The Moss HR Minute
The Moss HR Minute brings real conversations about building and managing teams to you — one Moss Minute at a time!Hosted by Nicole Moss, this podcast features entrepreneurs and subject matter experts from Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Phoenix, and beyond. What started as local conversations in Easton Park has evolved alongside Moss Consulting into a broader discussion focused on the people side of business.Each episode is fast, focused, and practical. Industry leaders answer five timely questions in one Moss Minute, sharing real-world insight on leadership, culture, compliance, growth, and the challenges business owners are navigating right now.Same en...
Building Teams, Investing in Teachers and Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce with Charles “Coach” Burton
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Strong communities are built by investing in people — in the classroom, on the field, and in the workforce.
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Charles "Coach" Burton, a longtime educator who spent years as head football coach at Del Valle High School and serves on the Del Valle ISD Board of Trustees. As a Del Valle parent and a member of the community, Coach shares how schools recruit and support great teachers, why developing ta...
HR Leadership Through Change, Acquisitions, Compliance, and Building Trust with Gabe Calhoun
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Most HR professionals spend their careers trying to have all the answers. Gabe Calhoun spent 34 years learning that the ones who admit they don't are the ones who last.
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Gabe Calhoun, a 34-year HR leadership veteran known for bridging the gap between people strategy and business performance. Gabe has navigated multiple acquisitions, built HR functions from the ground up, and spent decades mentoring the next generation...
Building a Benefits Program That Protects Your People and Your Bottom Line with Ford Clemons
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Healthcare costs are up. Your renewal is coming. And if you are not already having the conversation with your broker, you are six months behind.
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Ford Clemons, Managing Director of Employee Benefits at Higginbotham, for one of the most practical and eye-opening conversations the show has had on what employee benefits actually cost, what drives those costs up, and what business owners can do...
How Our Team Closes 220 Support Tickets Every Week to Keep Operations Running with Avery Walters
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What happens when you take a management major and throw them straight into live multi-state corporate compliance, complex HRIS acquisitions, and high-stakes performance improvement meetings on day one? In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with summer intern Avery Walters to discuss her transformation from classroom business theory into hands-on human capital management.
Avery shares an inside look at sitting in as an HR witness during a sensitive Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) meeting, breaking...
The 3 Key Operational Lessons Learned In Just 2 Months of Real-World HR with Cayman Hasseberg
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On her first day as an HR intern, Nicole Moss asked if anyone wanted to observe a live in-person termination. Cayman Hasseberg almost said no — then raised her hand.
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Evie Fisher, Marketing Intern at Moss Consulting, sits down with fellow intern Cayman Hasseberg for an honest, grounded conversation about what HR actually looks like in the real world versus what gets taught in the classroom.
Two months into her internship and heading into her senior yea...
The HR Red Flags, Myths, and First Instincts Every Business Owner Needs to Know Before Their Next Hire
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"If it's not documented, it might as well have never happened." — and that is just one of the things two HR interns got exactly right in this episode.
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Avery Walters and Cayman Hasseberg — two members of the 2026 Moss Consulting summer intern team — for the fastest, most no-nonsense HR breakdown the show has produced yet. No slides. No fluff. Just six rapid-fire rounds of HR truth that every business owner needs to hear.
F...
Fractional HR Trends, Employee Relations, and the Future of the Industry with Cayman Hasseberg
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The students studying HR right now are watching the industry shift happen in real time — and one of them is already positioning herself ahead of it.
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Cayman Hasseberg, HR Intern on the 2026 Moss Consulting summer intern team, with Avery Walters stepping in as co-host. Cayman is a rising senior at the University of Oklahoma studying human resources with a minor in business management — and what she observed inside Moss Consulting in just two...
Why Internal HR Is Quietly Being Replaced & What It Means for Business Owners with Avery Walters
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The next generation of HR professionals is already watching the industry shift in real time — and one intern saw it coming before she even finished her second week.
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Avery Walters, HR Intern on the 2026 Moss Consulting summer intern team, with Evie Fisher returning as co-host. Avery is studying human resources and management and came into this internship with real internal HR experience — which makes her...
Intern Spotlight: Marketing Trends, Short-Form Content Strategy & Company Culture with Evie Fisher
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The best marketing insight of the year might have come from a second-week intern — and it is worth every business owner's attention.
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Evie Fisher, Marketing and PR Intern on the 2026 Moss Consulting summer intern team, with Avery Walters stepping in as co-host. The camera gets turned on one of their own for a candid, energetic conversation about marketing trends, team culture, content creation, and wh...
Why a Long Resume and the Right Skills Are Not Enough to Find the Right Hire with Wesley Jobes
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You hired a recruiter. They filled the role. Then the person left — and nobody could tell you why.
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Wesley Jobes, Recruiting Manager at Moss Consulting, and intern co-host Evie Fisher for an honest, practical conversation about what is genuinely broken in traditional recruiting — and what a better model actually looks like in practice.
Wesley brings over 20 years of HR and talent acquisition experience to this...
What Smart Recruiters Know About Hiring in 2026 That Most Business Owners Haven't Figured Out Yet
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Your job posting is up. The applications are coming in. So why are you still losing great candidates before they ever make it to an offer?
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Wesley Jobes, Recruiting Manager at Moss Consulting, and intern host Evie Fisher for a rapid-fire, no-sugarcoating breakdown of the 10 recruiting trends getting the most attention in 2026.
Nicole and Wesley go thumbs up or thumbs down on...
How We Scaled Moss Consulting Beyond 55 Active Corporate Clients Using 6 Core Pillars
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She helps hundreds of business owners get their people operations right — then had to sit down and do the same for her own company.
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, the script gets flipped. Michele Spiezia — Process Architect, People Person, and General Manager of Ellysium Racing — takes over the host chair and puts Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, in the hot seat for a raw, honest, and genuinely entertaining conversation about what it actually takes to build and scale an HR...
How to Build Business Systems That Hold Up Under Pressure with Michele Spiezia
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"Don't blame the lettuce." If your team is struggling, the problem probably started long before you noticed — and the fix is more systemic than you think.
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Michele Spiezia — Process Architect, People Person, and General Manager of Ellysium Racing — for one of the most wide-ranging and thought-provoking conversations the show has had yet.
Michele has spent her career turning chaos into systems across industries ranging from restaurants and film to tech startu...
What Real HR Internships Look Like in 2026 — Inside Moss Consulting's Summer Program
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What does a modern corporate internship look like when you completely dismantle the legacy coffee-run stigma and hand young professionals the keys to live human resources pipelines?
In this special edition of The Moss HR Minute, Moss Consulting HR Services hands the microphones over to their Summer 2026 Intern Team. Hosted by Evie Fisher (Strategic Communication & Marketing) alongside Avery Walters (Management & HR) and Cayman Hasseberg (HR & Business Management), this episode pulls back the curtain on the next generation of workforce talent.
The trio shares an inside look at navigating high-growth or...
Why Your Best Employee Might Be Your Worst Promotion (And What to Do Instead) with Frank Koen
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What happens to your business continuity when you mistake an administrative logistics problem for a core human resources strategy?
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Frank Koen, RPh, President of CloudRx.com. Frank is a premier healthcare and pharmacy operations executive who has scaled multi-site networks across the country, transitioning his deep enterprise execution wisdom from major brands like Albertsons and Walgreens directly to the small business sector.
The conversation targets the sharp operational friction points t...
Retirement as a Co-Pilot: Balancing Employer Costs and Employee Value with John Alvarez
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with John Alvarez, a Retirement Plan Advisor with IMA Retirement. This conversation tackles a critical topic that many small and mid-sized business owners view as a heavy administrative burden or overhead expense: employer-sponsored retirement plans.
John shifts the perspective entirely, breaking down how a well-designed retirement program functions as a strategic total rewards tool, an aggressive talent acquisition engine, and a major tax-advantage savings vehicle for the owners themselves . He walks through the t...
How We Scaled From 9 to 25 Employees in 90 Days Safely with Tori Guevara
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What invisible compliance gaps are left exposed in your backend systems while your business moves at a breakneck operational pace?
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, is joined by Tori Guevara, an HR Manager at the firm. Filmed on-site in Denver, Colorado, this conversation breaks down the rapid scaling process after Moss Consulting experienced its own massive headcount explosion—growing from 9 to 25 employees in just 90 days.
The conversation focuses on how r...
Making Employee Benefits Less Overwhelming and Taking Control of Your Strategy with Nicole Moss and Alyssa Chavez
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How can small to mid-sized organizations confidently provide corporate healthcare programs that genuinely protect their margins while competing for high-tier talent?
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, is joined by Alyssa Chavez, the firm's first-ever employee who has scaled from an HR generalist into a full-blown HR manager. Recorded on-site in Denver, Colorado, this conversation turns conventional healthcare routing upside down by analyzing the strategic partnerships required to audit, design, and implement high-performance p...
Building a 90-Day Retention Roadmap to Stop New Hire Turnover with Nyah Pittman
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What happens when your human resources strategy relies entirely on reactive panic rather than proactive planning?
In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Nyah Pittman, an MBA-credentialed Human Resources Generalist at the firm. Nyah specializes in multi-state operational environments, non-profits, and healthcare structures, bringing enterprise-level expertise directly to small business owners.
The conversation targets the invisible liabilities that drain profitability and talent from growing organizations, ranging from unstructured e...
Demystifying Commercial Risk: Navigating E-mods, Audits, and Liability with Jaxson Hodges
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Jaxson Hodges, a commercial insurance agent specializing in safety and risk at LeBaron & Carroll Insurance. Joined by Preslie Deusenbery, Phoenix Area HR Manager, this conversation tackles the common pitfalls business owners encounter when navigating commercial coverage, audits, and hidden liabilities.
Jaxson emphasizes a proactive partnership approach, noting that most business owners unfortunately do not discover their coverage is wrong until a crisis strikes. He breaks down how commercial premiums are directly linked t...
Why Relying on Standalone Payroll is Costing Your Growing Business Top Talent with Eric Banzhaf
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Eric Banzhaf, a mid-market Human Capital Management (HCM) consultant with Paychex. Operating out of the Denver area, Eric specializes in helping mid-sized and growing companies evaluate their people infrastructure to determine when it’s time to upgrade internal systems before organizational growth creates friction.
The conversation focuses on the true liabilities of payroll and the crucial infrastructure changes required when a company scales from 25 to 100 employees. Eric addresses a common founder assumption—that...
LLC vs. Trust: The $900 Document That Saves Your Business from Probate with Carly Whiteside
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Carly Whiteside, owner of Copper Wren Law, joined by Preslie Deusenbery, Moss Consulting’s Phoenix Area HR Manager. Based in Mesa, Arizona, Carly’s boutique firm focuses on estate planning, probate, and business legal services, helping founders navigate the complex intersection of personal legacy and professional continuity.
Carly reveals a critical blind spot that many entrepreneurs overlook: the risk of b...
8 Out of 10 Businesses Never Sell—Is Yours One of Them? Find Out with John Franklin Wiley
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with John Franklin Wiley, a CEPA certified exit strategist and value acceleration advisor based in Scottsdale. Joined by Preslie Deusenbery, Moss Consulting’s Phoenix Area HR Manager, this conversation tackles the high-stakes reality of business transitions and why most owners wait too long to prepare for a sale.
John reveals a staggering statistic: 8 out of 10 businesses in the United States that go on th...
Is Your Technology Working for You? Why 70% of Small Business AI Fails with JC Lukens
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with JC Lukens, CEO and CFO of Summit National Advisors, to discuss the silent leaks that drain profitability from healthy businesses. Joined by Preslie Deusenbery, Phoenix Area HR Manager, the conversation highlights how everyday operational costs—specifically credit card processing and inefficient technology—can quietly erode a company's margins.
JC reveals that credit card processing is often the second-largest operating expense for...
How to Build a Recession-Resistant Business with Phil Guinouard
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Phil Guinouard, a seasoned business leader, speaker, and founder of the Empowerment Networking Organization (ENO). Joined by Preslie Deusenbery, Moss Consulting’s Phoenix HR Area Manager, the discussion focuses on how entrepreneurs can move from reactive scrambling to building a recession-resistant life and business.
Phil draws on decades of experience—including turning around over 80 restaurants—to explain why ne...
40 Years of Finance Wisdom: The Real Reason Your Capital Raise Will Fail with Steven Plumb
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Steven Plumb, CPA and Founder of Clear Financial Services. With over 40 years of experience in accounting, finance, and M&A, Steven brings a level of rigor usually reserved for $100 million revenue firms to the mid-market business owner.
The conversation centers on Steven’s core philosophy: "The game is the same, but the rules have changed". In today’s global regulatory environment, owners can...
Sustainable Healthcare: Future-Proofing Your Business Against Rising Costs with Chris McIlroy
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Chris McIlroy, Owner of McIlroy Insurance Group. Filmed in Houston—one of the country’s fastest-growing and most competitive business markets—this conversation addresses the "new norm" of skyrocketing insurance premiums and rising deductibles that are squeezing both employers and employees.
Chris explains why simply increasing deductibles is a "band-aid" strategy that savvy employees can see right through. He shares how level-funded approa...
The Roadmap to Scalable Team Success & ROI Secrets of Proactive HR with Tori Guevara
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Tori Guevara, HR Manager at Moss Consulting. As "employee number 9" on the Moss team, Tori brings extensive experience in process improvement and servant leadership to a conversation about the fundamental shift occurring within the HR profession.
Tori explains why administrative HR is "going the way of the dodo" as AI and automation handle the transactional, day-to-day tasks that previously bogged down departments...
Don't Let Hackers Steal Your Business Data! Learn about Cybersecurity with Mickey Brooks
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Mickey Brooks, Owner and Regional Sales Director of Cinch I.T. of Denver. Mickey brings decades of experience in managed services and cybersecurity to a conversation every business owner needs to hear before they face a digital crisis.
Cybersecurity is no longer a concern reserved for enterprise giants like Nike or Walmart; small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are now the primary targets for organized, overseas hacking industries. Mickey explains why it is...
Solving Your People Problems & The Employee Lifecycle with Liz Rachal
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Liz Rachal, Director of Sales & Partnerships at Turning the Corner HR. Liz shares her front-line experience working with business owners who realize their people strategy is breaking down but cannot pinpoint exactly why.
The conversation centers on the critical alignment between leadership and middle management, which Liz identifies as the root cause of 80% of workplace people problems. Liz explains how a lack of clarity...
Passive Income vs. A Second Job: The Reality of Airbnb Investing with Cameron Tingey
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Cameron Tingey, Co-Founder of CT Brothers. Recorded on-site at one of their high-performing Scottsdale properties, this conversation pulls back the curtain on what it truly takes to transform short-term rentals from a demanding second job into a sustainable passive income stream.
Cameron shares the CT Brothers' philosophy on high-touch hospitality, explaining that true passivity in real estate requires a...
Is SEO Dead? Navigating AI Search and Zero-Click Visibility with Ryan Leddy
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Ryan Leddy, Head of Partnerships and Senior Digital Strategist at Hoopless Marketing. Ryan leads client strategy for a fractional digital marketing firm dedicated to eliminating the "hoops" and vanity metrics often found in the agency world, focusing instead on ROI-driven results for local industries.
The conversation focuses on how business owners can stop spending money on...
How Founders Can Regain Control of Insurance Costs with Brett McCleary & JR Tran Reno
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Preslie Dusenbery, Phoenix HR Area Manager of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Brett McCleary and JR Tran-Reno from Holmes Murphy. As specialists in property and casualty risk, employee benefits, and long-term insurance strategies, Brett and JR address the growing frustration business owners face regarding rising premiums and unpredictable coverage.
This conversation peels back the curtain on why insurance costs have seen 28 consecutive quarters of increases and how factors like nuclear verdicts and inflationary...
Is Your Business Protected? A Proactive Legal Guide for Founders with Julie Barnett
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Julie Barnett, Founder and Executive Director of Lomond Legal. Joined by Preslie Deusenbery, Moss Consulting’s Phoenix HR Area Manager, the conversation dives deep into the high-stakes world of employment law and the critical need for business owners to move from reactive panic to proactive protection.
Julie explains why the traditional hourly billing model often fails growing businesses, leading to "panic buying" le...
Russ Kimberlin, CPA - Kimberlin Company - Financial Leadership, Compliance, and What Growing Businesses Get Wrong About Accounting
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss sits down with Russ Kimberlin, CPA and Managing Member of Kimberlin Company, PLLC, to talk about the financial and compliance realities business owners face as their companies grow.
Russ has spent more than two decades helping organizations navigate accounting, audits, compliance, and financial systems across industries including construction, healthcare, distribution, transportation, nonprofit organizations, and employee benefit plans. In this conversation, he shares practical insight on the financial side of running a business that many founders overlook until...
Ashley Zieman - Moss Consulting HR Services - Preparing For Rapid Growth
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What does modern HR really look like — and how does it impact business growth?
In this full episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss sits down with Ashley Zieman, Area HR Manager with Moss Consulting HR Services, for a conversation that covers hiring, leadership decisions, rapid growth, and what it truly means to build a business through people.
Ashley shares her journey into HR, including a transformative experience at a SHRM event while earning her undergraduate degree at LSU. Hearing HR described as a function that can transform a...
Building Brand, Community, and Connection in Healthcare with Jillian Renken of Frontera Search Partners
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Jillian Renken, Marketing Manager at Frontera Search Partners and Co-Founder of PULSE Networking.
Jillian shares how intentional brand storytelling, authentic marketing, and community-driven events are reshaping how healthcare organizations connect with talent and leaders. Drawing on her experience building PULSE and leading marketing strategy at Frontera, Jillian explains why relationships — not transactions — are the foundation of sustainable growth.
Nico...
Payroll, Compliance, and HR Risks Small Businesses Miss with Alyssa Chavez
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Alyssa Chavez, HR Manager at Moss Consulting HR Services, to answer the real HR and payroll questions small and mid-sized business owners are asking right now.
Nicole puts Alyssa on the spot with a series of direct, practical questions — and Alyssa delivers concise, actionable guidance within one Moss Minute on each topic. The conversation covers overlooked compliance risks, common payroll mistakes that co...
Stop Re-Implementing Your Technology Every Year and Build to Scale with Marc Martin
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What is the actual operational toll of an inefficient, fragmented software stack on your corporate revenue stream? In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, sits down with Marc Martin, an HCM Consultant at Paylocity. Marc brings a wealth of workplace technology and payroll infrastructure expertise to a high-level conversation centered on navigating the hyper-competitive human capital market.
The discussion targets the invisible liabilities that drain profitability and workforce retention from fast-growing organizations, ranging from fractured, multiple-platform...
How to Use Modern HRIS Data to Monitor Your Live Cost of Labor with Hecia Mpanga
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In this episode of The Moss HR Minute, Nicole Moss, Co-Founder of Moss Consulting HR Services, is joined by Hecia Mpanga, HR Manager at Moss Consulting HR Services, to tackle some of the most common — and costly — challenges business owners face when managing people and payroll.
Drawing on his extensive experience in HRIS, payroll software, and HR operations, Hecia shares best practices and pitfalls to avoid, especially for growing businesses. Nicole asks five direct questions based on what Houston-area business owners are asking righ...
