Cruising Altitude

Oct 25 2024 46 ep. 31 mins 1

Cruising Altitude Podcast artwork

If you are a leader at a company with over 30,000 employees, managing employee experience is a little different. Problems are more complex, and implementing change is more difficult. In this podcast, we will talk to leaders who are designing the best digital employee experiences in the world - from the front lines to the back office. Life is different over 30,000. Welcome to Cruising Altitude. Hosted by Firstup Founder and CEO, Nicole Alvino.

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Taking Employee Engagement to New Heights with Elizabeth Bryant of Southwest Airlines

Oct 25 2024 36 mins

This episode of Cruising Altitude features a conversation with Elizabeth Bryant, Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer at Southwest Airlines, hosted by Nicole Alvino, CEO and co-founder of FirstUp. Elizabeth and Nicole discuss the importance of employee engagement and its impact on organizational success. The conversation explores Southwest's employee-centered approach, le

HR Innovation at Diageo: A Conversation with Brittany Polanco

Oct 02 2024 33 mins

This episode of Cruising Altitude features a conversation with Brittany Polanco, Director of HR Innovation at Diageo, hosted by Nicole Alvino, CEO and co-founder of FirstUp. They discuss the critical role of leadership in shaping the energy and attitude of work, whether in-person or remote. Brittany shares insights on the importance of empowering leaders, co-creating employee exper

Data Empowerment and Positive Culture: Insights from Tim Gerend at Northwestern Mutual

Apr 17 2024 23 mins

This episode of Cruising Altitude features an insightful conversation with Tim Gerend, President at Northwestern Mutual. He previously served as Northwestern Mutual's Executive Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer. The discussion with host Nicole Alvino highlights the critical role of data in understanding and improving the employee experience, drawing a direct correlation

Matching the Employee Experience to the Customer Experience with Shaelyn Otikor, SVP & Head of Global Digital Workplace Strategy at Northern Trust Asset Servicing

Apr 03 2024 31 mins

This episode features an interview with Shaelyn Otikor, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Digital Workplace Strategy at Northern Trust in the Asset Servicing business unit. The Asset Servicing business unit contains 15,000 of the company's 25,000 employees across 20 countries. Shaelyn has been with Northern Trust for over 28 years. And today, our host Nicole Alvino is talkin

Fizzing with Wisdom: PepsiCo’s HR Strategies for Success with Andrea Ferrara

Mar 20 2024 30 mins

This episode features an interview with Andrea Ferrara, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for PepsiCo Beverages North America. PBNA is PepsiCo’s $21 billion beverage business and Global Foodservice with a portfolio that includes Pepsi, Gatorade, Rockstar Energy Drink, and more. Andrea is a 30-year veteran of PepsiCo and currently leads the HR function for th

Introducing Our New Host, Nicole Alvino!

Mar 06 2024 19 mins

This episode features an interview with Nicole Alvino. Nicole is a visionary entrepreneur and CEO with a passion for transforming the employee experience. As the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Firstup, a leading enterprise SaaS company, Nicole is responsible for driving innovation and growth in employee experience, engagement and communications. She believes that investing

Welcome to Season 3 of Cruising Altitude!

Feb 28 2024 1 mins

Welcome to Season 3 of Cruising Altitude, hosted by Nicole Alvino and brought to you by Firstup.

How to Create One Employee Superapp to Rule Them All with Richard McColl, VP of People Technology at Walmart

Jul 05 2023 28 mins

This episode features an interview with Richard McColl, Vice President of People Technology at Walmart. Richard applies Human Centric Design, Design Thinking, AI, and Technology to the associate experience at Walmart. Prior to joining Walmart, Richard served IBM for over 18 years, having held several leadership roles including Vice President and Senior Partner, Talent Technology Pr

The Human Factor: Jami Schultz Unlocks the Power of People at Canon USA

Jun 14 2023 39 mins

This episode features an interview with Jami Schultz, Senior Director of Employee Relations and Development at Canon USA. Canon is a leading provider of consumer, B2B, and industrial digital imaging solutions. In her role, Jami makes sure employees love their jobs, and she solves people problems every day. In this episode, she’ll share what tools, ideas, and programs set her, the

Boosting Employee Productivity With a Digital Toolkit with Tope Sadiku, former Global Head of Digital Employee Experience at the Kraft Heinz Company

May 31 2023 27 mins

This episode features an interview with Tope Sadiku, former Global Head of Digital Employee Experience at the Kraft Heinz Company, one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world with $25 billion in global sales. Tope has recently moved into her new role as the Strategic Planning Lead, Transformation, Agile and Digital Revolution at Kraft Heinz where her focus is to inc