Let me describe someone you probably manage right now: she's brilliant, creative, and a pattern recognizer, but she's also... a lot. She might have 17 browser tabs open, interrupt enthusiastically in meetings, or struggle with "simple" expense reports while crushing complex strategy. You might be thinking she just needs better time management or executive presence, but what if I told you that isn't a performance issue? In this episode—which I'm thinking of calling "Squirrel"—we are talking about...
Jan 20, 2026•40 min•Season 5Ep. 4
What if I told you that 20% of your most experienced female talent is considering leaving—not for better opportunities, but because your workplace is making them choose between their health and their careers? Women aged 45-55 represent your most valuable institutional knowledge, your strongest leaders, and your most effective mentors. They're also navigating perimenopause and menopause in workplaces that were never designed for their needs. And they're walking away silently, one resignation at a...
Jan 13, 2026•20 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Welcome to 2026 and a new evolution of the HX podcast. For years, I kept my own 30-year battle with endometriosis hidden because I didn't feel safe discussing it at work. I've realized we can't treat mental health as separate from the rest of our bodies, yet we've designed workplaces for young, healthy men, leaving millions to "perform wellness" while managing chronic conditions in silence. This season, we're peeling back the onion on why women's health isn't a niche issue—it's a trillion-dollar...
Jan 06, 2026•38 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Hey humans, Stacie Baird here. The truth is, nothing really changed in 2025—we just finally found the language for what has been true for a long time. This isn't a typical year-end review episode; it's a moment of closure and an opening. For six years, we've been talking about burnout, compassionate leadership, and psychological safety. But every time we had those conversations, we kept running into the same wall: the reality of our bodies. We realized that the burnout crisis we've been document...
Dec 31, 2025•33 min•Season 5Ep. 1
Hey, humans, we've arrived at the final and perhaps most powerful part of our "Why" series! We started with personal excavation, learned how to apply it to decisions, and now we're talking about the ripple effect. When leaders operate from their why, it changes everything. I'm going to show you exactly how one individual's clarity creates a collective wave, leading to aligned culture , higher engagement, and most importantly, giving permission for your team to bring their whole selves to work. I...
Dec 16, 2025•14 min•Season 4Ep. 46
Hey, humans! Last week we excavated our "why", and this week, we're talking about how to make it actionable. I'm sharing the most powerful lesson I've learned: your "why" isn't just a statement; it's your decision-making filter. It defines where you say yes and, more importantly, where you finally say no. I'll walk you through how my why helped me walk away from a financially great opportunity because it demanded sacrificing the boundaries I teach you to protect. I'm also sharing the biggest pro...
Dec 09, 2025•11 min•Season 4Ep. 45
Hey, humans! This episode is where we start a three-part journey that I truly believe will permanently alter your outlook, because that's what happens when you discover your "why". We all know the what and the how, but when you get clear on the purpose and the belief behind your work, everything gets easier. I'm opening up and sharing the crisis moments in my own life from sitting in Jocelyn's hospital room and my daughter's journey afterwards - that stripped away everything but what truly matte...
Dec 02, 2025•9 min•Season 4Ep. 44
It's not science fiction anymore; it's Agentic AI. We're moving past the era where AI just assists us. Now, we're talking about a coworker that can run entire recruiting workflows from start to finish. Think of it like a Tesla: you set the destination, and it drives the car. But I don't want you to be left in the dust regarding what this looks like. We are talking about autonomous scoring, outreach, and screening that operates without human intervention so you can save your intervention for wher...
Nov 18, 2025•16 min•Season 4Ep. 43
Hey humans, let's talk about that hidden bottleneck that's absolutely killing your time to hire: scheduling. We're still playing calendar Tetris, sending those dreaded email chains back and forth. By the time you get everyone in the same virtual room, your perfect candidate has three other offers. This is the administrivia that's costing you top talent. But what if I told you that scheduling isn't your Achilles heel—it's your secret weapon? We're in a new world where a six-day scheduling standar...
Nov 11, 2025•12 min•Season 4Ep. 42
Hey humans. So, 67% of organizations are prioritizing AI for talent acquisition, but here's the HX twist: they're also terrified of its inaccuracies. In this first episode of our HX Intel series, I'm cutting through the noise to figure out what's really working and what's just hype. We've all moved past the honeymoon phase, but are we stuck in basic automation instead of using advanced AI smartly? It's the "meat and potatoes" of the AI toolkit—from the easy wins that reduce that awful "administr...
Nov 04, 2025•24 min•Season 4Ep. 41
In launching this series on talent, it had me thinking…where do we start? With that, we are re-broadcasting an episode with Allison Coward, an expert on #firstprinciples with the thought, why don't we start with what is, well, first. First principles are the most fundamental, foundational truths or assumptions of a concept that cannot be deduced from anything more basic. First principles thinking (https://www.firstprinciples.ventures/insights/first-principles-the-foundations-of-innovation-and-gr...
Oct 21, 2025•30 min•Season 4Ep. 41
https://staciebaird.com/the-hx-podcast In this episode, I'm kicking off a new series that's very near and dear to my heart: talent. I was struck by a McKinsey study called "The War for Talent," published back in 1998, which happened to be the first year I was in recruiting. Reading it again, I was shocked to realize that the core challenges it identified; a shortage of leadership talent, a lack of manager accountability for developing people, and the need for a compelling employee value proposit...
Oct 14, 2025•11 min•Season 4Ep. 40
On this now two year anniversary, I felt that this deserved a replay! This is an episode that is an enormous part of why I've changed the brand of the podcast to encompass the broader human experience. My daughter, Jocelyn, is my very special guest today. She talks about her leukemia diagnosis over two years ago, and the battle that would take up all of 2023, and change the way she has to look at her health for the rest of her life. Hearing this story from her provides so much joy for who she is...
Sep 30, 2025•32 min•Season 4Ep. 39
In this episode of the HX podcast, as part of our "Well at Work" series, I had the privilege of speaking with Justin Long, an author who shared his incredible story of resilience. I was so impacted by his journey, which he says truly began when he got sober at age 32 after years as a "raging alcoholic filled with self-loathing". Justin recounts growing up in an emotionally dysfunctional household, shaped by generational trauma, where he was made to feel he had no value. This led him to a life of...
Sep 23, 2025•41 min•Season 4Ep. 38
If you remember making mixtapes off the radio and your parents' only rule was to be home when the streetlights came on, this episode is for you. Jenn and I are zeroing in on our specific slice of Gen X, a micro-generation we're calling the 'Goonies Generation'. We're the kids born in the late 70s who had one foot in an analog childhood of latchkey independence and another in a fully digital adulthood, making us the ultimate translators between the old and new school. We'll take a fun trip down m...
Sep 16, 2025•34 min•Season 4Ep. 37
In this episode, Jenn and I are diving deep into something we know a lot about: being Gen X and hitting that phase of life that people used to call a 'midlife crisis.' We're calling BS on that and reframing it as what it really is... a reboot. With our kids getting older, we finally have the space to ask what we want, not just what our families need. We get real about everything from navigating hormonal shifts and prioritizing sleep over everything else, to why I'm taking a whole pharmacy of sup...
Sep 09, 2025•38 min•Season 4Ep. 36
Hey humans, in this episode of the HX podcast, we're diving into the "Gen X Leadership Load". If you're a Gen Xer, you probably feel like the forgotten middle child, and I found some pretty jarring data that shows just how much we're dealing with. We're the first leaders in history to be sandwiched between four generations at work and two at home, acting as translators between old-school structures and new expectations. I'll share some specific stats from places like Pew Research and AARP on wha...
Sep 02, 2025•14 min•Season 4Ep. 35
In this week's episode of our #WorkWell series, I'm building on last week's assignment with a new one that is both simple and challenging. After taking time to reset, I started asking myself a critical question every time I felt the urge for a distraction: "What would actually restore me right now, not just distract me?" It's so easy to fall into mindless scrolling or shopping, but I've found those are just temporary fixes that don't address the root cause. True restoration takes intention, and ...
Aug 26, 2025•7 min•Season 4Ep. 34
Hey humans, we're continuing our #WorkWell series, all about mental health in the workplace. In this episode, we're getting real about the difference between just being tired and being truly, deeply depleted. I know that feeling because I was just there myself. After we recorded our last episode on burnout, I felt almost out of my body, completely depleted and neurologically dysregulated. The only thing that could help was true rest and disconnection. So for this week, I have an exercise for you...
Aug 19, 2025•7 min•Season 4Ep. 33
In the second of our small series on Mental Health at Work, Jenn Mason and I tackled a really challenging episode (as you can see by the title). We jumped right in by asking if resilience is being "weaponized" - used as a justification for harmful systems rather than a skill to be supported. We explore the dark side of a resilience culture, where praising people for surviving toxic, high-demand environments becomes a smokescreen for the actual problem. What is the difference between empowering p...
Aug 12, 2025•28 min•Season 4Ep. 32
In the first episode of our "Mental Health at Work" series, my colleague Jenn Mason and I tackled the critical distinction between being tired and being truly depleted. We start by defining burnout as work-related exhaustion that happens over time, while compassion fatigue comes from the emotional toll of over-identifying with the suffering of others. We contend as well, though, that depletion is a much deeper state that impacts your core motivation and ability to connect, going far beyond simpl...
Aug 05, 2025•34 min•Season 4Ep. 31
What if we could rewrite the rules of abundance? That's the question I tackle in my latest "What If" episode of the podcast. I believe we're on the cusp of a new era, one where we can move beyond the old, scarcity-driven models and embrace a future of limitless possibility. In this episode, I explore what it would mean to have a world of abundance, not just in terms of material wealth, but in all aspects of our lives: health, happiness, and human connection. I challenge the zero-sum thinking tha...
Jul 29, 2025•7 min•Season 4Ep. 30
Hey, humans. I want to talk about something that so many of us struggle with, and that's the feeling of not being enough. This is a part three of a series called "What If". I highly recommend going back and listening to the previous two if you haven't heard them already. I know that shame spiral all too well; when my life shifted in a single moment almost ten years ago, I found myself in a very dark place, believing I was flawed and unworthy. And as Brené Brown's research shows, that's the diffe...
Jul 22, 2025•9 min•Season 4Ep. 29
What if you understood that control is just a myth? I know so many of us, especially when we look at the news or our social media feeds, can feel a sense of complete overwhelm, like the world is totally out of control. And in response, we try to control what we can to feel safe and grounded. But what if that feeling of control is just an illusion? In this episode of our "What If" series, I want to challenge your thought process on this. We can do things to have a better life, like drinking more ...
Jul 15, 2025•5 min•Season 4Ep. 28
Hey humans, welcome to "What If," a new, short-format summer mini-series. I know life is busy, so these episodes are five minutes or less, designed to help you focus inward. This week, we're tackling a feeling many of us have been made to feel: that we are "too much". Whether you've been called too emotional, too quiet, or too opinionated, these labels can cause us to internalize the message that we must shrink ourselves to be accepted. I struggled with this myself after being told for years tha...
Jul 08, 2025•6 min•Season 4Ep. 27
Welcome back to the continuation of my conversation with Mike and Reggie about the human experience of AI. In the first part, we laid the groundwork by discussing how to get started and facing the philosophical questions and fears surrounding this technology. Now, we get into the really exciting applications, exploring how my guests have gone from beginners to power users, integrating AI into their work and lives in truly transformative ways. You'll hear how Reggie has used AI to build dozens of...
Jul 01, 2025•30 min•Season 4Ep. 26
On this special two-part episode of the HX Podcast, I'm so excited to be joined by two of my colleagues from CMS, Mike and Reggie. We dive deep into the human experience of artificial intelligence, starting not with the technology itself, but with the people who use it. Mike and Reggie share their personal histories and what drives them, from a passion for service to the constant search for a better work-life balance. We explore how so many of us have been taught that "hustle equals worth," and ...
Jun 24, 2025•26 min•Season 4Ep. 25
Hey humans! On this episode of the HX podcast, I wanted to talk to my fellow Gen Xers about something that was programmed into us back in our twenties: the idea that our worth is tied to our productivity. I see it causing problems in business and in people's lives. I know this from my own career in startups, where that hustle culture was rewarded and it hard-coded into me the belief that being exhausted meant I was doing a good job. But I now know that's just not the truth, and it's time we chal...
Jun 17, 2025•6 min•Season 4Ep. 24
Hey humans! In this episode, as we continue our series on 'Assuming Positive Intent,' I'm diving further into a topic I believe is one of the most challenging things we navigate: the duality between victimhood and accountability. To pick up from last week, I really break down what victimhood looks like – that mindset rooted in an external locus of control, where we might blame others or circumstances, often stemming from past adversity or trauma, and I don't want to minimize that. I explore the ...
Jun 10, 2025•10 min•Season 4Ep. 23
In this episode of my 'Assuming Positive Intent' series, I wanted to share a personal insight that really struck me, especially as I've been feeling a bit exhausted from a big push at work. I talk about the crucial difference between falling into a 'victimhood' mindset and practicing 'self-compassion,' and I offer one simple but powerful shift I've been using. I'm finding this helps me foster empathy and move from that reactive place to one of empowerment - I hope that it helps you, too! Stacie ...
Jun 03, 2025•5 min•Season 4Ep. 22
