This week, Ken and Russell sit down with Andrea Adams — HR consultant to small and medium businesses and host of The HR Hub, Canada’s largest HR YouTube channel. With more than 150 interviews behind her, Andrea brings a rare combination of strategic insight, practical HR wisdom, and lived experience navigating some of the toughest conversations imaginable.
Andrea shares a particularly challenging moment in her career: a difficult, emotionally charged conversation with an Indigenous woman after discovering she had engaged in bullying and harassment toward an employee. Andrea discusses how she approached the situation with empathy, humility, and deep listening — while acknowledging the complexity of cultural context, her own limitations, and the need to balance compassion with accountability.
Guest Bio
Andrea Adams is an HR consultant specializing in small and medium businesses and the creator/host of The HR Hub, Canada’s largest HR YouTube channel. Through her platform, she has interviewed 150+ HR leaders, practitioners, and experts, exploring how professionals can balance long-term strategy with the urgent demands of day-to-day HR work.
Key Topics
- Why HR roles are more complex — and more misunderstood — than ever
- The emotional labour behind HR decision-making
- Supporting mid-level HR professionals so they can support everyone else
- Emerging HR trends across Canadian workplaces
- Lessons from interviewing 150+ HR experts
- Practical approaches to conflict, policy design, and culture stewardship
Episode Links
Andrea’s YouTube channel, The HR Hub:
Featured episode mentioned in our conversation — Decolonizing HR:
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