Culture Uncovered

In this episode of Culture Uncovered, Jena Dunay sits down with Jessica Stonebraker, Head of People and Culture at MUNICIPAL APPAREL to explore what it's like to build culture at a fast-scaling, celebrity-backed apparel brand co-founded by Mark Wahlberg. Jessica shares how she joined Municipal as a consultant on the recruitment side when the company had just 12-13 employees, and how that role grew into building the people and culture function from the ground up. The conversation dives into th...

In this episode of Culture Uncovered, Jena Dunay sits down with Chris Gros, Chief People Officer of Crimson Phoenix, to explore what it's like to build culture at a fast-growing government contractor supporting the intelligence community and Special Operations Command. Chris shares how Crimson Phoenix grew through the acquisition and integration of seven smaller companies, and the challenge of creating one shared "Crimson way" while maintaining the personal touch and entrepreneurial spirit of...

In this episode of Culture Uncovered, Jena Dunay sits down with Rick Winter, Chief People Officer of RWA Wealth Partners, to explore what it's like to build culture at one of the largest women-led independent wealth management firms in the US, formed through the 2023 merger of two long-established companies. Rick shares how he joined RWA shortly after CEO Michelle Knight took the helm, and what it took to blend two organizations with distinct histories — Aspiriant Investments and Ropes Wealth...

In this episode of Culture Uncovered, Jena Dunay sits down with Maeghan Sulham, COO of DataSpring powered by CAQH, to explore what it's like to build culture at a healthcare data company operating behind the scenes of nearly every provider search and insurance claim in the country. Maeghan shares the unusual origin story behind DataSpring — a 25-year-old nonprofit collaboration among health plans now transforming into a shareholder-owned company — and how she was recruited right at that pivot...

In this episode of Culture Uncovered, Jena Dunay sits down with John Bishoff, Chief People Officer of Canopy Mortgage, to explore what it's like to build culture at a mortgage company that gives its loan officers real autonomy to run their own branches. John shares how a 17-year friendship led him to join Canopy during the COVID refinance boom, tasked with building an HR function nearly from scratch. The conversation dives into the distinction between leading with "stewardship" versus "owners...