Newsletters Episodes

How do you come up with newsletter ideas every week? If you write anything on a schedule, you've felt this pain. Hebba Youssef writes I Hate It Here, one of the biggest newsletters in HR, and she used to do what most of us do: wake up on Sunday and pick a random thought. It worked until it didn't. "It's really stressful when you're trying to be creative in the chaos." Her fix: pick one theme per quarter, then break it into 12 newsletters that build on each other. Readers get a continuous s...

Before “personal brand” became a buzzword, Hung Lee was already doing it—building Recruiting Brainfood into one of the most trusted communities in the industry. In this conversation, recorded at RecFest USA 2025, Hung and Rhona dig into what it really takes for recruiters to think like media brands: showing up every week, curating with integrity, and letting transparency replace polish. He shares how an accidental send from the beach in Lisbon made him realize just how much readers depende...

Most people think building a community is about finding a niche and hoping people show up. Jeremy Lyons knows better—he’s the man behind the RecOps community. From launching the first RecOps conference to building the widely read RecOps Roundup newsletter, Jeremy has turned a behind-the-scenes role into a movement. In this episode, we dig into: The four (sometimes five) pillars of Recruiting Operations—and why employer branding belongs in the mix. How Jeremy built the RecOps commun...

Most recruiter content chases likes with recycled talking points or surface-level tips. Andrew Lewis took another route, building an audience of 45K+ by sharing practical, in-the-trenches insights from his work as Head of Talent at Worldly. In this episode, we dig into how he found his voice, curates with intention, balances authority and vulnerability, and uses content to boost both employer brand and career opportunities. If you’ve been struggling to find your voice, avoid the copy-paste tr...

What happens when your newsletter becomes the unofficial therapy session for HR professionals everywhere? In this episode, Rhona sits down with Hebba Youssef, Chief People Officer at Workweek and the creator of I Hate It Here, one of the most read and reshared newsletters in the People space. Known for her honest tone and spicy memes, Hebba has built a brand that balances leadership credibility with creative chaos. We unpack what it really looks like to speak truthfully in public while sti...