Culture Leaders with Dr. Jessica Kriegel

This week, Jessica sits down with JM Ryerson, entrepreneur, author, and founder of Let's Go Win, to explore why sustainable leadership begins with personal alignment. After building and selling multiple companies while navigating professional success alongside personal struggles, JM shares how embracing authenticity transformed not only his business, but his marriage, family, and approach to leadi...

This week, Jessica sits down with Scott Pulsipher, President of Western Governors University, to explore how education must evolve to meet the realities of a rapidly changing world. Drawing on his background in technology, business, and leadership, Scott shares why traditional assumptions about higher education are breaking down and what it takes to build an institution designed around outcomes ra...

This week, Jessica sits down with Reverend Eric J. Hall, CEO of the Spiritual Care Association, to explore the often overlooked role of spiritual care in both healthcare and organizational leadership. Drawing on decades of experience across healthcare, nonprofit leadership, and chaplaincy, Eric shares a compelling perspective on why caring for the human spirit is not optional—but essential to true...

This week, Jessica speaks with Jon Yaged, CEO of Macmillan Publishers and longtime publishing executive, to explore how books, reading habits, and consumer expectations are evolving in a rapidly changing world. With experience leading major book organizations through growth and transformation, Jon shares a grounded perspective on what it takes to keep reading relevant in an era defined by constant...

This week, Jessica sits down with Lothar Schupet, Acting CEO of Zeekr EU, to explore what it really takes to build a premium brand from the ground up in one of the most competitive and complex industries in the world. With more than 25 years in automotive, Lothar brings a rare perspective on the shift from legacy organizations to high-speed, startup-like environments. Lothar shares the realities o...

This week, Jessica sits down with Jerry Golden, Chief Policy Officer at Lyft, for a wide-ranging conversation about how great leaders scale their influence by building teams that multiply results rather than simply adding to them. Drawing on his experience operating at the intersection of government, technology, and community stakeholders, Jerry shares why the most valuable leadership skill is not...

This week, Jessica sits down with Robby Starbuck, filmmaker, activist, and corporate accountability advocate, for a raw and unfiltered conversation about culture, power, and the cost of speaking out. Known for challenging DEI programs and calling out corporations he believes have drifted away from their customers and values, Robby brings a perspective shaped by media, politics, and personal convic...

This week, Jessica sits down with Naren Aryal, CEO of Amplify Publishing Group, to discuss what it really takes to publish a meaningful book—and the leadership mindset required to let ideas reach their full potential. Naren shares his journey from law to publishing, sparked by self-publishing a children’s book for his daughter and evolving into a career helping thought leaders find the right audie...

This week, Jessica sits down with Sarah Langley, Chief People, Culture, and Communications Officer at Suntory Global Spirits, to explore how leaders can intentionally shape culture in complex, global organizations—without losing humanity or purpose. Drawing on her background in psychology and her experience across regions and industries, Sarah shares how beliefs drive behavior, and behavior ultima...

This week, Jessica sat down with Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer at Cisco, to explore one of the most consequential leadership challenges of our time: how to advance artificial intelligence at global scale while remaining deeply responsible to humanity. In this wide-ranging conversation, Jeetu shares his belief that AI represents the largest technological shift in human history—su...

This week, Jessica sat down with Bill Cheney, CEO of SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, to explore what it really means to lead in a member-owned, mission-driven financial institution—and why the cooperative model creates a fundamentally different kind of culture. In this conversation, Bill shares how he discovered the power of credit unions early in his career and why the “people helping people”...

This week, Jessica sat down with Greg Schaefer, founder of Schaefer Enterprises and a committed endurance athlete, to talk about what it really takes to push beyond limits—on the trail and in business. In this conversation, Greg shares how the discipline and mindset forged through endurance sports have shaped his entrepreneurial path. From leaving corporate life to bet on himself, to building a co...

This week, Jessica sat down with Calvin Crosslin, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Lenovo, a global technology company known for its innovation in PCs, devices, and smart infrastructure. In this conversation, Calvin reflects on his path from HR leadership to driving global diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies. He shares how listening—at scale and with intention—became central t...

This week, Jessica sat down with Stacy Martinet, Chief Communications Officer at Adobe, a global leader in digital experiences and creativity tools. In this conversation, Stacy reflects on her career journey from journalism to marketing leadership at some of the world’s most influential companies. She shares how her early newsroom experiences shaped her communication style and why trust, transpare...

This week, Jessica sat down with Julia Hartz, Co-Founder and CEO of Eventbrite, a global self-service ticketing and event technology platform. In this conversation, Julia opens up about her leadership journey over two decades of building Eventbrite through economic downturns, digital transformation, and the existential crisis of COVID-19. She reflects on her personal “why,” rooted in the belief th...

This week, Jessica sat down with Max Schwendner and Mike Clifton, co-CEOs of Alorica, a global customer-experience company with 100,000+ employees. In this conversation, they unpack their shared “why”—helping people get better every day—and how a single “one CEO box” model drives decisiveness, accountability, and speed. They break down the operating cadence (small S-curves and quarterly goals) and...

This week, Jessica sat down with Matthew Owenby, Chief Strategy Officer at Aflac, an American insurance company and the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States. In this conversation, Matthew shares his insights on leadership, family, and the mission of Aflac. He emphasizes the importance of having a purpose beyond oneself, the commitment to customer care, and the philosophy...

This week, Jessica sat down with Mike Dolen, the founder and CEO of Humancore, an AI powered platform designed to help managers lead better in real time.  Having spent his career at the intersection of people, science, and performance, Mike has seen a common pattern: we know what makes great leadership, but rarely embed it into the day-to-day workplace. He explains how Humancore uses generative AI...

This week, Jessica sat down with Bart Fanelli, founder of Skillibrium and a longtime operator with deep experience leading revenue teams inside high-growth companies. Bart is on a mission to bring skill back into the conversation—especially in leadership. In this episode, he shares how clarity, consistency, and accountability became the foundation of his approach to building high-performing teams....

This week, Jessica sat down with Victoria Pelletier, a bold and boundary-breaking executive who became a Fortune 500 COO at just 24 and has been unstoppable ever since. Victoria leads transformation, change, and culture at scale. In this conversation, she shares how she balances clarity and conviction in complex matrixed organizations, how she helps clients embrace AI without abandoning their peop...

This week, Jessica sat down with Greg Brown, former CEO of Udemy. Greg is a lifelong advocate for growth through learning, with a leadership journey shaped by a childhood surrounded by educators, a growth mindset rooted in family, and a belief that learning creates economic opportunity. Greg shares how that philosophy guided his decision to join Udemy, where he helped transform the company from a...

This week, Jessica sat down with Tendü Yogurtçu, the Chief Technology Officer of Precisely, which powers data integrity for more than 90 of the Fortune 100. They discuss Tendü's non-traditional perspective as a CTO: her leadership blends deep technical knowledge with a human-first mindset, and her approach to innovation is rooted in clarity, connection, and culture. Tendü also explains how to alig...

This week, Jessica is joined by Megan Hansen, the Chief People Officer at Ontra - a legal tech company navigating the world of AI and private equity. Megan opens up about the paradoxes that define her role: balancing empathy with performance, innovation with ethics, and purpose with profit. Her perspective is rooted in what she calls the power of "and":  the belief that polarities can be managed,...

This week, Jessica is joined by Nikesh Arora, the chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks. When he joined the company in 2018, Nikesh had no cybersecurity experience, but he explains how he brought a bold vision, nonlinear thinking, and a relentless belief in culture as the foundation for growth. In this conversation, they discuss how Nikesh inspires people, what makes culture stick, and how trust,...

This week, Jessica is joined by Ron Alvesteffer, the President and CEO of Service Express.  Ron doesn’t just talk about people-first culture, he operationalizes it. He’s built an entire growth engine around employee goals, clarity, and care, with a “why” that’s fundamentally based in service and support. He shares how to scale culture through intentional leadership, why accountability is a form of...