Generous Benefits

05/26/2026

On this week's episode of Generous Impact, our hosts Bret and Amanda Brummitt sat down with Jess Wiederholt, Founder and Executive Director of Crazy Love Africa.

Crazy Love Africa is a Denver-based nonprofit walking alongside single mothers in western Uganda who are living with HIV. After Jess and her husband Ben adopted four children from Ethiopia and Uganda whose mothers had been lost to AIDS, they realized their family grew by more than four. In Jess's words:
"When people adopt, they think they're just adopting these children. But what happens is you become connected, not just to them, but to the entire communities that they come from."

That connection became Crazy Love Africa in 2014. What started as a $500 micro-business grant for a few women has grown into a sisterhood of over 30 mothers and the children in their care. Twice-monthly Sisterhood Support Circles. Education sponsorships from nursery school through university. Fair Trade artisan work where every dollar of proceeds pours back into the program.

One detail that stood out on the episode: Jess never refers to the women her organization serves as recipients. She calls them sisters. And when she asks the sisters in Uganda each year what they are most proud of, the answer is always the same:
"We're all alive."

If Jess's work resonates, the easiest first step is to visit CrazyLoveAfrica.com. Buy a basket. Sponsor a student. Or, as Jess put it, "choose to care."

In this episode Amanda and Bret speak with Jess Wiederholt, founder of Crazy Love Africa, about how adopting children from East Africa inspired her to empower single mothers in Western Uganda through micro-business grants, sisterhood support circles, fair-trade artisan work, and child sponsorships.....

05/14/2026

This quote says it perfectly: "Visibility builds credibility, and credibility builds trust. When leaders are making themselves visible to the people they lead, consistently, people will begin to experience them as someone who's present, someone who's reliable, someone who's actually invested."

And that kind of trust? People will move mountains for it.

If you lead people, this one is worth your time.

🎧 Listen here: https://generousbenefits.podbean.com/e/culture-in-five-minutes-small-actions-that-transform-teams/?token=4c00ca923decfb04d206e498251d25d8

05/14/2026

Host Amanda Brummitt speaks with Samantha "Sami" Hickert about how everyday, five-minute interactions build trust, engagement, and a people-first culture. Samantha shares concrete habits leaders can use immediately, including the 10-5 hallway greeting, meeting prompts, quick "pick-me-up" photo shares, short feedback polls, rounding, recognition, and a personal user manual to understand team members.
The episode emphasizes consistency and visibility from leaders: schedule five minutes daily to connect, collect and act on feedback, and make small, stacked actions that shift culture and improve retention, performance, and wellbeing.Connect with Sami at https://www.connectionovereverything.com/.

05/12/2026

If your benefits data is fuzzy, your compliance is fuzzy. There’s no in-between.

We see it constantly. Employee status and hours in one spreadsheet, eligibility in another, payroll deductions reconstructed by hand, three different sources of truth for who’s enrolled in what.

That’s not a quirky operations problem. That’s trouble waiting to happen, an ACA filing risk, and a fiduciary documentation gap, all at once.

The fix isn’t dramatic. Get your benefits enrollment system (we love Employee Navigator) talking to your payroll. Build a single source of truth. Reconcile monthly, not annually.

Clean data isn’t just about good operations. It’s the foundation of every compliance conversation we have with you.

If your last open enrollment felt like detective work, it’s worth fixing now. We can help.

05/04/2026

In today’s rapidly evolving job market, employees increasingly seek more than just a paycheck; they desire growth, learning, and a clear path for career advancement. Companies that invest in employee education programs can foster a culture of continuous improvement and employee satisfaction.

📘 Ask us about our employee education program partners like Mineral!

04/30/2026

In this episode Bret Brummitt breaks down tiered and narrow provider networks, reference-based pricing, and community-owned health plans, explaining how these models work and why employers are exploring them as cost-saving alternatives.
He covers member steerage strategies, concierge support, trade-offs around access and coverage, and practical guidance HR leaders can use to align benefits with organizational goals and local providers.

04/21/2026

Don’t know where to turn? As an employer, your role is pivotal in navigating the benefits offered to your employees. We can guide you through the options in that complex journey.

04/15/2026

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly two-thirds of covered workers in the U.S. are now enrolled in self-funded health insurance plans, including a growing number at smaller firms. If you value cost control, customization, and transparency, it could be a smart approach. Curious if it’s the right fit? Contact us!

04/09/2026

Executive coaching gets thrown around a lot… but rarely defined clearly.

In this episode of the Generous Benefits Podcast, Kenzi Judge, MBA, PCC and Jessica Taylor, mba, pcc, fache break down executive coaching in a way that’s actually useful for HR leaders.

Here’s the simplest way they explained it:

“Executive coaching is a structured, confidential, one-on-one development relationship… focused on goals, growth, and performance.”

They also talk about when coaching actually works and when it doesn’t. One theme came through clearly:

“Don’t wait for a crisis… let coaching support you in a proactive manner.”

And building on that:

“You get out of it what you put into it… if you’re being proactive… that can create exponential growth.”

That’s the shift.

Coaching is not a last resort. It’s a development strategy.

If you’re an HR leader thinking about leadership development, retention, or how to better support your managers, this episode will give you a much clearer lens on where coaching fits and where it doesn’t. It shares:

• What executive coaching actually is and what it is not

• When it makes sense to invest and when it does not

• How to think about internal versus external coaching

• What to look for when selecting the right coach

• Where coaching fits into your broader people strategy

Listen here:

https://generousbenefits.podbean.com/e/executive-coaching-unpacked-when-it-helps-%e2%80%94-and-when-it-doesnt/?token=147c3d7a534de57b466fa95670386d7f

04/09/2026

Welcome to the Generous Benefits Podcast with host Amanda Brummitt. In this episode, coaches Jessica Taylor and Kenzi Judge explain what executive coaching is, how it differs from consulting, mentoring, therapy, and life coaching, and when organizations should invest in coaching for leaders. They discuss credentials like the Professional Certified Coach, internal vs. external coaches, using assessments and 360 feedback, measuring return on investment through performance and retention, and best practices for selecting and evaluating coaches.
The conversation emphasizes using coaching proactively—during promotions, transitions, and for high-potential leaders—and highlights when coaching may not be appropriate, such as for remediation. Listeners will learn practical guidance for HR and employers on building a coaching program, making the business case, and choosing the right fit for their organization.