A Non-Traditional Path to People Leadership - with Ryanmae McAvoy-Pepin

Описание: Our guest today is Ryanmae McAvoy-Pepin, Vice President of People Operations at Blackthorn, a SaaS company specializing in Salesforce-native event management software.

Ryanmae has built a career that crosses industries from veterinary practices to the ski slopes, before settling into the tech sector, where she’s now recognized for her transparency, candor, and practical approach to HR leadership.

In this episode, we dig into Ryanmae’s nontraditional career arc, her philosophy on executive presence, and how she leverages authenticity to drive effective people programs at scale.

We explore how Ryanmae’s drive to keep learning has shaped her career moves, why she initially turned down her recent promotion, and what it takes to build real trust with executive teams and individual employees.

We also discuss how she navigates hard trade-offs around benefits, organizational change, and her commitment to keeping HR genuinely human - especially in high-growth startup environments.

We discuss:

Ryanmae’s path from veterinary practice management and admin work to SaaS people leader

How the People Leader Accelerator and Startup Experts communities supported key career transitions

The value of transparency, healthy debate, and “hot takes” in HR and executive conversations

Strategies for communicating across functions and building deep trust with a CEO and executive peers

Lessons learned from saying “no” to a promotion, battling imposter syndrome, and eventually stepping into top HR leadership

Practical approaches for understanding your business, learning from every function, and driving influence as a strategic people leader

Humanizing HR: how to support employees through difficult moments like healthcare changes, layoffs, and personal challenges

Why quitting can be a positive sign of agency and mutual respect between employees and organizations

Ryanmae’s favorite HR learning resources, including Smart Brevity and the power of community networks

This episode is filled with candid reflections, practical advice, and actionable takeaways for people leaders in startups and growing organizations. If you’re curious about accelerating your own HR career, advocating for yourself, or building relationships that drive impact, you’ll find real-world lessons you can use right away.

For show notes and bonus resources, visit www.PeopleLeaderAccelerator.com/podcast.

About The People Leader Accelerator Podcast

Our goal with this podcast is simple: to help people leaders navigate the messy, complex, and deeply rewarding work of leading teams and organizations with more clarity, confidence, and community.

Whether you’re the first HR hire at a startup or an experienced executive at a company with scale, you’ll find actionable insights you can use right away.

We can’t wait to share these conversations with you.

Welcome to the journey!

Listen, learn, and connect:

🎧 Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (Apple, Spotify, YouTube).

💡 Find show notes and bonus resources at peopleleaderaccelerator.com/podcast.

📬 Share this episode with a colleague who’s ready to level up as a people leader.

🤝 Connect with your hosts:

Jessica Yuen: linkedin.com/in/jessicayuen | jessyuen.com

Andrew Bartlow: linkedin.com/in/bartlow | peopleleaderaccelerator.com