Most leaders assume that transparency around pay and finances will sow discord or fuel envy. Mel Price is living proof that the opposite is possible. As co-founder and CEO of Work Program Architects, she’s spent the last 15 years running a firm with full salary and financial transparency—by design, not by accident. The result? A company where people understand how money moves, why decisions are made, and how their own work ladders up to business outcomes.

In this episode, we talk about what it really takes to implement radical transparency—from open books and compensation committees to staff-run hiring and contract signing. Mel shares what she's learned from building a distributed leadership model where every employee is given the tools and data to think (and act) like an owner.

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HR leaders say they want a seat at the table—but too often, they show up without speaking the language. In this episode, David talks with Julie Mahfouz Rezvani, Managing Director of The Orion Group, about the critical gap between HR's people expertise and the commercial acumen needed to drive real business impact. Julie brings clarity to the misunderstood concept of "HR as a cost center," unpacking the ways HR can become indispensable by translating people insights into financial impact.

They dig into the basics: How does your company make money? What's your revenue per employee? And if you can't answer that, why should your CFO listen to you? It's a candid conversation that calls HR professionals to step up, understand the business model, and learn to speak the language of the C-suite—not by mimicking it, but by reframing people problems in business terms.

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What happens when your mission statement no longer fits the company you're building? For Chase Warrington, Head of Operations at Doist, that question wasn’t rhetorical—it was a radical prompt that reshaped their culture. In this candid, live conversation recorded from the lawn of a remote work conference in Austin, Chase and David Rice unpack how purpose gets defined, tested, and redefined in remote-first companies—and why so many organizations still get it wrong.

We dig into why aligning your purpose with actual customer needs isn’t just a branding exercise—it’s a cultural imperative. Chase shares how Doist uses radical candor, documented values, and consistent reinforcement to build a culture where purpose isn't wallpaper. It’s a mirror. Whether you’re trying to refresh your mission statement or just make it mean something again, this episode offers a grounded look at how to move from performance to authenticity.

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• Join the People Managing People community forum
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• Connect with Chase on LinkedIn
• Check out Doist

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