Latest Blog Article: Culture Transformation for High Performing Teams with Brenda Dysinger, CHRO

Halting Churn - an Interview with Angela Stopper, PhD, Chief Learning Officer & Director of People and Organization Development at UC Berkeley

churn Mar 03, 2025

In the latest Fearless Female Leadership interview, I had the privilege of speaking with Angela Stopper, PhD, Chief Learning Officer & Director of People and Organization Development at UC Berkeley, about the power of confidence, courage, and human connection in leadership. Angela shared deeply personal stories about overcoming self-doubt, building a strong professional network, and creating environments where people feel valued—insights that are critical for leaders at every level.

Angela’s leadership journey was shaped by an early experience in high school gym class, where an unexpected act of inclusion taught her the impact of courage and community. This moment, still vivid 30 years later, influences how she leads today—prioritizing belonging, empathy, and ensuring others feel seen and supported.

Throughout our conversation, Angela emphasized the role of middle managers in employee retention and the importance of leaders fostering psychological safety. She shared how strategic empathy...

Podcast Episode #100: "How to Reduce Internal Churn, and Why It’s Different for Women" - an Interview with Lauren Larson Diehl

churn customers emotional intelligence passion persistence purpose Feb 24, 2022

How to Reduce Internal Churn, and Why It’s Different for Women

In case you missed my LIVE interview with the amazing Lauren Larson Diehl (Vice President, Global Customer Success at Reputation), here are a few of the wisdom gems she shared:

You can have passion and purpose… or passion and persistence, but you really need all three, to build that solid foundation
Be passionate about your customer’s success. Being good at that, and empowering teams to be good at that is the direct correlation to internal churn
The fundamentals around having empathy, and how we refocus and harness that, and how do we operate more strategically… it's really never been more important
Customer first? I believe it's people first. You need to invest in your people, in enabling and empowering them, and helping them to harness their capabilities. You invest in people, and then they will take care of your customers. And that's a direct and simple formula for navigating through churn
It starts at the simp