That's the founding thesis Jaime Klein has built Inspire Human Resources on since 2007, when her twins arrived and she needed to work in a way that let her show up fully for both her career and her family. Twenty years later, Inspire HR is on speed dial for companies across six states - a firm built on the radical (in 2007) idea that some of the best HR practitioners in the country wanted to work on a part-time, fractional basis.

In this episode, Lindsey Hammer sits down with Jaime Klein, CEO and Founder of Inspire Human Resources, to talk about the fractional HR model, how AI is reshaping workforce planning in real time, and why HR leaders need to be back at the strategic table.

We discuss:

• Why "fractional work makes us whole" isn't a compromise - it's how some of the best talent in the workforce show up fully
• The 2007 pitch that took convincing: "It's better to Airbnb a mansion than have access to no mansion at all"
• Where AI is delivering real ROI in HR right now (talent acquisition, benefits coordination, succession planning)
• The AI-that-rejected-the-HR-leader story and why AI isn't the be-all-end-all
• The "left-handed writer" metaphor: why AI adoption is the ultimate in change management
• The Moderna CTO/CHRO convergence role - where HR and tech are merging at the C-suite level
• The optometrist story: how her dad's profession was going to be "the last man standing" (or will it?)
• Why AI can't detect a candidate's warmth to reception, their punctuality, or the empathy needed to notice a condolence card on someone's desk
• Where HR belongs at the strategic table - and how to get back in the room

00:00 Intro: Meet Jaime Klein - CEO & Founder of Inspire HR

02:59 From Living Room to Inspire HR: 20 Years of Lessons

05:31 AI's Impact on HR in 2026

13:38 What ROI Looks Like: Investments in AI and Tech

18:56 The Hybrid Workforce: Where AI and Humans Actually Collaborate

22:04 AI in Talent Acquisition: The Cost Saves and the Challenges

25:51 The Human Elements AI Can't Replace

26:52 The Role of HR: Balancing Data and Humanity

31:38 Vision for Inspire HR's Next Chapter

33:12 Self-Care as a Business Practice

If you're an HR leader navigating AI adoption, a founder building an organization from scratch, or a professional considering fractional work for the first time - this conversation will change how you think about workforce strategy in an AI-augmented world.

🎙️ Connect with Jaime: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kleinjaime/

🌐 Learn more about Inspire HR: https://www.inspirehumanresources.com/

Lynn Hazan, who has built recruiter-client relationships that outlast most careers, did just that. As President of Lynn Hazan & Associates, Inc., she calls herself "the relationship and storytelling recruiter" and on this episode, she proves why that positioning matters more in an AI-saturated hiring market than ever before.

Lindsey Hammer sat down with Lynn Hazan, President of Lynn Hazan & Associates, Inc., to unpack how storytelling, curiosity, and human connection are becoming the real differentiators in recruiting.

What we get into:

• The 3-day placement story that captures why "intuitive focus" always beats keyword matching
• Why AI-generated interview responses come across as robotic to interviewers (pun intended) - and how to sound like a human instead
• Lynn's storytelling framework for interviews: challenges, opportunities, strategy, tactics, results
• The industry-level warning we should all be questioning: if AI replaces junior roles now, who gets promoted in two years?
• Why Gen Z is quietly leading the shift back to in-person work
• How compassionate feedback actually lands: "I'm committed to your growth" as the opener
• Renaissance thinking - every pandemic era leads to reinvention
• Lynn's signature sign-off: CCC (Click, Connect, Conversation)

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Personal Connections

00:15 The Essence of Transformation

08:10 The Role of Curiosity in Recruitment

09:28 Building Trust in Recruitment

12:21 The Human Factor in AI Recruitment

15:00 The Shift Towards In-Person Interaction

15:57 Preparing Candidates for AI in Interviews

19:02 The Power of Storytelling in Interviews

20:04 Leveraging AI for Research and Strategy

25:38 Integrating AI with Human Connection

26:30 The Importance of Continuous Learning

32:04 The Convergence of Storytelling and Recruiting

33:32 Building Trust in Feedback

35:19 The Art of Compassionate Communication

37:26 Commitment to Growth and Success

37:54 Vision for the Future: Learning and Contribution

40:45 Optimism in an AI-Driven World

42:54 The Importance of Connection and Conversation

If you're a recruiter, a hiring manager, a candidate navigating an AI-heavy job search, or a founder wondering how to keep your team human-centric - this conversation will stick with you.

🎙️ Lynn Hazan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnhazan/

🌐 Lynn Hazan & Associates: https://lhazan.com

As machines take over the transactional parts of hiring - sourcing, screening, scheduling - Vikram sees a future where the human work rises: real cultural fit conversations, coaching, engagement, therapy, art, hospitality, personalized experiences. The rote work goes. The experiential work grows. It's the opposite of the doom narrative everyone else is running.

In this episode, Lindsey Hammer sits down with Vikram Wadhawan, Founder and CEO of Maven Workforce and Vasitum, to talk about building an AI recruiting platform out of frustration with the industry, why recruiters juggle 4-7 broken tools to do one job, and what "zero touch hiring" actually means in practice.

What we get into:

• The counterintuitive AI take: as machines take over rote work, humans get to be MORE human, not less
• Recruitment's evolution from a back-office support function to a boardroom discussion
• The Broken Ecosystem Problem: why recruiters juggle 4-7 platforms to do ONE job
• Vasitum's Zero Touch Hiring vision - and the three hiring KPIs it's built to impact
• Vikram's origin story: borrowed money from his sister for his first venture, lost it all, two partners bailed on day one, kept going anyway
• Why "we'll be jobless" fears have been wrong every time - and why AI will be no different
• The future work Vikram is bullish on: cooking, art, coaching, therapy, hospitality, travel
• Bootstrapped founder GTM decisions: US vs Middle East vs Southeast Asia - and why the Middle East is on his radar
• The rise of Global Competency Centers (GCCs) as an alternative to traditional staffing

Chapters:

00:00 Intro: Meet Vikram Wadhawan - From First-Gen Entrepreneur to 4th Venture

03:12 Current Projects: Vasitum, GCCs, and What's Live at Maven Workforce

06:47 Recruitment Moves from Back Office to Boardroom

11:28 Why AI Moves Work in a MORE Human Direction

17:59 Bootstrapped GTM: US, Middle East, or Southeast Asia?
Whether you're a founder, an HR leader, a recruiter, or anyone thinking about how AI is going to reshape work - this conversation offers the counterintuitive take you haven't heard yet.

🎙️ Connect with Vikram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikramw/

🌐 Learn more about Vasitum: https://vasitum.com/

Nick Hiter has built his career on being the buffalo. Twenty years scaling 150+ insurance agencies, $100M+ in revenue, the launch of Processing 1st, the founding of Hitlab Creative, a SiriusXM voice talent gig, and a podcast (The Hitstreak) that's about to be acquired - all built on the same refusal to wait out the storms.

In this episode, Lindsey Hammer sits down with Nick Hiter - Media Architect, Fractional CMO, Fractional CRO, and Keynote Speaker - to talk about why most operators are framing AI investment wrong, what makes a personal brand recession-proof, and the one reframe that took him from zero affiliate revenue in 2024 to $1.4M in contracted partnerships in 2025.

What we get into:

• The Buffalo mindset - why running into the storm gets you out faster
• The biggest mistake entrepreneurs make when choosing a payment processor (and why it's not what you think)
• The AI-as-payroll reframe: why that $25K tool is really a hire, not a subscription
• Why your personal brand is recession-proof - and what to invest in BEFORE you invest in your company
• The Netflix insight: how OLD content is making more advertising revenue than new content - and what that means for your social media strategy
• The "five sets" framework Nick gives his clients to scale content without burning out
• Why "you're either going to sell it, stop doing it, or die doing it" is the only way to think about every business decision
• The three-word rule for every piece of content you ever make: educate, entertain, encourage

Chapters:

00:00 Intro: Meet Nick Hiter - Media Architect, Fractional CMO & Founder

01:21 The Secret to Success: Failing Forward (and Being Ready)

03:33 Choosing the Right Banking Partner - Why It's Like Picking Insurance

07:18 The Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make With Payment Processors 09:07 The Storm Every Founder Has to Run Through

11:50 AI as Payroll: Why That $25K Tool Is Really a Hire

15:11 Be the Buffalo: How to Move Through Hard Things

18:10 Why Your Personal Brand Is Recession-Proof

20:28 Monetizing Old Content: What Netflix Knows That You Don't 24:58 Your Bank Account Is Your Report Card

29:20 Take Less Than You Give: Nick's Advice for Leaders

32:32 The $1.4M Story: Why Relationships Beat Transactions

36:09 Final Thoughts: Educate. Entertain. Encourage.

Whether you're a founder, an operator, a content creator, or anyone wondering how to scale yourself without scaling your headcount, this conversation will reframe how you think about media, money, and momentum.

🎙️ Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickhiter/

🌐 Learn more about Nick's work: https://nickhiter.com/

🎧 The Hitstreak podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/61mf8Q1aa6qwj955krpTBt

A recent MIT study found that 90% of AI pilots have failed. The headlines blame the tools. Kat Kibben, who has spent over 20 years inside recruiting and HR tech, has a different theory: the data we're feeding these systems is broken, and nobody wants to talk about it because cleaning up bad data isn't sexy.

In this episode, Lindsey Hammer sits down with Katrina Kibben, author, CEO, and Founder of Three Ears Media, to talk about the Billion Dollar Problem hiding inside every job posting on the internet, the rule of thumb every leader should adopt before deploying AI, and the founding story that started with a manager telling Kat they had "no talent."

What we get into:

• The MIT study that found 90% of AI pilots have failed - and what most people are getting wrong about why
• The Billion Dollar Problem: how decades of bad job postings are poisoning every AI tool in recruiting
• The rule Kat lives by: "Don't trust AI to do anything you wouldn't trust an intern to do"
• The peanut butter and jelly sales-training analogy that explains why we're all bad at prompting AI
• How Kat quit their job and announced Three Ears Media from a conference stage two weeks later - with no services, no plan, and no business cards
• Why "we promote our best workers, not our best leaders" - and what to do about it
• The sh*t sandwich principle from Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic that explains how to know if you actually love your work
• Why learning to quit is a muscle - and what Kat means by "the quitting muscle"
• Kat's three to five year vision: building the education pipeline recruiters never had

Chapters:

00:00 Intro: Meet Kat Kibben - Author, CEO & Founder of Three Ears Media

01:57 From VP of Marketing to "PhD in Recruiting by Accident"

04:05 Why Hiring Is Hard - and Nobody Tells You

05:44 AI in Recruiting: 90% of Pilots Have Failed

08:03 The Billion Dollar Problem: Bad Job Data Poisoning Every AI System 10:19 "Don't Trust AI to Do Anything You Wouldn't Trust an Intern to Do" 11:42 The Moment Kat Quit and Started Three Ears Media

13:35 When Toxic Feedback Becomes the Catalyst

16:23 We Promote Our Best Workers, Not Our Best Leaders

19:14 Finding the Problem You're Obsessed With Solving

21:54 Why Loving Your Work Isn't a Privilege - It's Sustainability

25:11 The Quitting Muscle: How to Drop What Isn't Yours

29:23 What's Next for Three Ears Media

31:49 Upskilling Teams to Navigate Uncertainty

Whether you're a recruiter, an HR leader, or anyone building AI tools that touch people, this conversation will change how you think about data, hiring, and the work worth doing.

🎙️ Connect with Kat: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrinakibben/

🌐 Learn more about Three Ears Media: https://threeearsmedia.com/

📚 Kat's new book "The Bounce Back Factor": https://a.co/d/0eaLN9Nt

Nicole walked into a financial services firm in Chicago at 18 as the receptionist. Six months later, after pitching the owner a project from a college class, he told her "you belong in HR." Twenty-five years later, she's founded HRBoost, become a published author, keynoted in Paris and Tokyo, and is now franchising her firm across the U.S. - with a target of 64 franchisees by the time her youngest son graduates high school.

In this episode, Lindsey Hammer sits down with Nicole Martin, CEO and Founder of HRBoost, to talk about why HR keeps getting framed as a cost center, the franchising play nobody else in HR is making, and the talent shift she predicted on LinkedIn two years before everyone else caught on.

What we get into:

• The 18-year-old receptionist story that landed her in HR (and the lesson about not knowing you're not "supposed" to walk into the CEO's office)
• Why HR is a profit center when it's done right - and what "culture by design vs. culture by default" actually means in practice
• The franchising play - 64 HRBoost franchisees by 2030, why she's making it accessible to mid-career HR pros, not investors
• The 3 worldview camps Nicole sees on AI in HR across her client base - and which one she thinks is right
• Why freelancing is "the true threat of talent" - and why hiring will require W-2, 1099, AND W-8 going forward
• The 3-person team for the price of one: how HRBoost gives clients a strategist, consultant, and specialist instead of one generalist
• "For every 6 clients we gain, we net 4 per year" - the counterintuitive services-business move of working yourself out of a job
• The reframe Nicole used in the 2010 recession that any HR pro in transition can borrow today

Chapters:

00:00 Intro: Meet Nicole - CEO and Founder of HRBoost

00:51 From Receptionist at 18 to Founding HRBoost in 2010 02:30 HR Doesn't Need to Be In the Office 5 Days a Week

03:41 COVID, PPP, and What Saved Small Business America 05:00 AI in HR: The Three Industry Camps Nicole Sees

06:31 Culture by Design vs. Culture by Default

08:00 Why HR Is a Profit Center, Not a Cost

09:21 Franchising HRBoost - The 64 Franchisee Vision

11:00 Why Freelancing Is the True Threat to Talent

12:10 The "HR Person on a Mission" Reframe

14:51 Closing Thoughts and Reflections

Whether you're a founder, an HR pro, or an operator trying to figure out how to attract and retain talent in a freelance-first economy, this conversation will change how you think about people strategy.

🎙️ Connect with Nicole: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cnicolemartin/

🌐 Learn more about HRBoost: https://hrboost.com/

📚 Nicole's books and keynote work: https://nicolemartin.live/

That's not hypothetical. Roughly 77% of people accessing legal services in the U.S. are doing it without a lawyer - because the average $500-an-hour rate puts traditional legal help out of reach for most of the people who need it. A growing wave of legal tech founders is building what comes next.

In this episode, Lindsey Hammer sits down with Dorna Moini, CEO and Founder of Gavel, to talk about the access-to-justice crisis, building AI tools that actually live where lawyers work, and the one founder habit she refuses to give up no matter how big the company gets.

What we get into:

• Why Dorna left a litigator role at Sidley Austin to build "TurboTax for domestic violence law" - and how that pro bono project became Gavel
• The 77% stat that reframes the entire AI-vs-lawyers debate
• Why narrowing AI training to corporate and real estate transactional law produced better results than going broad
• How Gavel Exec lives inside Microsoft Word - and why that decision removed the biggest adoption barrier in legal tech
• The pricing and packaging shift Dorna believes will reshape legal practice over the next 3-5 years
• Why "building the technology is only half the battle" - and what the harder half actually is
• The one habit Dorna has kept from day one through thousands of firms on the platform

Chapters:

00:00 Intro: From Sidley Austin Litigator to Legal Tech Founder

00:15 The Pro Bono Work That Sparked Gavel

02:30 TurboTax for Domestic Violence Law - and What Came Next

03:48 Why Legal Aid Was the Path of Least Resistance

05:00 Training AI to Think Like a Lawyer

07:01 Why 77% of People Skip Lawyers (and What It Means for the Profession)

09:00 Scaling Lawyers Through Technology, Not Replacing Them

09:42 Becoming a Business Leader After Seven Years of Practicing Law

11:27 The Gavel Workflows Revamp Launching Now

12:30 Gavel Exec: AI Inside Microsoft Word

14:14 How Dorna Uses AI Day-to-Day (Notion AI, ChatGPT, Claude)

17:00 The One Habit Every Founder Should Keep Forever

Whether you're a lawyer, a founder, or just curious about how AI is reshaping one of the most resistant-to-change industries on the planet, this conversation will shift how you think about access, adoption, and the real job of building a company.

🎙️ Connect with Dorna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/documentautomation/
🌐 Learn more about Gavel: https://www.gavel.io/

That's the lesson Shaheen Mazloom learned in 2020 and it changed how he's built every business since.

In January 2020, Shaheen accidentally started a medical supply company three months before COVID hit the U.S. He messaged Bob Saget on Instagram asking for help promoting it, and Saget made a free promo video the same day. No PR team. No back-and-forth. Just: done.

That moment cracked open a belief most entrepreneurs never let go of - that the gatekeepers are out of reach. They aren't.

In this episode, Lindsey Hammer sits down with Shaheen Mazloom, CEO and Founder of Versa Business Systems, to talk about cold outreach, building trust in a low-trust industry, and what it actually takes to scale a business that lasts.

What we get into:

• The Bob Saget cold DM story and why "just ask" works more often than people think
• How Versa hit a 50% close rate in week one - and got flagged for fraud by their first partner
• Why 99.9% of the small business lending industry collapsed in 2020 - and how Versa grew through it
• The biggest mistakes business owners make when seeking funding (and the two-page Google trap)
• Why Shaheen hires bartenders and entertainers over experienced salespeople
• How an AI email tool gave him back three hours a day - the equivalent of a fourth workday per week
• His three-year plan: from "best in the industry" to mergers and acquisitions
  

Chapters:

00:00 Intro: From Shoveling Snow to Building Businesses

04:00 The Bob Saget Cold DM That Changed Everything

08:00 Why Shaheen Almost Didn't Go Into Lending

09:30 Flagged for Fraud: A 50% Close Rate in Week One

11:29 The Two Biggest Mistakes Business Owners Make

15:30 Why Relationships Matter More Than Rates

20:03 Why He Doesn't Watch the Economy

22:30 Why 99.9% of His Industry Died in COVID

24:30 The Mad Men Lesson on Team Alignment

27:14 Adapt or Die: Advice for Entrepreneurs

29:00 AI, Email & Getting Back an Extra Workday

30:30 What's Next for Versa

Whether you're a founder, an operator, or just curious how someone builds a business that's rare in its industry for client satisfaction, this conversation will change how you think about outreach, hiring, and resilience.

🎙️ Connect with Shaheen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaheen-mazloom/

🌐 Learn more about Versa Business Systems: https://www.versabusinesssystems.com/

That's not hypothetical. MasterCard is publicly on record committing to phase it out, and a small group of fintech founders are racing to build what comes next.

In this episode, Lindsey Hammer sits down with Matt Marino, President of WinkPay, to talk about the death of plastic, biometric checkout, and what happens when AI agents start spending your money for you.

What we get into:

• Why your face, palm, and voice are quietly replacing your wallet
• How biometric payments eliminate online fraud (currently 0.5-1% of all sales)
• The Real ID database that's now powering age-verified self-checkout for alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco
• The agentic commerce problem: who is liable when an AI books a flight on your card without you remembering?
• Why WinkPay turned down the hardware play and what they built instead
• The three pillars Matt sees as non-negotiable for a healthy go-to-market team at scale

Chapters

• 00:00 Intro: From Engineer to Fintech President

  03:15 Biometric Payments and How Wink Works

  06:30 The Loyalty Problem at Scale

  08:00 Why MasterCard Is Killing the 16-Digit Card by 2030

  10:00 When AI Agents Start Spending Your Money

  13:18 Skipping the Hardware Game

  16:30 Three Pillars for a Healthy Go-to-Market Team

  19:30 Real ID, Age Verification, and What's Next

Whether you're a founder, an operator, or just curious about what's replacing your wallet, this conversation will reshape how you think about identity, payments, and trust.

Connect with Matt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmarino1/

Learn more about WinkPay: https://www.wink.cloud/

00:00 Introduction

00:14 The Role of HR in Effective Communication

00:33 Inclusion as a Business Strategy

01:41 Understanding the Current Ideological Landscape

05:05 Truth-Telling in HR and Business

07:08 The Importance of Diverse Leadership

08:26 Curiosity and Courage in Leadership

12:37 Inclusion Inc: Current Work and Future Goals

19:08 Challenges Facing Business Leaders Today

19:12 Navigating Change in Leadership

21:30 The Impact of Ideology on Business

23:47 Redefining 'Woke' as a Leadership Strength

25:06 The Business Case for Inclusion

26:59 Radically Different Visions for America