VideoMy Pod

Hosted by VideoMy

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Oct 2026

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EN-AU

About the show

Welcome to the VideoMy Pod, where we go two inches wide and a mile deep on employer branding, recruitment marketing and internal comms. VideoMy's Founder David Macciocca and a who's-who of co-hosts talk with industry experts and on-the-tools practitioners around the world to learn how teams are activating their employer brand strategy and attracting the best talent.

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60 recent

October 29, 202654 min

100 How To Activate An Ambassador Program Using What You Already Have | Carrie Corbin (Hope Leigh)

In this episode of the VideoMy Pod’s US Series, host David Macciocca and co-host Brian Chaney, founder of People Nerd and PBC, sit down with Carrie Corbin, founder of Hope Leigh Marketing Group and former employer brand leader at American Airlines, AT&T, Samsung and Dell, to go deep on one of the most practical topics in the industry: how to actually build and activate an employee ambassador program without starting from zero. Drawing on two decades of in-house practitioner experience at some of the world’s most recognisable brands, Carrie shares why the best ambassador programs are built on what already exists – employee referral programs, ERGs, and the people who are already showing up and sharing. She also gets into the real reason most referral programs fail, what she learned from being inside an ERG at AT&T, how to tell the ugly side of a job and why it works, and how she recession-proofed her content team at Dell by making them strategic partners, not just storytellers. For employer brand and recruitment marketing practitioners looking for a no-nonsense, experience-driven guide to building advocacy that actually scales, this episode is one of the most practical in the series. Key Topics: 02:00 – Carrie’s background: from the beginning of EB to founding Hope Leigh Marketing Group 06:00 – What’s genuinely new in employer brand, and what we’re still figuring out 10:00 – Why employer brand sitting in TA limits its real impact on culture and experience 14:00 – What an ambassador program actually is and why the employee voice outperforms leadership 18:00 – Why ERGs and employee referral programs are your fastest path to existing advocates 23:00 – What most employer brand people misunderstand about ERGs from the inside 28:00 – The AT&T Twitter tribe: finding employees already talking and inviting them in 33:00 – Creating win-win partnerships with ERGs through competitions, incentives, and shared storytelling 38:00 – The Skyball story: how American Airlines turned a military gala into an EB moment 42:00 – Realistic job preview videos and why showing the ugly side of a job reduces attrition 46:00 – Why employee referral programs fail and Laszlo Bock’s “give me five” fix 50:00 – Building the business case: reducing ad spend, driving organic referrals, and improving retention 52:00 – Recession-proofing your EB team: how Dell’s content creators survived while recruiters were cut 53:00 – The biggest lesson moving from in-house to agency: stop trying to fix everything for free You can stay up to date by following us on LinkedIn , or catch up on previous episodes here . We’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VideoMy Pod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies and help us continue to build this wonderful community. Please subscribe wherever you listen or give us a share on LinkedIn! If you’re ready to level up your activation strategy, we help organisations turn moments that matter into stories that people trust. Interested in learning more? Book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists.

October 19, 202634 min

99 The Loneliest Profession? Why Employer Brand Needs Its Own Community | Crystal Lay (PBC)

In this episode of the VideoMy Pod’s US Series, host David Macciocca and co-host Bryan Cheney, founder of People Nerd and People Brand Collective (PBC), sit down with one of PBC's co-founders, Crystal Lay, to explore a topic that doesn’t get nearly enough airtime: the isolation, lack of standards, and professional fragmentation facing employer brand and people communications practitioners today — and what’s being done about it. Drawing on over two decades in the industry, including stints in marketing, HR, consulting, and agency work, Crystal shares why employer brand professionals are among the loneliest in the workforce, why the industry is about 10 years behind traditional marketing in terms of maturity and structure, and why she and Brian set out to build something bigger than a conference or a Slack group. She also gets into what makes a community genuinely work, why PBC deliberately includes agencies, vendors, and consultants as equals, and what it would mean for the industry to finally have its own professional standards, research, and advocacy body. For anyone working in employer brand, recruitment marketing, or people communications (whether you’re a team of one or part of a larger function) this episode will resonate deeply and might just make you feel a little less alone. Key Topics: 02:00 – Crystal’s background: from marketing to recruiting to 20+ years in employer brand 06:00 – The epidemic of loneliness and why it’s hitting EB practitioners especially hard 10:00 – Why EB and people brand professionals are the “redheaded stepchildren” of every industry group 14:00 – The gap PBC is trying to fill: no professional home, no standards, no advocacy 18:00 – Why PBC includes agencies, vendors, and consultants as equal members — not second-class ones 22:00 – Consultant speak, individual identity, and remembering your personal value 25:30 – Who disproportionately ends up outside corporate roles — and why that matters 28:00 – What community success actually looks like: Dunbar’s theory and the deeper metrics 31:00 – Creating industry standards, original research, and a living knowledge base 33:30 – How PBC services members globally across time zones and learning formats 34:30 – Why employer brand deserves the same advocacy SHRM gives to HR You can stay up to date by following us on LinkedIn , or catch up on previous episodes here . We’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VideoMy Pod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies and help us continue to build this wonderful community. Please subscribe wherever you listen or give us a share on LinkedIn! If you’re ready to level up your activation strategy, we help organisations turn moments that matter into stories that people trust. Interested in learning more? Book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists.

October 14, 202638 min

98 Making The Jump From Recruitment To Employer Brand | Max Darby (Hilti)

In this episode of the VideoMy Pod's US Series, recorded live in Chicago, host David Macciocca and co-host Brian Cheney, founder of People Nerd and PBC, sit down with Max Darby, Talent Attraction Manager at Hilti North America, to explore one of the most common, and most underexplored, career transitions in the industry: moving from talent acquisition into employer brand. Drawing on over a decade of experience that started with agency recruitment in aerospace and defence in the UK before evolving into a global and then North American employer brand role at Hilti, Max shares what recruiters naturally bring to employer brand (and what they need to unlearn), how curiosity about the “why” behind applications sparked his shift, and what it really takes to build an employer brand strategy that connects to business outcomes. He also gets into programmatic advertising, talent pipelines, authentic storytelling, and why the role of employer brand is increasingly about advising the business — not just advertising it. For recruiters considering the move into employer brand, or practitioners who want a grounded, honest take on what the role actually demands, this episode is full of hard-won insight from someone who has lived the transition. Key Topics: 02:00 – Max’s journey: agency recruitment to global EB to Hilti North America 06:00 – The moment he realised social media and storytelling were his real superpower 10:00 – What recruiters bring to employer brand — and what they need to unlearn 15:00 – Moving from transactional mindset to strategic, persona-based thinking 19:00 – Why you can’t fix a bad employer brand with great storytelling 23:00 – Connecting employer brand to business outcomes: empty seats, lost revenue, and sales quotas 27:00 – Programmatic advertising and the split between brand and recruitment marketing 31:00 – What Max thought EB was vs. what it actually turned out to be 34:00 – The skills recruiters must develop: marketing, analytics, and strategic thinking 36:30 – Advice for anyone making the transition: take risks, stay curious, and it’ll be okay You can stay up to date by following us on LinkedIn , or catch up on previous episodes here . We’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VideoMy Pod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies and help us continue to build this wonderful community. Please subscribe wherever you listen or give us a share on LinkedIn! If you’re ready to level up your activation strategy, we help organisations turn moments that matter into stories that people trust. Interested in learning more? Book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists.

October 12, 202644 min

97 No Agency, No Problem: The Scrappy EVP Playbook That Actually Worked | Michael Lowe (HSHS)

VideoMy Pod host David Macciocca and co-host James Ellis talk to Michael Lowe, Recruitment Marketing Program Manager at a multi-state health system in Illinois and Wisconsin, to unpack one of the most practical EVP stories they've heard: building a full employer value proposition from scratch, in-house, in under six weeks – without an agency. Just two months into his new role, Michael shares how he leveraged exit survey data, new hire feedback, AI chatbots, ERG partnerships and a healthy dose of agency-side experience to develop a validated EVP framework that leadership, marketing and HR all signed off on. He also gets into the unique challenges of employer branding in healthcare, from nursing shortages and staff burnout to building personas across wildly different audiences, and what comes next once the EVP is live. For employer brand and recruitment marketing practitioners who want a realistic, no-budget-blown playbook for getting an EVP done quickly and credibly, Michael's story is as practical as it gets. Key Topics: 02:00 – Moving from agency to in-house: what changes and what transfers 07:00 – Why Michael was handed the EVP brief two months into the role 11:00 – Replacing focus groups with exit data, new hire surveys and AI chatbots 16:00 – Using ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini to gather external sentiment fast 20:00 – Tapping the ERG as a built-in focus group to validate themes 25:00 – Getting leadership buy-in when the precedent was already there 29:00 – Navigating pushback: too authentic vs. too aspirational 33:00 – How healthcare's behavioural reality (nurses feeling unheard) shaped the EVP pillars 37:00 – Building personas across nursing, physicians, and corporate staff simultaneously 40:00 – What the EVP unlocks next: storytelling, advocacy, and campaign activation 42:30 – If you could do it again: what Michael would do differently You can stay up to date by following us on LinkedIn , or catch up on previous episodes here . We’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VideoMy Pod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies and help us continue to build this wonderful community. Please subscribe wherever you listen or give us a share on LinkedIn! If you’re ready to level up your activation strategy, we help organisations turn moments that matter into stories that people trust. Interested in learning more? Book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists.

September 28, 202641 min

96 Taking Your Employer Brand Off the Shelf and Into the World | Amy Miller

In this episode of the VideoMy Pod host David Macciocca and co-host James Ellis sit down with Amy Miller, an employer brand professional with a decade of experience in insurance and financial services, to dig deep into EVP activation – what it means, where it starts and how to make it stick across a large, matrixed organisation. Drawing on her experience at Discover and other major financial institutions, Amy shares why activation has to start internally before it goes anywhere near an external candidate, how to build and segment playbooks so every audience gets the right message, and why ERGs are one of the most underutilised activation levers available. She also talks about the power of FOMO in getting employees to participate, how to repurpose long-form content across every channel, and how to keep the EVP alive as the business shifts, leadership changes and the market evolves. For employer brand practitioners in large, risk-averse organisations who need practical ways to move from EVP development to real-world activation, this episode is packed with honest, experience-driven advice. Key Topics: 02:00 – The biggest mistake people make at the start of an EVP refresh 06:00 – How to use research to sell the need for change to sceptical leaders 10:00 – What a good playbook actually contains — and how to segment it by audience 14:30 – Why internal activation has to come before external 18:00 – ERGs as a primary source of authentic employee advocates 22:00 – How to approach ERG leaders and build genuine collaboration 26:00 – Creating content efficiency: long-form to social, blogs to ads, leaders to FOMO 30:00 – Maintaining the consistent hum across multiple talent segments simultaneously 33:30 – How to know when it's time to go back and refresh the EVP itself 36:00 – Measuring activation: candidate journey tracking, heat mapping, and post-click behaviour 38:30 – How AI is changing the candidate experience and what employer brands need to do about it 40:00 – The moment the EVP truly lands: employees bedazzling t-shirts with their rally cry You can stay up to date by following us on LinkedIn , or catch up on previous episodes here . We’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VideoMy Pod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies and help us continue to build this wonderful community. Please subscribe wherever you listen or give us a share on LinkedIn! If you’re ready to level up your activation strategy, we help organisations turn moments that matter into stories that people trust. Interested in learning more? Book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists.

September 21, 202638 min

95 What Building an EVP Actually Reveals About Your Organisation | Billye Survis (Ornua)

In this episode of the VideoMy Pod, recorded live in Chicago, host David Macciocca and co-host James Ellis chat with Billye Survis, Head of Talent at Ornua in America, to dig into one of the most important (and most misunderstood) questions in employer brand: what does it actually mean for an EVP to be a real business strategy – not just a pretty deck collecting dust on a shelf? Drawing on years of experience building and implementing EVPs across global organisations, Billye shares what she's learned about listening to employees before putting pen to paper, getting executive buy-in at every stage of the journey, closing the feedback loop so employees see their input reflected in outcomes, and measuring impact in ways that actually resonate with CFOs, CEOs, and operations leaders alike. She also makes a compelling case for connecting your EVP to sales, and why that conversation is one most employer branders haven't had yet. For practitioners looking to elevate their EVP from a recruitment tool to a company-wide strategic asset, this episode is packed with honest, practical, and occasionally surprising insights from someone who has done the hard yards. Key Topics: 02:00 – Why EVPs are a business strategy, not just a recruitment tool 05:00 – What nobody tells you before you start building an EVP 08:30 – Tailoring the executive buy-in conversation for CFOs, CEOs, and ops leaders 12:00 – Keeping it real: why your EVP must reflect the actual employee experience 16:00 – Closing the feedback loop so employees see their input turned into action 19:30 – Internal vs external EVP activation and how to work with internal comms 23:00 – Connecting your EVP to sales — and why that conversation changes everything 26:30 – KPIs that matter: internal mobility, time to fill, conversion, and referrals 29:30 – Why employee storytelling is still the most powerful EVP amplification tool 32:00 – The telltale signs your company needs a new (or first) EVP 34:30 – Localising a global EVP: pulling data, building a case, and getting buy-in 37:00 – The biggest surprise when building an EVP: what you find when you open the hood You can stay up to date by following us on LinkedIn , or catch up on previous episodes here . We’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VideoMy Pod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies and help us continue to build this wonderful community. Please subscribe wherever you listen or give us a share on LinkedIn! If you’re ready to level up your activation strategy, we help organisations turn moments that matter into stories that people trust. Interested in learning more? Book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists.

September 14, 202645 min

94 Being Choosable: Uncomfortable Employer Branding Truths | James Ellis (Employer Brand Labs)

In this episode of the VideoMy Pod, host David Macciocca chats with James Ellis (author of five books and one of the world's most recognised employer brand authorities) for a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred conversation on what employer brand really is, why most organisations are getting it wrong, and what it actually takes to build something worth talking about. James brings his signature combination of wit, provocation and deep strategic thinking to some of the most important questions in the field: How do you pitch employer brand to a sceptical CEO or CFO? What does it mean to be "choosable"? Why is employee advocacy the most underrated tool in the playbook? And where the heck should employer brand actually sit in an organisation? He also shares his honest (and occasionally biased) takes on TA, marketing and internal comms, before wrapping up with a rapid-fire agree/disagree round that doesn't pull any punches. For anyone working in employer brand, recruitment marketing, or talent acquisition who wants to think differently about their work – and maybe pick a fight or two along the way – this one is essential listening. Key Topics: 02:00 – The 60-second elevator pitch that reframes employer brand for sceptical CEOs 07:00 – How to talk to a CFO: value exchange, A-players and why salary premiums are a losing game 12:00 – What "choosable" actually means and why most companies sound exactly the same 17:00 – The #1 wasted opportunity on every career site (and why it makes James "murderously mad") 21:00 – Why employee advocacy is the cheapest, most impactful tool almost nobody uses properly 26:00 – The art of saying no and how to build systems that let you say yes more often 31:00 – Where should employer brand live: TA, marketing, or internal comms? 37:00 – The pros, cons and honest job security ranking of each reporting structure 41:00 – If you had a million dollars: what James would actually spend it on 43:00 – Rapid fire: EVPs are dead. Career sites are irrelevant. AI will make all content look the same. Agree or disagree? You can stay up to date by following us on LinkedIn , or catch up on previous episodes here . We’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VideoMy Pod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies and help us continue to build this wonderful community. Please subscribe wherever you listen or give us a share on LinkedIn! If you’re ready to level up your activation strategy, we help organisations turn moments that matter into stories that people trust. Interested in learning more? Book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists.

July 20, 202634 min

93 [EB Series] What TA Leaders Actually Think About Employer Brand | Wak Solis (Deloitte)

In this episode of the VideoMy Pod's Employer Brand Series, recorded live in Singapore, hosts David Macciocca and Emma Lang chat with Wak Solis, Regional Talent Acquisition Director – Technology & Transformation for Deloitte SEA, to explore something rarely covered in the series: how a senior TA leader thinks about employer brand — and what it takes to build a genuine, data-driven partnership between recruitment and employer brand teams. Drawing on 20+ years across banking, professional services, and BPO, Wak shares why she sees talent acquisition as a growth and advisory function rather than a seat-filling operation. She unpacks how to get business stakeholders to invest in employer brand, why quality of hire is the metric that matters most, and how recruiters can become trusted consultants to the business, even when hiring isn't top of mind. She also makes the case for continuous candidate feedback loops, market segmentation in talent strategy, and why shadowing between TA and employer brand teams is one of the most underutilised tools available. For employer brand practitioners trying to build stronger TA partnerships, secure budget, or speak the language of business stakeholders, this episode offers a rare and valuable perspective from the other side of the table. Key Topics: 02:00 – Wak's background and why she sees TA as a personal and professional mission 05:30 – How COVID shifted the power balance between candidates and employers 09:00 – Why candidate experience is employer brand's most important battleground 13:00 – Getting hiring managers to see themselves as talent sellers, not just selectors 17:00 – Segmenting your EB strategy: campus, experienced hire and C-suite need different approaches 20:30 – How to build the business case for employer brand investment using data 24:00 – Quality of hire: measuring performance and retention, not just time-to-fill 28:00 – Building a TA analytics capability from the ground up 31:00 – The feedback loop TA teams should be running but usually aren't 33:00 – Using independent focus groups to surface the real candidate voice 34:00 – Why agility and shared responsibility are the keys to TA success in 2025 and beyond You can stay up to date by following us on LinkedIn , or catch up on previous episodes here . We’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VideoMy Pod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies and help us continue to build this wonderful community. Please subscribe wherever you listen or give us a share on LinkedIn! If you’re ready to level up your activation strategy, we help organisations turn moments that matter into stories that people trust. Interested in learning more? Book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists.

July 13, 202649 min

92 [EB Series] How Authentic Employer Brands Create Experiences Worth Talking About | Anne Caron

In this episode of the VideoMy Pod's Employer Brand Series, recorded live in Singapore, hosts David Macciocca and Emma Lang sit down with Anne Caron – People Strategy Advisor, Founder, Author and former Google HR leader. Anne explores what it really means to build an authentic employer brand, from the inside out, and from the very top of the organisation down. Drawing on 10 years at Google (where she helped grow the company from 5,000 to 65,000 employees) and a decade since working with CEOs and founders of companies between 10 and 50 people, Anne brings a uniquely broad perspective. She shares why 90% of company culture comes from the CEO, why policies built on fear undermine trust, and why the most powerful employer brand tool available to any organisation, regardless of size or budget, is simply creating experiences worth talking about. She also gets into the "cookie effect," the magic of all-hands moments, and why preparing your best people for roles elsewhere might be the smartest brand move you can make. For employer brand practitioners, HR leaders and founders trying to close the gap between what they say and what employees actually feel, this episode is a masterclass in building from a foundation of authenticity, trust and intentional experience design. Key Topics: 02:00 – Anne's journey: from placing Google on the map as an employer to advising startup founders 07:00 – Why 90% of company culture flows from the CEO, and what to do about it 11:00 – The Founder Charter: articulating identity, values, and philosophy before anything else 15:30 – Mission, vision and values as the three anchors for all people strategy decisions 19:00 – The "cookie effect": creating shareworthy candidate and employee experiences 24:00 – Why trust, not policies, is the real foundation of employee advocacy 28:30 – Training employees on personal branding as a win-win for them and the organisation 33:00 – Policies built on fear vs. cultures built on trust: the Netflix "grownup adults" philosophy 37:00 – How to unlock camera-shy or hesitant leaders to tell their authentic story 41:00 – All-hands meetings, magic moments and getting people to speak on the mic 44:30 – Boomerangs, retention at all costs and why a good goodbye is good employer brand 47:00 – IKEA, Airbnb, and the creative moments that make people talk You can stay up to date by following us on LinkedIn , or catch up on previous episodes here . We’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VideoMy Pod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies and help us continue to build this wonderful community. Please subscribe wherever you listen or give us a share on LinkedIn! If you’re ready to level up your activation strategy, we help organisations turn moments that matter into stories that people trust. Interested in learning more? Book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists.

June 29, 202637 min

91 [EB Series] The Honest Truth About Running an Employee Advocacy Program | Samantha Chong (GSK)

In this episode of the VideoMy Pod's Employer Brand Series, recorded live in Singapore, hosts David Macciocca and Emma Lang chat with Samantha Chong, APAC Recruitment Marketing Manager at GSK, to get into the nuts and bolts of building employee ambassador programs – what works, what fails and how to grow something meaningful from almost nothing. Drawing on her experience building advocacy initiatives across APAC for some of the world's most recognised brands, Samantha shares how she started with a small group of recruiters and a one-pager before gradually building a structured, six-month program with clear expectations, governance frameworks, and measurable outcomes. She gets into how to spot natural ambassadors, what actually motivates people to participate, how to balance brand standards with authentic storytelling, and why trying to measure ROI, while genuinely hard, is still worth the effort. For employer brand and recruitment marketing practitioners who are just starting out with an advocacy program, or looking to take a scrappy initiative to the next level, this episode is full of practical, hard-won advice from someone who's built it from the ground up. Key Topics: 02:00 – Why Samantha started with recruiters as her first ambassadors 05:30 – The benefits of starting scrappy and learning as you go 09:00 – How early wins create internal buy-in and stakeholder interest 13:00 – Finding natural ambassadors: hashtag searches, social listening and organic posts 17:00 – What's in it for them: recognition, swag, leaderboards and community 21:00 – Building a structured six-month cohort program with clear expectations 25:00 – Measuring ROI: from screenshot collection to source-of-hire data 29:00 – Balancing authentic storytelling with brand governance and approvals 33:00 – How to preemptively answer the questions that slow ambassadors down 35:30 – Lessons from China: when going a little rogue actually pays off 37:00 – Three final tips: don't force it, don't overscript it, and pitch the "what's in it for them" You can stay up to date by following us on LinkedIn , or catch up on previous episodes here . We’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VideoMy Pod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies and help us continue to build this wonderful community. Please subscribe wherever you listen or give us a share on LinkedIn! If you’re ready to level up your activation strategy, we help organisations turn moments that matter into stories that people trust. Interested in learning more? Book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists.