The Chad & Cheese Podcast

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment.

In this episode, HR veteran Jolene Hostal joins Joel and Chad to discuss how a legacy brand like Stanley Steemer stays "young and vibrant" in a competitive labor market. Managing high-volume hiring for thousands of technicians across 57 corporate locations, Jolene breaks down how modern tech integrations, fast candidate screening, and a strong culture drive their talent acquisition strategy.

Mobile-First High-Volume Hiring: Because candidates for cleaning technician roles are constantly on the move, Stanley Steemer uses Paradox’s chatbot ("Maria") to let applicants apply in 90 seconds or less.

Open Architecture Tech Stack: Jolene explains choosing Dayforce as their HCM due to its strong API connections, allowing seamless integration with Paradox and background check partners like First Advantage.

The "90-Day" Retention Milestone: Highlighting the physical demands of technician roles, Jolene notes that if a technician stays for 90 days, they almost always stay for a full year.

Career Progression from the Trucks: The company boasts strong internal mobility—73% of company managers started out as service technicians, proving that entry-level roles can lead to long-term career paths.

Keeping the Remote Workforce Connected: Field technicians receive job dispatches, safety updates, and communication through in-van tablets and driver safety monitoring systems.

Is LinkedIn turning into a bot-ridden wasteland? Is Google actively blowing up its own revenue model? And are AI agents already plotting their escape from human containment?

The crew is back together, hot out of the chamber, to slice through corporate PR and tackle the messiest stories in tech and workplace culture. From outrageous ageism in the C-suite to the high-stakes risk of unchecked AI, Chad, JT, and Mo are serving up the unfettered truth with zero filters.

Surveillance, Smoke, & Creepy Ray-Bans

The $600K Employee Influencer Win

Lattice CEO’s "Calcified" Slip-Up

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should, is my theme for 2026 on this pod... You don't replace judgment and have AI do it." — JT O'Donnell

LinkedIn: Sexy Bots & The King of Slop

The Nano-Influencer Arbitrage.

Google Search Enters Its Zero-Click Era

Autonomous Bots & The AI Singularity

"I'm going to tell you right now, if you're at a party and you're not at least asking Charney for his vape pen, you're wrong. Charney brings the best weed." — Chad Sowash



Enjoy!

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment.

On this week's The Chad & Cheese Podcast interview episode, Joel and Chad sit down with Kristy McCann founder, former CEO of Skill Cycle, and overall HR force of nature who proves the ultimate golden rule: Do NOT mess with HR.

Ever wondered what a founder’s absolute worst nightmare looks like? Picture this: You bootstrap your HR tech startup, navigate COVID without losing your shirt, grow fourfold, and then win an "Opportunity Fund" competition. Sounds great, right? Except the folks writing the checks didn't just want a seat at the table they wanted to lock you out of the house, revalue your $30 million company down to $8 million, and suggest you replace your human coaching marketplace with an AI bot.

In this wildly candid episode, Kristy spills all the tea (and Burger King) on:

The Georgia Ambush

VC Playbooks & "Pay-to-Play"

RICO & Receipts

It’s a cautionary tale full of red flags, "bipolar 5.5-sense" gut instincts, and a Masterclass in why discovery in a courtroom is a VC's absolute worst enemy.

"You wanna fuck with me? Fine. Let's bring it out into a courtroom."

— Kristy McCann



Grab your popcorn, founders you’re going to want to take notes on this one.