6 Degrees or Less Seth McColley

He's here! He's there! He's everywhere! Mike Pierce!

I sat down recently with my good friend and HR colleague, Mike Pierce, to talk about relationshiping, the power of our networks and the great work he's doing with DallasHR, one of the largest SHRM chapters in the Unites States. Mike is a lot of things, but I think of him as an educator. He's incredibly knowledgeable about his craft (employee benefits) and he shares his knowledge readily and makes it easy to consumable in language that's easy to understand. I hope you'll enjoy the conversation as much as we had having it.

Mike Pierce is a Vice President at Lockton, the world’s largest independent insurance brokerage. His specialty is helping companies with their employee benefits programs and strategies. Specifically in the area of health, welfare and retirement.

His strategies and methods have helped employers ensure they are getting maximum return on their employee benefits spend. As well as ensuring their employee benefit philosophies and programs are aligned with the overall business goals.

Mike also serve as a volunteer leader with DallasHR and volunteer at Highland Park United Methodist Church. In his work with DallasHR he is the President-Elect and sits on the Operations Board.

I spent time with my friend and former colleague, Albert Pont, recently to talk about networking, how building strong, effective relationships has helped his career and to share some fun stories of how we met and working together at Pizza Hut years ago.

Albert Pont is the Regional Vice President of Operations for the Southeast part of the country for Wingstop. Over a 30 year career, Albert has held progressive roles in the QSR industry with global brands including Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Subway.

I recently spent time with my friend and fellow HR colleague to talk about relationshiping, the job search, pet peeves and what networking means to her. What started out as fun, competitive banter (Texas vs. OU) has blossomed into a great friendship and trusted HR colleague that I can rely upon as a sounding board. I hope you'll tune in for this fun, lighthearted conversation about networking and the importance of building relationships.

Jennifer “Jenn” L. Congdon most recently served as Chief Human Resources Officer at Ecobat from September 2020 through December 2021. Ecobat is a world leader in the production of lead and lead alloys and the recycling of lead batteries. Ecobat is an integral part of the world’s most efficient circular economy.  

Throughout her accomplished career, Jenn has served in several key leadership roles in Human Resources. Prior to Ecobat, she was Chief Human Resources Officer for Watts Water Technologies from December 2016 to April 2020. Watts is a global leader of quality water solutions for residential, industrial, municipal, and commercial settings. From August 2012 to December 2016, Jenn was Vice President of Human Resources for Applied Water Systems, Business Transformation, and Continuous Improvement with Xylem Inc. Xylem is a global designer, manufacturer, and equipment and service provider for water and wastewater applications.  

Before Xylem, Jenn served as Vice President of Human Resources for Power Transmission at Rexnord Corporation from 2010 to August 2012. Rexnord Corporation is a multi-industry manufacturer and marketer of highly-engineered mechanical power transmission components and water management products. 

From 2004 to 2010, Jenn held several human resources management positions of increasing responsibility with Honeywell International Inc. Prior to joining Honeywell, Jenn was a Human Resources Manager with Cisco Systems, Inc. and worked as a human resources consultant. 

Jenn has a BA from James Madison University in Mass Communications and an Executive MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

I sat down this week with Todd Cohen to talk about #networking, the power of creating and cultivating meaningful work relationships (aka #relationshiping), his unique spin on sales, and much more. Although we've never met in-person, we share a bond and philosophy around networking and its importance in business and work life today. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we enjoyed having it!



About Todd

A dynamic, engaging, and motivational keynote speaker, Todd’s message is relevant to EVERY organization striving to increase revenue, strengthen relationships and improve client satisfaction. Using humor and real-life examples, Todd demonstrates how every conversation is a “selling moment” and how everyone can contribute to the growth and profitability of the organization. 

Averaging 90 appearances per year, Todd’s audiences’ range in size from small groups to upwards of 5,000 people. His diverse clientele includes Subaru of America, Inc., NFL Players Inc., Corning, The American Institute of Architects, EY LP, and Investors Bank. He has headlined at medical, business, manufacturing and almost every possible business vertical.

In 2015, Todd was awarded the title of Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), the highest-earned designation awarded by the National Speakers Association (NSA). He is the principal of Sales Leader LLC and author of “Everyone’s in Sales” and “STOP Apologizing and Start Selling";

He has written for numerous trade and association magazines and has a monthly newsletter titled, Sales Culture Newsletter. Todd is a frequent guest lecturer at Temple University, Drexel University, Pierce College and Pennsylvania State University. Before launching Sales Leader LLC, Todd coached and led dozens of sales teams to deliver more than $850 million in revenue for leading companies including Xerox, Gartner Group, Thomson-Reuters, and LexisNexis. Todd holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the Fox School of Business at Temple University.

After a 2.5 year hiatus, I'm excited to crank up this podcast again, record conversations with some incredible people and share the message of relationshiping with others!

I recently sat down (virtually) with Kyle Killingsworth - a friend, mentor and fellow HR colleague of mine here in Oklahoma City. Kyle has more than 25 years of strategic HR experience under his belt, both in corporate HR roles and independent HR consulting. He has been, and continues to be, a SHRM volunteer, having served in numerous leadership positions over the years. He is the Past President of the Oklahoma City Human Resources Society (OCHRS) and currently serves as the Certification Chair for the Oklahoma Human Resources State Council (OKHR). 

He has led Human Resources and Organization Development professionals in providing support in the areas of strategic planning, employee relations, compensation and benefits administration, internal communications, training, executive coaching, recruiting and organizational and leadership development. Kyle has broad expertise in mergers and acquisitions, having led due diligence and integration efforts on over 15 acquisitions both domestically and internationally.

Kyle has completed post graduate work at the University of Michigan in Strategic Human Resources Planning and is a certified Senior Human Resources Professional by the Society of Human Resources Management. He is a certified instructor in numerous professional development courses including Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountability, Harassment Training, and Business as Unusual (Change Management). Additionally, Kyle is a certified with SHL in the suite of Talent Measurement Assessment and as a facilitator for over 60 leadership/management and workforce development courses with Development Dimensions International.

It was a joy and a privilege to talk to Kyle about how we met, our shared passion for people and HR, and the importance of networking.

Am I talking to myself? Why, yes. Yes, I am.

A year ago today, I launched this podcast and published my very first episode. I thought it would be good to take a few moments and reflect on the lessons learned, where I've come from, how my podcast has evolved and where I want to take it next. I have loved every moment of this journey and I'm excited to see where it will take me and the new people that I'll meet along the way. Creating content like this has stretched me in ways that I was unfamiliar with and I feel like I've tapped into a part of me that I've never known. I'm blessed to have some amazing people in my life that I've been able to introduce to listeners and share their stories and the great work they're doing through my podcast. I'm excited about what's to come in 2020 and hope that you'll tune in and join me!

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