Fireside Chats: Behind The Build

Employee engagement is broken, and traditional surveys aren’t helping. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with Anish Satpute, founder of Reventa, to explore how AI is reshaping the way organizations understand their people. Drawing from his global upbringing, early entrepreneurship, and deep curiosity about human connection, Anish shares how personal ex...

Franchising isn’t about systems alone. It’s about people. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with JT Thiessen, a 33-year veteran of the franchise industry who has helped grow and develop 18 different brands. JT shares how an early college project unexpectedly launched his career, why franchising is a distribution model, and what founders often misunders...

Hiring is broken for both candidates and employers. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Peter Dalton, Co-Founder and CRO of Veton, an AI-powered hiring platform that automates resume screening and early interviews while giving every candidate a fair shot. Peter shares what pulled him into HR tech after years of sales leadership, why application vol...

Anxiety doesn’t have to be a liability at work. In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Dr. David Rosmarin — Harvard Medical School psychologist, author of Thriving with Anxiety , and founder of the Center for Anxiety — to unpack how leaders can rethink stress, performance, and mental health in the workplace. Dr. Rosmarin explains the difference betwee...

In this episode of Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes speaks with Steven Lu, co-founder and CEO of Pin, about building recruiting technology by staying close to users. Steven traces his journey from writing code as a teenager to founding Interstellar (later acquired by Greenhouse) and launching his latest company. They discuss why sourcing software emerged from sales tools, how top recruiters really...

In this episode of Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes welcomes Dr. Anna Tavis — NYU professor, author, and global HR thought leader — for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of work. Dr. Tavis shares how her background in linguistics, philosophy, and global business shaped her view of HR as the place where identity, ambition, and culture converge. She reflects on navigating large-scale layof...

Employee experience isn’t an HR problem — it’s a business one. In this episode of Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes is joined by Zach Chertok, Senior Research Manager for Employee Experience at IDC and faculty member at Columbia University. Zach brings a rare perspective shaped by engineering, public policy, workforce strategy, and market research. They explore what employee experience actually mea...

Some of the best companies aren’t planned — they’re built out of necessity. In this episode of Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes talks with Marc Villella, founder and CTO of GryphonHR, about how a career in technology unexpectedly led him into the world of compliance and entrepreneurship. Marc shares how an early passion for engineering evolved into consulting, leadership, and eventually founding a...

In this episode of Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Joshua Siler, founder and CEO of HiringThing, to explore how frustration turned into a 15-year SaaS journey. Joshua shares how his background in marketing automation led him to build an internal hiring tool simply to escape email-based recruiting chaos. That side project eventually became HiringThing — now used by thousands of comp...

Why don’t more HR leaders become entrepreneurs, and what happens when they do? In this episode of Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes sits down with John Baldino, founder and president of Humanreso, to unpack the business side of HR leadership. With over 30 years in HR, John shares how shifting market dynamics pushed small and mid-sized organizations to compete like enterprises without enterprise reso...

What makes a conversation actually matter? Why do so many leaders overcomplicate it? In this episode of Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes is joined by HR veteran, author, and podcast pioneer Robin Schooling. With more than 25 years in HR, Robin shares what she’s learned about community, curiosity, and the power of honest dialogue. Robin also reflects on her writing journey, including her upcoming b...

What does it take to build — and rebuild — a company when markets, technology, and customer needs keep changing? In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis Forbes sits down with Ian Redlin, CEO of Octolan Technology, to talk about leadership through disruption, reinvention, and long-term resilience. With nearly 30 years in technology and supply chain automation, Ian has naviga...

Curtis sits down with Offerday AI founder Robert Ashjian to explore how his nonlinear career—from landscaping entrepreneur to biochemist, military service, and operational excellence leader—shaped his mission to reinvent hiring. Robert shares how overwhelming applicant volume, slow processes, and subjective evaluation leave great talent unseen and how technology can help recruiting teams find the...

In this episode, Curtis sits down with Mark Stelzner, the founder and managing principal of IA, to explore what truly drives meaningful organizational transformation. With three decades advising C-suite leaders, Mark shares how his “no-codependency” approach empowers organizations to build capability, act with courage, and pursue change without relying on consultants forever. Mark and Curtis dig i...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , Curtis sits down with Brandon Amoroso—co-founder and CEO of SCALIS—to explore how broken hiring systems inspired him to build a fully integrated, AI-powered recruiting platform. After scaling and exiting a 50-person agency, Brandon saw the same pain points over and over: unqualified applicants, bad job recommendations, data loss across disco...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis sits down with Daniel Altenburg, co-founder of ZipDev, a remote staffing company connecting U.S. and Canadian businesses with top talent across Latin America. Daniel shares his winding path from hospitality in Palm Desert to recruiting in Peru, and how a simple favor for a friend exposed a massive talent gap that sparked the idea for Z...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , host Curtis Forbes sits down with Biz Williams, CRO at HRLogics  and founder of Ryze Credits, to explore how a designer-turned-sales-leader built one of the fastest-growing compliance and tax-credit startups in the HR tech space. Biz shares her journey from creative beginnings to closing a $1.4 million revenue run in just three months,...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build , host Curtis Forbes talks with Summer Rogers, founder of The Product Canopy and former VP of Product at Cornerstone OnDemand. Summer shares how two decades in HR tech and B2B SaaS led her to build a consulting practice focused on helping early- and growth-stage companies connect strategy, story, and execution. She and Curtis dig into the warn...

In this episode of MustardHub Voices: Behind the Build, Curtis Forbes talks with Jocelyn King, founder and CEO of Virgil HR, a SaaS platform helping HR professionals make compliant decisions in real time. Jocelyn shares her path from philosophy major to HR executive to tech founder… and how her frustration with the complexity of labor laws sparked the idea for Virgil HR. Curtis and Jocelyn explore...

Greg Fulk’s career has spanned military service, commercial land development, wealth management, and even a side hustle building saunas—but it was a knock at the door from the FBI that changed everything. That moment led Greg to create OrgIQ, a proactive workforce intelligence platform that gives HR teams unprecedented visibility into what’s happening inside their organizations. In this episode, G...

Zech Dahms didn’t set out to become a culture strategist. Initially fascinated by zoology, his curiosity for human behavior eventually led him to organizational psychology—and to a career centered on transforming workplace experience. As President of Achieve Engagement and Head of Community at the EX Leadership Network, Zech helps HR leaders turn strategy into measurable impact. In this conversati...

Nat Salvione has spent more than two decades in the gift card and rewards industry, and his passion for the work hasn’t dimmed. As Chief Commercial Officer at GiftBit, Nat leads the company’s expansion and partnerships while championing a simpler, more meaningful approach to incentives. In this episode, Nat and Curtis dive into why gift cards have a uniquely lasting impact compared to cash, drawin...

Jeffrey Marks’s career has taken him from the high-stakes world of M&A law to building restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip and ultimately to founding Lollipop, a workplace well-being platform that’s changing how companies support their people. In this episode, Jeffrey and Curtis explore how small, authentic gestures can have a massive impact on retention, engagement, and workplace culture. Jeff...

Gonzalo “Gonzo” Sanchez, founder of Everlast, is on a mission to change how we understand and manage stress at work and in life. Drawing from his experiences at Uber, Bird, and in telemedicine, he shares how Everlast uses wearables, biomarkers, and personalized roadmaps to help people unlock better health. Gonzalo and Curtis unpack the physiology of stress, emotional regulation, and why stress isn...

Sheila Williams brings more than 30 years of HR leadership to the table, blending her love of numbers with a deep commitment to people. Now a senior compensation consultant at VisionLink, she shares her journey from corporate America to consulting, unpacking why compensation strategy is both an art and a science. Sheila and Curtis dig into the idea of “compensation chaos” — what happens when compa...