Strategic HR's Secret: Hire Smarter People, Focus on Solutions, Not Burnout

Title: Allison Hamel, VP, People at Hudl Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2025 09:00:00 GMT Duration: 00:14:23 Link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/previ/episodes/Allison-Hamel--VP--People-at-Hudl-e337qcl GUID: 0f9b980f-f2b4-48fc-8854-79aae40b8a2b ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Allison Hamel knew she was going into HR at 18. Not many people can say that — and fewer still can say it while also having spent time in Target's retail operation, Denver Public Schools, and the City of Denver government before landing in tech. That breadth is precisely what makes her an unusually perceptive VP of People at Hudl: she's seen how the function works (and fails) across every kind of organizational structure.

Her team-building philosophy starts with a principle that's simple to state and uncomfortable to practice: "Hire people that are smarter than you, and your job becomes really easy." She's not being glib. She's describing a decision that requires genuine ego security — the willingness to bring in people who make you feel less indispensable, because they make the team demonstrably better. That orientation toward diverse strengths, combined with a bias toward curiosity and adaptability, is how she builds HR functions that scale.

Her take on burnout is just as concrete. It's not solved by doing more, she argues — it's solved by choosing more deliberately. Citing Mel Robbins' "Let Them" framework, she describes the discipline of not wasting energy on what you can't control, and redirecting that energy toward what you can actually move. In an HR function that absorbs everyone else's crises, that discipline isn't a wellness tip. It's a survival strategy.

• Hiring smarter than yourself — the ego security and organizational benefit of building a team with diverse, superior strengths
• Combating HR burnout strategically — why choosing where to focus matters more than working harder
• Becoming a strategic business partner — listening to "what keeps you up at night" before prescribing solutions
• Cross-sector HR lessons — what retail, government, and education each teach about the function that tech doesn't
• Embracing imperfect career paths — why the unconventional moves often deliver the most growth

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