Don't Waste the Chaos
Don't Waste the Chaos is a weekly podcast for small business owners and HR professionals who want practical, no-nonsense people strategy.
Host Kerri M. Roberts is an HR strategist, consultant, and founder of Salt & Light Advisors with 20+ years of experience turning reactive HR into proactive systems.
Each Tuesday, she breaks down hiring, onboarding, compliance, culture, and leadership - the kind of strategy that typically costs thousands in consulting, delivered in under 40 minutes.
If you're managing people and want to do it better, this show is for you.
New episode every Tuesday.
Learn more about the show and Kerri at www.kerrimroberts.com.
Episodes
124 episodes
Employee Handbooks & HR Policies — The Rules of the House | HR Systems Series Ep. 4
Most small and mid-sized businesses don't have an employee handbook problem - they have a "we don't have a policy for that" problem. Scattered Google Drive docs, a handbook from 2017, three managers making three different calls on the same issu...
Onboarding Isn't Paperwork: The 30/60/90 Plan That Actually Works | HR Systems Series Ep. 3
A bad hire costs about 50% of their annual salary in year one - and most of that cost doesn't come from a bad hiring decision. It comes from failed onboarding.If your onboarding looks like paperwork, a quick tour, and "let me know if you...
How to Build a Hiring Process for Your Small Business (5 Components That Actually Work) | HR Systems Series Ep. 2
Think back to the last person who didn't work out in your business. Was it a people problem - or a process problem? Nine times out of ten, it's the process. In this episode, Kerri Roberts walks through the 5 components of a r...
The 13 HR Systems Every Small Business Needs - Start Here | HR Systems Series Ep. 1
Most small businesses put HR off until later, and then "later" shows up as a lawsuit, a resignation, or a conversation they never saw coming. This episode launches a brand new series: the 13 HR Systems every small business needs. We're going on...
How to Have a Performance Conversation With an Employee (Step by Step)
You know the conversation I'm talking about. The employee who's consistently late, creating tension, or putting up bare minimum numbers - and every week you find a reason to put it off one more time. Today that ends. In this ...
5 Signs Your HR Is Broken (And How to Fix It for Under $400)
Most business owners don't realize their HR is broken — until someone quits, files a complaint, or a lawsuit lands on their desk. In this episode, Kerri Roberts breaks down the 5 most common signs that your HR foundation is crumbling, why ignor...
The Real Reason You Can’t Focus in Your Business
In this episode of the Don’t Waste the Chaos Podcast, Kerri Roberts challenges a common assumption among entrepreneurs - that lack of focus is the problem. Instead, she reframes the issue as a lack of commitment to the work that actually drives...
When Small Business Owners Hire Too Soon
In this episode of the Don’t Waste the Chaos Podcast, Kerri Roberts examines a question many founders face too late: when is it actually time to hire? Drawing from her own business over the last three years, she walks through the ...
Is Marriage Still Worth It in Modern Life?
Is marriage still worth it in modern life? Why are so many people skeptical of marriage, commitment, and starting a family? In this episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, Kerri Roberts sits down with her husband, Terry Roberts, for an ...
Why Business Owners Feel Responsible for Everyone | Leadership, Money, Faith & Control
Why do business owners and leaders feel responsible for everyone in their company? In this episode, Kerri Roberts and Rachel Wortman unpack leadership responsibility, money mindset, stewardship, control, and the hidden pressure many founders ca...
What No One Tells You About Leaving a Six-Figure Corporate Job
What happens after you leave a six-figure corporate leadership role? For many executives, the decision to step away from corporate America is framed as a pursuit of freedom, flexibility, and autonomy. Yet the deeper reality is rarely discussed....
The Identity Crisis After Leaving Corporate Leadership (And What Actually Helps)
Kerri Roberts, senior HR strategist and fractional CHRO, continues her personal leadership series with a deeper look at what happens after you leave corporate leadership—when the title goes away, the scoreboard disappears, and you’re suddenly a...
How Do You Start a Consulting Firm After Leaving Corporate?
Kerri Roberts, senior HR strategist and fractional CHRO, shares the strategic and psychological shifts she experienced leaving a Vice President of Operations role to build her consulting firm. After 20 years inside corporate systems — from 50 e...
Why Everything Escalates to You — And What That Reveals About Your Leadership System
Why does everything escalate to you as the leader — and what does that say about your leadership system?Senior leaders, founders, and CEOs often feel trapped reacting to nonstop questions, interruptions, and last-minute decisions....
Why Motivation Fails and Discipline Wins When You’re Rebuilding Everything
In this episode of the Don’t Waste the Chaos Podcast, Kerri Roberts — senior HR strategist, fractional CHRO, and podcast host — interviews Kelsey Thompson, entrepreneur and recovery advocate whose platform blends honest con...
Are Your “Soft” Boundaries Creating Leadership Chaos? How Executives Hold the Line Without Losing Trust
In this episode of the Don’t Waste the Chaos Podcast, Kerri M. Roberts, senior HR strategist, fractional CHRO, and podcast host - dives into the leadership topic most executives think they’re strong in but often struggle ...
How Does Leadership Indecision Quietly Erode Trust and Authority?
How do you lead when your team is waiting, and your silence is doing damage? In this episode of the Don’t Waste the Chaos Podcast, Kerri M. Roberts unpacks why indecision is a decision, how stalled leadership quietly erodes trust, and why leade...
Are You Leading or Just Reacting? Why Your Team Feels Confused
In this episode of the Don’t Waste the Chaos Podcast, Kerri Roberts, business & HR consultant and podcast host, dives into the leadership clarity crisis showing up in organizations everywhere. When people don’t clearly underst...
Leadership Burnout Isn’t Failure - It’s Carrying Too Much for Too Long
Are you carrying leadership weight you were never meant to hold?In this episode of the Don’t Waste the Chaos Podcast, Kerri M. Roberts, leadership consultant and former executive, addresses a growing issue across org...
Top HR Trends 2026 (What Actually Happened in 2025 + What’s Next)
On this episode of the Don’t Waste the Chaos Podcast, Kerri Roberts - a Christian business & HR consultant with over two decades of experience, goes back to the data. After discovering that her Top HR Trends for 2025 ...
What Do You Do When One Partner Grows and the Other Feels Left Behind?
Is your growth threatening your marriage - or is it actually an invitation from God?If you’re a Christian woman in business, a Christian leader, or a faith-driven entrepreneur who feels God stretching you in this season, ...
Does God Expect You to Carry It All? What High-Capacity Christian Women Need to Hear
Does being “the strong one” actually make you a better leader—or is it quietly destroying your joy, your confidence, and your capacity as a high-achieving Christian woman in business?If you’re a Christian woman in leadership, a faith-dri...
Has Your Drive for Excellence Become an Idol? | Christian Leaders, Workaholism & Godly Success
In this solo episode of Don’t Waste the Chaos, Kerri Roberts, Christian business & HR consultant and founder of Salt & Light Advisors, opens up about a deeper tension many high-achieving Christians carry but rarely say out loud...
Christian Women in Business: Does God Actually Like You—or Just Love You Because He Has To?
Does God actually like you - or just love you because He has to?If you’re a high-achieving Christian woman in business or leadership who feels like God is constantly evaluating, correcting, and disappointed with you, this episod...