mentors and sponsors early in one's career to accelerate growth and learning. Jamy's experience underscores the transformative power of mentorship in navigating challenges, overcoming self-doubt, and seizing opportunities for personal and professional development.
Additionally, Tammera and Jamy discuss the dynamic nature of HR responsibilities, where HR professionals must navigate legal requirements while also caring for the holistic well-being of employees. Jamy's insights shed light on the multifaceted role of HR in understanding and addressing the human aspects of employees, beyond just the legal framework.
QUOTES
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Tammera Hollerich
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TammeraHollerich
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammerahollerich/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thollerich/
Jamy Conrad
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554863259054&locale=ms_MY
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamyconrad/
WEBSITES
Everything Is Up: https://everything-is-up.simplecast.com/
Tammera Hollerich: https://tammerahollerich.com/
Welcome to everything is up a podcast about the real life stories of people who have created extraordinary levels of success These are conversations with people who are constantly striving to take things to the next level And now here's your host
Welcome to Everything is Up with Tamara. Joining me today is Jamie Conrad. Welcome, Jamie, and thank you so much for joining us. How are you today?
I'm doing great, Tamara. Thanks so much for the invitation to be here.
Hey, I'm excited. So you currently are with Trust Radius as one of their HR professionals. Give me a little background on this position and your level of expertise.
Okay, well I have about 16 years of overall HR experience. Most of that was in the healthcare space working in medical equipment and hospital systems before joining the tech industry specifically to join the Trust Radius team about two and a half going on three years ago. They're a growing tech company and I'm not only a member, but I am the member leading all strategy and doing all the things HR. So I have many hats that I wear on a daily workday. And then I also take pride in my level of involvement in the HR community, both locally as well as online, just trying to amplify the voice of the HR strategy and the HR profession as thought leaders and strategic partners in the executive teams and business and corporations, et cetera.
Yeah, I think that that is a valid valid point that historically HR has been the C suite tends to just go yeah go down the hall to HR, but with the ever turning tide that we are having. In really the last five years, I would say with the pivot and shift from COVID to this hybrid work situation, I think a lot of CEOs are walking down the hall and going, what do we do? And CROs are really becoming a valued partner, I think, in that C-suite space. So kudos to you for jumping out here and saying, no, it needs to happen. Because I 100% agree with you. And I don't know that most CEOs that I get a chance to talk with, this is an area that they struggle with. They're not people people, they are typically the strategists, the thought leaders, the visionaries, and for them to have to go what you want me to what I mean is almost frightening for them. Talk to me a little bit about the transition from the health care space, which we could probably talk for hours about the health care space because I'm in it to a certain degree. But that transition from health care to the tech space, how did that come about?
Yeah, I was working in the hospital systems during the pandemic. And we, of course, were facing some of the best and worst of HR that you can imagine in that time, and was doing well there, enjoying my role, as well as the company that I was working with. And I had an amazing HR team. We were a large corporation. I was approached by somebody in my network to think about this idea of moving to the Trust Radius team. They felt like it was something that would really align with my values and what I was trying to do as an HR leader, as well as the skill set that I had and the needs that the business was facing at that time. And I very respectfully said, wow, that sounds really exciting and interesting, and I'm not interested. I appreciate it. But one conversation that I finally gave in on led to several more. When I was given the opportunity to join the Trust Radius team, I decided to take it. And I would say that I have experienced both ends of the HR spectrum, going from healthcare and a highly regulated, lots of rules you know, you're very segregated, you have a lane that you have to stay in or else patients' lives could be at stake, you know, some of those types of ideas, to an industry where they really prefer that there's not any rules or regulations that they have to follow and they want to hear your craziest ideas whenever possible. And if something sticks and we can do, you know, that crazy idea, then let's go for it. So the more progressive in thinking, the louder they want to speak, I think. And so it's been a very interesting transition.
Well, you're not kidding. I mean, that is going from the very highly regulated to a, you know, the tech space anyway, we probably wouldn't be where we are as a Let's talk AI, right? I mean, we probably wouldn't be here if that tech space wasn't constantly pushing the envelope on. what's next? I mean, to a techie, there's nothing that cannot be done. They just have to figure it out.
Correct. And I love the creativity, the innovation, the call to action. You know, there's no idea that's too big or too crazy or too outlandish or, you know, and not all of them work, obviously. But they just encourage that on a daily basis. And I've really enjoyed that aspect of it.
So I read somewhere that, I think it was in an interview that you have done, that you kind of grew up a little on the poverty side and you've really made a name for yourself in this industry. talk to me a little bit about your childhood and you know as you as you talk about it um you know just in the stuff i've read there's this is like a very near dear to your heart type thing and um this self-motivation that you have um so give us some background here you know give us a little bit of context for this
Okay, well, I did grow up in poverty. There's no secret about that. We moved around a lot. There wasn't a lot of stability for the early years of my childhood. And my mom, she's an amazing woman, was a single mom for many of those years. And we did what we needed to do to make it. And I admire the decisions that she made, even though they were tough sometimes and it wasn't always easy. But there's so much that I learned in that about tenacity and grit and resilience that carried forward for me. And she set that tone by instilling that work ethic and how you look for the best in things, even in the worst of times. And I think that that's probably what fuels my desire to keep Try new things and not let something hold me back. So, you know, whenever I hear somebody say that's not possible, you can't do that challenge accepted, right? Let's see if that if that's really true or not. And I think that that is definitely a reflection of my upbringing. We were very blue collar based. We were very much in the heart of the Midwest and union influence. And so there's all of that that is now manifested into me being in a role and in a profession where I have an opportunity to influence white collar. Opportunities and white collar thinking and I'm working in a white collar job that I thought I'd never be in just because, you know, people like me with no college degrees, we don't get those opportunities. And I, I just made it my mission not to let my upbringing or the things that others may see as defaults be roadblocks for me. So hopefully that inspires others to. not let their roadblocks or challenges that others tell them they have prevent them from being the best professional or exactly what they want to be with with their career.
You know, it's interesting that you presented it in that way, because I do think a lot of times And even in the C-suite, the C-suite just has the tenacity to just be like, it's part of that personality. However, I think they're still human. And when people start telling you, or it's the perception that this is all you're going to be, you don't have a degree. So you can't do this. And honestly, I think we are finding more and more that there are I'm sure, and you've interviewed them probably a million times, people that have degrees and they're literally not happy. And so they're trying to find that joy in their life to to jump out there and do something. the degree itself is a piece of paper that says I'm teachable not a bad thing right and I finished what I started but it doesn't always mean that you're working in the field that you have that degree in because I see it every day anytime I'm interviewing for you know a position it's like here's these college educated individuals that I'm like, if your degree is in psychology, why are you going into health care? I mean, the question exists, right? So I think that our society is putting so much emphasis on the degree. We're forgetting that there are people that, like you, who can take this opportunity and turn it into a, you know, a silver bullet and literally run with it and be this amazing professional. I mean, you're one of the founding members of Hacking HR, right? Am I? Yeah. They're experts council.
Yeah. I'm part of that.
Yeah. And so as an HR professional and talking with other HR professionals, How much of that do you guys see on a daily basis of here they are with college degrees, but with no experience in the workforce?
I think it's a fine line to walk. I'd rather see us focus in on what are those skill sets that are necessary? What are those behaviors that are necessary that's going to make somebody be able to thrive in the position that we're hiring for? And less about the education or the piece of paper that they may have on the wall. There's so many things changing as rapidly as you can imagine. And we talk about tech and AI. There's not a college degree for AI.
There's not.
We're all learning. We've got some really successful people in that field right now that are paving the way and innovating what that's going to look like in our future. And they're developing those skills as they go, and they're learning on the job, and they're doing all those things. And that can manifest in so many amazing outcomes if you let it. But you got to find somebody that's got the right behaviors. You've got to find somebody that's got that desire to be a continuous learner and always expanding. And if you find those people that are coachable and willing to learn, then they're going to be sponges and they're going to absorb it. So focus in on the skill set and what's needed to be successful rather than maybe the education or even the the high level, you know, experienced employer. They've got that really classy looking employer on their resume. Does that mean that they're going to be successful in your business?
Well, you know, and that's interesting because it brings to mind, you know, me kind of listening, you know, football season's over, right? I don't know if you're a football fan or not, but it brings to mind where you hear about these professional athletes that are literally demolishing themselves and ripping a team apart with their behavior within one team. And so they get let go, but they get picked up by another team that they then thrive in and become this incredible asset. Because I think sometimes it's also not just about that employee, but I think it's about the team that they sit in also.
Yeah, absolutely. There's something to be said for a dream team that can create a unicorn type of tech story. Doesn't mean that as individuals, they can go anywhere else and do the same thing. Right. It could be the combination of all the skills that were brought together for that company at that time. made them highly successful.
Well, and personalities meshing also, because you can have, you know, you can have the most talented athletes, but if they can't stand each other, they're not going to work together. And that might just be personalities, right? It might be, I'm not working for this coach as hard as I might work for another coach that maybe you feel more valued and respected. And I think that's huge when it comes to this. I told my team yesterday, And we just hired in two new team members and, you know, I equate it to like, okay, we just had a new baby and we're going to bring it home to the family and everybody's going to fight for about the next 30 days. Because everybody wants mommy's attention. Right. I say like, so it's an analogy. And I'm like, so. Here's what it takes. It takes everybody making an honest effort to accept people where they are. And we are still all humans. This whole, well, you know, we're a B2B company. I'm like, no, you're not. You might be a business with people in it, doing business with another company with people in it, but this is, you are not B2B. I mean, because, you know, you go back, and it might sound old school, and I get it all the time, you know, cause I'm getting older. That's what they keep telling me anyway. Um, so, um, but people still do business with people that they like period, end of story, but it still goes for teams. If the teams are cohesive, if the teams don't have personality conflicts, I mean, look, I can assure you that there are many people on this planet that do not love Tamara Halloran and I'm okay with that. Okay. But I mean, that doesn't mean that they're bad or that they're, they may not just be the right fit in the organization. And I love where you're, you know, kind of how you see it because you, I think you see it a lot the same way.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's such a critical part of being in a leadership role is, you know, not only recognizing that that's the case and people do business with people, but thinking about how to get your team collaborating in such a way that those personality differences are less impactful in a negative way and can be used as strengths to pull the team through in a very diversified way of looking at Solutioning and getting to the business outcomes you're looking for to be strong and in leadership means to be able to get the best out of the cohesion of the team. And so it takes sometimes bringing in a diverse. mindset to do that. And you have to be very open as a leader, I think, and just letting the team know that this is why we're adding this addition to the team. These are the strengths that they're bringing to the table, and I can't wait to help them manifest those. As we go through it, and I expect everyone to be on board with that. Let's figure out how to best bring them in. Of course, you're going to go through that storming phase where everybody's fighting and vying for attention, but that's just part of being in leadership.
Well, and I think it's part of being human. Yeah, for sure. You know, we've gotten, and with you being in the tech space now, I mean, we have gotten so tech oriented with everything that I, and especially with AI coming into existence, not that AI wasn't here. I mean, we sent, we sent a man to the moon with tech. Now, it may have not been as good as our cell phones, but we did send a man to the moon with tech. I mean, but AI is a game changer and I worry. I don't say I worry. I'm excited and I am worried. Let me just put it that way. Because we put so much emphasis on the tech space and how it simplifies our lives and how it makes things easier. And trust me, it really does make my life easier. I get it. But it's not a replacement for humans. It's not. I agree with that. Well, and we have human tendencies that leaders sometimes just have to be reminded by HR. Hey, these are people like they have families, and they have kids, and their dream when they were five was not to build your business for you. That was not their dream when they were five, right? But I think we all get so absorbed in, The day to day that sometimes we forget that in HR professionals, I think, are the key to reminding all of us that. hey, there's people back here, like, yes, we get the numbers. Yes, we understand the goals, but there's still people back here, right? She's got to go have this baby. It's coming out one way or the other. You know what I mean? And so when I saw your profile, and I was like, oh, she's perfect for us to have this conversation with. So we know a little bit about your childhood now. I'm going to take a stab. I probably know the answer to this one. But as you have kind of grown, is there someone in your life that really has been that inspiration for you?
Well, definitely my mom, like I can't I can't say that enough. She's just amazing. But I've had the privilege of working with some really amazing leaders and and partnering with some great mentors along the way that helped me realize things that I didn't even know I needed to realize. Help me realize and get accustomed to things that I didn't even know existed, point out things that were important that I would have never thought about. And so while my mom, my grandparents, my family values. Those have all played a really important part. I can't speak highly enough of some of those business leaders that have graced me with their time, their learnings, their wisdom to help continue to allow me to grow. I think that's probably one of the messages that I think is so important to emerging leaders is find that mentor or those sponsors early in your career if you can. Lean into them they are in it for what's best for you and they want you to be successful and it can make all the difference in the world.
You know that's why we have the podcast everything is up because I sometimes think that. Emerging leaders, you know, particularly younger coming out of school or or maybe they decide not to go to school and they're going to, you know, plow this road ahead of them. They see these uber successful individuals and they can be intimidated. Right? So it's. The podcast Everything Is Up is so that these emerging leaders can find those mentors to actually be able to get what you have been so, how great for you that you had, well, but it's also the wisdom to know that it was in front of you for you to take advantage of. And that's the other thing I think that a lot of people, they're afraid, fear.
fear is the thief of all dreams is that how that saying goes yeah yeah well and i think you know speaking from my own experience imposter syndrome syndrome can play a big part in that women especially you know when we think about um some of the more traditional upbringings that some of us in our late 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s may have may have been led to believe were truth when in reality they may not be.
All a lie. It was all a lie to begin with.
So, in thinking about some of that, you know, there's there's so many opportunities there for a mentor to come in and help you look at things with clear focus that doesn't bring the anxiety or the self doubt or, you know, some of those things into play and can help. reframe it in a way that discredits those emotional bag, that emotional baggage that doesn't really exist anyway, right? It could have been created all in your head.
So, but I'm sure you see that every day. And I, I can just this week sitting here as you were just saying that, um, knowing that I've been interviewing, um, I right off the top of my head, there are two candidates that literally they have got all the potential in the world, but they don't know it. Yes.
Yeah. And if you are in a leadership position and can help somebody blossom in, in that, like leave that baggage behind and blossom outside of that sky's the limit for those individuals.
It is. And I will tell you, the older I have gotten, you know, and I, I literally, my staff knows this because I've told this to them a hundred times. I said, I've had employees since I was 32. And when I was 32, I sucked at it. I mean, I was awful, awful. I just didn't know what I was doing. And I didn't have a mentor and I didn't have anybody to help guide me. So I sucked at it. So my apologies to every employee I had a long time ago. because you got the worst of me. But I did find a mentor and I did find someone that, you know, a business coach or somebody that was able to help me navigate what was important and what my role was. And I know now that my role is to make sure that they leave better than the day they walked in. And that is whether it's professional growth, or whether it's personal growth, or maybe it's just connecting them with someone in my contact, you know, in my contact base, so or in my network, whatever that looks like, because maybe that's what they needed at the time. But I in the beginning thought, well, I'm the boss, you have to do what I say. And I'm telling you, I really owe all of my past employees a huge apology.
And I can promise you that you're not the only leader. that went through those growing phases as a new leader and maybe came to those realizations.
Well, I know some that have never come to those realizations. I do as well, unfortunately. Unfortunately, there are still some of them out there. And I have a long way to go. So don't misunderstand what I'm saying either, because every day is a learning opportunity for me because we are dealing with humans. And humans are hard. Oh, I'll tell you yesterday I like dogs way more than I liked humans yesterday. So, but I mean, it is hard because when. You are trying to figure out who you are, and you're dealing with another personality, and they're trying to figure out who they are, and you've got to figure out how to work together. It's challenge on. And somebody, and typically, it should be the leader. It should be the visionary that is able to step back and go, what do they need before what I need? And that took me a while. I'll just be honest. That did take me a while. So let's talk about Hacking HR. How did you end up really being a founding member of Hacking HR? And then give us a little insight on Hacking HR.
Hacking HR was founded by Enrique and he is an amazing individual that is definitely out to change and reframe the way that HR professionals are viewed, the skill sets that HR professionals bring to the table. And he has been on a quest for multiple years now to make, and that seems to be his mission, in life, and I encourage him and support him. He prides himself on a very global, diversified outlook that leans into the strategy of how HR can influence as people leaders and business strategists. He opened up his network He had come across my network many years ago when he first started, and I thought it was really interesting, but it was so ingrained in some of the things that were happening, I didn't have a chance to get involved. When he opened up the opportunity to start the experts panel, in the experts council. It was something that I definitely wanted to be a part of. And that is geared toward up leveling other HR professionals and being a voice in the HR community about what HR can be. And so in that spirit of continuous learning and mentorship and guidance and sponsorship, approaching HR in a different way, that it's not just an administrative task that needs to be done in the background. It should be fully ingrained in the business practices and the strategy of the business going forward.
Strategic. Well, I will tell you, I made this crazy leap about a year ago that I just thought I needed to go back and get my master's and get my MBA. And so, interestingly enough, one of the classes, one of the undergraduate classes that I had to take was law employment law okay because i didn't have it and um because my degrees come not even in business it's in psychology so i was less like okay i'm gonna have to pick up some of these undergraduate classes to kind of help push me forward and employment law was one of them and i will tell you And I said this to my mentor counselor yesterday or the day before. I just literally, I was like, this is going to be an easy class. This is a no brainer. This is not a big deal. And I went through and ran a couple of pre-assessment tests. I was like, OK, I'm ready for the assessment. I'm fine, right? Well, I failed it. And I was pissed. I'm like, what? And I was just like, but I got cocky. Right. I'm like, well, I've had employees, you know, but then we got into all this case law and title seven. And I was just like, OK, I thought I knew it. Yeah. But how many other CEOs don't really know? And when we lean on HR, you know, how many HR really know all that employment law? Because I have an employee benefits consulting firm. And with that employee benefits consulting firm, I do a lot of consulting with the C-suite on what the employee benefits are. And you've got all your HIPAA laws. You have all of the, like, you know, you're coming from healthcare, so you, you understand. And, if they don't have a top-notch HR, guess who's helping with HR? Like, I've got a group where I said, hey, what is the status on this FMLA? Well, what is FMLA? I'm like, what? You have 75 employees. What are you talking about? Right? I mean, and so there's a lot a lot of employers, probably in the same spot I was in. I mean, trust me, I have schooled myself in the last 48 hours. I will not fail that test again. And I will know these case laws. But I mean, the reality is, if you are not leveling, especially within HR, like you guys that are HR experts and you're professionals, if you guys are not stepping in and leveling up some of these younger individuals that are kind of being thrown, because here's the reality, they're hiring somebody because they need an HR person. And they're like, you're cute. You come do HR for me. I mean, honestly, and then they jump into HR and then they're like, Like what you know and then all of a sudden they're trying to do their job the best that they can and they are really people people which is kind of a start because you you have to like people to do HR so. But some of these some, if not many people that start in HR were thrown into that role without the background that they needed or the skill set that they needed. They were just filling a need for an employer. Do you see that too?
Very common. And one of the icebreaker topics at every HR table is, so how'd you get started in HR? Because everybody's got a story and majority of people will say, well, I kind of fell into it. And here's what happened. Not very many people are at the table with a college degree in human resources. or a deliberate, I wanted to be in HR. It was very few people. And so yes, what you're saying is absolutely true. There's a lot of HR professionals that got into it because they were the best darn administrative assistant that their company had and they could get tasks completed, even if they didn't have the knowledge on what was behind some of those tasks, they were still able to check those boxes.
Yeah, but HR is so much more than task oriented. Like what you've been saying all along is this, we should be sitting as part of the business strategy because, well, let's just go back to COVID when we had this massive shift, when employees said, I'm going home and I'm not coming back, right? And then employers were like, what? I mean, it's been a really long time since the business world had employees dictating to the employers. It's been a long time since that happened. and for it to hit everybody in the middle of this crisis where everybody was trying to figure that piece out and then all of a sudden we don't have any employees to help navigate any of this. That shift, HR is more than task oriented and you have been saying that for a while now.
Yes, and I think it's important for as many of us as possible that have been given the opportunity to have a voice when it comes to business strategy, to continue to preach it at every opportunity that we have. And part of that is because there is a shift in how CEOs and other executives are starting to see HR Sapien Insights report has been tracking HR impact for a long time. And this is the first year that we hit a milestone of 50% of CEOs saying that they see their HR leader as a strategic partner. We're only 50% there, but we're 50% there finally. And we had the most increase in the last three years, mostly because we were leaned on as a profession to figure out a return to work strategy, or figure out how we're going to keep people safe, or how are we going to retain our employees in a time of uncertainty. And then you throw on global unrest, and war overseas, and all of these other things that just keep coming up in our political world. Uh, you know, the social side of things and how we're responding diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging initiatives that come up in some conversations and not others. There's a whole aspect that is important to understand the employment law. But it's also really important to understand that these are human beings that we're talking about. And if you treat your human beings that have decided to grace you with their, as being their, yeah, as being their, your employee, then respect that. And there's a mutually beneficial opportunity there, and it should be mutually beneficial. And there's an aspect of, Being aware of these are the employment laws that are happening, and most of them are because employers were treating employees like crap for a long time. And so we had to create laws that make it better to, you know. And I'm not an advocate of laws. I don't want to be told what to do. I don't want to do some of those things. But that's the basis of why that's there. And so as HR professionals, I do think it's important to continue to keep your skill set up to speed and up to date. And that includes understanding case studies and employment law. But it also involves the psychology of these are human beings and they have mental health Issues and they have well being needs and they have financial anxieties and there's a whole aspect of them as an employee. That's on the human side and not just on how they're going to show up and influence your business.
You know, that is hard for a number of visionary employers and CEOs. It's hard for us. It just is because we are looking at the challenges of how much money it takes to make sure those paychecks are there. on payday so that they can take care of their families and they can't do it alone either. So, I mean, you can see how dynamic this conversation is and why I wanted you on this podcast to be able to bring more of this to light. I think it's huge. and I am so grateful that you have given us as much time as you have to discuss this conversation. So, Jamie, tell our listeners how they can reach best ways to get in touch with you, reach out to you, if they had, you know, wanted to take this conversation a little bit further, or maybe you can help them.
Yeah, absolutely. So I'm very active on LinkedIn. That's probably the easiest way to find me. All of my contact information is public. I'm very much an open book and open to conversations and would love to continue the conversation and help where I can.
I think you will be a fantastic mentor to an up and coming HR professional that is looking for that right person. I think you would be the perfect person to help them. So everyone. Yeah, absolutely. So everyone, this is Jamie Conrad. with Trust Radius, right? Trust Radius. And you can reach out to her on LinkedIn. It's J-A-M-Y. So it is a little bit different. So if you're looking for her on LinkedIn, it's J-A-M-Y, and that's Conrad. Thank you, Jamie, so much. This conversation was enlightening, if anything, and much success to you. Stay in touch.
Appreciate it. Thanks so much for the opportunity.
You bet. Have a great day. Yeah. Bye everybody. This is Tamara with everything is up. Make sure you share and like the podcast. We appreciate you guys. Have a good week.
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