The Culture Coach

Wendy Brand
  • 5.0 (9)
  • MANAGEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

I’m Wendy Brand, Your Culture Coach, dedicated to supporting people-first leaders. Each week we dive into strategies and insights to help you build a workplace where employees feel valued, motivated, and inspired. From fostering tribal values and improving core processes to developing inclusive communities and responsive listening strategies, we cover it all.    Join me weekly for practical tips, expert interviews, and real-world examples to help you boost productivity, extinguish burnout and cultivate a vibrant organizational culture that reflects your mission, vision and values.

  1. 5D AGO

    #133 Collaboration and Community with Barry Moline

    Send us a text In this episode of The Culture Coach Podcast, Wendy Brand sits down with former CEO Barry Moline to explore what truly drives high-performing teams — and why connection, trust, and community matter more than strategy alone. With nearly three decades of leadership experience, Barry shares real-world stories of early leadership mistakes, building intentional culture, strengthening collaboration, and guiding teams through crisis with clarity and trust. Together, Wendy and Barry unpack how relationships are the foundation of strong culture — and how the same principles that build thriving teams also support leadership growth and transformation. Here a link to Icebreakers for Team Building: https://barrymoline.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Ideas-for-Icebreakers-Team-Building-1-25.pdf LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-moline/ Website: https://barrymoline.com/  ____________________________ With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful. The Aligned Leader Collective -Join today: https://go.CultureCoachWendy.com/aligned FREE DOWNLOAD - The Culture Strategy Audit: https://culturecoachwendy.com/cultureaudit/ Online Community - The Culture Strategy Lab: https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/ FREE Online Mini Course - The C.E.O. Reset: https://culturecoachwendy.mykajabi.com/offers/zqP7fYvR/checkout CONNECT WITH ME Website: CultureCoachWendy.com LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/ Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

    40 min

  2. JAN 28

    #132 Personal and Organizational Misalignment

    Send us a text Leadership isn’t supposed to feel this heavy. Yet so many capable, driven leaders are exhausted. Carrying everything, fixing everything, and feeling constant pressure just to keep things moving. In this episode of The Culture Coach Podcast, Wendy Brand breaks down the real root cause behind burnout, team friction, and fragile workplace culture: misalignment. Drawing from her own leadership journey and years of consulting with organizations, Wendy explores how personal misalignment shows up in leadership behavior — and how it quietly shapes (and strains) organizational culture. You’ll learn: What leading without alignment actually looks like day to dayHow misalignment fuels micromanagement, disengagement, and burnoutWhy culture initiatives stall even when values are clearly definedThe connection between personal alignment and sustainable organizational cultureWhat begins to shift when leaders realign with clarity, values, and intentionWendy also shares what aligned leadership creates instead — clarity over control, ownership over dependence, and systems that reinforce culture instead of constantly fixing behavior. If leadership feels harder than it should…  If culture feels fragile or exhausting to maintain…  If you know you’re capable of more clarity, impact, and ease… This episode will help you understand why — and what to do about it. 🌿 Ready to go deeper? Wendy is hosting a live Information Session for women leaders on February 6th to share more about the Aligned Leader Collective, a six-month experience focused on personal and organizational alignment. 👉 Learn more at: https://go.culturecoachwendy.com/aligned The Culture Strategy Lab also opens the week of February 16th for leaders ready to begin operationalizing intentional culture. ⭐ Enjoyed the episode? If this conversation resonated, share it with a fellow leader who might need it — and don’t forget to rate, review, or follow The Culture Coach Podcast. Your support helps more leaders find clarity and build cultures where people truly thrive. ____________________________ With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful. The Aligned Leader Collective -Join today: https://go.CultureCoachWendy.com/aligned FREE DOWNLOAD - The Culture Strategy Audit: https://culturecoachwendy.com/cultureaudit/ Online Community - The Culture Strategy Lab: https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/ FREE Online Mini Course - The C.E.O. Reset: https://culturecoachwendy.mykajabi.com/offers/zqP7fYvR/checkout CONNECT WITH ME Website: CultureCoachWendy.com LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/ Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

    15 min

  3. JAN 21

    #131 The Aligned Leader

    Send us a text Fresh off a week in Reno and Lake Tahoe working with Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) leaders, Wendy reflects on conversations with founders, CEOs, and franchise leaders navigating growth, change, and transition—and why alignment, not reinvention, is the real work leaders are being called to do in 2026. Building on her recent newsletter and Substack article, “2026 doesn’t need a new you—it needs an aligned you,” Wendy unpacks how misalignment quietly shows up inside organizations long before leaders consciously name it themselves. She also weaves in her CORE Culture Framework—Clarify, Operationalize, Reinforce, and Evaluate—to explain how leaders can intentionally operationalize culture and prevent teams from carrying the weight of unspoken ambiguity. This episode is especially relevant if: You’re successful but sensing that something feels “off”Decision-making feels heavier than it used toYou’re tolerating behaviors that no longer align with your valuesYour culture feels inconsistent, even though your values are documentedResources & Next Steps ✨ Free Resource: Download Wendy’s alignment workbook to help you clarify what matters most right now and identify where misalignment may be showing up in your leadership and culture. ✨ The Aligned Leader Program: If you’re a successful leader navigating growth, transition, or recalibration—and want a structured, supportive space to realign without reinventing yourself—learn more about Wendy’s Aligned Leader Program: 👉 https://go.culturecoachwendy.com/aligned This is a collective for leaders who want clarity, alignment, and intentional culture—without forcing change that doesn’t fit who they are now. ____________________________ With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful. The Aligned Leader Collective -Join today: https://go.CultureCoachWendy.com/aligned FREE DOWNLOAD - The Culture Strategy Audit: https://culturecoachwendy.com/cultureaudit/ Online Community - The Culture Strategy Lab: https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/ FREE Online Mini Course - The C.E.O. Reset: https://culturecoachwendy.mykajabi.com/offers/zqP7fYvR/checkout CONNECT WITH ME Website: CultureCoachWendy.com LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/ Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

    15 min

  4. JAN 14

    #130 Leadership Culture Drains

    Send us a text In this solo episode of The Culture Coach Podcast, Wendy Brand is bringing awareness to leadership habits that may be quietly draining your culture — and holding your organization back. If you feel like everything is urgent, you’re constantly stepping in to do work that isn’t yours, or every decision still has to run through you, this episode is for you. Wendy breaks down three common leadership patterns that erode clarity and momentum inside organizations and explains how each one connects back to mission, vision, core values, and role clarity. Drawing on 30 years of leadership experience and culture consulting work, she shares practical ways leaders can simplify priorities, clarify ownership, and empower teams to make confident decisions. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why “everything feels urgent” is often a clarity problem — not a workload problemHow unclear roles and responsibilities create burnout and role creepWhy decisions bottleneck at the top when core values aren’t defined as behaviorsHow mission, vision, and values can become daily decision-making toolsWhere leaders can take immediate action to strengthen culture in 2026Wendy also shares the different ways leaders can work with her this year — including culture consulting, leadership cohorts and retreats, and the Culture Strategy Lab, a monthly group experience for those responsible for building intentional culture inside their organizations. If you’re a CEO, founder, executive, HR leader, or people manager who wants more clarity, alignment, and trust inside your organization, this episode will give you practical insight you can apply right away. ____________________________ With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful. The Aligned Leader Collective -Join today: https://go.CultureCoachWendy.com/aligned FREE DOWNLOAD - The Culture Strategy Audit: https://culturecoachwendy.com/cultureaudit/ Online Community - The Culture Strategy Lab: https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/ FREE Online Mini Course - The C.E.O. Reset: https://culturecoachwendy.mykajabi.com/offers/zqP7fYvR/checkout CONNECT WITH ME Website: CultureCoachWendy.com LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/ Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

    18 min

  5. JAN 7

    #129 Building Flow into your Culture with Steven Puri

    Send us a text In this episode of The Culture Coach Podcast, Wendy Brand sits down with Steven Puri —former senior executive at major motion picture studios, startup founder, and the creator of Sukha, a platform designed to help knowledge workers access flow state and protect deep work. Steven makes a bold case: companies don’t win because TPS reports are filed on time or everyone hits inbox zero. They win because someone takes uninterrupted time to think, create, and solve meaningful problems—then brings back the insight that changes the trajectory of the business. Together, Wendy and Steven unpack what “high-performing teams” really need right now: a culture that values deep work, clarity, and trust, not just busyness, meetings, and legacy processes. Try these this week: Protect deep work: Block 60 minutes, 3x/week where no meetings and no interruptions are allowed.Normalize focus: Make it culturally safe to decline non-urgent pings during deep-work windows.Use the chronotype grid: Have your team track energy + output patterns for 5–10 days, then align deep-work time accordingly.Reward outcomes, not motion: Praise thinking, experimentation, and meaningful progress—not just responsiveness.Connect with Steven Email: steven@thesukha.co Website (free 3-day trial): thesukha.co____________________________ With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful. The Aligned Leader Collective -Join today: https://go.CultureCoachWendy.com/aligned FREE DOWNLOAD - The Culture Strategy Audit: https://culturecoachwendy.com/cultureaudit/ Online Community - The Culture Strategy Lab: https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/ FREE Online Mini Course - The C.E.O. Reset: https://culturecoachwendy.mykajabi.com/offers/zqP7fYvR/checkout CONNECT WITH ME Website: CultureCoachWendy.com LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/ Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

    48 min

  6. 12/17/2025

    #128 REPLAY-108 Introducing the C.O.R.E. Culture Framework

    Send us a text Greetings! This is a replay of an episode from this past summer on my CORE Culture™ Framework. Happy Holidays and I hope you enjoy. ____________________________ This week, I'm diving deep into my signature CORE Culture™ Framework, a proven model for helping leaders stop culture from happening by accident and start building one that drives retention, productivity, and purpose. After a busy season of speaking at SHRM conferences in New Mexico and Alabama, I reflect on why I built the CORE Culture™ model and how it’s helping CEOs and HR leaders operationalize their culture in practical ways. Whether you're building from scratch or refining what’s already there, this episode gives you the tools to make culture work for your business—not against it. ____________________________ With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful. FREE Culture Roadmap Webinar Series: http://CultureCoachWendy.com/WebinarSeries FREE DOWNLOAD - The Culture Strategy Audit: https://culturecoachwendy.com/cultureaudit/ Online Community - The Culture Strategy Lab: https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/ FREE Online Mini Course - The C.E.O. Reset: https://culturecoachwendy.mykajabi.com/offers/zqP7fYvR/checkout CONNECT WITH ME Website: CultureCoachWendy.com LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/ Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/ ____________________________ With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful. The Aligned Leader Collective -Join today: https://go.CultureCoachWendy.com/aligned FREE DOWNLOAD - The Culture Strategy Audit: https://culturecoachwendy.com/cultureaudit/ Online Community - The Culture Strategy Lab: https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/ FREE Online Mini Course - The C.E.O. Reset: https://culturecoachwendy.mykajabi.com/offers/zqP7fYvR/checkout CONNECT WITH ME Website: CultureCoachWendy.com LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/ Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

    21 min

  7. 12/03/2025

    #127 Humanizing Leadership Through Empathy, Pets, and the Moments That Matter with Erika Sinner

    Send us a text Today on The Culture Coach Podcast, Wendy sits down with Erika Sinner, Founder & CEO of Directorie, a $15M healthcare commercialization company and two-time Inc. 5000 honoree. Erika also serves as the Chief Empathy Officer of TinySuperheroes, a nonprofit empowering critically ill children through play and courage, and is the bestselling author of Pets Are Family. Erika is a powerful, fresh voice in modern leadership — championing pet-inclusive policies, psychological safety, and building cultures where people feel genuinely seen and supported. 🔗 Resources Mentioned Pets Are Family (https://www.erikasinner.org/buy-book) by Erika Sinner — available on Amazon and major retailersDirectorie (https://www.directorie.com/) — Healthcare commercialization servicesTinySuperheroes (https://tinysuperheroes.com/)— Support, donate, or get involved: tinysuperheroes.comErika’s website: https://erikasinner.orgFollow Erika on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/erika_sinner/), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikasinner/), and other social platforms____________________________ With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful. The Aligned Leader Collective -Join today: https://go.CultureCoachWendy.com/aligned FREE DOWNLOAD - The Culture Strategy Audit: https://culturecoachwendy.com/cultureaudit/ Online Community - The Culture Strategy Lab: https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/ FREE Online Mini Course - The C.E.O. Reset: https://culturecoachwendy.mykajabi.com/offers/zqP7fYvR/checkout CONNECT WITH ME Website: CultureCoachWendy.com LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/ Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

    29 min

  8. 11/26/2025

    #126 Navigating Bias & Building Intentional Cultures with Kae Williams

    Send us a text In today’s episode of The Culture Coach Podcast, Wendy sits down with tech executive and author Kae Williams for a candid conversation about the invisible barriers women and marginalized leaders face at work—and the strategies that actually help you navigate them with confidence, clarity, and impact. Kae has spent decades leading in male-dominated environments across startups, scale-ups, and global tech companies. Throughout her career, she noticed a repeated pattern: women being spoken over, their ideas being dismissed or “hepeated,” their credibility questioned, and their contributions overlooked—regardless of company size or culture. These patterns inspired her to write her book, Not Made for You Now, a powerful guide for women who want to succeed without having to shrink, smile more, or tolerate bias. Kae Williams is a seasoned tech executive, marketer, and advocate for equity in the workplace. Her book, Not Made for You Now, offers practical tools for women navigating biased systems—and guidance for leaders ready to reimagine culture with intention. 👉 Buy the book: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads 👉 Connect with Kae: https://www.kaewilliams.com/ 👉 Follow Kae: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaekronthalerwilliams/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaekwilliams/ 🎧 Don’t Miss This Conversation If You Are: A woman in leadership (or aspiring to be one)A CEO or CHRO committed to building an intentional, inclusive cultureA manager who wants to create more equitable team dynamicsSomeone who has felt dismissed, talked over, or undervalued at workAn ally ready to understand and support underrepresented voices✨ Continue the Conversation If this episode resonated with you, share it with a friend or colleague. These stories spark dialogue—and dialogue is where cultural transformation begins. Ready to build a culture where clarity, belonging, and aligned leadership are the norm?  Join Wendy at CultureCoachWendy.com for tools, frameworks, and programs that help leaders operationalize culture—intentionally and sustainably. ____________________________ With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful. The Aligned Leader Collective -Join today: https://go.CultureCoachWendy.com/aligned FREE DOWNLOAD - The Culture Strategy Audit: https://culturecoachwendy.com/cultureaudit/ Online Community - The Culture Strategy Lab: https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/ FREE Online Mini Course - The C.E.O. Reset: https://culturecoachwendy.mykajabi.com/offers/zqP7fYvR/checkout CONNECT WITH ME Website: CultureCoachWendy.com LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/ Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

    36 min
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5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

I’m Wendy Brand, Your Culture Coach, dedicated to supporting people-first leaders. Each week we dive into strategies and insights to help you build a workplace where employees feel valued, motivated, and inspired. From fostering tribal values and improving core processes to developing inclusive communities and responsive listening strategies, we cover it all.    Join me weekly for practical tips, expert interviews, and real-world examples to help you boost productivity, extinguish burnout and cultivate a vibrant organizational culture that reflects your mission, vision and values.

Information

  • Creator
    Wendy Brand
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    134
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Culture Coach
  • Show Website
    The Culture Coach