Human Resolve First Person Advisors

Teresa Tanner wakes up on a mission every day as the CEO and Founder of Reserve Squad. Seeking to disrupt traditional company models, Reserve Squad helps companies retain employees who pause their careers to take care of family or other obligations.

“We've lost about two and a half million women from the workforce,” she says of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are at the lowest workforce participation rate that we've been in 33 years, so basically, my entire career has been wiped out for this pandemic.”

Throughout her time in the corporate world, including experiences at McDonald’s and Fifth Third Bank, Teresa knew that she had to position herself differently and overcome barriers many of her male co-workers did not face.

On this episode of Human Resolve, Teresa explains the value of leading with empathy and taking a human-first approach to management.

Jessica Lopez knows firsthand what committing to a wellness-focused lifestyle can do for both your work and personal life.

“Back in 2012, I actually made a commitment to myself to get healthier,” she says. “I went to the doctor, and I tested for high cholesterol. … What I saw was my son being motherless, my husband being without a wife. So, I really took it seriously, and I started documenting everything that I ate — five to six small meals a day, every three to four hours. I've lost 116 pounds.”

October 2021 marks Jessica’s 20th anniversary at U-Haul International Inc., where she started as a legal secretary before working her way up to her current position as Chief of Staff. Five and a half years ago, the CEO asked her to create a wellness program for employees, and her lifestyle changes that led to her weight loss made her the perfect person for the job.

Monique Harty was chosen as the manager of said program, and together, the women use a well-rounded approach focusing on not only physical but mental health. Their goal: address all the outside factors that can affect an employee’s work performance.

On this episode of Human Resolve, the pair discusses the importance of getting buy-in from upper management before building such a program and how not being in the HR department can help build trust with individuals using the program. Jessica and Monique also explain why it’s imperative that managers receive training on how to identify signs of stress, anxiety and potentially even suicidal ideation among employees.

When Angela Smith Jones was Deputy Mayor of Indianapolis, she set the tone as an inclusive leader by extending a hand to people who normally don’t get one – people like herself.

“I took an intern every single quarter that we were able to get interns and the people who ran the internship program knew we're going to pitch the people to Deputy Mayor Angela Smith Jones that other people might not take because I was all about access,” Angela says. “I was like … I'm going to give you access because I wanted somebody else to give me access when I was your age.’”

On this episode of Human Resolve a year after the death of George Floyd, host Mark Minner speaks with Angela about how her parents raised her to celebrate diversity, why it’s crucial to lean into uncomfortable conversations and how to navigate challenging discussions about diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace.

When Sally Hornick Anderson’s 13-year-old child came out to her as non-binary, wanting to use the pronouns “they” and “them,” they went to the right person.
Sally remembered the story“The therapist that they were working with said ‘Hey, how did your parents respond?’ And they said, ‘Well, my mom works in diversity. So of course, she was OK with it.’”

Google’s Workforce Diversity Director, Sally believes it’s every HR professional’s duty to make employees feel accepted and comfortable in the workplace. And, it starts with listening.

On this episode of Human Resolve, host Mark Minner speaks with Sally about HR’s role in allyship, the power of uncomfortable conversations (especially around race) and why it’s crucial to check in on employees regularly, especially during a time when mental health issues are a growing problem in the U.S.

Even three-time Indianapolis 500 pole winner Ed Carpenter was once told his dreams were too big.
“One of the first [college] assignments we had was to write a five-year success plan,” Ed says on this episode of Human Resolve. “I obviously wrote a paper largely based around my racing career. … [The professor] told me that it was nice to have dreams, but you need to be more realistic.”

On this episode, host Mark Minner speaks with Ed about how he went from rookie race car driver to eventually one of the sport’s only driver-owners at Ed Carpenter Racing, and why naysayers only motivated him to work harder to achieve his goals. You’ll learn how to maintain relationships with colleagues, partners and competitors despite the highest highs and lowest lows.

Ed also shares what he’s learned as the leader of a 40-person team, including the importance of compassion, transparency and a clear mission shared by all employees.

Elliott Parker isn’t perfect, and he’s happy to admit it.

As some become more advanced in their career, they feel they're not in a position to make a lot of mistakes. As a result of that mindset, Elliott believes people "actually render [themselves] fragile. We benefit from learning and from making mistakes.” And, a certain degree of risk and variability are central to this mindset.

After earning his MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles, Elliott wanted a career where he could both learn and help others. That’s exactly what he does now as CEO of High Alpha Innovation, a venture capital, and private equity firm focused on scaling software companies.

On this episode of Human Resolve, Elliott discusses the importance of leading with love, learning from mistakes, and combining the traits of a team and a family. He also reflects on High Alpha Innovation’s values, how his team has gotten through COVID-19 and why helping others get their job done helps him with his own work.