3 years later
SUPPORTING PEOPLE WITH
Hi y’all,
📣📣 This week is a big one!!!!
3 years ago this week I sent out my very first edition of I Hate it Here. Since that first edition, so much has changed in my life and the state of work.
And yet, there’s still so much work to be done!!!
But before we get to that, let’s just take a minute to ✨ celebrate ✨this incredible milestone!!
Thank you for creating space for me to share my hopes, wishes, dreams, and changes I want for work.
It’s because of you I get to do this. <3333 So from the bottom of my heart thank you!!
And let's not forget, the team!!!! A round of applause for the team that supports me day in and day out. Without those incredible folks, I wouldn't be able to create anything! This is a joint effort. One big wild collab. <3
With that, let me shower you with some presents:
🎧 A fresh ep of the I Hate it Here pod. A leadership meeting without HR? Absolutely not and more with Ana King this week! We’re getting into why HR should always be in those meetings and why HR sometimes gets the rep that it does.
📺 HR Therapy is called Tech Stack Therapy this month because we’ve all been there trying to Frankenstein our systems into something else. We’re getting into signs it's time to quit and pivot and must haves for your tech stack.
🏙️ The Safe Space Summit. Less than 50 days away and I’M READY TO SEE YOU THERE! It’s one of the few events out there created BY HR for HR!! And it’ll speak directly to the challenges you’re facing but you’ll also walk away with real solutions to your toughest problems. Catch ya there??
Now, onto today… A celebration of 3 years of I Hate it Here.
SPONSORED BY WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
Tired of hearing “we value inclusion” while the hiring process screams otherwise?
Yeaaah, me too! 🙃
That’s why I’m sharing this free guide from Welcome to the Jungle, the hiring platform where finding the right people is the whole point: 20 Things You Should Be Doing to Hire Inclusively (But Probably Aren’t).
Think of it as a cheat sheet with quick wins you can roll out right away to kill bias in job posts, stop running interviews like reality TV auditions, and finally start building the team you've always wanted!
Inclusive hiring takes intention, and that intention starts here!!
SPECIAL EDITION
An incredible milestone:Copy anchor linkCopied
Three years.
That’s how long I’ve been hitting send on this newsletter.
To put that into perspective, I’ve held only one other job for three years. I’m a millennial okay!!
This is shaping up to be one of my longest commitments… professional and personal. 🙃
It’s honestly hard to put into words how impactful the last three years have been. What started as me jotting down thoughts on HR, culture, and my issues with work has grown into a community, a conversation, and a practice that’s shaped how I see HR (and myself).
❤️ Writing every week has been equal parts therapy, accountability, and connection. I sometimes even joke that writing this newsletter feels like writing in a diary.
Today, I want to do something different.
I want to take a beat to celebrate this milestone, yes, but also to reflect.
Three years of writing hasn’t just been about content. It’s about so much more like noticing patterns, calling out what still hasn’t changed, and recognizing the surprises we didn’t see coming.
Which brings me to today’s retrospective: a look at Then, Now, and Next.
Then:Copy anchor linkCopied
➡️ 2022. What a time to be alive!
When I started writing in September of 2022, here’s what the state of work looked like:
- 23% of workers reported being engaged at work
- HR teams were stretched then but budgets were growing
- Remote work was the mainstream
- Employee experience, wellbeing, work models were top discussions
- Momentum around pay transparency was building with NYC putting into effect the State Transparency Law
- Over 50% of managers reported being burned out
- 97% of HR employees reported feeling emotionally exhausted
When I first started this newsletter, there were two things I couldn’t ignore: performance management and manager burnout. And truthfully? I haven’t shut up about either in the last three years. Sorry not sorry!
Why? Because performance management felt (and still feels) like an outdated ritual some HR teams cling to. It desperately needs to be rethought because it often does more harm than good.
And as for managers, what do you expect when they’re asked to be coaches, therapists, career guides, and productivity drivers…all without training, support, or the right tools? It’s a recipe for burnout, and in 2022, we were already watching it boil over and impacting employee engagement.
In 2022 the majority of our problems felt like they came from the shift to remote work and navigating a pandemic. Systems that had worked in the past suddenly felt ready to crumble under the tiniest bit of pressure…
More on that in the Now section! But before I get to that, can I brag for a min? This retrospective is also a chance for me to celebrate all the dope things the team has done!
I Hate it Here milestones in 2022:
⭐ The first newsletter goes out to 10,000 subscribers.
⭐ HR Therapy has its FIRST episode ever! Now we’re a monthly show.
⭐ I start writing more on Linkedin and Twitter (ew). The former becomes my go-to spot to share fun memes, upcoming events, and cool partnerships we’ve built.
So, where are we now??
Now:Copy anchor linkCopied
➡️ Now (2025)
The state of work today feels… more chaotic than it felt in 2022??
Three years later, I’m still talking about some of the same pain points like how performance reviews are clunky, managers are still overburdened, and everyone is struggling to work well together. 🤷🏽♀️
But here’s what has changed: AI.
In 2022, AI wasn’t even on my radar as a core HR issue. Now? It’s everywhere!!!!
I can’t escape it…
There are tools that help managers draft performance feedback, platforms that auto-generate recognition notes, systems that summarize engagement surveys, virtual notetakers to recap any meeting, recruiting tools to best match candidates to open roles and so much more.
AI is shifting how work gets done, and it’s forcing us to ask new questions, like:
What should managers actually own?
What does “good” performance look like when machines are in the mix?
How do we keep humanity at the center when efficiency is so easy to automate?
What role does bias play in our tools and our decisions?
What does productivity truly look like?
What roles will be impacted the most?
The list goes on and on, every day I come up with a new question and think about how AI will shape our future. I may have stopped making my Skynet jokes but that doesn’t mean I’m not wary of the impacts to work and LIFE.
Some notable I Hate it Here moments from 2022 → Now:
⭐ Safe Space created and launched to foster connections and help HR make important decisions. We’re up to 8,000 global members. Apply for your spot!
⭐ Launched a 2nd AND 3rd edition of this newsletter. So I’m with you Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Bringing you joy and hot takes instead of “circle back” emails.
⭐ The podcast has 4X seasons a year of original content and REAL convos with people who are in the thick of it with us!
⭐ The Safe Space Summit hit the calendar this year! A space for HR to work on their toughest challenges together and better prepare for the future. For HR, by HR. The realest room!
⭐ Traveled the world, spoke on stages, and hosted really cool and intimate dinners.
So… what’s next? I guessss we can talk about that now.
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➡️ The future
Looking ahead, I don’t think the next three years will be about reworking the same systems, I think they’ll be about rethinking the rituals we’ve long accepted as “just the way work is.”
🔥 Maybe it’s time to actually burn it all down. 🔥
AI is already reshaping how we write performance reviews, give feedback, and even hire people.
What happens when the performance review stops being an administrative exercise and becomes a living, continuous process powered by real data and smart tools?
Hint: it gets so much better.
And, it can’t happen without rethinking some of our roles.
Like managers.
For far too long, we’ve asked managers to be everything like a coach, therapist, strategist, disciplinarian.
I think AI will start to chip away at the admin overload and surface insights that make managers better decision-makers. BUT it will also force a bigger convo: what should a manager actually be responsible for in the future?
Maybe it’s less about paperwork, forced feedback and corrective measures and instead about building trust, leading with clarity, and connecting the dots between people and purpose.
✨ And let’s not forget about us… ✨
For years, HR has been buried in the weeds from processing, policing, and performing tasks that kept the work machine running.
AI has the potential to strip that away.
What happens when we aren’t buried in the process but get a chance to RETHINK the entire thing. What will we redesign?
Maybe that means scrapping annual reviews, splitting the manager role up, hiring entirely new roles that have never existed, and reworking org structures to be productive rather than performative.
The possibilities are endless…
HR could have the opportunity to decide what work itself should look like.
And that’s what makes me the most excited for the future.
So, what’s next for I Hate it Here?
There are so many more things I want to accomplish… more shows, more pods, more writing.
But, what do you want to see? I genuinely want to know and if it’s possible I may be able to make it happen. Reply to this email and tell me what you’re thinking about!
It’s been a fab three years, here’s to many more. 🥂
(HUMAN) RESOURCES
- Amazon’s culture reset
- CEOs and their bad behavior in the spotlight
- Moms’ career and personal time hit by school drop offs
- Postal traffic drops nearly 80% after trade exemption ends
WORK-LIFE BALANCE
- 📚 What I’m reading: Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola. A romcom I ran to pick up! I’ve been following the author on twitter for a while and I love her commentary on all things pop culture. So naturally, I'm going to read her book!
- 📺 What I’m watching: The Challenge. This new season introduced some rookies and I'm just on the fence about it all. We do need some fresh blood but I'm meh on the constant vets vs rookie energy. I liked the szn they were paired with each other!
- 🏈 What I’m obsessing over: FOOTBALL. I went into both my fantasy drafts on vibes only and very little research. So, um… IDK how this is going to go!
SONG OF THE WEEK
🎧 When Did You Get Hot? Sabrina Carpenter Copy anchor linkCopied
This song gave me fun 2000s vibes. From the first listen I was obsessed with it!
And Sabrina works with one of my faves Jack Antonoff so clearly I like the sound.
If you need me, I'll be singing this song.
That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know what you think and what other topics you'd love for me to cover. I'm allll ears.
Reminder: Take care of yourself and know that I support you.
