PODCAST · business
People On Purpose®
by Kira La Forgia
People On Purpose, the podcast that reminds you that your business doesn’t run on policies and processes alone... it runs on people.If you’ve been with us since the On The Up & Up! days, you probably remember the tactical HR tips, the “how-to hire” episodes, and my rants about I-9s and contractors vs. employees. And don’t worry, you’ll still hear the occasional HR compliance tip. But after years of working with hundreds of small businesses, I realized something big:It’s not the systems or the SOPs that make your business work. It’s the humans behind them.So this new chapter of the podcast is about the messy middle of building a team. Think: more purpose than payroll and more community than compliance.We’re talking about what it really takes to create a workplace where people actually want to show up, not because they have to, but because they believe in what you’re building… or at the very least, because it feels great to work there.Each week, we’ll explore the people-side of sma
Episodes
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S3E7: When Marketing Is a Mystery, Trust What You Can Count On
Nobody really knows what's working in marketing right now, and Tayler Cusick Hollman, co-founder of Enji, is comfortable saying so. AI dropped a giant boulder into a dusty patch, and until the dust settles, she's putting her energy into what she can actually count on. We're breaking down: Why...
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S3E6: The Iced Coffee Problem (and what it says about culture)
Were you online enough this week? If not, here’s what you missed: A recruiter posted that bringing an iced coffee to an interview is unprofessional and would probably cost a candidate the job. The internet lost it. I had to ruin my own TikTok algorithm just to catch up on the discourse, and you...
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S3E5: Three Things That Make a Founder's Success Inevitable
Some things are just impossible to ignore, and after working with over 150 businesses at Paradigm, I’ve noticed a pattern too good to keep to myself. This week I’m talking all about the three traits I notice in founders who scale, compared to the founders who seem to stay stuck right where they...
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S3E4: The AI Mistake Putting Your Business at Risk
If you're using AI to help run your business (and let's be honest, who isn't), there's a real chance it already has access to employee information it legally shouldn't. This week we're breaking down: The three places employee data can accidentally end up in an AI's hands: your Drive settings…
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S3E3: Contractors, Culture, and Connection with Braden Drake
This week we’re joined by Braden Drake: wedding industry lawyer and longtime friend. We cover a lot in this episode, but it all keeps circling back to one idea: information used to be the thing a business could sell. Now that AI can get you information in a snap, connection is what’s really for...
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S3E2: The Founder Bottleneck Nobody Wants to Talk About
Every founder bottleneck comes down to one of two things: First, capacity. You don’t have time to do everything (and it certainly doesn’t help that what you think is a “quick 15-minute task” usually takes much longer to complete.) Then there’s clarity. Your team doesn’t have the information or...
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S3E1 - What Does Your Business Look Like Without You In It?
Can your business run without you? This question is a bit of a two-parter. First there's the day-to-day. Your team, your SOPs, your business's ability to keep things moving whether you're there or not. Then there's the bigger picture. Quality control, vision for the future, the judgment calls...
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S2E10: The Secret to $500 Million in Client Revenue? Actually Caring. With Stacia of Switch It Up Designs
This week we're sitting down with Stacia, founder and CEO of Switch It Up Designs, a seven-figure digital marketing agency, and co-founder of authority.io — a DIY ad platform that lets small business owners run expert-level ads in four clicks. Her team manages over $8 million in annual ad spend…
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S2E9: Your Team Already Knows Who Should Be Fired
Nobody wants to be in this position. But if you clicked on this one, you probably need it — and we're glad you're here. Nothing we say can make firing someone feel good, but this episode breaks down everything you need to know to ensure you're letting someone go with integrity, in a way that...
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S2E8: Why the Best Teams Feel a Little Bit Like a Cult
Not an actual cult. But kind of. The teams that show up fully, carry the business when things get hard, and genuinely care about the mission all have something in common — and it has nothing to do with skill set. In this episode, we're getting personal about a really hard year, a team member who...
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S2E7: The Real Reason Your Hires Aren't Working Out
If you've ever let someone go in their first 90 days and thought "another bad hire" — this episode is going to challenge that story. The real reason your hires aren't working out probably has less to do with them and a lot more to do with what's happening before they ever find their footing.…
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S2E6: Evolution of Culture
If something feels off in your business and you can't quite put your finger on it — culture could be the culprit. Company culture doesn't collapse overnight. It drifts over time and by the time most founders realize there's been a shift, it can be difficult to get things back on track. In this...
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S2E5: Having Difficult Conversations 2.0
If you're the one always delivering bad news, rejecting PTO requests, and handling every performance issue — even for people who don't directly report to you — there's a problem. Your managers are avoiding the hard conversations by passing the uncomfortable stuff up to you, which means you're…
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S2E4: Stop Treating HR Like a Necessary Evil
Most founders think HR = legal protection. A compliance checkbox. Something you have to “deal with” when a problem pops up — and something you try not to think about the rest of the time. But if you’re constantly putting out fires with your team, drowning in management conversations, or...
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S2E3 Is Your Need for Control Costing You Money?
Let’s talk about how the fear of letting go is often the exact thing keeping founders stuck, whether it’s at a revenue plateau, in team chaos, or just straight-up exhausted. This episode talks about why your business can’t be built on “cement” (aka rigid control) when the world is built on…
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S2E2: Falling In Love With Your Business
If the idea of “falling in love” with your business makes you roll your eyes a little…same. But hear us out: In this episode, Kira talks through what that phrase actually means: building a business that feels worth showing up for, especially when life is doing the absolute most. This episode is...
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S2E1: The Wake-Up Call That Shattered My Leadership Identity
Take a peek behind the curtain of the podcast’s brand-new direction that’s less “HR rulebook,” more “let’s talk about the wonderfully unpredictable humans running your business.” Kira shares the personal burnout story that cracked her leadership wide open, why mental health and real support…
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People On Purpose®
People On Purpose® Trailer
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Ep. 112 Sunsetting a Core Offer & Saying Goodbye to Set To Scale
Sometimes the best move in business is pulling the plug on something that’s “working” (ugh lol) This episode is more personal than usual because I’m opening up about sunsetting our Set to Scale® membership. It’s a decision that didn’t come lightly, but one that brought me more clarity (and…
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Ep. 111 Hiring your friends...? Listen to this first!
Let's answer one of the most common (and complicated) leadership questions: Should I hire someone I’m friends with? I'm sharing hard-won lessons from client stories and my own team, including what makes these hires work…or crash and burn. Plus, a behind-the-scenes look at what being locked out of...
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Ep. 110 Staying Solo & Selling Smart with Copywriter Andrea Shah
In this episode, I’m joined by copywriter Andrea Shah for a conversation about messaging that works and feels like you. We’re talking about what drives buyers to say “yes,” how to balance fear-based marketing with real connection, and why your website copy matters just as much (if not more!) than...
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Ep. 109 The No-BS Guide to Legally Paying Your Employees
Pay and wages are hands-down one of the most confusing parts of hiring for the leaders we talk to. You’re not alone if you’ve found yourself wondering, why you can’t just cut a $500 check to your assistant at the end of a big project, This episode gets right to the point to clear the fog and give...
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Ep. 108 Why “Good Culture” Falls Apart Without a Shared Vocabulary
After coming off an inspiring in-person team retreat, I’m sharing the real markers of success inside a small business. This episode explores the culture-defining power of clearly communicating expectations, especially around one of the most misunderstood (and overused) buzzwords in business:...
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Ep. 107 How I’m Using AI Without Selling My Soul (or Screwing Over My Clients)
Let’s talk about how I’m using AI in my business and my personal life to make things easier without losing the heart, ethics, or human-centered focus of my work. I’m sharing the tools I use, the workflows that save me HOURS each week, and some surprising ways AI has helped me make decisions…
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Ep. 106 How to Grow Without Losing Yourself with Sam Vander Wielen
What if your business was the least interesting thing about you? In this episode, Kira sits down with legal educator and author Sam Vander Wielen to talk about building a life-first business…one that can weather anything, from grief to burnout to the chaos of online entrepreneurship. They cover...
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Ep. 105: Business Is Weird Right Now. Here’s What I’m Doing About It.
We made it to Q2, but not without some bruises. In this solo episode, Kira shares her raw, honest take on what Q1 of 2025 taught her as a founder, leader, and business owner navigating through uncertainty (and yes, a two-star review). From finding stability in chaos to staying agile in how we...
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Ep. 104: Three Silent Mistakes Wedding and Events Pros Make With Their Team
In this episode, I’m diving into all things HR in the wedding and events world—because let’s be real, planning dreamy days doesn’t mean your backend operations should be a nightmare. We’re talking about some of the most common missteps pros make when it comes to classifying employees, setting up...
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Ep. 103 Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, & the HR Nightmare Of It All
Come gab with two pop-culture junkies with unhealthy celeb gossip addictions and an alarming depth of knowledge in HR and legal drama as we deep-dive into one of Hollywood’s juiciest legal cases. Kelli Jones and I are serving up the piping hot tea on the Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni case.…
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Ep. 102 Hiring An Assistant – What I Wish I Knew Sooner!
This week, I’m diving into my journey towards hiring an assistant (mistakes were made) and how I intentionally created their role to sidestep the pitfalls I’ve fallen into before. My 2025 “word of the year” and how it’s guiding my decisions this year; Two key tips from the business book that I…
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Ep. 101: 2024 Recap and Lessons From A Growing HR Agency Founder
This one is for the entrepreneurs who are ready to get off the roller coaster. In this episode, Kira reflects on her journey through 2024 and sets the stage for 2025 and how her word of the year for 2024 drove her takeaways from the year, which had more ups and downs than usual. We discuss: the...
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Ep. 100! Politics At Work?! Leading Through Tension With Empathy
We did it! We’ve hit the big 1-0-0! In what was originally planned to be a celebratory episode, we’re talking about something a little heavier, because we know it's been on a lot of your minds right now. And that is... How to manage your team’s post-election stress and shaky team dynamics -...
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Ep. 99: Behind The Veil Of Growing A Wedding Biz w/ Adrienna McDermott
Kira chats with Adrienna McDermott, founder of Ava and the Bee, about what it takes to build a successful wedding industry business. Adrienna shares about her journey from solopreneur to running a full-blown marketing agency – and the lessons she learned along the way about scaling with intention...
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Ep 98: Is Social Media Marketing Worth Your Time? with Emma Tessler of Ninety Five Media
Ever wondered if social media is actually making a difference in your business, or if it’s just another time suck? 🤔 In today’s episode of On The Up & Up, we answer this question with Emma Tessler, founder of Ninety-Five Media. Emma’s been in the social media game since back when Instagram was…
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Ep. 97: Putting Hours Back On The Clock With Systems Expert Rachael Mueller
Did you know the average business owner wastes 250 hours a year on tasks that could be automated? Today’s guest, Rachael Mueller, Fractional COO & Systems Expert, is here to help you reclaim that time. She’s an organization fanatic and aims to make herself obsolete for her clients by setting up...
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Ep. 96: A Look Inside Small Business Recruiting with Ashley Mina
I always tell you to hire based on the role, not just the person you want... but today, I’m eating my words! At least I’m an honest hypocrite 😉 In this episode, I’m excited to introduce you to Ashley Mina, our newest team member at Paradigm. The moment I met Ashley, I knew we had to work…
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Ep. 95: Passing The Baton: How To Develop Leaders On Your Team
Leadership is one of the biggest responsibilities you’ll take on in your career. But when you nail it, you don’t have to do it all yourself. You can actually hand off some of those people management duties to someone else (hello, delegation!). As long as you’ve set your future leaders up for...
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Ep. 94: There’s No Such Thing As a “Born Leader”
We’ve all been sold a big fat lie: that the ability to lead is something everyone’s born with. Let’s talk about this is not only untrue, but it’s also kind of dangerous. Plus, we’re also exploring the real difference between leadership and management. (Yes, they’re not the same thing, even though...
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Ep. 93: BTS People On Purpose®: The Leadership Program Built for Modern Managers
It’s here! The fifth edition of People On Purpose®, our signature leadership and management training program, has officially launched – and I want to dive into it. But don’t worry, this episode isn’t a sales pitch. I’m not here to talk you into POP, but to share the philosophy behind POP and why…
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Ep. 92: Is Your Brain Sabotaging Your Leadership Success?
If the thought of having a tough conversation with someone you manage makes you want to bolt , you’re not alone - and there’s actually a ton of science behind it. Our brains aren’t exactly wired to enjoy this part of management. In fact, they’re working over time to convince us to avoid sitting...
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Ep. 91: ‘She said what?!’ How To Build A Common Leadership Language
Most leaders don’t wake up planning to fail their teams, but sometimes it happens unintentionally. And one of the biggest culprits is a lack of common leadership language and management philosophy across the organization. When everyone’s on a different page and speaking a different language…
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Ep. 90: [Part 2] 5 Steps To Go From Manager to Trusted Leader
Last week, we kicked off a 5 day plan to go from a day-to-day manager to a trusted leader who knows how to boost your team’s profitability and productivity. If you missed that deep dive of the first 2 steps - reflect and observe - make sure you go back and catch that one too! Today, we’re…
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Ep. 89: [Part 1] 5 Steps To Go From Manager to Trusted Leader
Let’s hit the reset button - on both your management and your team. As managers and leaders, it’s our job to get everyone on the same boat and moving in the same direction. But sometimes it feels like some people are in canoes, some are on jet skis, and some are in a totally different lake. It...
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Ep. 88: Lean Into Leading: LoriAnn Kuntz on The Power Of Learning Your Leadership Style
LoriAnn Kuntz, a finance expert by trade (and a legal eagle by necessity), never planned on hiring employees. She had properly classified contractors, and that arrangement was working out just fine…until it wasn’t. As soon as she realized she needed more say over her team’s work, she knew it was...
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Ep. 87: The Missing Link In New Hire Training & Development
Ever wonder why some new hires knock it out of the park while others can’t seem to find the ball, despite having all your training videos and SOPs at their fingertips? In this episode, we’re focusing on the major mindset shift that leaders have to make - but often don’t - between sending the…
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Ep. 86: Biz Friends With Benefits: Building Community With Taryn Rachelle
How crucial is community for small business owners and entrepreneurs? So crucial that our friend Taryn Rachelle restructured her entire business into a personal brand to better serve the community she'd spent years building. In this episode, we're setting aside our usual convos on HR regulations...
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Ep. 85: [BONUS Ep!] Something About Her Trademarks With Lawyer Kelli
Our legal (Bravo) correspondent is back for some BREAKING news about our girls Ariana and Katie and their former Menu Consultant and Karen of the sandwich world, Penny . Also we break down Love Island USA because we can't stop talking about it, and dive into the weird world of sibling drama via…
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Ep. 84: How To Create Seamless Employee Onboarding [Beyond The Paperwork]
There are two sides of the seamless onboarding coin: There’s the one most people think about, which is all the compliance stuff. Paperwork, forms, yada yada yada. But today we’re talking about the other side: the cultural elements of seamless onboarding that contribute to not only the employee...
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Ep. 83: Hot Take: Documentation Is The Dark Horse Of Accountable Company Cultures
Let’s talk about one basic skill (dare I say, the #1 skill) that every business owner and leader can bolster within their teams to cultivate a culture rich in accountability, empowerment, productivity, and long-term relationships. This skill is the answer to questions about how to build a…
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Ep. 82: Are These 5 Biases in Hiring Sabotaging Your Dream Team?
As an entrepreneur, you’re not expected to magically transform into a professional recruiter overnight. Interviewing without letting bias crash the party is a learned skill, not something that just pops into your brain the moment you launch your business. But the truth still remains: bias in…
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Ep. 81: Diversity In Workplace Statistics: Why Inclusivity Boosts Business
If there's one conversation we're never putting on mute, it's about the real value of diversity on your team. Not because 'diversity' has been a trendy buzzword since 2020, but because we've got recent and cited stats to prove that diversity really is better for your business. In today’s episode,...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
People On Purpose, the podcast that reminds you that your business doesn’t run on policies and processes alone... it runs on people.If you’ve been with us since the On The Up & Up! days, you probably remember the tactical HR tips, the “how-to hire” episodes, and my rants about I-9s and contractors vs. employees. And don’t worry, you’ll still hear the occasional HR compliance tip. But after years of working with hundreds of small businesses, I realized something big:It’s not the systems or the SOPs that make your business work. It’s the humans behind them.So this new chapter of the podcast is about the messy middle of building a team. Think: more purpose than payroll and more community than compliance.We’re talking about what it really takes to create a workplace where people actually want to show up, not because they have to, but because they believe in what you’re building… or at the very least, because it feels great to work there.Each week, we’ll explore the people-side of sma
HOSTED BY
Kira La Forgia
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does People On Purpose® have?
People On Purpose® currently has 131 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is People On Purpose® about?
People On Purpose, the podcast that reminds you that your business doesn’t run on policies and processes alone... it runs on people.If you’ve been with us since the On The Up & Up! days, you probably remember the tactical HR tips, the “how-to hire” episodes, and my rants about I-9s and contractors...
How often does People On Purpose® release new episodes?
People On Purpose® publishes regularly with 131 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to People On Purpose®?
You can listen to People On Purpose® on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts People On Purpose®?
People On Purpose® is created and hosted by Kira La Forgia.
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