WTF is Business Casual

WTF is Business Casual

Buckle up for real HR stories that'll make you laugh, cringe, and thank your lucky stars you're not that guy. WTF is Business Casual is the HR podcast where two seasoned consultants—Sarah Bursten and Jenny Lavey, co-founders of RiseHR—dish on wild workplace fails, toxic bosses, employee drama, and leadership gone wrong. With 35+ years of combined experience in HR, leadership development, and people management, they offer surprisingly useful advice wrapped in real talk and hilarious storytelling. If you’re an HR professional, small business owner, people manager, or just someone who’s survived office politics, this show is for you. Subscribe to WTF is Business Casual—because work is weird, leadership is messy, and people always be peopling. Hosted by Sarah Bursten & Jenny Lavey | RiseHR www.risehumanresources.com

Episodes

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Jenny and Sarah get real about how the pressure to always exceed expectations at work is quietly fueling burnout, quiet quitting, and toxic workplace culture.

They swap HR stories (some hilarious, some horrifying) about leaders who demand 24/7 peak performance, and the human cost that follows. It’s messy, honest, and painfully relatable for anyone who’s ever felt PTO guilt or caught themselves trying to be “on” all the...

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Jenny and Sarah get into the HR trenches to talk about every people leader’s favorite nightmare: managing performance issues without a single documented conversation, aka zero receipts!

From the leader who drops a “we’ve got to let them go” bomb via text, to the one with a novel-length complaint file (and zero follow-up), they break down the real reason performance management so often goes sideways and how to...

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In this episode of WTF is Business Casual?!, Jenny and Sarah go full rogue with a chaotic, hilarious deep dive into the strange world of workplace shenanigans. The pranks that made the office fun… until they didn’t.

This episode is a tribute to the coworker chaos that somehow made your 9-to-5 bearable.

You’ll hear:

  • 💻 Why “lock your computer” is more than just IT’s favorite slogan
  • 🧀 The cheese pra...
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In Part Two of our deep dive into the WorkHuman Conference, WTF is Business Casual hosts Jenny and Sarah pick up where they left off—this time digging into the big, bold conversations around AI, leadership, and what it really takes to build a human-centered workplace.

Trevor Noah set the tone with humor and heart, reminding us that curiosity isn’t optional—it’s essential. And while AI dominated the agenda, the real tak...

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In Part One of our two-part deep dive into the WorkHuman HR conference, Sarah and Jenny unpack their favorite moments, biggest surprises, and most impactful insights from the event. They tackle some provocative HR realities—like why your team might be spending a staggering 2.5 hours every day just complaining—and explore eye-opening advice from thought leaders like Adam Grant, who reminds us why simply putting in effo...

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In this laugh-and-learn episode, Jenny and Sarah take you inside the beautiful mess of modern recruiting. From jaw-dropping candidate missteps to the surprising rise of parental involvement in job applications (yes, it’s happening), they break down what’s really going on behind the interview screen. With plenty of humor and hard-earned HR wisdom, this episode serves up real talk on how to stand out—in a good way. Whet...

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Jenny and Sarah tear into the corporate phrasebook, dissecting the BS behind sayings like "work hard, play hard" – which usually translates to the soul-crushing reality of the Hotel California of the workplace ("you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave"). They dig into the eye-rolling phenomenon of forced "fun" and just come right out and say that instead of "work...

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April 16, 2025 42 mins

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“Who the F*ck stole my sandwich?!” Join Jenny and Sarah as they hilariously dissect the wild world of workplace food culture in “Taking the Cake." From stolen lunches to the mystery of the missing cake, no crumb is left unturned.

Ever had a potluck disaster or a coworker who treats the office kitchen like an all-you-can-eat buffet? Jenny and Sarah get it! In this episode they share their strong opinions on potluck...

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April 1, 2025 26 mins

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Get ready to dive into the hilarious and often unbelievable world of HR with your new favorite podcast, WTF is Business Casual?! Hosted by friends and business partners Jenny and Sarah, this is episode one, and they're not holding back.    

In this inaugural episode, Jenny and Sarah introduce themselves and share the story of how they met and decided to start their own HR consulting company after becoming "fe...

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