Blu Thread Conversations: The Ultimate Business Podcast for People, Culture, and Employer Brand Strategies

Blu Ivy Group

Are you a Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) or business leader passionate about transforming your organization's people experience and culture? Do you aim to be an effective change agent? Welcome to 'Blu Thread Conversations', the go-to podcast designed for HR leaders actively shaping and creating impact for their organizations. Crafted for passionate CHROs and HR leaders, ‘Blu Thread Conversations’ offers valuable insight on how your employer brand strategy and Employer Value Proposition (EVP) can drive measurable business impact by elevating employee experience, accelerating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and reducing organizational risk by ensuring a robust pipeline of top talent. Each episode on 'Blu Thread Conversations' features insightful conversations with top HR, Marketing, and Communications leaders from some of the world's top organizations. Together we will share experiences and learnings from building impactful human-centred people strategies and lessons on how to activate thriving performance-based cultures. As listeners, you'll gain firsthand experiences and helpful lessons from these change agents as they champion Employer Brand & Culture strategies that drive business impact. 'Blu Thread Conversations' aims to empower HR leaders and their C-suite colleagues with the knowledge and tools they need to transition the HR function from an administrative role to a valuable strategic partner that drives meaningful impact across the organization. Listen to ‘Blu Thread Conversations’ for tangible, real-world examples of creating organizational impact by designing, communicating, and activating winning employer brand strategies and culture initiatives. Our conversations will help provide you with investment direction on the people program that will drive the most meaningful impact and will help you inspire talent across the organization to create a sense of belonging, pride, and connection. Let’s weave a powerful narrative around the intersection of people, culture, and performance. Join us at ‘Blu Thread Conversations’. More on Blu Ivy Group: Blu Ivy Group is a global leader in employer branding, organizational culture, and recruitment marketing. We help organizations across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors build extraordinary employee experiences, magnetic employer brands and high-performance cultures. Connect with us today and let us help you transform your organization into a workplace that inspires your employees, leaders, customers, and shareholders. Contact: sparker@bluivygroup.comVisit: bluivygroup.com Connect with us: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blu-ivy-group Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluivygroup/

  1. Leadership Behaviours That Drive Growth

    FEB 8

    Leadership Behaviours That Drive Growth

    What truly drives sustainable business growth? It’s not strategy alone, it’s leadership behaviour, culture, and the employer brand lived every day. In this episode of Blu Thread Conversations, hosts Leandra Harris and Stacy Parker of Blu Ivy Group sit down with Bill Williams, leadership expert, author of "Electric Life," and keynote speaker, to unpack the leadership behaviours that fuel performance, engagement, and growth. Together, they explore: • Why emotional intelligence is now a non-negotiable leadership skill • How leadership behaviour directly shapes culture, performance, and the bottom line • The real reason middle management breaks during growth and transformation • How leaders can build trust, accountability, and belonging across teams • Why employer brand is lived through managers — not marketing • How organizations can scale without losing their culture • What CEOs must do differently in 2026 to retain talent and drive results This conversation is essential viewing for: ✔ CEOs and executive teams ✔ HR and People leaders ✔ Employer brand and culture leaders ✔ Organizations scaling across Canada and the United States ✔ Companies navigating growth, transformation, or private equity investment At Blu Ivy Group, we help organizations build employer brands and cultures that attract, retain, and engage talent — not just in theory, but in everyday leadership behaviour. Watch the full episode: YouTube Learn more: www.bluivygroup.com

    41 min
  2. From Culture to Impact: How People Strategy Drives Business Results

    JAN 6

    From Culture to Impact: How People Strategy Drives Business Results

    Culture is no longer a “people initiative.” It’s a business strategy. In this episode of Blu Thread Conversations, Blu Ivy Group Co-Founders Leandra Harris and Stacy Parker sit down with Keri Fraser, Chief People Officer at Westland Insurance Group, to explore how culture, leadership, and employer brand are shaping business performance. Keri shares how Westland embedded culture into its five-year “2030 Level Up Plan,” why accountability is a form of care, and how leaders operationalize culture through systems, metrics, and everyday leadership behavior. The conversation dives into employer brand as alignment (not attraction), leadership credibility, manager enablement, engagement execution, and what people strategy must become in the age of AI, skills-based work, and real-time reputation. This episode is for CHROs, HR leaders, employer brand professionals, culture leaders, executives, and people strategy teams across Canada, the United States, and globally who are looking to move culture from intention to infrastructure. What you’ll learn in this episode:  • Culture as a strategic business driver  • Employer brand & EVP as performance enablers  • Accountability, kindness, and leadership credibility  • Manager enablement and culture systems  • Engagement execution and transparency  • Employer brand ROI and quality of hire  • Skills-based organizations and talent marketplaces  • The evolving role of HR in 2026 and beyond Watch the full episode: YouTube Learn more: www.bluivygroup.com Watch the full episode: YouTube Learn more: www.bluivygroup.com

    32 min
  3. EVP Was Never Meant to Be a Tagline

    11/13/2025

    EVP Was Never Meant to Be a Tagline

    In this episode of Blu Thread Conversations, hosts Leandra Harris and Stacy Parker, founders of Blu Ivy Group, a global employer brand and culture consultancy, unpack one misunderstood topic in the world of work: the Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Too often, EVPs are reduced to taglines, posters, and recruitment campaigns, but as Stacy and Leandra reveal, a true EVP is a leadership tool, a cultural compass, and a two-way promise between organizations and their people. 👉 What you'll learn in this episode: • Why most EVPs fail (and how to avoid the common pitfalls) • The real cost of having a weak or inauthentic EVP • How to align your leadership, culture, and talent strategy through a strong EVP • The impact of AI, transparency, and reputation platforms (like Reddit and Glassdoor) on employer brands • What it means to operationalize your EVP and make it a living part of your culture • The future of EVP strategy in 2025 and beyond, including leadership value propositions and agile employer branding Whether you're a CHRO, CEO, talent leader, or employer brand professional, this episode is a must-watch if you want to strengthen your workplace reputation, improve employee engagement, and attract top talent in an age of AI and transparency. At Blu Ivy Group, we’ve worked with organizations across the U.S., Canada, and globally to strengthen culture, repair trust, and elevate employer brands that attract and retain top talent. If your organization is searching for an employer brand consulting firm in the USA or Canada, or the most reputable experts in employer branding and culture worldwide, Blu Ivy Group is here to help. 🌎 Learn more: https://bluivygroup.com 📧 Contact us for consulting inquiries: https://bluivygroup.com/contact-us/ Watch the full episode: YouTube Learn more: www.bluivygroup.com

    33 min
  4. Rebuilding Trust: What to Do After a Reputation Crisis

    09/26/2025

    Rebuilding Trust: What to Do After a Reputation Crisis

    Blu Thread Conversations Ep.16 When workplace trust is broken, the stakes are high — for leaders, employees, and your organization’s reputation. In this episode of Blu Thread Conversations, Blu Ivy Group founders and global employer brand experts Leandra Harris and Stacy Parker share what leaders must do when their company faces a reputation crisis. Why this matters: 63% of a company’s market value is tied to reputation 75% of crises are “smoldering” for 12–18 months before they explode Trust is the foundation of culture, leadership credibility, and long-term business performance You’ll Learn: The “golden hour” after a crisis and why speed + humility matter How CEOs and leadership teams can rebuild credibility with employees and customers Why visibility and listening are more powerful than polished PR What to do when you are the problem as a leader Long-term strategies to prevent reputation risks with employer brand and culture consulting At Blu Ivy Group, we’ve worked with organizations across the U.S., Canada, and globally to strengthen culture, repair trust, and elevate employer brands that attract and retain top talent. If your organization is searching for an employer brand consulting firm in the USA or Canada, or the most reputable experts in employer branding and culture worldwide, Blu Ivy Group is here to help. 🌐 Learn more: https://www.bluivygroup.com  📩 Contact us: https://bluivygroup.com/contact-us/ Watch the full episode: YouTube Learn more: www.bluivygroup.com

    23 min

About

Are you a Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) or business leader passionate about transforming your organization's people experience and culture? Do you aim to be an effective change agent? Welcome to 'Blu Thread Conversations', the go-to podcast designed for HR leaders actively shaping and creating impact for their organizations. Crafted for passionate CHROs and HR leaders, ‘Blu Thread Conversations’ offers valuable insight on how your employer brand strategy and Employer Value Proposition (EVP) can drive measurable business impact by elevating employee experience, accelerating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and reducing organizational risk by ensuring a robust pipeline of top talent. Each episode on 'Blu Thread Conversations' features insightful conversations with top HR, Marketing, and Communications leaders from some of the world's top organizations. Together we will share experiences and learnings from building impactful human-centred people strategies and lessons on how to activate thriving performance-based cultures. As listeners, you'll gain firsthand experiences and helpful lessons from these change agents as they champion Employer Brand & Culture strategies that drive business impact. 'Blu Thread Conversations' aims to empower HR leaders and their C-suite colleagues with the knowledge and tools they need to transition the HR function from an administrative role to a valuable strategic partner that drives meaningful impact across the organization. Listen to ‘Blu Thread Conversations’ for tangible, real-world examples of creating organizational impact by designing, communicating, and activating winning employer brand strategies and culture initiatives. Our conversations will help provide you with investment direction on the people program that will drive the most meaningful impact and will help you inspire talent across the organization to create a sense of belonging, pride, and connection. Let’s weave a powerful narrative around the intersection of people, culture, and performance. Join us at ‘Blu Thread Conversations’. More on Blu Ivy Group: Blu Ivy Group is a global leader in employer branding, organizational culture, and recruitment marketing. We help organizations across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors build extraordinary employee experiences, magnetic employer brands and high-performance cultures. Connect with us today and let us help you transform your organization into a workplace that inspires your employees, leaders, customers, and shareholders. Contact: sparker@bluivygroup.comVisit: bluivygroup.com Connect with us: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blu-ivy-group Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluivygroup/