Elements of Culture Podcast

Join us as we talk with AI and technology leader Dr. Pawan Anand to unpack why so many organizations are struggling to see results with AI—and why the issue isn’t the technology itself. From staggering failure rates in AI pilots to the pressure leaders face to prove ROI, this conversation cuts through the hype and gets to the real challenge: strategy, culture, and readiness. Pawan shares insights...

Empathy sounds great until a team misses the number and everyone wants answers. We sit down with Vinny Minhas, Head of Sales for the Americas at an AI-powered legal tech company, to talk about the leadership habits that actually hold a sales team together when pressure spikes. The big idea is simple and hard to execute: empathy without accountability doesn’t work, and accountability without empath...

AI is changing business faster than most organizations can adapt. While many companies hesitated, CEO, Ankit Pathak led a bold transformation. In this episode, we unpack how he pivoted ConsultAdd Inc. from traditional IT staffing into an award-winning AI solutions firm, earning recognition as Best Bespoke AI Solutions 2025 USA. Under Ankit's leadership, the company restructured teams, retrain...

What if one of your strongest sales results is quietly undermining your culture? In this episode of Elements of Culture , Taryn and Julie sit down with Kelley Hippler , a seasoned sales leader and former executive at Forrester , to examine a leadership assumption many organizations still get wrong: that top performance automatically qualifies someone to lead people. Kelley challenges this belief b...

Growth isn’t a straight line; it’s a staircase with tough climbs and deceptively flat stretches. We sat down with Debra Squyres to unpack how leaders can scale with structure, protect their teams from burnout, and still delight customers at volume. Debra bridges a rare gap: she started in HR and moved into customer success, so she sees how the employee journey mirrors the customer journey—and why...

If churn is quietly erasing your hard-won growth, this conversation will feel like a spotlight on what to fix first. We sit down with Alan Gonsenhauser, 11-time CMO and founder of Demand Revenue, to unpack how disciplined focus on the ideal customer profile turns scattered tactics into a coherent growth engine.  We explore how picking the right customers, aligning go-to-market teams, and investing...

Sales Leadership Is a Marathon: Coaching, Transparency, and Trust for the Long Run explores how today’s most effective sales leaders are shifting away from pressure-driven, short-term tactics and toward a long-game mindset rooted in coaching, transparency, and trust. In this episode, we talk with Elise Carbone, a global sales leader, marathon runner, and female in tech. Join us as we unpack how sa...

In this episode we talk with Evan Hall , VP of Vendor Sales at Bottomline , to challenge a common leadership myth: that your top performer will automatically make your best manager. Evan shares his unique journey from high school guidance counselor to leading a high-performing sales team, revealing why empathy, active listening, and understanding individual motivation are the real drivers of leade...

Most organizations claim they have a skills gap — but what if the real issue is leadership? In this episode of Elements of Culture , we sit down with Sam Caucci , Founder & CEO of 1Huddle , to challenge the way companies think about training, onboarding, and performance. Sam breaks down why most corporate learning fails, how outdated academic models waste talent, and why the future of work dep...

AI isn’t coming for your job — but staying comfortable might be. In this episode of Elements of Culture , we sit down with Oliver Bruce, CEO of Pinpoint Media Agency, to unpack what AI actually means for leaders, teams, and the future of work. From starting a company by accident at university to scaling a global agency without outside funding, Oliver shares why adaptability—not technology—is the r...

In this episode, we sit down with Luke Ireland, CEO of Creventa to uncover how the company scaled from simple QR code operations to full end-to-end event experiences— in the middle of a global shutdown . This conversation challenges traditional leadership thinking and explores how innovation, culture, and courageous decision-making can thrive in uncertainty.  Join us weekly as we dig into the real...

Meetings stall when smart people disagree. We brought on Neil Kinnear, VP of Sales at QAD, to show how data-led discovery replaces opinion with proof, turning tense buying rooms into aligned action. Instead of pitching software, Neil walks through a practical playbook for quantifying problems with the customer’s own data, modeling scenarios live, and anchoring decisions to time-to-value and ROI th...

The hardest part of leadership isn’t writing the strategy—it’s keeping your best people energized long enough to deliver it. We sit down with CEO John Gulnac to unpack a practical playbook for retention, recruiting top performers, and steering change without burning out the team. If you’re tired of churn, slow hiring cycles, and initiatives that stall after kickoff, this conversation gives you cle...

In this episode, we sit down with global sales leader Alexander Distadio to break down one of the biggest myths in international growth: the belief that one playbook can scale everywhere. From Brazil to New York to Europe, Alexander shares why leaders must rethink how they build teams, shape culture, and design GTM strategies when entering new markets. We dig into the realities of global expansion...

If your sales team is missing targets, working harder than ever, and still feeling misaligned… the problem isn’t motivation. It’s clarity. In this episode of Elements of Culture with CRO, Bill Dwoinen , we unpack why sales performance has far less to do with hype, “rah-rah” leadership, or motivational speeches—and everything to do with direction, expectations, communication, and support. We explor...

Imagine the earthquake already hit the day AI went mainstream, and everything since has been aftershocks. That’s the lens we bring to a fast-moving conversation with Mark Sirkin—founder, former CEO, and longtime operator across startups, nonprofits, and media—about what it really takes to lead through the AI integration era. We’re not debating whether AI matters; we’re focused on how to apply it,...

In this episode of Elements of Culture , we talk with Brittanie Knezovich, CRO at ShipSigma and unpack the real drivers of team performance—the ones leaders often overlook. It’s not about tighter dashboards, louder pressure, or more meetings. It’s about creating the conditions where people feel recognized, supported, and genuinely understood. We explore how: Psychological safety fuels accountabili...

In this episode, VP of Sales, Keith Abramson doesn’t hold back: solution selling is over. Today’s buyers are drowning in information, starved for time, and completely done with salespeople who expect them to explain their problems. Keith breaks down why sellers must earn the right to ask questions—by leading with insight, not interrogation. He exposes the traps sales leaders fall into (including m...

In this episode with Eric Lurie, VP of Sales at Zeb , we unpack the truth behind performance, motivation, and what separates top performers from everyone else. Eric shares why you can’t coach motivation —you can only coach the people who already have it.  We dig into how leaders unintentionally build cultures that look productive on the surface but lack true ownership, why accountability often fee...

What if the more we automate sales, the more buyers crave what only humans can deliver? We sit down with Jeff Kirchick, VP of Sales at Zorro, to unpack how authenticity becomes a competitive edge as AI makes personalization cheap and point-solution tools interchangeable. Jeff shares how a creative writing background shaped his sales philosophy, why seven-figure deals still hinge on trust, and how...

What if the very systems you built to scale are the ones holding your team back? In this episode of Elements of Culture , we sit down with Huub Wevers , Chief Revenue Officer at Nomentia, to explore what happens when leadership outgrows its own playbook. Most companies claim to value culture, but few know how to preserve it when crossing borders. Huub challenges the idea that success comes from st...

We’ve all seen it — your top performer crushes their sales goals, so you promote them to manager… and suddenly everything starts to fall apart. In this episode of Elements of Culture , Laura Skinner sits down with Mark Zides , author, founder, and leadership coach, to unpack one of the most common mistakes companies make: assuming great sellers automatically become great leaders. They dig into wha...

What if the future of business isn’t about profit margins, innovation, or even performance — but humanity ? In this episode of The Elements of Culture , we chat with Ryan Lavelle , CEO of Mpowa , to unpack what it truly means to lead with compassion in a results-driven world. Together, we talk about why the next era of leadership won’t be defined by control or metrics, but by empathy, trust, and t...

In this episode of Elements of Culture , we sit down with Kathy Slowinski , CEO of Trilogy and Kayako , to unpack what it really takes to build a culture that executes — not one that hides behind meetings, politics, or excuses. With over 150 company turnarounds under her belt, Kathy has seen it all — the bloated org charts, analysis paralysis, and fear-based leadership that quietly kill innovation...

Everyone wants a winning sales culture — but few leaders stop to ask what that really means. In this episode of Elements of Culture , Laura Skinner sits down with Ollie Sharpe , Chief Revenue Officer at Trumpet , to explore why so many teams chase results while neglecting the culture that sustains them. Ollie brings decades of experience from LinkedIn, SalesLoft, and Trumpet to challenge the belie...