Fireside Chats: Behind The Build

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Randy Fisher, executive coach and career strategist, for a conversation about the thing most change initiatives are missing before they ever get to strategy: an honest conversation with the people who have to live through it. Randy's path ran from business journalism into a nonprofit career-transition role, where...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Michaela Murray, founder of Progress Amplified, for a conversation about the layer of company-building that gets ignored until something breaks: people infrastructure. Michaela works as an embedded fractional HR partner for growing companies, especially those moving fast enough to feel the strain of scale but not...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Cody Buyer of Vendasta for a conversation about the part of franchise growth that technology can support but never replace: trust. Cody works at the intersection of local marketing, franchise systems, and multi-location growth, helping brands think through what it actually takes to support operators at scale. But...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with DeDe Halfhill, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, Georgetown-certified executive coach, and leadership advisor whose story is featured in Brené Brown's Dare to Lead and on 60 Minutes, for a conversation about the part of leadership that most organizations have systematically removed from their playbook and are now pa...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Kevin Plunkett, Vice President of Partnerships at Salary.com, for a conversation about the infrastructure underneath compensation that most organizations have never thought carefully enough about. Kevin came to this world from an unlikely direction, spending years as a talent agent in Hollywood before his brother...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Jeff Mullins, Chief Marketing Officer at PHENYX, to talk about what actually separates the companies that execute from the ones that chase silver bullets and wonder why nothing sticks. Jeff has spent more than two decades working across marketing, sales, and product development, and the last eight years running a...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Stephen Candelmo, corporate attorney, serial entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of Paralex , to explore what happens when someone who has spent three decades and more than three billion dollars in transactional work across IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture capital decides to rebuild the le...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Dean Carter, four-time Chief Human Resources Officer turned CEO, to explore a question the HR world has been chasing for decades: what if culture could actually be measured? Dean brings a rare vantage point to this conversation. He has led people functions at Patagonia, Sears, Fossil, and Guild, and after publicly...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with David Guttman, a 35-year serial entrepreneur who has bought and sold 15 businesses across fintech, edtech, crypto, health tech, and dozens of other industries, to talk about what it actually takes to lead with humanity in a business world that often rewards the opposite. David makes the case that servant leadershi...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Stella Lupushor, founder of reframe.work and co-author of Humanizing Human Capital and Humans at Work, to explore what it actually means to keep work human as AI reshapes every layer of how organizations operate. Drawing on a career that spans Fidelity, IBM, TIAA, and PwC, Stella brings a rare lens to the conversa...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Steve Glynn, founder of Experience Milwaukee and self-described Chief Milwaukee Officer, to explore the power of community, connection, and local ecosystems in shaping the future of work. Drawing from his journey growing up in Milwaukee, building and selling Sprinklr, and dedicating years to connecting entrepreneu...

In this episode of Mustard Hub Voices Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with entrepreneur, author, ecosystem strategist, and Startup Economist Paul O'Brien for a wide-ranging conversation on startups, workforce development, public policy, and the future of work. Drawing on decades of experience in Silicon Valley, Austin, venture ecosystems, and economic development, Paul challenges conven...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Sean Dazet, Head of Partnerships at Oyster , to explore the future of distributed work, global hiring, and what it really takes to build high-performing remote teams. Drawing from his experience scaling partnerships at companies like HubSpot and leading global growth initiatives at Oyster, Sean shares how modern o...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Sarah Kalogerakis, co-founder of Greatpoint HR, to explore how compensation strategy is being reshaped by real-time data, AI, and the changing expectations of today’s workforce. Drawing on more than two decades in compensation technology, Sarah shares why traditional salary benchmarking models are no longer enough...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Kelli Send, Co-Founder and SVP of Financial Planning Services at Francis LLC , to explore why financial wellness has become one of the most overlooked drivers of employee engagement, retention, and workplace performance. With more than 35 years of experience in retirement planning and employee financial education,...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Steve Boese to break down the future of HR technology, AI in the workplace, and what’s really driving employee experience today. As a co-founder of H3HR Advisors and host of leading HR podcasts, Steve shares insider insights on how organizations are adopting (and struggling to adopt) new workplace technologies. F...

Most companies think of ACA compliance as a back-office obligation but in reality, it’s a high-stakes, people-impacting system that touches everything from cost control to employee trust. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Todd Hurst, Head of ACA Sales at Equifax Workforce Solutions, to unpack why ACA compliance remains a persistent challenge more...

Most companies think they have a hiring problem—but what they actually have is a systems problem. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Jeffrey Shapiro, a people and talent executive known for building scalable, human-centered hiring systems, to unpack what’s really driving dysfunction in today’s job market. Drawing on his experience across startups,...

Most companies invest heavily in benefits, but employees still don’t understand or use them. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Spencer Linsley, Head of Partnerships at Bright Benefits, to explore why the gap between benefits strategy and employee experience is, in fact, a communication problem. Drawing on his journey from ski patrol to SaaS partn...

Most leaders think they know what’s happening inside their organization, but the reality is often very different. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Trish Steed, HR executive, advisor, and co-host of the HR Happy Hour network, to explore how storytelling, transparency, and honest feedback shape better workplaces. With a front-row seat to thousands...

Hiring isn’t just evolving. It’s being redefined. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Bill Mastin, CEO of Cadient, to unpack how AI is transforming hiring, retention, and workforce strategy. With 20+ years at the intersection of technology and HR, Bill brings a practical perspective to one of the most complex shifts in modern business. They explore...

Franchising changed Jerry Akers’ life, and now he’s on a mission to remove unnecessary pain from the industry. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Jerry Akers — multi-unit franchise operator, author, IFA board member, and founder of Z-Dynamics — to unpack what actually separates thriving franchisees from those who struggle. Jerry shares how he grew...

Scaling a service business isn’t about leadership, trust, and clarity. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Kurt Schmidt, founder of Schmidt Consulting Group, to explore why so many agencies struggle to scale and what actually helps them move forward. Kurt shares his unconventional path from professional BMX rider to agency founder and advisor, and h...

AI isn’t HR’s biggest challenge — confusion is. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Kyle Lagunas, founder and principal analyst at Kyle & Co., to unpack what’s really happening inside HR, talent, and people technology today. Drawing from his journey from blogger during the Great Recession to trusted industry analyst, Kyle brings clarity to one...

Performance management only works when it’s connected to how people grow and how they’re rewarded. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Satish Kumar, Head of PerformSpark at Trainery, to explore why traditional performance reviews are broken and what modern organizations need instead. Coming from a finance and private equity background, Satish brings...