Beyond the Paycheck: Providence Swedish’s CHRO on Pay Transparency, Student Loans, and Career Mobility

Summary

Salary gets attention—but benefits and mobility change lives. Maurice Lewin, North Puget Zone Chief Human Resources Officer at Providence Swedish, shares how his team designs equitable, career-building rewards for a diverse healthcare workforce.

Grounded in a powerful money story—from Jamaica to the C-suite—Maurice explains why “one-size-fits-all” benefits fail and how to align pay, education support, and flexibility to real-life needs.

He details Providence Swedish’s livable wage philosophy, in-house apprenticeships that create six-figure pathways, and a student-loan program that preserves 401(k) matching for employees paying down debt.

Maurice also unpacks tools for pay transparency and equity across multiple markets, the shift from hours to output, and measurable retention gains post–Great Resignation.

He closes with practical personal finance habits and a benefits timing hack employees can use today.

Timestamps

[00:18] – Guest intro: From Jamaica to CHRO at Providence Swedish; scope and markets served

[01:32] – Early money lessons: discipline, paying essentials first, and funding education

[05:44] – First paycheck: honoring family, tithing, saving, and contributing at home

[07:44] – Beyond one-size-fits-all: screening employers for benefits that build careers

[09:52] – Where comp breaks down: pay transparency, equity, and benefits literacy

[12:35] – Transformational programs: six-figure pathways, apprenticeships, and 401(k) match for student-loan payers

[14:46] – Impact metrics: retention drops to low teens; CNAs advancing to RN roles; auto 401(k) enrollment

[16:53] – What’s next: output over hours, flexible work, and evolving total rewards

[20:24] – Measuring equity: market surveys, livable wage philosophy, and in-house tools

[22:16] – A 30-day money reset: automate savings, split banks, maximize employer match

[27:58] – Benefits hack: span plan years to double coverage on big-ticket care (e.g., braces)

Takeaways

- Design benefits for segments, not averages—align rewards to life stage, ambition, and needs.

- Operationalize pay transparency and equity with robust market data, livable wage guardrails, and year-round adjustments.

- Build mobility ladders—apprenticeships and internal education create six-figure pathways and retention.

- Support student-loan payers by preserving 401(k) matching while they repay debt.

- Manage flexibility by measuring output over hours; craft role-based approaches to in-person work.

- For listeners: run a 30-day audit—automate savings, use separate “hard-to-access” accounts, max your employer match/IRA, and time big healthcare expenses across plan years to stretch benefits.

Sponsor

Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations

Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence.

With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track.

See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

From Chores to Comp Bands: Advisor360’s CPO on Pay Transparency, Financial Wellness & Generational Wealth

Summary
How do you build a compensation philosophy that actually develops careers, reduces pay anxiety, and supports long-term wealth—not just short-term retention?

Dena Upton, Chief People Officer at Advisor360, shares how her early lessons in frugality, risk-taking, and responsibility shaped her approach to pay transparency and total rewards.

Drawing on experiences across hyper-growth startups and fintech organizations, Dena explains why transparency drives better manager conversations, how equity can become a life-changing wealth engine, and why financial wellness is becoming the next frontier in benefits.

She breaks down practical moves—from rolling out pay bands globally, to offering Robinhood Gold and advisory coaching, to tying performance incentives directly to bookings so everyone has ownership in growth.

For leaders designing pay systems in a shifting talent market, this episode offers a grounded roadmap for building compensation strategies that support mobility, autonomy, and generational wealth.

Timestamps

[00:42] – Guest intro: Dena’s path from Accenture → startups → fintech → Advisor360

[02:15] – First money memories: chores, shared responsibility, and learning to save

[03:35] – First paycheck at a waterpark and the pride of buying something earned

[04:55] – How early money values shape her approach to employee pay and risk

[07:14] – Where compensation & benefits break down: communication, transparency, and skill development

[08:31] – Opening up the comp conversation: clear bands, growth paths, and removing bias-driven negotiations

[09:45] – The full total rewards picture: equity, bonus, benefits, and financial wellness

[11:35] – Meeting employees where they are: student debt, financial habits, and investing confidence

[12:18] – Transformational equity moments: career mobility and generational impact

[15:02] – Measuring outcomes: engagement, retention, recruiting signals, and comp band positioning

[17:20] – Benefits trends to watch: mental health meets financial wellness

[18:58] – Tools: Rippling for compensation consistency & workflow automation

[20:03] – A 30-day challenge: push pay transparency—especially in global teams

[21:30] – Closing reflections: financial wellbeing as freedom and empowerment

Takeaways

• Lead with transparency: Shared pay bands reduce bias, shift conversations to skill development, and build trust.

• Make rewards holistic: Treat compensation as base + bonus + equity + benefits + financial literacy support.

• Teach financial confidence: Employees benefit most when they understand investing, risk, and long-term planning.

• Equity can change lives: Structured ownership opportunities can create real generational mobility—not just retention.

• Financial wellness is the next competitive edge: Offer tools like investing access, advisory coaching, and meaningful match programs.

• Push global transparency: Even if it feels uncomfortable, consistency across regions strengthens culture and clarity.

  
  

Sponsor

Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations

Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence.

With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track.

See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

From Envelopes to Equity: Sophos’ VP of Total Rewards on Fair Pay, Benefits, and AI

Summary

What does “fair” really look like in pay and benefits—and how do you communicate it so people believe it?

Steven Slutsky, Vice President of Total Rewards and HR Operations at Sophos, brings a rare mix of labor lawyer, comp consultant, and HR operator to unpack perceived fairness, pay transparency, and the modern employee value proposition.

Starting with a formative “envelope budgeting” story from his father’s pharmacy, Steven explains why pay structures are more than math, why transparency without preparation backfires, and how communication—not just policies—drives value.

He shares practical moves: auditing ranges for explainability, using insurer data to reshape underused benefits, and offering empathetic programs like 401(k) matches for student loan payments.

Steven also clarifies where AI helps (self-service answers, faster analytics) and where humans must lead (judgment, governance, and earning trust).

If you’re tackling churn, equity, and credibility with your workforce, this playbook will help you align compensation, benefits, and communication to retain talent.

Timestamps

[00:45] – Guest intro: Sophos, global scope, and Steven’s path from attorney to total rewards leader

[01:55] – Money memories: the envelope system and lessons that shaped his pay philosophy

[03:35] – First paycheck, first epiphany: spending, priorities, and what it means for employee pay today

[05:10] – Value beyond salary: the employee value proposition, fairness, and peer pay visibility

[08:30] – Where rewards break down: intranets, one-off emails, and making benefits discoverable

[10:20] – Perceived fairness and transparency: the pitfalls of sharing ranges without readiness

[11:45] – Fixing pay and benefits: ranges you can defend, usage data, and student loan 401(k) matches

[15:20] – Mindset shift: balancing executive rewards with organization-wide equity

[17:45] – Building buy-in: showing churn’s business cost and linking it to missed KPIs/OKRs

[20:15] – Practical AI: self-service policy answers and analytics assist—humans still decide

Takeaways

- Audit and explain: Test pay ranges in quiet periods and ensure you can clearly justify differences role-by-role.

- Communicate relentlessly: Don’t rely on intranets or one emails—host sessions, health fairs, and targeted nudges.

- Manage perception: If you pursue transparency, pre-validate ranges and narratives to avoid fairness backlash.

- Signal care with benefits: Use claims/benchmark data to invest in high-impact offerings (e.g., student loan 401(k) match, fertility).

- Use AI as an accelerator: Enable self-service for policies and faster analytics, while keeping human judgment on compensation decisions.

- Win executive alignment: Quantify churn costs and tie them to missed KPIs to fund fair, retention-focused pay strategies.

Sponsor

Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations

Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence.

With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track.

See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

Summary
What does it take to go from working at a Mississippi gas station to leading global HR strategy at a private equity-backed company?

In this episode, Kelsey Willock sits down with Nabeel Ahmed, Chief Human Resources Officer at Wellbore Integrity Solutions (WIS), to unpack his remarkable career journey and how it shaped his approach to compensation, performance, and employee well-being.

Nabeel shares the early money memories that defined his perspective on equitable pay and the life-changing potential of total rewards beyond base salary. With experience spanning 30 countries and top-tier companies like Halliburton and Baker Hughes, he offers a rare lens into how HR can be both a business driver and a vehicle for personal transformation.

From pay equity and generational shifts to flexible work and private equity wealth-building, this episode is packed with insights for HR leaders, founders, and anyone rethinking how we value work.

Timestamps

Takeaways

• Invest in education around total rewards — employees often undervalue what they don’t fully understand.

• Design for diversity — different generations are motivated by different types of compensation and flexibility.

• Create equitable (not just equal) pay structures — performance should drive differentiation.

• Shorten incentive timelines — newer generations want value sooner, not just later.

• Focus engagement efforts on specific topics to get more actionable insights.

• True financial contentment comes from creating opportunities for others — not from possessions.

Sponsor

Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations

Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence.

With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track.

See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

Beyond Benefits: Penhall’s CHRO on Whole-Person Rewards, Pay Equity, and Financial Wellness

Summary

What if your benefits did more than attract talent

what if they transformed lives?

Melissa Kaspari, Chief Human Resources Officer at Penhall Company, shares how she “puts the human back in HR” by building total rewards that meet employees where they are. From a formative money story to leading HR in a male-dominated, frontline environment, Melissa explains why benefits literacy matters as much as plan design, and how leaders can move beyond healthcare to support mental, financial, professional, and social wellbeing.

She details practical steps for fair pay separating compensation from benefits, benchmarking to market, and doing the hard work of line-by-line pay reviews plus why EAPs and legal benefits are underused game-changers.

You’ll hear how Penhall is rolling out budgeting assistance for field teams, how to destigmatize mental health, and two 30-day experiments anyone can use to boost financial resilience.

Timestamps

[00:45] – Guest intro: CHRO philosophy—“put the human back in HR” and find your happy

[01:21] – Money story: learning the value of work and wanting more than a bandana

[04:37] – Where comp and benefits break down: self-worth, underpaid loyalty, and benefits literacy

[09:10] – From attracting to transforming: whole-person care—mental, financial, social

[09:59] – Budgeting assistance benefit tailored for a construction workforce

[11:15] – Underused, high-impact programs: legal support, EAPs, and destigmatizing help

[17:14] – Pay equity in practice: market benchmarking, internal mobility, and the right tools

[21:31] – 30-day money experiments: no-buy challenge and the envelope method

Takeaways

- Benchmark pay to market and separate comp from benefits; perform line-by-line reviews to ensure equity.

- Educate employees on benefits literacy—401(k), short-term disability, supplemental life, and healthcare advocacy.

- Design total rewards for the whole person: physical, mental, financial, professional, and social needs.

- Normalize mental health support and actively promote EAP utilization, especially in frontline, male-dominated fields.

- Add practical financial wellness options—budget coaching and voluntary legal plans that meet everyday needs.

- Try 30-day habits: a no-buy challenge and the envelope method to build savings and reset spending.

Sponsor

Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations

Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence.

With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track.

See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

Thrive Together: Lumen’s SVP on Pay Transparency, Preventive Care, and Personalized Benefits

Summary

Are your employees leaving money and health on the table?

Erika Hurtado-Dupont, SVP of People Operations and Total Rewards at Lumen Technologies, shares how her team is redesigning compensation and benefits so people actually use them.

Drawing on her own money story and years in the service industry, Erika explains why equal pay for equal work, radical transparency, and “moments that matter” benefits are the new baseline.

She breaks down where total rewards most often fail basic financial literacy and underutilized preventive care since COVID and how Lumen’s Thrive Together model steps in with survivor salary continuation, 12 weeks bonding leave plus a phased return, and backup care that removes day-to-day friction.

Erika also details the measurable impact: lower turnover, higher engagement, and business momentum and what’s next as AI personalizes benefits delivery while protecting privacy.

She closes with a 30-day activation challenge that helps every listener stop leaving value on the table.

Key Timestamps

- [00:45] – Erika’s remit at Lumen and the transformation of PeopleOps and Total Rewards

- [01:36] – Money as freedom: early jobs at 14 and how that shaped career and work ethic

- [04:26] – Service-industry lessons for HR: execution, time management, and people complexity

- [07:52] – Compensation philosophy: fair, competitive pay and intentional, family-centric design

- [09:17] – Where it breaks: literacy gaps, misunderstood benefits, and preventive care drop-offs post-COVID

- [13:37] – Thrive Together: survivor pay, 12-week bonding leave + phased return, and caregiver backup

- [16:55] – Results: lower turnover, higher engagement, rising sentiment—and business performance

- [18:14] – What’s next: pay transparency at scale, AI-personalized benefits, and a 30-day activation challenge

Takeaways

- Center compensation on equal pay for equal work and make transparency a management habit.

- Close the benefits literacy gap with simple, mobile-first education on paychecks, 401(k), HSA, and preventive care.

- Design “moments that matter” benefits that remove friction: survivor salary continuation, parental leave with phased return, and backup care.

- Track utilization and outcomes—not just offerings—and pivot to programs with measurable ROI.

- Use AI to personalize benefits bundles and timing while safeguarding privacy and trust.

- Run a 30-day benefits sprint: audit what’s offered, meet vendors, discuss with family, and enroll so you stop leaving money and wellbeing on the table.

Sponsor

Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations

Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence.

With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track.

See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/

Summary

How do you move employees from “using benefits” to feeling true ownership in the business? Keith Brown, Vice President of Total Rewards at Tractor Supply Company and a military veteran, shares practical ways to turn rewards into engagement, financial wellness, and better customer outcomes.

Keith explains why transparency and empathy start with his own money story, then gets specific on how TSC boosts awareness—by communicating to families, building year-round education moments, and partnering with vendors for onsite and 1:1 support. He details a five-for-one stock split designed to make ownership accessible—framing ESPP participation as “$9 per paycheck” to drive uptake—and how the TSCme app centralizes pay, benefits, and wellness in one place.

Looking ahead, Keith outlines the shift to choice-driven rewards, one-stop hubs, and AI agents that remove friction and multiply impact. He also offers a simple 30-day experiment leaders can run to kickstart financial wellness across their teams.

Key Timestamps

- [00:45] – Guest intro and money story: lessons from a cash-first family and the value of discipline

- [06:20] – Early job takeaways: tips, pay accuracy, and empathy for frontline workers

- [07:53] – Where comp/benefits break down: expectations, ranges, and benefits awareness

- [09:50] – Raising utilization: family-inclusive comms, vendor partners, and timely education

- [12:46] – Creating owners: five-for-one stock split and $9-per-paycheck ESPP engagement

- [15:04] – The next 1–2 years: choice-based rewards, single-entry hubs, and AI agents

- [18:52] – Measuring equity: the TSCme app, usage data, and third-party pay equity analysis

- [20:36] – A 30-day experiment: “give every dollar a purpose” to build lasting habits

Takeaways

- Involve families in benefits communications to increase awareness and real-world usage.

- Program education around moments (open enrollment, holidays, tax time) for repeated exposure.

- Lower barriers to ownership—use stock splits, discounts, and simple frames like “$9 per paycheck.”

- Centralize benefits in one hub; reduce logins and make access mobile-first for frontline teams.

- Offer choice-driven, modular rewards supported by AI and automated agents to keep admin light.

- Validate pay equity with independent analysis, leveraging operational usage data to target gaps.

- Run a 30-day “every dollar has a purpose” challenge to catalyze financial wellness and engagement.

Sponsor

AllVoices brings all your employee relations work together in one place. No more jumping between spreadsheets, emails, and legacy systems just one place to document and manage reports, cases, investigations, and performance conversations. It helps you run a more consistent process, takes busywork off your plate with AI, and makes it easier to spot trends early, so you can work proactively, not just put out fires.

See a demo at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.allvoices.co/

If your employees can’t explain how their pay is determined, you have a trust problem. Conner Shaw, Senior Vice President of HR Business Partners and Total Rewards at LiveView Technologies (LVT), shares how his team rebuilt compensation to scale—moving from a centralized, opaque process to manager-led decisions within clear ranges and guardrails.

Drawing on his own money story and a career across tech and heavy industry, Conner explains why transparency, defined job levels, and visible paths unlock engagement, not risk. He details what changed when leaders got budgets, comp range access, and training on compa-ratio; why eNPS scores and comments surged; and how LVT is layering in performance rigor and sophisticated pay equity analysis next.

Conner also tackles a bigger shift: as work becomes more transactional, benefits must be judged by utility over gimmicks. He closes with two 30-day experiments—one for HR to audit pay understanding, and one for individuals to track spending—that translate policy into practical wellbeing.

Timestamps

- [00:45] – Meet Conner Shaw and LVT: mobile security units, career path from oil & gas to tech

- [02:42] – Early money mindset: value-maximizing kid to disciplined saver and what it taught him

- [05:14] – First jobs and frugality: drum lessons, cement crew, and respecting hard-earned pay

- [08:05] – How his money story shapes his HR philosophy: responsibility, freedom, and career paths

- [09:52] – Where comp breaks down: the cost of secrecy and why paths, levels, and ranges matter

- [11:11] – What changed at LVT: manager budgets, comp ranges, compa-ratio—and eNPS jumps

- [12:52] – Next phase: tie pay to performance and install deeper pay equity analytics

- [14:20] – The transactional workforce: utility over perks and rethinking benefits that truly help

- [18:01] – Mindset shift for leaders: transparency as a trust engine (without posting everyone’s pay)

- [20:01] – Tools and measures: guardrails for leaders, surveys, and scalable pay equity models

- [21:40] – 30-day experiments for HR and individuals to boost clarity and financial wellness

Takeaways

- Build pay transparency around clear structures—job levels, ranges, processes, and decision rights.

- Equip managers to decide: give budgets, share ranges, teach compa-ratio, and set guardrails.

- Measure impact beyond dollars: track eNPS and comments for signs of clarity, trust, and pathing.

- Judge benefits by utility, not gimmicks; align offerings to real employee needs and usage.

- Tie compensation to performance and impact, then audit with robust pay equity analysis.

- Run a 30-day “pay clarity” audit: ask employees how pay is determined and fix the gaps fast.

Sponsor

Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations—Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence.

With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track.

See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/