We’re on some HR level #@%$!

In this unfiltered episode, I’m joined by HR’s Agent of Chaos, Francis “Tank” Rhodes and the hot mess that is Human Resources is catching some strays.

From SHRM scandals and toxic leadership to performative DEI and overworked HR teams, we’re naming names (disrespectfully), spilling tea, and calling out the systems that keep workplaces unsafe and inequitable for Black folks.

BASICALLY, BABES, we’re talking about everything wrong with HR.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever been side-eyed by HR, wants in on finding solutions to HR’s biggest issues, or just needs to understand what the helly is actually going on behind the scenes.

Topics we cover:

• Why HR is not your friend”… and what you actually need
• The real reason DEI was set up to fail
• SHRM, HR elitism, and our villain origin stories
• How HR professionals can reclaim integrity and lead with empathy
• Why your work bestie might be your biggest opp (we said what we said!)

Tank is a real one, and this convo was hilarious and raw. So, go ahead, boo… hit the play button.

ACCESS TRANSCRIPTS:

https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/hr-is-not-your-friend

🤎 Work with Tank as your HR Consultant

Tank is an HR Manager & consultant with seven years of experience in HR Ops, including Talent Acquisition, Performance Management, Employee Relations, Leadership, Benefits Administration, LOA, Compliance, & Inclusion.

Work with Tank: https://beacons.ai/hrsagentofchaos

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hrsagentofchaos/about

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hrsagentofchaos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhodes19/

🤎 Ready to join the Career Love Community?

This safe, powerful space was created by and for Black women navigating big goals in career, life, and business. With coaching, training, and sisterhood built in, your about to achieve all your big goals. Learn more & join us now: ⁠https://www.mercedesswan.com

🤎 Stay Connected:

Follow me on TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn for more career and business gems

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@mercedes.swan⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdswan ⁠

Schedule a Clarity Chat: https://calendly.com/mercedesswan/info

Subscribe & leave a review! If this episode resonated with you, let me know! Your support helps The Career Love Podcast reach and empower more Black women.

Share this with a sister who needs to hear it!

Ready to step into your Black Woman Bliss Era by building a career or business you love? Reach out at ⁠hello@mercedesswan.com

This episode of the Career Love Podcast is a love letter to the creative, so done with corporate, legacy-building Black woman in this community.

Today, I’m joined by the incredible Nicole Palmer—bestselling author, editor-in-chief, and co-founder of Delnic Media. We talk about what it means to navigate corporate America as a Black woman, how we’re building our digital empires to experience true freedom, and why it’s time to rethink what financial security, the stories we tell ourselves, and how we define success!

In this episode, Nicole leaves it ALL on the table (which we built ourselves) and we discuss...

• How positioning yourself as THE talent gives you career freedom
• How we can reclaim our creativity and stories by becoming a Black Woman in publishing and editing
• The difference between hustle culture and dream building
• What it really means to “play the game” in corporate space
• If you've ever questioned your path or considered if you can actually get PAID to be creative, this one’s for you.

📖 Get Nicole’s Book & Get Connected:

Loved Nicole’s insight? Go grab her book Playing the Game While Black: Womaning in Corporate America and follow her journey at delnicmedia.com. You can also subscribe to her podcast Black Womaning in Corporate America too!

Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolespalmer

Learn more about me: https://nicolespalmer.com

Work with me: https://calendly.com/delnicmedia

Buy my book: https://delnicmedia.com/playing-the-game-while-black-womaning-in-corporate-america/

Listen to my podcast: https://youtu.be/olZK-qm_yxg

Learn about my company Delnic Media: http://delnicmedia.com/

🤎Ready to join the Career Love Community?

Ready to find your way out of the corporate chaos and into your own Black Woman Bliss Era? Join the Career Love Community— a space for Black women to rediscover their brilliance, build careers and businesses they love, and support one another along the way. Learn more and join us at ⁠⁠https://www.mercedesswan.com/join⁠⁠

🤎 Stay Connected:

Follow me on TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn for more career gems

TikTok: ⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@mercedes.swan⁠⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdswan ⁠⁠

Subscribe & leave a review! If this episode resonated with you, let me know! Your support helps The Career Love Podcast reach and empowers more Black women to transform their lives.

Share this with a sister in professional love who needs to hear it!

💌 Ready to step into your Black Woman Bliss Era by building a career or business you love? Reach out at ⁠⁠hello@mercedesswan.com⁠

📃 Want the transcripts? Head to my website:

https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/black-women-in-publishing-and-editing

Join me as I hang out with the fabulous Amanda Henry of Living In The Abundance, who is a Tech Queen, senior learning & development pro by day, and financial freedom advocate by night! We’re spilling the tea on all things career growth, financial independence, and owning your worth as a Black woman in tech.

We dive into Amanda’s inspiring journey from Verizon to tech sales enablement, how she’s using her 9-to-5 to build wealth, and the power of self-advocacy in corporate spaces.

And sis, we had some good laughs about navigating toxic work environments with Basic Bob AND creating your FAFO fund (we said what we said!)

📖Get Amanda’s Book & Get Connected:

The Financial Abundance Blueprint: A Black Woman's Guide to Achieve Financial Literacy, Build a Successful Career, and Break Boundaries

Set to release April 8th 2025 (Pre-Orders are Available)

Pre-Order Now

To learn more about Amanda, visit www.AmandaJHenry.com or follow @LivingInTheAbundance on social media: TikTok; Instagram; Threads, LinkedIn.

🤎Ready to join the Career Love Community?

This safe, powerful space was created by and for Black women navigating big goals in career, life, and business. With coaching, training, and sisterhood built in, you’ll never walk this journey alone. Learn more & join us now: ⁠https://www.mercedesswan.com/join⁠

🤎 Stay Connected:

Follow me on TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn for more career gems

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@mercedes.swan⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdswan ⁠

Subscribe & leave a review! If this episode resonated with you, let me know! Your support helps The Career Love Podcast reach and empower more Black women.

Share this with a sis who needs to hear it!

Ready to step into your Black Woman Bliss Era by building a career or business you love? Reach out at ⁠hello@mercedesswan.com

Link to Transcripts: https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/become-a-black-women-in-tech

Sis, you ever feel like your 9 to 5 just ain’t it? Well, you’re not alone. In this episode of The Career Love Podcast, I’m sharing my personal story of leaving my full-time job in Diversity Equity and Inclusion to become a solo entrepreneur.

From HR for Millennials to building my Career Love brand and entering my Black Woman Bliss Era, I'm walking you through the mindset shifts, planning, and purpose that led me to quit my job with purpose and clarity.

You’ll hear about:

• Why corporate America was never built for us (and what that means for Black women)
• How I planned my exit with intention and a financial strategy
• What it means to build a business that supports your lifestyle and legacy
• The power of flexibility, freedom, and flow (yes, I’m sleeping *and* thriving)
• My dreams of full-time RV travel with my fiancé and our furbabies
• Finding your Black Woman Brilliance and how it guides your next career or business move

I hope this episode inspires you to reclaim the vision you have for your life and build a life and business you truly love.

If you’ve been thinking, “Girl, I want out too,” then this episode was made for you.

Transcripts: https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/i-quit-my-job-full-time-entreprenuer

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✨ Want to join the Career Love Community?

This safe, powerful space was created by and for Black women navigating big goals in career, life, and business. With coaching, training, and sisterhood built in, you’ll never walk this journey alone. Learn more & join us now: https://www.mercedesswan.com/join

----

Connect with Me:

🎥 Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mercedes.swan

💼 ⁠Connect on LinkedIn⁠: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdswan

💌 Email me: hello@mercedesswan.com

Welcome to The Career Love Podcast, Sis! In this powerful first episode, I’m sitting down with my ride-or-die since kindergarten and structural engineer, Destinee Wheeler, to talk about what it really means to be a Black woman in STEM. With Black women representing only 2% of STEM professionals, the journey into and to success in this field is challenging but deeply rewarding.

Join me in this heart-to-heart to talk about Destinee’s journey, the importance of mentorship, betting on oneself, and navigating white male-dominated spaces! In the Career Love Podcast, we keep it warm, but we also get real about the struggles Black women face in career growth, dealing with discrimination, and why sometimes you have to leave to truly thrive.

If you’ve ever thought about a STEM career—or just need a reminder that you deserve to bet on yourself—this episode is for you!

Tune in to learn more about...

🤎 The challenges that Black women face when entering STEM careers and the challenge real stats on Black women in STEM and why representation is so low

🤎 Destinee’s journey and challenges to become a structural engineer & bridge designer

🤎 The mentorship gap Black women face in STEM

🤎 Why betting on yourself & leaving the wrong job can change your career

🤎 The emotional & financial realities of being a Black woman in a male-dominated industry

🤎 How to transition into STEM—even if you’re starting later in life

ACCESS TRANSCRIPTS: https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/black-women-in-stem

Resources Mentioned:

• Connect with Destinee Wheeler on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/destinee-wheeler-e-i-6828a5114/
• Watch the FREE Black Woman Bliss Webinar to learn more about pursuing your purpose at work: https://www.mercedesswan.com/bliss
• Looking to join a community of ambitious Black women to grow with? Join the Career Love Community: https://www.mercedesswan.com/join
• Want to work with me 1:1 to advance your Career or Business: https://calendly.com/mercedesswan/info

Stay Connected:

Follow me on TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn for more career gems

Subscribe & leave a review! If this episode resonated with you, let me know! Your support helps The Career Love Podcast reach and empower more Black women.

Share this with a sis who needs to hear it!

Ready to step into your Black Woman Bliss Era by building a career or business you love? Reach out at hello@mercedesswan.com

Welcome to the Career Love Podcast, Sis!

This is a space where Black women just like you are inspired to step boldly into their Black Woman Bliss Era—building careers, businesses, and lifestyles we absolutely love.

I’m your host, Mercedes Swan, also known as The Career Love Coach. As a diversity, equity, and inclusion practitioner, certified HR professional, and unapologetic Career Coach for Black women, I’m here to help you navigate the workplace, embrace your Black woman brilliance in business, and design the abundant life you deserve.

Each episode is filled with lessons, wins, and real talk to help you succeed in your career and business, shift your mindset, build confidence, take bold action and create wealth.

We’ll explore topics like discovering your purpose, living a passion-filled life, and growth—both personally and professionally. You can expect strategies and actionable guidance on everything from stepping into your purpose-driven job search with clarity and productivity tools to launching profitable side hustles and thriving as a Black woman in business.

The Career Love Podcast is my love letter to the 9.2 million Black women shaping the workforce and changing the world. And because Black women are the blueprint, I’m here to remind you that you are seen, heard, valued, and destined for greatness.

So, if you’re ready to unlock your purpose, build your dream life, and step into your professional power, give that subscribe button some love and leap into the first episode!

Your Black Woman Bliss Era starts today!

Website: www.mercedesswan.com

Contact: hello@mercedesswan.com