Podcast
The Moss HR Minute
Hosted by Nicole Moss · EN
The Moss HR Minute brings real conversations about building and managing teams to you — one Moss Minute at a time!
Hosted by Nicole Moss, this podcast features entrepreneurs and subject matter experts from Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Phoenix, and beyond. What started as local conversations in Easton Park has evolved alongside Moss Consulting into a broader discussion focused on the people side of business.
Each episode is fast, focused, and practical. Industry leaders answer five timely questions in one Moss Minute, sharing real-world insight on leadership, culture, compliance, growth, and the challenges business owners are navigating right now.
Same energy. Same solutions-focused approach. Expanded reach.
Whether you’re a founder, operator, or business leader, The Moss HR Minute is your place for clear perspective, actionable ideas, and conversations that get straight to the point — with no fluff.
Tune in, subscribe, and build better teams one Moss Minute at a time 🎧✨
53episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The HR Red Flags, Myths, and First Instincts Every Business Owner Needs to Know Before Their Next Hire
3d ago00:09:10Tap to summarizeSend us Fan Mail"If it's not documented, it might as well have never happened." — and that is just one of the things two HR interns got exactly right in this episode.In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Avery Walters and Cayman Hasseberg — two members of the 2026 Moss Consulting summer intern team — for the fastest, most no-nonsense HR breakdown the show has produced yet. No slides. No fluff. Just six rapid-fire rounds of HR truth that every business owner needs to hear.From employment law myths to real-time red flags to the questions most leaders avoid until it is too late, Avery and Cayman prove that the next generation of HR professionals is arriving sharper, more grounded, and more ready than most people expect.Key topics discussed in this episode:Myth or Fact — the most commonly misunderstood HR basics, including at-will employment, PTO laws, and 1099 misclassificationFirst Instinct — how to respond when an employee quits by text, two people can't get along, overtime has been miscalculated, or a new hire is struggling at 30 daysHR Red Flags — the phrases and situations that should immediately put any business owner on alert, including gut-feeling hiring, undocumented practices, and paying under the tableThis or That — skills versus attitude, annual reviews versus ongoing check-ins, fast hire versus right hire, and the truth about remote versus hybrid versus in-officeThe Two Truths of HR — what people consistently get wrong about the profession and what is genuinely harder than it looksIntern Takes — what surprised Avery and Cayman most about HR in their first week and a half, what they are already carrying forward, and how they would finish the sentence "Good HR feels like..."Packed with honest intern insights, real-world examples, and a bit of behind-the-scenes humor, this episode delivers a high-value breakdown of essential business operations—all at top speed.Book time with Nicole to talk about your HR needs: https://mossconsulting.com/book-a-free-consultationLearn more about Moss Consulting HR Services: https://www.mossconsulting.comFollow the show: @TheMossHRMinute
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Fractional HR Trends, Employee Relations, and the Future of the Industry with Cayman Hasseberg
1w ago00:06:48Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThe students studying HR right now are watching the industry shift happen in real time — and one of them is already positioning herself ahead of it.In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Cayman Hasseberg, HR Intern on the 2026 Moss Consulting summer intern team, with Avery Walters stepping in as co-host. Cayman is a rising senior at the University of Oklahoma studying human resources with a minor in business management — and what she observed inside Moss Consulting in just two weeks cuts straight to the heart of where the HR industry is headed.Her focus is employee relations and risk management, the side of HR that keeps businesses protected, people supported, and teams moving without unnecessary disruption. Spending her summer inside a fractional HR firm is giving her a front-row seat to what that work looks like at scale — across dozens of clients, industries, and people challenges happening all at once.Key topics discussed in this episode:What drew Cayman into HR — the people side, the leadership dynamics, and the employee relations work that keeps businesses running smoothlyWhat surprised her most about consulting HR: the pace, the volume of clients, and how consistently the Moss team delivers under pressureThe difference between internal and consulting HR from the perspective of someone experiencing both for the first timeThe emerging trend both Cayman and Avery independently identified: internal HR moving out and fractional consulting HR moving in — faster than most business owners realizeNicole's take on why HR deserves a seat at the leadership table and what it actually takes to earn itWhy the only real way to learn HR is to be in the room when things get uncomfortable — and why that is exactly the pointWhere Cayman hopes to take her career and what this internship is already showing her about the path forwardThis episode is for business owners who want to understand where HR is heading and for anyone early in their HR career who is trying to figure out what the next five years actually look like. Cayman brings a grounded, curious, and genuinely insightful perspective — and Nicole's closing take on human capital and leadership is one of the most compelling arguments for elevating HR that the show has delivered.Book time with Nicole to talk about your HR needs: https://mossconsulting.com/book-a-free-consultationLearn more about Moss Consulting HR Services: https://www.mossconsulting.comFollow the show: @TheMossHRMinute
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Why Internal HR Is Quietly Being Replaced & What It Means for Business Owners with Avery Walters
1w ago00:05:56Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThe next generation of HR professionals is already watching the industry shift in real time — and one intern saw it coming before she even finished her second week.In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Avery Walters, HR Intern on the 2026 Moss Consulting summer intern team, with Evie Fisher returning as co-host. Avery is studying human resources and management and came into this internship with real internal HR experience — which makes her perspective on the consulting model sharper and more grounded than most people expect from someone just starting out.What she noticed almost immediately is something Nicole has been saying for years: the consulting model is not a trend. It is where HR is heading, and it is moving faster than anyone anticipated.Key topics discussed in this episode:What drew Avery to people and culture inside a business — and why the human side of the workplace has always been her focusThe real difference between internal HR and consulting HR, from someone who has experienced both firsthandWhat it was like to walk into Moss Consulting on day one — including meeting a client and seeing the team dynamic up closeThe emerging trend Avery is already observing: internal HR departments moving out and fractional consulting HR moving inWhy Nicole believes every HR professional deserves a seat at the leadership table — and what it actually takes to get thereWhat HR school teaches you versus what you only learn by being in the room when things get hardWhere Avery hopes to take her career and why starting on the consulting side gives her an uncommon foundationThis episode is for business owners who are curious about where HR is headed, and for HR professionals at any stage who want a reminder of why the work they do matters far beyond the policies and the paperwork. Nicole's take on human capital, leadership, and the real weight of what HR manages is one of the most honest and grounded moments the show has delivered within one Moss Minute.Book time with Nicole to talk about your HR needs: https://mossconsulting.com/book-a-free-consultationLearn more about Moss Consulting HR Services: https://www.mossconsulting.comFollow the show: @TheMossHRMinute
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Intern Spotlight: Marketing Trends, Short-Form Content Strategy & Company Culture with Evie Fisher
2w ago00:06:21Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThe best marketing insight of the year might have come from a second-week intern — and it is worth every business owner's attention.In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Evie Fisher, Marketing and PR Intern on the 2026 Moss Consulting summer intern team, with Avery Walters stepping in as co-host. The camera gets turned on one of their own for a candid, energetic conversation about marketing trends, team culture, content creation, and what it actually feels like to learn a business from the inside out.Evie is studying strategic communication with a minor in psychology and is spending her summer helping build the Moss Consulting intern website, producing weekly content, and getting hands-on experience alongside the full Moss team. In just two weeks, she has already picked up on something that many established businesses are still figuring out.Key topics discussed in this episode:What drew Evie to strategic communication and why the intersection of creativity, research, and people made it the right fitWhat it is actually like to be an intern at Moss Consulting — the pace, the access, and what surprised her most about the working worldWhy short-form, low-effort, authentic content is outperforming polished high-production marketing and what that means for how companies tell their storyHow Moss Consulting's intern team is building a content hub from the ground up — including a blog, weekly reflections, and behind-the-scenes videoWhat Evie noticed about Moss Consulting's team culture in just two weeks and why it stood outWhere marketing is headed and what business owners should be paying attention to right nowWhat the intern experience has revealed about the direction Evie wants to take her careerThis episode is a reminder that the freshest, most honest perspective in the room is sometimes the one that just walked in the door. For business owners thinking about how to show up authentically online, build a team culture worth talking about, and attract the next generation of talent, this conversation delivers all three within one Moss Minute.Book time with Nicole to talk about your HR needs: https://mossconsulting.com/book-a-free-consultationLearn more about Moss Consulting HR Services: https://www.mossconsulting.comFollow the show: @TheMossHRMinute
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Why a Long Resume and the Right Skills Are Not Enough to Find the Right Hire with Wesley Jobes
2w ago00:16:59Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailYou hired a recruiter. They filled the role. Then the person left — and nobody could tell you why.In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Wesley Jobes, Recruiting Manager at Moss Consulting, and intern co-host Evie Fisher for an honest, practical conversation about what is genuinely broken in traditional recruiting — and what a better model actually looks like in practice.Wesley brings over 20 years of HR and talent acquisition experience to this conversation, including building paid apprenticeship programs in California manufacturing plants and launching a prison-to-employment roofing pipeline in Texas that is still running today. Her approach to recruiting is rooted in something most agencies skip entirely: genuine care for people, deep knowledge of company culture, and staying invested long after the offer letter is signed.Key topics discussed in this episode:Wesley's background — from HR specialist to recruiting manager and why the people side of every role kept pulling her toward talent acquisitionThe prison apprenticeship program Wesley built that gave people a job, a skill, and a second chance — and why it still runs todayWhat is fundamentally broken about traditional commission-based recruiting and why it leaves both companies and candidates without the full pictureWhy knowing a client's culture, values, and onboarding process before sourcing a single candidate changes everything about who gets throughHow Moss Consulting builds custom scorecards around each client's values — and why no two should ever look exactly the sameWhat the candidate experience looks like when the recruiter is an extension of the internal HR team rather than an outside vendorWhy recruiting and HR being handled by the same team directly improves retention after the hireWhat owners actually feel differently when the people who recruited their candidate are the same people supporting that employee long-termHow to start a conversation with Moss Consulting about growing your teamThis episode is essential listening for any founder or operator who has been burned by a recruiting process that felt transactional, impersonal, or disconnected from the actual needs of their business. Wesley reframes what recruiting can look like when it is done with intention, structure, and genuine investment in the outcome — within one Moss Minute at a time.Contact Moss ConsultingBook time with Nicole to talk about your HR needs:https://mossconsulting.com/book-a-free-consultationLearn more about Moss Consulting HR Services:www.mossconsulting.comFollow the show@TheMossHRMinute
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What Smart Recruiters Know About Hiring in 2026 That Most Business Owners Haven't Figured Out Yet
3w ago00:09:52Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailYour job posting is up. The applications are coming in. So why are you still losing great candidates before they ever make it to an offer?In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Wesley Jobes, Recruiting Manager at Moss Consulting, and intern host Evie Fisher for a rapid-fire, no-sugarcoating breakdown of the 10 recruiting trends getting the most attention in 2026.Nicole and Wesley go thumbs up or thumbs down on each trend — and back every take with the kind of real-world insight that only comes from being in the recruiting trenches every day. This is one of the most honest, practical conversations the show has had about what is and isn't working in hiring right now.Key topics discussed in this episode:AI-powered candidate screening — useful tool or shortcut that costs you your best hire?Skills-based hiring and why dropping degree requirements could immediately expand your talent poolGhost jobs and why posting roles you're not actually filling is quietly destroying your employer brandRecruiter layoffs and TA restructuring — when it makes strategic sense and when it backfiresAgentic AI that sources and schedules candidates autonomously — and where the human element still has to stayPay transparency laws and why hiding your salary range is one of the most expensive mistakes you can makeThe ATS candidate experience problem — long applications, automated rejections, and zero follow-upCandidate ghosting in a cooling market and what recruiters actually think about itInternal mobility versus external hiring and why your best next hire might already be on your payrollDiverse hiring pipelines after recent court decisions and why fresh perspectives are a business strategy, not a checkboxThis episode is essential for any founder, operator, or hiring manager who wants to build a smarter, more competitive recruiting process in 2026 — without wasting time, budget, or the goodwill of the candidates you actually want.Book time with Nicole to talk about your HR needs: https://mossconsulting.com/book-a-free-consultationLearn more about Moss Consulting HR Services: https://www.mossconsulting.comFollow the show: @TheMossHRMinute
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How We Scaled Moss Consulting Beyond 55 Active Corporate Clients Using 6 Core Pillars
4w ago00:26:11Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailShe helps hundreds of business owners get their people operations right — then had to sit down and do the same for her own company.In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, the script gets flipped. Michele Spiezia — Process Architect, People Person, and General Manager of Ellysium Racing — takes over the host chair and puts Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, in the hot seat for a raw, honest, and genuinely entertaining conversation about what it actually takes to build and scale an HR business from the inside out.Nicole shares the origin story of Moss Consulting, the moment she realized her systems couldn't keep up with her growth, and what it looked like to implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) inside an HR company that was already helping everyone else solve their people problems.Key topics discussed in this episode:How Moss Consulting started — the conversation that launched everything and what problem Nicole was really trying to solveWhy genuine relationship and trust-building has been the core scaling strategy behind Moss Consulting's growth to 55+ clientsThe breaking point moment when a cell phone and an email inbox stopped being enough — and how HubSpot saved the operationWhat the "rizz" in HR actually is and why Nicole refuses to call it a soft skillHow Moss Consulting interviews and what the three-yes rule means for building a team with the right intangiblesWhat EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) is and why Nicole recommends it without hesitation to any founder still figuring it out as they goWhat happened when Nicole's own leadership team gave her a performance review — and what it revealedWhy the books Traction and Good to Great belong on every founder's shelf before they ever talk to an EOS implementerWhat the perfect Moss Consulting client actually looks like — and why it's simpler than most founders thinkThis episode is essential listening for any founder or operator who has been running on instinct, momentum, and sheer will — and is starting to wonder if there's a better way to build. Nicole delivers the kind of honesty about her own company that most business owners are too guarded to share publicly. It is a conversation about courage, clarity, and what it actually means to build something real.Book time with Nicole to talk about your HR needs:https://mossconsulting.com/book-a-free-consultationLearn more about Moss Consulting HR Services:https://www.mossconsulting.comFollow the show:@TheMossHRMinute
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How to Build Business Systems That Hold Up Under Pressure with Michele Spiezia
Jul 700:32:50Tap to summarizeSend us Fan Mail"Don't blame the lettuce." If your team is struggling, the problem probably started long before you noticed — and the fix is more systemic than you think.In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Michele Spiezia — Process Architect, People Person, and General Manager of Ellysium Racing — for one of the most wide-ranging and thought-provoking conversations the show has had yet.Michele has spent her career turning chaos into systems across industries ranging from restaurants and film to tech startups, Montessori education, and professional motorsport. She breaks down what process architecture really means, how to build teams that don't fall apart under pressure, and why most businesses get the people side wrong long before they realize it.Key topics discussed in this episode:What process architecture actually is — and why every growing business needs it before they think they doHuman-first leadership in an increasingly automated world and why it matters more than everThe VUCA framework (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) and how to build a team and mindset that functions inside that realityHyper-personalization and its real impact on the modern workforce and team collaborationWhat Gen Z's resistance to AI is actually signaling — and what leaders should do about itWhy critical thinking has become the scarcest and most valuable skill in today's workplaceThe story behind Ellysium EDU — using motorsport as a context to teach the foundational skills that classrooms are no longer buildingCan we versus should we: the question every leader needs to ask before deploying new technology or processesThis episode is essential listening for founders, operators, and people leaders who are tired of systems that collapse the moment things accelerate — and who want a sharper framework for building teams, processes, and cultures that hold up under real pressure. Michele brings the kind of hard-won, cross-industry clarity that you rarely hear in one conversation.Connect with Michele Spiezia: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelespiezia/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewholestory/ Website: https://www.ellysium.coContact Moss ConsultingBook time with Nicole to talk about your HR needs:https://mossconsulting.com/book-a-free-consultationLearn more about Moss Consulting HR Services:www.mossconsulting.comFollow the show:@TheMossHRMinute
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What Real HR Internships Look Like in 2026 — Inside Moss Consulting's Summer Program
Jul 200:08:21Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailWhat does a modern corporate internship look like when you completely dismantle the legacy coffee-run stigma and hand young professionals the keys to live human resources pipelines? In this special edition of The Moss HR Minute, Moss Consulting HR Services hands the microphones over to their Summer 2026 Intern Team. Hosted by Evie Fisher (Strategic Communication & Marketing) alongside Avery Walters (Management & HR) and Cayman Hasseberg (HR & Business Management), this episode pulls back the curtain on the next generation of workforce talent. The trio shares an inside look at navigating high-growth organizational scaling from the ground floor. From processing live small business payroll to observing real-time employee relations and joining co-founders on-site with clients on day one, the interns unpack how bridging the gap between classroom theory and chaotic corporate curveballs reshapes their career trajectory. Key topics discussed in this episode include:Busting the Intern Myth: Shifting from baseline administrative errands to executing hands-on project workflows across client communications, content development, and payroll management. The Frontera Connection: How strong professional networks and trusted partnerships with Frontera Search Partners sparked the bridge to Moss Consulting. Classroom Theory vs. Corporate Curveballs: Why managing unexpected operational shifts and joining executive leadership on-site outpaces textbook case studies. Dismantling the Cold Corporate Stigma: Redefining human resources from a rigid, "robotic" compliance checklist into an empathetic, relationship-driven culture. Navigating the Remote Communication Field: Mastering virtual time management, project deadlines, and proactive accountability within an interconnected hybrid environment. Looking Ahead to the Summer Summit: The excitement surrounding multi-state team alignment, executive sourcing with the head of recruiting, and face-to-face team connection. The 2026 intern team details how building cross-functional trust and peer-to-peer collaboration forms their foundational professional standard, proving that future-proofing your human capital begins by investing deeply in early-career minds.Contact Moss ConsultingBook time with Nicole to talk about your HR needs:https://mossconsulting.com/book-a-free-consultationLearn more about Moss Consulting HR Services:www.mossconsulting.comFollow the show:@TheMossHRMinute
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Why Your Best Employee Might Be Your Worst Promotion (And What to Do Instead) with Frank Koen
Jun 3000:40:47Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailWhat happens to your business continuity when you mistake an administrative logistics problem for a core human resources strategy? In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Frank Koen, RPh, President of CloudRx.com. Frank is a premier healthcare and pharmacy operations executive who has scaled multi-site networks across the country, transitioning his deep enterprise execution wisdom from major brands like Albertsons and Walgreens directly to the small business sector.The conversation targets the sharp operational friction points that erupt when scaling companies prematurely promote high-performing operators into management roles without a stabilized training support structure. Frank highlights the tactical value of structured data visibility, breaking down his proprietary framework to help small business owners automate repetitive, non-value-add tasks so their specialized talent can practice at the absolute top of their license.Key topics discussed in this episode include:The Operator Promotion Trap: Why pushing your fastest baseline executor into a leadership vacancy without structural resources costs you both positions.The 40-20-40 Strategic Rule: Balancing your organizational timeline by committing 40% to deliberate planning, 20% to execution, and 40% to deep performance review cycles.Providing True North Accountability: Eliminating structural ambiguity so that your frontline staff clearly understand the core metric driving your company's survival.The Change Curve and Uncertainty Fear: Recognizing that an exodus of talent isn't caused by a fear of operational change, but rather by leadership's lack of transparency.Automating Repetitive Administrative Tasks: Deploying artificial intelligence and robotic process automation (RPA) to handle non-value-add processes, allowing specialized workers to spend more time engaging customers.The Core Division of HR and Recruiting: Unpacking the unique, separate skill sets required to navigate high-volume candidate sourcing without overwhelming your baseline human resource compliance teams.Frank reveals how treating service delivery as a dynamic, plan-driven science can radically accelerate multi-state market expansion, proving that operational clarity is an essential prerequisite to long-term profitability and team trust.Guest Information Frank Koen, RPh, President of CloudRx.com Email: frank@cloudrx.com Phone: (630) 329-9448 Website: cloudrx.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkoen/Contact Moss Consulting Book time with Nicole to talk about your HR needs: https://mossconsulting.com/book-a-free-consultationLearn more about Moss Consulting HR Services: www.mossconsulting.comFollow the show: @TheMossHRMinute
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