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Valerie Tremblay is a dynamic speaker, executive coach, and facilitator with over 25 years of experience guiding leaders through complexity, building resilience, and thriving in a rapidly changing world. With a proven track record as a former Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at billion-dollar corporations, she brings deep insight into leading through uncertainty, cultivating high-performance cultures, and driving meaningful transformation.

 

In this episode, Jason and Melanie discuss:

  • The evolving role of HR and why it’s more about people than just rules
  • Embracing AI as a tool for efficiency, not a replacement for human connection
  • The importance of workplace culture and how to make it meaningful beyond perks
  • Melanie’s personal story—from her Cuban immigrant roots to leading HR at BSRI
  • Creative ways BSRI supports retention, including piloting a four-day workweek

Key Takeaways:

  • HR’s evolution demands more than policy enforcement—it now calls for relational leadership, where trust, emotional intelligence, and people-first strategies drive organizational impact.
  • Rather than fearing AI as a job disruptor, Melanie illustrates how integrating it intentionally can streamline workflows and empower teams without compromising human connection.
  • Culture doesn’t thrive on surface-level perks; it’s cultivated through intentional systems of recognition, communication, and alignment with shared values and goals.
  • Leading with vulnerability, Melanie models how consistent pulse-checks and open dialogue can transform retention efforts into a culture of belonging and psychological safety.
  • Implementing innovations like a four-day workweek isn’t about trend-chasing—it’s about thoughtful experimentation, listening deeply, and balancing flexibility with accountability.

 


“HR is often seen in a negative light—as the people who get you in trouble, the ones who fire you, or those who only reach out for legal or administrative issues. But it's definitely not about that. We're here to support you. It's a support function. It's about leading with compassion, leading with vulnerability, and creating a safe space for your team. Having a human being in that role is crucial—someone who’s truly in your corner.”

 - Melanie Gonzalez

Connect with Melanie Gonzalez:

Connect with Steve and Jason:

 

Listen to the podcast here:

 

 

Melanie Gonzalez-You're Not Alone

Hello and welcome everybody to this episode of The Insight Interviews. This is your host, Jason Abell, and I've got a guest today that hails from Florida, which is always very cool. My heart is near and dear to Florida, that's where our daughter lives these days, but it's none other than the director of HR and people at Behavioral Science Research Institute, which we're going to talk about a little bit. Melanie Gonzalez, welcome to the show.

Hi. Thank you for having me.

So, I'm going to ask you a question. Just like we talked about prerecording, I want people to understand a little bit about you, but before we get to that, the very first question that we ask every guest on the Insight Interviews is as you and I engage one another today, in what's about to be Spring of 2025, you're in Florida, I'm in Maryland, but we're together right now, who or what strikes you that you're particularly grateful for today?

Wow, so much to be grateful for these days. One of those being my executive leadership team. I actually just came back to Miami. I'm from Miami. I just came back from Charleston, South Carolina, because we had our executive leadership retreat where we do a lot of important work on just the intimate executive team.

Yeah, executive leadership. Yeah, the people that we work with. Very, very cool. Tell people a little bit about you. For those listeners that are like, okay, HR Director, that's cool, Director of HR, that's cool, but who is this Melanie Gonzalez person? What do you want listeners to know about you before we dive into some of the content today?

So I'm 28 going on 29 I was born and raised in Miami, Florida, so, I definitely know Florida well. For those who can probably already hear my accent, I am Hispanic. I come from Cuban immigrant parents. They are the reason that I am here today, and a great inspiration, especially my mom, as to why I am the professional that I am. I've been with my organization since 2020, so now going on five years, and I am currently the Director of HR and people and part of the executive leadership team, after transitioning from office management and administrative roles and previously from a legal background. I wear many hats at the organization, mainly focusing on people, strategic initiatives and workplace culture and a lot of learning and development. My background in law comes from a passion of fostering inclusive workplaces and striving to create environments where my team feels valued, supported and empowered. But personally, as being an immigrant and even wanting law as an early career, the reason that that's where I started my path was because I initially wanted to be a lawyer, which quickly, and not so quickly, changed after six years in the field and had a focus on immigration and criminal defense. So, a little bit of everything, if you will.

It is a little bit of everything. So, we at Rewire, because of the work that we do with coaching executive teams and doing, retreats and workshops and things like that, oftentimes, our point of entry with an organization is through HR. And you kind of mentioned this in your intro, you wear a lot of hats, and we find that a lot with HR people. So, it's not just all the legal and onboarding and off boarding and benefits and all the contracts and all those types of things, but then there's also training and development that sometimes goes on HR shoulders. We see HR people as coaches and mentors. Sometimes, you know therapists, you know? So yeah, like, lots and lots of hats. And so, from an HR perspective, what would you want other executives to know that are listening? What are some things about HR where you're like, yeah, people should know this, like, this is what I'm doing right now. You're obviously passionate about what you do. What are some things that come to mind when I ask that question about HR specifically?

Well, first and foremost, I definitely do love what I do, but it's not for the weak. It's not for everyone. And I think the most important takeaway, and definitely it was even a learning experience for my organization when I first joined on is that you need HR. In today's day and age with, you know, AI and tech and remote work and a lot of layoffs and the market changing significantly, there's a big question as to if HR matters, if HR is important, if HR is needed, and sometimes that is seen on the back end, or it takes kind of like a hit or on the back burner when it comes to budget and prioritizing, what the needs are for organizations. I think having your HR and people, it's very crucial to having a functioning business that that runs well.

So talk more about that, because you're, you're already starting to scratch the surface of a topic that was hoping we would get to because AI is such a hot button right now of how cool it is and amazing, but also how it's replacing jobs and replacing humans and all that. I would like to hear from you, like, give our listeners some reasons why yeah, AI won't take that over and why is it that the first thing that you said was, hey, HR is important, and you need HR. Talk more about that.

So first and foremost, I'll broadly say that it's not just even for HR roles. I think for roles in general, yes, technology is amazing, and you know, technology is taking over in more ways than one, but you need people. You need the human touch; you need the human aspect of whatever work you're doing. I think things like AI is very important to include in your work and to fully integrate it. The nonprofit that I work for now, fully integrated into adding AI to aspects of our work in the last one to two years, and we have the team fully trained on how to use AI in a positive way. You know, how to make the work better, how to streamline processes, how to make your time more efficient, and just how to better the work in general, because, you know, at the end of the day, we are one person, and it's one perspective and how we're approaching the work. So, you know, having your resources, whatever those are, AI included, would benefit anyone. As far as for HR specific, I think adding to the aspect of you need people for people, technology is technology at the end of the day, as much as we humanize robots, as much as we add personalities and we have them get to know us, you need somebody who can relate. You need someone who can understand human feeling, and somebody who's in your corner. And I think that oftentimes, and I've said this before in many settings, HR is seen in a negative light. It's seen as like the people who get you in trouble, the people who get you fired, the people who only ask you for legal questions or administrative stuff and it's definitely not about that. We're here to support you. It's a support function. It's leading with compassion, it's leading with vulnerability, and it's creating a safe space for your team. So, in having a human person doing that work, it's crucial, so that you have that person in your corner.

Yeah, the piece about having someone in your corner is huge, and I love how you're talking about using technology and AI as a tool, as opposed to something different than that, like replacing. You also hit on in your answer, you know, people think of HR as, like, ah bad, you know, HR, they're going to get us in trouble, what do they want now type of thing. Talk about the other side of it, though. Talk about the human side. Talk about the positive side. When I was doing my research on you, I found that it's extremely important to you to change the thought process around AI and model certain things. And so, yeah, I'd love for you to just speak about that a little bit.

Yeah, of course. So, my motto going into HR and people work was really about doing for my team when I what I never got and needed, like leading by example, and kind of doing the opposite of ineffective leadership with my experiences in the past. So, kind of like a reverse how to of what not to do, and part of that is also reversing the stigma of HR as just being the rule enforcer and getting people in trouble. And you know, if it fully falls on trust, support and building an environment where people do their best work, part of that comes from investing in a workplace culture that development directly strengthens both the employees and the organization's bottom line. So, AI being one of those things. As we knew that that was happening in our industry, in our market, we embraced the change. We wanted to be change makers of that. So okay, let's get everyone trained on AI. Let's get everyone to understand how it's changing the market, how it's competitive, how other organizations are using it in a negative way getting people out of jobs, and how we can use it to our benefit. How it can benefit our clients and our audience, the partners and the people that we work with and at the organization, how it can essentially develop our team for the day of tomorrow in another workplace, or even here, how it can benefit them. So, if you're seeing things in a positive light, or how it can really benefit you and the employee, you being the employer, of course there's always going to be a positive outcome. How can we collaborate on this to benefit both ends? And a lot of what we talk about here at the organization is around that, you know? We can be a steppingstone. We can be the place that you retire at, we can work in the in the future in different ways if you're not an employee here, but at the end of the day, in the time that you are here, we're benefiting one another. There has to be a culture of reciprocity around creating the space where they feel like you're supporting them and they're supporting you and your business.

I'm shaking my head yes to a lot of the things that you're saying, Melanie, but is there a story or an example that you could use to illustrate what you're talking about?

Yeah, of course. So, I'll give you an example. A lot of our entry level employees are very green. They're coming new into the workforce, so we could be their first place of employment, and that's amazing, because that benefits us and we're helping you shape your train of thought, your systems thinking, your way of leading, and we're mentoring you. So, we're flexing that skill in being your mentor and building that skill set for us in leadership, and we're also building your skill set in building up your resume and teaching you new things, while also molding you to the needs of the organization. Again, it's not to be using you, but it's the culture of reciprocity. So, what we do at the organization, this is an annual initiative that we do every year, is create a work plan for each employee. We try to make it as customizable as possible. That work plan kind of outlines how your time is supposed to be spent, because you're not just here to check things off a list and do things. You spend a lot of time at work. So, we kind of outline what your time and energies are going to look like through that calendar year, what goals we're trying to hit for the company, what personal goals you have, because we want to support those and it's a very open conversation. I think that that's very crucial, because if you know what that person wants to grow into at your organization or in the future, you can find a good way to have a happy compromise where you both mutually benefit. And if you invest in your team and you invest in that energy and that space, you're it's going to be beneficial for both parties.

Yeah, great example. So, we gave the name of the organization that you lead HR at, Behavioral Science Research Institute. What exactly do you all do there?


That is a loaded question. One of our fun initiatives was around creating a pitch recently and our rebranding and marketing, creating a pitch.

Well, practice right now. Give it to us.

So, we're a research and evaluation firm, we are a nonprofit, we support, our motto and our logo are helping the people who help people. So, we are an organization and evaluation partner that essentially gets hired to do grant writing and program evaluation. So, to give you an example for those not familiar with the field, you're an organization who wants grant funds to, for example, support an underserved population. If you're applying for grant funds, and if you're not familiar, you know, in order to keep those funds, maintain those funds, you have to do what you said you applied those funds to do,

That's right.

So, we're the evaluation partner that's essentially tracking the goals and the initiatives that you set out to do, and essentially reporting back to the Feds if this program or this initiative is working.

Yep.

We partner with you to essentially set you up for success with a human centered approach and from an evaluation standpoint, and using evaluation frameworks, and we're partners with those people, and we get a portion of the grant funds if we're on as the evaluation partner.

Understood, okay, I got it.

Amongst many other things.

I bet. And based in Miami, but doing work just regionally, locally or all around the country?

We definitely try to do work all around the country, but majority of our clients are here in South Florida or in Florida in general.

Okay, got it. Now, I'm gonna weave what you're doing now with earlier. When you gave your introduction, you talked about, you know, your parents being immigrants from Cuba, that a lot of their work ethic and what you're doing now kind of came from them. Is there a story or a pivotal point early on for you that kind of set your direction of where you are now? Like when we talk about Melanie's childhood or kind of comings up, if you will, what sticks out to you?

Definitely, and this is not to sound corny at all, but my mom is my biggest inspiration. She came during a pivotal time for Cubans, which is called El Mariel. She went to high school here. She graduated from high school here in Miami and then went straight into the workforce. Because of many immigrants did, school wasn't a priority, or it wasn't even a privilege, and she went straight into the workforce being a person who just learned English. It’s always hard trying to be bilingual and trying to succeed and trying to make things happen. You know, after being married and having kids, she raised me as a single parent. So, she was always somebody that I looked up to, who made sure we had everything we need for us to be successful. So, I never took that for granted, and I definitely always appreciated that, and her motivation, her dedication, and even just the support that she provided me was always something that I appreciated and definitely did not take for granted, in order for me to succeed and hopefully, you know, take care of her one day financially. It's kind of like we're paying your parents for everything they do for you. So fresh out of high school, I also went straight to work, while going to school full time, which was a requirement at the time. You know, she supported me in every way I could, and I had scholarships, but as everyone knows, school is expensive, school is not free, so I went to school full time and worked full time and immediately always wanted to start my career right out of high school, in whatever way that looked like, internships and starting in the field that I wanted to be in. So, I pursued legal work and working at firms and building myself as a paralegal to eventually end up in law school, which that obviously changed for me. I have no regrets, because it was definitely a learning experience. As long as I was motivated and I had a dream and I wanted to continue, things worked out for me, and I'm very lucky, but it definitely was a lot of work.

Yeah, thank you for that. And now weaving back into HR, I'm sure you're part of HR associations, or HR groups, I know Sherm, and there's some other really big ones, if you had a message that you wanted your fellow colleagues in in HR to know, if you could have a message on a billboard, for instance, for HR execs around the country, what do you think that message would say?

You're not alone, and people need their people. I say people need their people people because it's a lot of the same letters, but where HR has been transformed a lot into less HR and more people oriented, it's called people operations. So, I'm a team of one in HR, so my department is solely me. Obviously, I have the support and the collaboration of my executive leadership team, but my department is run solely by me. So, that often is the case for many people in HR, and they feel like they have to wear a lot of hats, like we were talking about earlier, and do a lot of different roles under HR and people, and I think that number one, accepting that you are not alone and that you can have support, even if it's not directly within your organization, but in the network of other HR and people professionals to always branch out and do that. Professionals feel like they have to do it alone because their organization is small, but we're small and mighty, even outside of that. I feel like the biggest shift for me and my perspective, or like my outlook into how I do my work shifted within the last two years because I joined a lot of different communities. Whether it was virtual spaces on LinkedIn, you know, places that where we do happy hour, a lot of my work and a lot of my ideas come from that networking and talking to other people in HR spaces and what they're doing at different organizations. Every business runs differently, and all initiatives vary according to your industry and what your organization is willing to invest time and space in, and the only way you can even get those ideas is if you're in the spaces to hear about them.

So, if you were to take that message even further, and an HR exec was listening to this, who did feel isolated, a lot of what you just said, sure that that sounds great, but Melanie, where do I start? Like, how do I even branch out? Like, literally, take me as a kindergartner, like, how do I get involved in groups? What do I do? Where do I start?

I definitely started through LinkedIn. I feel like LinkedIn is a huge resource to connect people. I would just start looking at like, HR in Miami or HR in South Florida, and I would start joining groups, and through those groups, I also learned a lot about different webinars and virtual opportunities to one, learn and professionally develop, but also to meet people. In the smaller conferences or the smaller virtual opportunities, you have more of a conversation and there's more engagement and a better chance of meeting people. So, we would connect offline or through LinkedIn, and then invitations are coming in, because you want to grow that community. If you're showing interest, people will show interest in you. And I've learned a lot of different advice. I've joined a lot of different advisory groups and different organizations that operate off the same type of groups and same types of people in HR and people regardless of industry.

Yeah, sure. Sure, makes a ton of sense. And if I know a lot of people in HR, and even directors like you said, sometimes running departments of one, and the overwhelmedness and stress level I see can be, can be very, very high. If somebody's in that period of their lives, or they're just feeling overwhelmed, what are some suggestions you would have for them?

Number one, admitting it is the first step. I think vulnerability and reflection are a big part of that. I'm very lucky to work with an HR coach that my company supports in my professional development, so I call her my unpaid therapist. Paid, but unpaid therapist. She's been a huge resource for me, and she and I were the ones who kind of made that breakthrough together in a lot of reflection of, you know, how are your weeks going, how is this quarter, how are you feeling? Keep showing up. And there is a pattern here.

Sure.

Admitting burnout is probably the biggest part of it, because as an HR and people person, you naturally are a bit of a people pleaser. So, you know, admitting defeat as a recovering perfectionist, admitting that it's okay to reach this point naturally, if you're an over worker, or if you have a lot on your plate, you can reach this point, it's just a matter of how you're addressing it or trying to avoid getting there. So, vulnerability and transparency are a big part of that. You know, if you have people you work with, like my executive leadership team who supports you and who will open the space for those types of vulnerable conversations, that's very important. You know, they supported me, they understood, how can we move forward, how can we take things off your plate or how can we change timelines and shift things to make this manageable and not burn out?

Yeah. Admitting there's an issue is the first step. Okay, let's identify something. Let's see what the heck is going on here. So, yeah, very good. You know, we've covered a lot of different topics. Is there, is there a topic that you're passionate about that I've not asked you about yet?

I think we could talk a little bit about culture. I feel like that's one of the biggest aspects of my role, and I think it's super important to have at every organization, regardless of budget, regardless of size. Me and my organization, we're actually a pretty small team, but culture is one of our biggest priorities, and I think part of that comes from, you spend a lot of time at work, probably more time than you do at home, especially if you're in a regular nine to five and you don't work your own hours. Culture is a big part of that, and I think what retains people, what keeps people engaged and what keeps people bought into your mission, vision, values, or even your bottom line, if your company operates that way, is making sure that your people are being paid attention to. There are so many memes and there's so many funny things out there of like, oh, HR culture is not just a pizza party and jeans on Friday, and I definitely agree. We actually have a culture budget. We wrap it into our budget because it's that important to us to invest in our team, whether that's through informal check ins or get togethers inside and outside of work. Professional development is part of the culture, so investing in our team's growth, things like that. I think that's not talked about enough, or it's stigmatized to be so negative, because people just see it as pizza parties and jeans and I think that that's something that regardless of what your role is in a company, if you have a voice or you have a vote, I think that those are one of the things that you should prioritize.

What would be, I don't know, the top two or three suggestions? I mean, culture such a wide-ranging topic, but I really like what you say, like, don't just put it in a corner with pizza and jeans, like culture is important, and what I heard from you is intentionality around it, specificity around it. I’m sure Behavioral Science Research Institute is a great organization, it's wonderful, but if it just went away like that, and you were to enter a brand new organization as the director of HR, what would be some first things that you would do around the topic of culture?

So, we call it here like a culture pulse check, so getting a temperature or a check of what the culture is that wherever you're walking into. You know, we can talk about culture all day like but if policies recognition and feedback loops don't align, then culture isn't really real. Culture isn't about what you say, it's about what you enforce. So, getting a read for the room of what the company does, what the relationships are like, what level of trust or transparency there is, and pretty much communication strategies. What do people talk about, what they like and what they don't like, and that's a lot of what we do here. One of the things that I implement frequently is informal and scheduled check ins with the team that across different departments, so what changed from last quarter to this quarter? What do you want to see more or less of? Was there a big impact or a big change or do you feel like things are shifting in any way? If you aren't asking these important questions, people are not going to feel inclined to come forward and tell you things or even be honest. So, it's even just about asking the question in the first place.

Culture pulse check. There's a thread that's running through our conversation, Melanie, that I'm already seeing, which is, identify. Like you said, you know, admitting there's an issue when I asked you about overwhelmedness and stress. When I asked you about, okay, what's the first thing that you would do with culture? You have this way of going, okay, let's see what's going on first, and then move forward, as opposed to you saying, well, I would have done this, and then I do this around culture, and then I would do jeans, or, I don't know, whatever you do. You have a way of like, okay, let's stop and just kind of observe and do like a pulse check and see and then move forward. So yeah, I don't know. That that seems like a thread that is at least running through our conversation, if not how you lead HR and culture.

Personally, and even with my executive leadership team, we talk a lot about being more proactive instead of reactive, which is what you were speaking to. And I think that that begins with that. If you're proactive and asking these questions, you can prevent some of these scenarios and not be like, oh, I could have, should have, would have done this. It's more about trying to prevent it, or even plan for things. Obviously, there's things that are inevitable and just come up, but the more you're checking in with your team and checking in with yourself and checking in externally, the better things can turn out, because I can check in with my team and say, everything is going great, but if I check in externally, with, for example, my networks, what other organizations, what other people in the industry are doing, or even different industries are doing, and I'm starting to see a trend, or I'm starting to see a change that's also a part of the conversation that I have with my team. A good example of that is like working four-day work weeks. It was talked about a lot in a lot of the conferences I've had in the past one to two years, and we have a lot of flexible schedules, but we weren't doing four-day work weeks. And I was like, oh, I see a trend, and this is a good retention strategy, so immediately, from that culture check externally, I brought it in as a potential to do internally. Of course, the team loved it, and we started off with a pilot during the summer of doing it in the summer, and we're currently now trying to implement it full time. So, you know, you trial and error and exciting things for the team to look forward to and get as a perk in the company, and that it's a good retention strategy.

Sure. Oh, very good. Well, before we end, I have to ask a couple of questions about that, because people that we coach are have tried and have successfully implemented, but some have unsuccessfully implemented the whole four-day work week. What does your four-day work week look like? Because I know it can be different at different organizations.

Yeah. So, for sure, as a person in a leadership position, my first recommendation is, don't over commit, don't oversell and for sure have a culture of experimentation. We're gonna try this. Let's see if it works. You know?

Sure.

Trying not to get people used to the idea of it's not something that you're even willing to consider permanently. So, we started off with it just being a summer initiative. So, we knew if this is the first time we're trying it, we're going to see if it works, and how we can make it customizable to us. Most people did summer Fridays. We did summer four days because our clients needed to us to be available Fridays and Mondays. So, the way that we approached it differently was splitting the team between having Friday or Monday off. So, the client's needs were always met, and we still got to benefit from the perk.

Nice.

It obviously went very successfully, and the team really enjoyed it but the most important thing was getting feedback from both our team and our clients on how they felt it went. A good chunk of our team was like, this was great, and this was amazing, but and our clients loved it, but internally, we felt like the culture took a hit because we saw less of each other. It would be beneficial if maybe we all took the same day off. So, we took our team's feedback into consideration, and now, when we trialed it for the first quarter of 2025, we're all taking the same day off, and it's actually working really well. But again, we are going through feedback loops, we're going through informal check ins, and we're seeing that while we're the team is benefiting and loving it, that the clients are not being harmed in any way, and the product and quality remains high.

Yeah, nice. Well, the best of luck with that experiment.

Thank you.

Same thing. Setting proper expectations. You know, like another podcast guest said last year, clarity is like a magic wand. Setting proper expectations and being clear with people is way better than any ambiguity that that enters the space. So, yeah, really good. Melanie, I have a feeling as a result of our conversation, people are going to want to reach out to you. What's the best way to find you these days?

I love connecting with new people. I definitely would love that. Definitely reach out to me on LinkedIn or email me. Our company website has my direct contact information, but I'm always open to conversations, whether it's in person or virtually. I would love to get to know some new people and talk about ways that we can collaborate or even give each other advice in the HR and people world.

Yes, so good, so good. Well, we will make sure your email and contact information is in the show notes. Melanie, from immigrant Cuban parents, to law, to now HR to giving advice to other HR executives and leaders, what a joy it's been to learn your insights, to hear your stories. Thank you for that. Thank you for your time today and your expertise and yeah, just thank you so much.

Thank you. I loved the conversation, and I'm excited for what's to come of it.

All right. Well, we will wrap that episode of The Insight Interviews. And Melanie, thank you. Until next time.

Till next time.

Okay, folks, that was Melanie Gonzalez, director of HR and people at Behavioral Science Research Institute in Florida. Wow, what I liked and what the insights that I had was she is definitely in the right job. She is a people person, and her main piece of advice being you're not alone. I just felt that from her and her being grateful for her colleagues, and just like slowing down and taking pulse checks, I just really appreciated that way about her. And just to know that she's young and early in her career, and she's doing amazing great things now, and she's going to continue to do amazing, great things moving forward. I love the hope that's in that. But as we say at the end of every episode of the Insight Interviews, it doesn't much matter what me, what my as the host, what my insights were, but what really matters is, what were your insights?

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