This one's special, it's Talentless's 1-Year Anniversary Episode. Thank you for listening, sharing, and showing up for us this year.
For our anniversary episode, Des and Ashley sit down with T. Tara Turk-Haynes, founder of Equity Activations, creator of The Origin Arc framework, first-generation college grad and first-generation corporate worker, and 15+ years deep in talent acquisition and people operations.
She's been featured in Lars Schmidt's Redefining HR, profiled by Business Insider, and spoken at RecFest, Culture Amp, and Living Corporate.This conversation went deeper than we expected and harder. Tara doesn't dance around the DEI rollback. She tells us why it failed (spoiler: we put icing over a crumbling cake), what The Origin Arc actually unlocks for hiring managers and recruiters, why feedback is the talent acquisition crisis nobody is naming, and why she will not spend her therapy sessions trying to convert the immovable middle of corporate America.
If you've ever sat in an intake meeting that lasted 12 minutes, ghosted a candidate after seven rounds, or wondered why your DEI work didn't stick this episode is your wake-up call.
What You'll Learn
The Origin Arc - what it is, where it came from, and how to use it in intake meetings, interviews, and one-on-onesWhy DEI failed the way it did (and the icing-on-a-crumbling-cake metaphor you won't unsee).
Why business leaders have "the attention span of goldfish" and how to embed real work into operations so it actually sticks
The feedback crisis in talent acquisition and why candidates have very long memoriesWhy "bringing your whole self to work" is a lie and what to bring instead
How to interview hiring managers in an intake using journalism-style reverse-engineered questions
Why education births empathy and what that means for managers leading diverse teamsTara's "don't care more than the people who get paid the most" mic-drop moment
AI as the great amplifier of both the best and worst of TA
Where to Find T. Tara
Website: equityactivations.com
Free download: Small business hiring checklist (for new and small businesses building their first hiring practice)
Newsletter: Linked at equityactivations.com
Instagram & Threads: @ttaraturkhaynes (where the spicy takes live)
YouTube: Job seeker advice and TA insight
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ttaraturkhaynes/
Email for senior People & TA leadership roles: ttarahaynes@gmail.com
Connect with Talentless
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts Instagram • LinkedIn • TikTok • YouTube • BlueSky • Threads
Newsletter: talentless.beehiiv.com
1-Year Anniversary Giveaway: Talentless Anniversary Giveaway 2026
Got a #DumDumTalent story? Email desiree@talentlesspodcast.com
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