Best Adam Gellert Podcasts (2025)

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Ep. 26 - You Don’t Win Alone: Building High-Trust, High-Velocity Teams with Nora Beatty 37:46

5d ago37:46

37:46

In this episode, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Nora Beatty, VP of People Operations at Cohere, to unpack how small, high-trust teams scale in high-stakes environments. Nora shares her journey from Cohere’s 40-person startup stage to its 500-person rocketship rise—and what she’s learned about leadership, mentorship, and risk along the way. Together, …

1
Ep. 24 - Culture, Coaching, and the People Lever: What Founders Get Wrong About HR with Miranda Pokoy 36:04

19d ago36:04

36:04

In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Miranda Pokoy, SVP of People Success at Partnerize, to explore how HR can be a powerful driver of business performance. Miranda shares her journey from administrative assistant to executive leadership, and the strategic mindset shift that took HR from policy enforcer to bu…

1
Ep. 24 - Taking on Google: The People Strategy Behind Ecobee’s David vs. Goliath Win with Penny Farinha 39:09

1M ago39:09

39:09

In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Penny Farinha, former VP of People at Ecobee, to unpack what it really takes to scale a mission-driven startup through every phase of growth—without losing your soul (or your best people). Penny shares the behind-the-scenes story of how Ecobee went from 75 employees to a b…

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Ep. 23 - Hiring Fast, Hiring Smart: Rethinking Recruitment in Startups with Adam Gellert 34:45

2M ago34:45

34:45

In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Adam Gellert, founder of Linkus Group and Hypo, to talk all things hiring—from building high-performing teams to breaking outdated recruitment myths. Adam shares what it really takes to find top-tier talent in startups, why the "hire slow, fire fast" mantra is broken, and …

1
Ep. 22 - From DNA to Millions: Scaling, Exiting, and Playing the Long Game with Adrian Salamunovic 40:27

2M ago40:27

40:27

In this high-energy episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd sits down with serial entrepreneur and author Adrian Salamunovic for a raw, real, and wisdom-packed conversation on what it takes to build—and exit—category-defining companies. Adrian shares the behind-the-scenes journey from selling his first business at 21 to founding DNA11 and Canv…

1
Ep.21 - Scaling Through Chaos: Why Startups Need Clarity, Not Corporate Playbooks with Ali Farrell 42:21

2M ago42:21

42:21

In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, host Fahd Alhattab sits down with three-time Chief People Officer Ali Farrell, currently CPO at Apprentice, to unpack what it really takes to build high-performing teams in fast-growth startups. Ali brings a rare blend of corporate, VC-backed, PE-backed, and bootstrapped startup experience—and she’s n…

1
Season Two Kickoff - David vs Goliath: How Small Teams Win Big 5:14

3M ago5:14

5:14

In this season opener of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sets the stage for a new narrative—one centered around the underdogs. Drawing inspiration from the classic David vs. Goliath story, Fahd explores why small, scrappy teams often outperform their larger, better-resourced competitors. Using Google's historic win over Overture as a lau…

1
Ali Kaizer - Managing Recruiting as a Sales Function 48:50

1+ y ago48:50

48:50

Alison is the Head of Talent at Golden Ventures. She supports the portfolio in building effective and scalable talent programs in today’s competitive market. Most recently, Ali led Talent at food-tech startup Lunchbox, where she grew the team from 50 to 250 North American team members. Before this, she was the first Talent Acquisition hire at Ritua…

1
Shawna Stewart - Talent Mobility 37:18

1+ y ago37:18

37:18

Shawna Stewart is a transformative People & Operations leader with over 10 years of experience. She champions a people-first culture, developing employee-focused programs that boost productivity. Key player in the acquisition of MarTech startup PostBeyond, Shawna’s contributions to HR and operational effectiveness have earned her accolades from ind…

1
Andrea Bartlett - Career Cushioning 31:19

1+ y ago31:19

31:19

Building a career that is focused on people, Andrea believes that businesses should understand their employee journey as well as they know the client journey and product roadmap. Andrea brings Human Resources experience in both public and private organizations, in industries including wholesale distribution, financial services, hospitality, biophar…

1
Laura Lillie - Human Design at Work 41:49

1+ y ago41:49

41:49

A British born adventure seeker who moved to Canada on a whim without any friends, family or even a home. I've grown my career from HR Assistant to Head of HR and I love Dogs, any and all dogs. Don't mind cats either. I empower first time and middle managers through the transition into manager with confidence and skills to drive results quickly. Af…

1
Abby Goldstein - Hiring is Easy...at Least it Should Be 33:48

1+ y ago33:48

33:48

Abby brings a decade of expertise to the hiring industry as the Lead Recruiter at the Linkus Group. Throughout her professional journey, she has been unwaveringly committed to facilitating the growth of hundreds of small companies and Canadian startups by building robust teams from pre-seed/ bootstrapped until they are ready to exit. Commencing her…

1
Ben Wise - People Problems vs Situation Problems 40:47

1+ y ago40:47

40:47

Ben Wise is a 15 year advertising industry veteran who has held successive sales and leadership roles at Google, where he is currently the Head of Programmatic Media working with the largest agencies and brands in Canada. Ben is active in his community where he serves on the Board of the Daily Bread Food Bank and recently completed a two year term …

1
Chengeer Lee - Why My Offer Was Rejected 51:47

1+ y ago51:47

51:47

Chengeer Lee is a Transformation Coach who is helping leaders and founders in the tech industry to build Unshakeable Confidence and fulfill their Life Purpose. By day he builds teams that build world-class software. By night he builds people who want to change the world. Join Adam Gellert and Chengeer Lee on Offer Accepted. Connect with Chengeer he…

1
Ep. 20 EmpowerED - A Bottom Up Approach to Employee Development with Eva Manole 56:23

1+ y ago56:23

56:23

In episode 20, Eva shares her use of a product led mindset for developing new strategies of learning and development at Fullscript with about 800 employees. She dives into how the traditional models of learning and development are not always agile or adaptive especially with the rise of AI, remote and hybrid work environments. Eva dives into a new …

1
Yiorgos Boudouris - Paid Interview Assignments 38:44

1+ y ago38:44

38:44

Yiorgos is a Toronto-based people and talent leader with 15 years of experience building teams in various industries. Currently, Yiorgos leads people and talent at Tiny Mile, a start-up that deploys remotely piloted electric sidewalk robots that provide a safe, contactless delivery option. With Tiny Mile, Yiorgos facilitates a human-centred process…

1
Offer Accepted Intro 2:11

1+ y ago2:11

2:11

Introducing "Offer Accepted" - Your Ultimate Podcast for Modern Hiring Strategies! I'm thrilled to announce the launch of "Offer Accepted," a groundbreaking podcast dedicated to revolutionizing hiring practices in today's dynamic world. In each episode, we unravel the mysteries of the hiring universe by dissecting viral hiring posts from industry e…

1
Ep. 19 - Leading with Purpose: Unveiling the Secrets of Impactful Leadership with Andre Fernandez 1:24:04

1+ y ago1:24:04

1:24:04

In episode 19, Andre dives into how he found his way into creating a socially impactful business while sharing valuable lessons and principles that he embraced on his journey to success as a leader. From letting go of micro details to building high performing teams and influencing decision making processes, discover some actionable insights that wi…

1
Ep. 18 - What got you here won’t get you there with Jonah Midanik 1:07:38

2y ago1:07:38

1:07:38

In episode 18, Jonah Midanik shares his journey and experience in a growth mindset of recognizing that ‘what got you here won’t get you there. He has been lucky enough to have seen the startup journey from a variety of perspectives: as a successful bootstrapped founder/CEO, having helped launch new corporate divisions at BigCo, and as the founder/C…

1
Ep. 17 Breaking the Glass Ceiling/Inspiring Women Leaders in Tech Startups with Jeanette Dorazio 1:13:30

2+ y ago1:13:30

1:13:30

Jeanette Dorazio, CEO of Leadpages, a no-code website and landing page builder. She has had various executive-level positions at leading organizations, including Oracle, 8thBridge, Verifone, and Solera. Jeanette’s passion comes from breaking down barriers and championing the inclusion and success of women in STEM fields as female leaders in tech. I…

1
Ep. 16 - Creating Talent Strategies with Krista Skalde 1:09:45

2+ y ago1:09:45

1:09:45

On this episode we look at organizational systems and how to think when designing the organizational structure. Realizing that it should not be designed from a people centric place but rather around the needs and direction of your business. It’s important to be mindful when you do design around people and whether it is sustainable long term. Krista…

1
Ep. 15 - The Work of a Startup CEO with Kyle Racki 1:04:30

2+ y ago1:04:30

1:04:30

Kyle Racki, the co-founder and CEO of Proposify, Kyle helps thousands of businesses remove the bottleneck of proposals and get more visibility into the close. In true serial entrepreneur form, Kyle also co-host his own podcast, The Racki and Symes Podcast, where he discusses ideas and strategies to push through growth. Kyle got his start in marketi…

1
Ep. 14 - Leading Effective Teams in a Remote Environment with Natalie Furness 1:09:11

2+ y ago1:09:11

1:09:11

Natalie Furness, CEO of RevOps Automated and Revenue Operations Consultant shares her journey and learnings along the way onto remote work and falling into the world of operations. She speaks of finding your people through value alignment for both the work you do and the work environment you prefer. Though she’s the biggest remote work proponent, s…

1
Ep. 13 - The Value of Vision for Employee Engagement and Success with Chris Williams 56:27

2+ y ago56:27

56:27

Chris Williams, former VP of HR at Microsoft has over 40 years of experience building and leading teams. Through his journey, starting from installing car stereos and while being pulled into firing employees because of his people skills, to eventually transitioning to a computer science and going on to start a consulting business before selling it …

1
Ep. 12 - Finding Purpose In Your Work That Drives You with Florent Schmahl 56:04

2+ y ago56:04

56:04

Florent Schmahl, Chief of Staff of highly purposeful agtech company, Growcer, shares his journey and learnings along the way as he shifted his work from being focused on developing hard skills to now pursuing purposeful work. Over the years he’s has time to gather his insights on finding the work that drives you and how important it is in today’s l…

1
Ep. 11 - The importance of creating a people-first company with Shawna Stewart 1:00:57

2+ y ago1:00:57

1:00:57

Today we have Shawna Stewart on the podcast, VP of People and Operations at Railz Financial. Shawna is truly a people-focused leader, she has extensive background in psychology and organizational behaviour and experience involving performance management, full scope operational effectiveness, succession planning, employee engagement and talent devel…

1
Ep. 10 - How Leaders Build Company Culture with Laura Mindorff 59:22

2+ y ago59:22

59:22

Laura Mindorff is the brilliant COO at Wicket. Laura has developed years of experience under her belt and shares her very tactical advice on how to create effective culture through things like rituals, culture champions, and what metrics to watch out for to check-in on your progress. I’m so happy to bring you this conversation because of Laura’s pu…

1
Ep. 9 Why Candidate Experience Matters When Building Your Team with Julia Fulton 1:04:23

2+ y ago1:04:23

1:04:23

In episode 9, Julia gives us insight into how she uses her humane recruiting approach to create a reputable employment brand that plays big dividends both inside and outside the company. She offers actionable tips on how to initiate trust on a team, how to lead the recruitment process to attract candidates with best practices, and how to show up in…

1
Ep. 8 - Productive Conflict with Shawn MacDonell 1:14:58

2+ y ago1:14:58

1:14:58

Shawn MacDonell shares his unconventional story of saying yes to experiences from sports coaching, to facilitating tools for teaching in Columbia, to branding strategy, to professional coaching, to founding a creative agency. He speaks to how all of these offered him the experience of not being afraid of conflict and instead reframing it to curiosi…

1
Ep. 7 - How to Foster a Culture of Development to Improve Your Team’s Performance with Brittany Forsyth 50:14

3y ago50:14

50:14

What does leadership mean to you? Ex-Shopify Chief Talent Officer Brittany Forsyth, used to think it was the same thing as management. Over the years and various leadership roles she realized it means creating a following and driving that following towards a common shared goal. In episode 7 she gives us insight into how she recognized her natural l…

1
Ep. 6 - Team Composition: How to Attract and Hire Stars Employees with Amanda Gordon 56:21

3y ago56:21

56:21

“If you are building a talent strategy that’s based on a sample you saw online or a great book you read, you will not match what your business needs and so I think whenever I’m doing any kind of talent strategy or when I was consulting I was always asking people “what’re your business goals” and it was shocking to me where I would look then at the …

1
Ep. 5 - Create a Compelling All-Encompassing Vision with Sam Witherspoon (CEO of IMRSV Data Labs) 1:09:58

3y ago1:09:58

1:09:58

Have you ever been in a position where you didn’t feel proud of what you were doing in your career? Has your chosen field ever caused you emotional distress? Sam Witherspoon is the founder and CEO of IMRSV Data Labs, a company dedicated to increasing the safety and security of Canada and its allies through the effective, transparent use of data. In…

1
Ep. 4 - What Motivates People? Understanding Motivation in the Workplace with Cassy Aite (Co-Founder and CEO of Hoppier) 50:10

3y ago50:10

50:10

We often have the preconceived notion that leaders have to treat everyone the same in order to be fair. However in truth, managers need to respect everyone’s individual needs and motivators. On episode #4, Cassy Aite, the co-founder and CEO of Hoppier, shares how different values, environments and involvement can influence your employees’ motivatio…

1
Ep. 3 - How You Can Build a Culture of Leadership at Work with Aydin Mirzaee (Co-Founder and CEO of Fellow.APP and Creator of the SuperManagers Podcast) 49:55

3y ago49:55

49:55

Did you know that 70% of employee retention is based on their manager and no other factor? People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers. Aydin Mirzaee is the co-founder and CEO of Fellow.app, a meeting productivity platform that helps organizations have fewer, better meetings. In this episode Aydin talks about how managers can influence team perfor…

1
Ep. 2 - Why Your Leadership Won't be Effective Without Psychological Safety with Craig Handy (Team Lead at Shopify, Founder of Jameson Strategies Consulting) 58:08

3y ago58:08

58:08

When you’re busy fighting for survival is there any room for growth? ‍When any failure means disaster, the stakes are too high for you to take risks — this means you’ll always choose the safe route.‍ Craig Handy leads a Global Revenue Operations team at Shopify, a fast growing startup, and he is also the founder of Jameson Strategies, his own RevOp…

1
Ep. 1 - The Future of Leadership and Management with Michael Johnson (President & CEO, Multiview Financials) 56:51

3y ago56:51

56:51

“We ultimately believe that it’s our role as leaders, as coaches, to find out what about that individual is going to make them fulfilled and be able to achieve their best outcomes in both work and in life and in order to do that you have to be radically committed to that employee.” - Michael Johnson Do managers always have a negative reaction when …

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The Beginning of Unicorn Leaders 10:34

3y ago10:34

10:34

Fahd is a consultant, coach, leadership speaker, and millennial workplace expert who teaches new managers how to lead multi-generational teams. He specializes in transformative leadership and team dynamics training for high-growth startups. He created this podcast to take a deep dive into the world of building a billion-dollar company (a unicorn) i…

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