From Teller to Talent: Carli on Climbing the HR Ladder and the Power of Doing the Hard Thing First

What do RBF, flight anxiety, and bilingual recruiting have in common? For Carli, they’re just part of the ride.

Live from isolved Connect in Charlotte, Ryan Leary and William Tincup sit down with Carli—former bank teller turned talent acquisition pro—for a fast-moving conversation on growth, grit, and giving candidates the truth.

She shares how internal mobility and hands-on training set her up to thrive in TA, why knowing the roles you recruit for makes all the difference, and how showing up quiet doesn’t mean showing up small.

From language gaps in candidate pools to avoiding week-long HR disasters, this episode dives into the real-life challenges of frontline recruiting—and how to face them head-on.

If you’ve ever felt underestimated, misunderstood, or unprepared in your first HR gig, Carli’s path will hit home.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Live from Charlotte: First flights, Xanax jokes, and crash soundtracks

02:01 — Meet Carli: Teller to trainer to HR pro in under six years

03:06 — How teaching every job trained her for TA

04:10 — The bilingual candidate search: open house recruiting and community outreach

05:30 — Why job boards aren’t enough: doing the footwork

06:04 — Filtering 50+ applicants down to 5 that actually care

06:28 — Carli’s go-to interview question that reveals real character

07:07 — “How are you misunderstood?”: the secret question that changes interviews

09:00 — Being quiet, focused, and wrongly judged in the workplace

10:51 — Advice for newbies: be a sponge, take notes, don’t jump the gun

12:49 — “Being a People Hero means saving the day—and stopping the dumpster fires”

13:29 — The post-it mantra: Do first what you dread most

14:47 — Corporate pressure vs. real priorities: why one task done well beats 50 half-finished tasks

This episode was recorded live at isolved Connect on the UNC Charlotte campus.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.

Learn more about isolved: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with Us:

• William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

• Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

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