Claim OwnershipDon't Waste the Chaos
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Welcome to Don’t Waste the Chaos - the show where bold business leadership meets real life. I'm Kerri Roberts, a former HR & Operations executive turned entrepreneur, author, and keynote speaker.
Each week, we dive into transparent conversations on:
– Strategic HR & People Operations
– Wellness & sustainable rhythms
– Female leadership & entrepreneurship
– Faith and navigating personal chaos with purpose
– Building a business (and life) that lasts
Whether you're a small business owner, team leader, or mission-driven professional, this podcast brings clarity, connection, and no-fluff insights to help you lead well, at work and at home.
This isn’t just HR talk. It’s real business strategy, candid leadership truths, and soulful success, delivered with a mix of Midwestern warmth and big-city branding chops.
Ready to turn chaos into clarity? Hit subscribe and let’s make the mess mean something.
Featured in top podcasts and business outlets. Learn more at https://kerrimroberts.com/dontwastethechaos.
99 Episodes
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Pay transparency isn’t a trend - it’s a structural shift. If sharing salary ranges makes you nervous, it’s not your employees - it’s your compensation structure. In this episode, Kerri Roberts (Strategic HR & People Ops) breaks down how to build transparent, fair pay with salary bands, job levels, and a simple rollout plan that earns trust and improves retention. You’ll learn: Why leaders avoid pay transparency (and the real risk of secrecy)How to build salary bands, career tiers, ...
If you think you “don’t need HR,” you’re probably losing money and people. In this episode, Kerri M. Roberts breaks down 5 HR failures that quietly drain small businesses - and shows you how to turn HR into a profit + culture lever in 90 days. You’ll learn: Why turnover isn’t a mystery line item (it’s 19–40% of base pay per exit)The manager effect: when leaders slip, engagement and productivity followOnboarding as a ramp plan (not paperwork) = faster time-to-productivityCompliance as a...
Employee loyalty isn’t dead - we killed it. One policy, one broken promise, one missed conversation at a time. In this solo episode, Kerri Roberts (20+ years in HR & People Ops) breaks down why trust eroded and how leaders and HR can rebuild it with practical, humble-efficient systems. What you’ll learn The “broken loyalty contract” and how policies replaced relationshipsWhy HR became the villain (and how to flip that script)The 3 things loyal employees feel: Seen, Safe, SupportedThe simp...
In Part 2, Kerri moves from revelation to application. After realizing in Part 1 that devotion to people had begun to override devotion to God, this episode lays out a simple, repeatable rhythm for leading in alignment: Structure, Stewardship, and Spirit. You’ll hear how Kerri redesigned her days (and her boundaries) to create peace, stop over-functioning, and make decisions from listening instead of pressure. If you’ve been craving handles, this is the “how.” What You’ll Learn Why structure ...
This week’s episode feels more like an unfolding than a plan. After a recent session with her coach and intuitive mentor, Kerri shares a revelation that stopped her in her tracks: Sometimes our devotion to people and outcomes quietly replaces our devotion to God. In this deeply personal conversation, Kerri explores how her vow of devotion - once her greatest strength - began to cloud her discernment in leadership, business, and life. She unpacks what it looks like to realign that loyalty upwa...
Leadership under pressure can look a lot like control. In this real, faith-informed conversation, Kerri and her husband Terry (USMC veteran & entrepreneur) unpack why trust beats micromanagement, how devotion without discernment derails good leaders, and the simple practices that help you hear the Holy Spirit, set healthy boundaries, and steward your people, brand, and resources well. You’ll walk away with a practical self-audit for trust, a 60-second focus exercise to cut distraction, an...
What happens when life changes the rules - and the identity you’ve built no longer fits? In this episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, host Kerri Roberts sits down with Matt Vincent, a two-time Highland Games World Champion, entrepreneur, author, and host of the Not Dead Yet podcast. After career-ending injuries forced him to rebuild from the ground up, Matt turned loss into purpose - creating a global movement centered on accountability, authenticity, and living a life that actually feels...
What does it really take to stay “top of mind” with your clients, colleagues, and team members? In this episode ofDon’t Waste the Chaos, I sit down with John Hall - Chief Strategist at Relevance.com, Co-Founder of Calendar.com, and bestselling author ofTop of Mind. Named EY Entrepreneur of the Year and recognized as one of the Business Journals’ Top 100 Visionaries, John is a nationally recognized thought leader on trust, influence, and time management. Together we dive into: How entre...
What happens to a team when trust takes a hit—and how do you rebuild it? In this candid solo episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, host Kerri Roberts tackles one of the most underestimated drivers of workplace culture: trust. Pulling from her own consulting experience and research from Gallup, Edelman, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kerri lays out exactly why trust is the currency of leadership and what to do when you’ve unintentionally gone bankrupt. This isn’t about perfection or sugarcoating. It’...
What happens when overstimulation quietly rewires our brains and families? In this episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, host Kerri Roberts sits down with returning guest Karen Brooks, MSW — speaker, mentor, and mental health advocate — to unpack the truth behind dopamine “addiction.” With her trademark clarity and compassion, Karen breaks down what’s really happening in our brains, why technology is such a powerful trigger, and how to build rhythms that bring balance back. If you’ve ever ...
What happens when HR touches one of the most controversial workplace topics today? In this episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, I share my candid take on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs - and why I believe companies don’t need them to build inclusive workplaces. I’ll walk you through: Why DEI initiatives exploded post-2020, and why many companies are now pulling backThe unintended risks of DEI programs (politicization, culture wars, and cancel culture)What employees actually want...
Too many business owners are grinding for years without truly paying themselves what they’re worth. Loyalty doesn’t mean self-sacrifice - and underpaying yourself is silently wrecking your finances, your business, and your culture. In this episode, Kerri Roberts pulls back the curtain on what happens when leaders don’t prioritize their own paycheck, why it’s dangerous, and how to start fixing it - before burnout, resentment, and financial stress take over. This is your wake-up cal...
Money isn’t just numbers - it’s trust, culture, and retention. In this fiery episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, Kerri Roberts exposes the hidden dangers of staying silent about money inside your business. From solo cups sparking wild rumors to leaders unknowingly breeding distrust, Kerri unpacks why financial transparency is the leadership move that keeps your people engaged, loyal, and productive. You’ll discover real stories, research-backed insights, and practical steps to shift from ...
Your values are only as strong as your hardest day. Culture isn’t built on t-shirts, swag, or pretty mission statements - it’s tested in the fire. In this week’s episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, Kerri Roberts calls out performative cultures, hollow values, and leadership that only looks good on paper. Backed by hard data and lived client experience, she lays out how to stop wasting money on surface-level “perks” and start building a culture that drives retention, engagement, and performance ...
In this episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, Kerri Roberts pulls back the curtain on one of the most overlooked and potentially business-ending - blind spots for leaders: failing to audit your HR. Whether you think HR is just “paperwork” or you’re not even sure what it’s supposed to do, this conversation will change how you see your people operations forever. From compliance gaps that could trigger lawsuits to cultural missteps that drive away your best talent, Kerri walks you through a simple, ...
Denise Tallcott spent years in the spotlight as a successful radio host - until life shifted, and so did her definition of success. Now, she’s a speaker, business coach, and host of Working Moms Redefined, helping women stop people-pleasing, start leading with purpose, and show up boldly in their lives and work. In this episode, we talk about the hard-won wisdom behind her platform: how she reclaimed her voice, embraced motherhood without losing herself, and reframed chaos as the proof of a f...
In this episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, host Kerri Roberts welcomes Emily Holdman, Managing Director at Permanent Equity a Missouri-based private equity firm investing 30-year committed capital into businesses that care deeply about what happens next. This isn’t your typical business conversation. Emily reveals how she leads during seasons of complexity without compromising care prioritizing clarity over comfort, long-term value over short-term wins, and people over posturing. From redefini...
Burnout. Detachment. Disengagement. You’re seeing it - but are you fixing it? In this episode of Don't Waste the Chaos, Kerri Roberts unpacks the alarming stats around low morale and employee burnout and why perks and pay raises won’t solve it. If trust is crumbling and your team feels “off,” this is your wake-up call. Tune in to hear: Why “quiet quitting” is really quiet hurtingThe top 3 causes of morale collapse—and how to reverse themWhat most leaders get wrong about engagement surveysThe ...
Is your business scaling with strategy or reacting in survival mode? In this unscripted episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, Kerri M. Roberts delivers a brutally honest gut check for business owners and leaders facing tough decisions. With 20 years in HR and zero tolerance for sugarcoating, Kerri breaks down what right sizing really means and why most leaders confuse it with layoffs done in panic. If you’re a founder, CEO, or team leader who wants to run a values-driven business without tanking ...
We had the dream life. Big house in the suburbs. Private school tuition. Country club status. Two high-powered careers. On paper, it looked like we had arrived. And then we walked away. In this episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, Kerri sits down with her most-requested guest (and husband), Terry Roberts, to unpack why they chose to leave behind everything they had built…money, comfort, success, for something radically different. This is the most personal, unfiltered conversation yet. They talk ...
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