A Community Approach to Building a Company, Culture & Employee Experience with Damon Klotz
Release Date: 08/14/2023
Learning to Listen to the Wisdom of Your Body with Keri Krieger
Work Life by Design
When was the last time you really listened to your body? So often, we’ve been conditioned to push through — to ignore the subtle whispers of discomfort, fatigue, or restlessness. We convince ourselves we’ll slow down after the next deadline, once the project’s done, or when things feel less busy. But our bodies are wise. And when we ignore the whispers for too long, they eventually start to shout. That was my reality for a long time. I thought I was doing all the “right” things — balancing work, life, and everything in between — until my...
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The Secret to Unlocking Your Authenticity with Courtney Tyssen
Work Life by Design
So often we’re chasing goals, ticking off to-do lists, and striving for that next milestone without stopping to ask—are these dreams really mine? The truth is, without a deep connection to our bodies and our hearts, it’s hard to know if the life we’re building is truly aligned with who we are, our own authenticity. In my latest podcast episode, I sit down with Courtney Tyssen, one half of , who will be joining us at Exhale The Retreat this October to guide a personalised sound healing journey. Courtney shares how sound isn’t just...
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The Cost of Burnout - What I Wish I Knew with Shae Giles
Work Life by Design
Creating a retreat doesn’t happen without the incredible support of so many people behind the scenes. One of those people is the talented If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ve no doubt seen Shae’s stunning photography scattered across my socials. She’s not only been my creative eye behind the lens for years, but also a loyal cheerleader and friend. But there’s another side to Shae’s story. Like so many women, she’s walked the heavy path of burnout — a reality that too often goes unseen until it’s too late. The emotional toll of pushing through, of constantly showing up...
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Trusting your Intuition with Filly Bellette
Work Life by Design
Have you ever had that gut feeling about a decision in your business… but second-guessed yourself, over-analysed it, or went searching for someone else’s advice? I know I have. For me, the turning point wasn’t about strategy or experience—it was about reconnecting with myself and learning to trust my own intuition. In this episode, I’m joined by —functional medicine practitioner, trauma therapist, and co-creator of the Ending Body Burnout Method. Filly was a huge part of my own healing journey, helping me uncover what was truly keeping me stuck: nervous system dysregulation,...
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Expanding Your Capacity with Heidi Lampard
Work Life by Design
Burnout can creep up on even the most high-performing women — sometimes we don’t even realise we’re on the edge until our bodies start screaming at us. In this episode, I’m joined by the incredible Heidi Lampard — Yoga Practitioner, Holistic Wellness Mentor, Tea Ceremony Facilitator, Retreat Leader, and mother of two. Heidi will also be joining us as a facilitator at the upcoming Exhale Retreat in October, sharing her wisdom, practices, and tools with attendees. We dive deep into the challenges of burnout, particularly for high-performing female leaders and entrepreneurs who are...
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Exhale the Retreat | My 'why' and why YOU need it.
Work Life by Design
This retreat has been born out of my own experience and journey from body burnout to thriving. For years, I thought the only way I could find the peace I craved was to burn it all down, close my business, walk away from everything, and start fresh. I know I’m not alone in this. So many ambitious women I work with are exhausted from constantly being on. Leading a business, showing up for clients, being there for family... and silently wondering: is this just what success is meant to feel like? What I’ve learned... you don’t have to choose between leading a thriving business and having the...
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Season 7 | Thats a Wrap!
Work Life by Design
Season 7 has been one of the most personal yet—an honest reflection of a year filled with growth, insight, and powerful conversations. In this wrap-up episode, I’m sharing the key themes and lessons that emerged across the season: How personal transformation fuels professional fulfilment Why mastery isn’t perfection, but a commitment to growth The connection between workspaces, well-being, and culture The impact of neurodiversity and designing for inclusion The wisdom of nature, rest, and healing From solo reflections to rich guest conversations, this season was about designing a work...
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Following awe and wonder in our lives with Meg Hooper
Work Life by Design
When was the last time you let yourself be swept away by the sheer beauty of the world around you? Maybe it’s the sun sinking into a golden horizon or the way light dances through trees. These moments remind us of the profound joy that’s available — if we pause long enough to notice. In this special conversation, Dr. Meg Hooper and I explore the concept of awe, inspired by Julia Baird’s remarkable book Phosphorescence — a guide to finding light and wonder even in life’s darkest times. In this episode, we explore: 🌿 How reconnecting with nature can heal and ground us...
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Master your Focus in a world of Distraction with Angela Lockwood
Work Life by Design
In a world where distractions rule and our attention is constantly hijacked—how do we reclaim our focus and find clarity? In this powerful and practical episode, I sit down with Angela Lockwood, occupational therapist, author, speaker, and the brilliant mind behind The Focus Formula. With a career dedicated to helping people tune out the noise and tune into what truly matters, Angela shares the tools, mindset shifts, and daily habits that can help you own your attention and thrive—especially in leadership and business. From a life-altering accident that changed the course of her...
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Maximising Northrop's Investment Opportunity with Stephen Fryer
Work Life by Design
What if your next office move wasn’t just about real estate, but a radical reset for your entire business culture? In this episode, I sit down with my client Stephen Fryer, Greater Sydney Leader at Northrop Consulting Engineers, to explore how a lease expiry sparked a workplace transformation that redefined leadership, engagement, and innovation. From flexible work models to culture-led design, discover how Northrop turned relocation into reinvention, and how the team at COMUNiTI supported him to make it happen. 🎧 We talk: Turning a lease expiry into a growth opportunity Building a...
info_outlineEstablishing a strong and purposeful employee experience in your organisation can take an incredible amount of time, dedication, and invested energy.
So, if you could find all the People tools and resources that you needed packaged up in one platform, backed by science and data, how much easier would that make your life as a leader and give you the confidence to know that you were giving your organisation the best possible advantage?
Well, today’s guest is here to tell us that this is possible. Damon Klotz, who has what could be described as one of the coolest titles, is a Work Culture Evangelist at Culture Amp, a market-leading employee experience platform.
I first discovered Damon and his podcast Culture First, in the midst of the pandemic tuning into his episode with Jen Sauer-Klein, an experience designer in the States. This singular episode gave me a new perspective on the role of our environments in how we influence experiences consciously through design, adding another tool to my tool kit.
Jen is among a number of incredible guests that Damon has had the opportunity to engage in conversation on his podcast, so I was incredibly happy when he agreed to join me here to learn more on what have been some of the most impactful conversations that he has had.
What I also learnt through this episode is the diverse career that Damon has had that led him to his current role as Work Culture Evangelist. As you’ll hear Damon is quite the overachiever, prior to Culture Amp he was leading community HR groups, through to being the Global Manager of Digital Strategy for Ramsay Health Care, a keynote speaker on the future of work, and the Co-Founder of Spur Projects, a social enterprise dedicated to reducing the suicide rate of men in Australia.
And he shares how a desire to be a sports manager and leverage the community of teams has found its way through to the work he and the team at Culture Amp do.
You’ll also learn more about
- Culture Amp and the wealth of data that they have accumulated from supporting the employee experience across numerous countries since launching in 2009,
- How the platform supports organisations to leverage this “data lake” to continue to enhance the employee, manager and team experience
- And how taking a community focused approach to building Culture Amp has been a key foundation in its success, growing the company from 100 to 6500 customers, and the role that Damon played in establishing it
- Plus what Damon has learned about communication, transparency and trust from his conversations about People & Culture throughout the pandemic
So many interesting highlights in this episode, along with some great additional listening recommendations over on the Culture First podcast.
Damon also leaves us with some insights into how he has consciously continued to grow with the organisation from start up to now and its various iterations, all great self-reflection points for us to consider in our own growth mindset and experience of comfort.
LINKS
Get your copy of Mel’s new Book “The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential”
Connect with Damon;
Connect with Mel;
Email | Insta | LinkedIn | Website | Website | Whitepaper - The Road Map to Employee Experience