“The best way of treating people is not as if they're a resource, but by working with them to create something amazing.” In today’s 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by Anouk Agussol, the Founder and CEO of Unleashed. Unleashed are on a mission to gear up early stage and scaling companies for speedy and sustainable success, through people and culture. They help create thriving businesses and great places to work, through leadership programmes, coaching, bespoke people projects and embedded partnerships. JBM have loved collaborating with Anouk and the wider Unleashed team over the years and we loved finding out more about Anouk’s journey and her advice for any Founders and leaders, in today’s episode.  We chat about: ➡️ More about our sponsors, Alchemist [00:16] ➡️ Overcoming imposter syndrome [3:19] ➡️ The juggling act of being a parent and a Founder [04:37] ➡️ Anouk’s career journey and why she chose the People function [09:08] ➡️ Why the People function is becoming increasingly more popular [11:13] ➡️ Her transition from Chief People Officer to starting her own business [14:17] ➡️ More about Unleashed [18:28] ➡️ Why HR is dead [21:55] ➡️ A podcast recommendation from us [23:16] ➡️ What a difference Unleashed has made to teams over the years [24:31] ➡️ Why your culture won’t evolve organically [28:00] ➡️ When is the right time to hire a People person for your startup [32:01] ➡️ The key steps to evolving your culture [34:51] ➡️ How to attract and retain great talent [39:04] ➡️ The evolution of the People function in 2023 and beyond [42:05]  ⛳ Helpful links:➡️ More about Anouk: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anoukagussol/➡️ Check out Unleashed: https://www.unleashed.company/ 💙 A big thank you to our Sponsors:Alchemist - an industry leading learning and development company, whose learning journeys and experiences help organisations who want to grow, change or transform by putting the learner first to optimise organisational performance.To learn more about Alchemist and see how they work with some of the most innovative companies in the world, head over to https://thisisalchemist.com/40minutementor/  to find out more.  🏆 Want to partner with us? Do you want to get your brand in front of leading Startup Founders, Investors and C-Suite decision-makers, and attract some of the sharpest talent in the Startup/Scaleup scene? Get in touch with our Head of Marketing and Producer, Hannah to find out more about how we can co-produce content that will help you stand out and engage with over 40,000 loyal monthly listeners. You can reach her on hannah@jbmc.co.uk 🤝 Explore Hidden Pages: For this year’s Black History Month, we’ve had the great pleasure of partnering with Samuel Tholley and Hidden Pages - a zine discovering hidden Melanated history & lists of sources exploring the Melanated/"Black" experience. We talked about his motivation behind Hidden Pages, why it's so important to normalise black history and he shares some amazing historic figures we can all learn from.This is only the beginning of this partnership, so make sure you check out our initial conversation with Samuel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF_-blY_kUQ ⭐Enjoyed this episode?⭐️Keep up to date with all our latest episodes, by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy the most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review on  https://ratethispodcast.com/40mm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices