Lioness Conversations with Christy Honeycutt: Breaking Barriers through Authenticity and Leadership
Jen Porter (00:01)
Hey, Lioness, welcome to the show, Lioness Conversations, where we help women be brave, to lead with confidence and joy, and to find your path to the most meaningful work of your life. I'm your host, Jen Porter, leadership and empowerment coach for ambitious and heart-centered women. Today we have a very special guest, Christy Honeycutt.
Christy is an accomplished talent operations executive with over two decades of experience transforming HR and talent acquisition through centralization and technology. Christy is also a yogi, meditation coach, surfer, mom to two humans and two pups, a proud Native American, and an aspiring barefoot water skier. Christy, welcome to the show.
Christy Honeycutt (00:51)
Hi Jen, thanks for having me.
Jen Porter (00:53)
I'm so glad you're here and I'm so glad to be having this conversation with you. You and I were introduced by a mutual friend. She reached out and said, you have to talk to my friend, Christy, who is a lioness. And so it's been really fun to get to know you and I'm excited to share more and get to know you even better through this conversation. I wanna start with, tell us what you're focused on right now. What are you really focused on in your work? What's your passion and your mission?
Christy Honeycutt (01:20)
My work right now, so I am the senior vice president of strategy and execution, which is a fancy title for saying that I like to do people things. So basically I like to identify unicorn solutions for my clients. I work in automation and AI, work for a company called Appi here that automates high volume hourly recruitment, but we also do salary. And so my goal is to help.
people not be so fearful of AI, AI agents, and that it's gonna take their job, but show organizations how it can elevate their human-centric approach to their people and to their community. So that's what I'm doing right now. But the tall and short of it is I'm passionate about helping people in our communities thrive.
Jen Porter (02:05)
So I was in recruiting for many years and there was some technology but not anything to what it is right now. So how does this product solve? Like what is this solving for for companies and organizations?
Christy Honeycutt (02:19)
It's allowing companies. So if you think about it, mean, back in the, back in the day when we were in recruitment, you'd have to go through a hundred resumes to get to 10. Right. so if you think about automation, it's just, you're only seeing the people that are qualified. Everyone's getting a shot. There's no bias in there. There's not a recruiter sitting behind the desk saying, I don't know how to say this last name. They might need sponsorship. None of that's taking place. If the candidate is passing the knockout questions, the requirements, they're getting an interview. It's really that simple.
So we're seeing retention go up, we're seeing costs go down. But most importantly to me, these individuals, this population is being seen, they're being heard, and they're given an opportunity to thrive. So I interviewed one of our individuals that was hired through our platform, and I asked this gentleman, he's a really sweet, sweet guy. I said, so tell me about your experience. He said, well, I was sitting in my bedroom, I was watching YouTube, this ad popped up, said, hey, apply now, I applied.
I had an interview in under two hours. I got hired three days later. And the really crazy thing is I was stuck in their ATS for over a year trying to get a job. This guy was 30 days from an engineering degree, had a forklift license, was working as a cook, ends bilingual. So it's really helping identify the person, the right place, right time, right skill set to get in quickly so organizations can continue to be profitable.
and people that are working in those organizations aren't burning out because they're short-handed and people that want to work and need to work and have that exact fit are getting where they need to go. So really it's almost like a dating service in a way, it's it's upping the odds for that employer employee connection for it to thrive.
Jen Porter (04:04)
love the focus on hourly employees. mean, I worked for a ton of organizations and companies that we hired hourly employees, but there really wasn't a strong focus on the quality of that experience. mean, yes, there was, but not to the extent that it was for the salaried employees, managers and executives. So how is this changing the landscape for companies?
Christy Honeycutt (04:23)
Thank you.
Well, we have one client that hires about 24,000 individuals a year, and they weren't able to open up stores or retail, a retail company. They weren't able to open up stores. They couldn't, couldn't hire enough people to serve the stores. Now they open up one store every week and those stores are staffed immediately. Um, so it's changing the game. They can go from a Canada attraction to first day start in 20 minutes.
So what that's doing is obviously impacting their bottom line. They're able to bring in more revenue. Their managers are happier. The employees are happier. And we're putting people to work that need to get to work. The other thing that I love them super passionate about is that this population, 50 % of this population never hear back. So they apply it to anywhere. It's between, I think, seven to 10 jobs at any given time. 50 % of them never hear back at all. It's just, it's dehumanizing and they deserve better.
And as individuals in our community, we want good service. We want things to be right. Well, they can't until we fix the challenge, which is how do we service this population and help get the people that want to work, need to work, and are able to work to work faster so these organizations can thrive and we can get better service, right? When we go to McDonald's and Starbucks or wherever it is that we go. And that's really the crust of it. But for me, it's...
Jen Porter (05:38)
and faster.
Christy Honeycutt (05:51)
It's taking that ambiguity out. They don't know, right? And we are also asking these hourly population to go through a salary type interview where they have to have a resume and then they're asked what school did they go to? And the only options they have are 10 different universities. So it's really helping meet them where they are. We also specialize in language capabilities, meaning that we've got a client that hires a lot of Haitian Creole. So we're app-based, right? So we do it on app.
But the Haitian Creole, we make it where the candidates are communicating in their native language. So we're also meeting that need. So for the Spanish population, Haitian Creole population, the French, whatever our clients need, we can make happen. So at the end of the day, how we're different is we really care about that population and we want it to be a dual-sided market that is just surprise and delight for everyone. There's patents, there's AI agents, there's all this like...
Jen Porter (06:46)
incredible.
Christy Honeycutt (06:48)
wizardry behind the scenes, but the thing that's most important for me is helping our communities thrive.
Jen Porter (06:54)
When we first met, the thing that stood out to me is you're an expert in process and AI and automation and all that, but you bring the human element into every single thing that you do. Can you say more about that? The humanization that you bring into this work, even though it's such an AI driven product?
Christy Honeycutt (07:09)
Thank
Well, I think that, you know, I've heard this so many times, the AI is going to take your job. AI is going to elevate everybody if they embrace it. Right. So if you think about technology back in the day, I mean, I remember if you wanted to change the TV station, had to get up and switch the dial. And then you had the, you had the big cube with the, numbers and the lever, right. And you could watch MTV was all the way down and the first one on the left. knew that by heart.
Then we got remotes and then you had the phones with the cords and wireless now We have cell phones and now our computers are on our phone. So it's really understanding the human and what their world is like and what they're navigating and when you start thinking about for instance trust, which is a huge thing The trust is being eroded at every angle that we we come around So I don't the average human received seven points of fraud a day
I have had bank fraud twice in the past 30 days. I get on average about five text messages a day telling me I'm perfect for an hourly job working in bum F wherever. And I haven't been on the hourly market in 30 years. So I don't really know what that's about, but it's you've got these candidates that are trying to this multi-generational.
beautiful honeycombed diversity that we live in, trying to figure out how do I get a job, take care of my family, my responsibilities, and live my life when they're having to overcome fraud and maybe they've got kids and maybe they're taking care of elder parents or maybe they're boomers who are trying to go back to work to supplement their income.
And they can't figure it out. So that's what I'm really passionate about with our technology is it's more around it's app based, it's on its phone. We make employees or candidates validate that they're real. And we make employers validate that they're real. There was a recent study, interesting Jen, that talked about so many managers, things like over 40 % actively post fake jobs because they want to build their pipeline. How selfish is that?
How selfish is that to get somebody's hopes up for them to take time to do a resume, to supply an application, to go through the process when the job's not even real. And that's the world we're living in. That's why I'm so passionate about what I do, because I want to take all that mucky muck away and humanize the experience. I don't want it to be where you're on a phone and you're yelling human, human, because we've all had those moments. But I do want to make it where it empowers them and what our technology does. It empowers the individual to say, yeah, this is what I want to work and this is what I want to make. And this
matches, okay, great. Yeah, I'll do an interview. And it's trusted and validated. So for me, the human piece is honoring each and every human where they are, whether it be high or low, and helping them get to the next phase of their life. And I just happen to do that through technology.
Jen Porter (09:54)
Hmm.
It is so much like dating. Well, and I think about how dating has evolved, right? Dating used to look really different. Now it's very digital and it's this matchmaking technology that helps individuals who need work and want to work with real jobs that are hiring and make that happen really quickly. Putting in those factors that are really important, right? Like geographic location and salary and hourly rate and hours.
Christy Honeycutt (10:11)
It's very much like they hate me.
Jen Porter (10:39)
You know, schedule, all of it.
Christy Honeycutt (10:39)
we
even take it a step further. So when they actually look for a job, we don't ask them where they live. We ask them where they want to work. Right. So we're not presuming. And so there's a map that pops up and they draw on a map. I want to work in this area. Then when they get a job offer, it says, hey, congratulations. This employer wants to offer you a job. Can you validate that this is a commutable distance for you? And it will map it out, determine on their transportation.
whether it's city transportation, walking, driving, and that also has improved retention because they can see, that's an hour. I thought it was more like 10 minutes down the road. So it helps them visualize and actually get into the mind space of what they're going to be doing so they'll be successful.
Jen Porter (11:28)
So you mentioned retention. What are some metrics and outcomes that you've seen by using this technology?
Christy Honeycutt (11:35)
40 % improvement in retention. So 40 % retention. Yeah, and the candidate sentiment has been amazing. They love it, they feel seen, they feel heard. It's been a preference. And the really cool thing is that the organizations that use us see an automatic 10 % lift on referrals into their company. So it just constantly drives down their advertising cost.
Jen Porter (11:39)
No kidding.
That's incredible.
Christy Honeycutt (12:04)
their time to fill, burden on managers doing unneeded interviews, burden on HR trying to do things on the side of their desk. It does allow companies to remain resource neutral. We hear a lot right now about AI is taking jobs. It will empower organizations to remain resource neutral and protect the resources they have in place so they don't have to invest in more resources. So there's a lot of fear mongering out there about AI and automation and
the world is ending. remember Y2K, we had COVID. I mean, we've kind of come through a lot as a society. So it's just, think it's a perceptual mind shift. And that's what I've been working on for the past two years is to help people understand it's an opportunity to elevate, not eliminate. There's actually a, that's a tagline of somebody in the industry that teaches AI prompting.
Jen Porter (12:34)
That's
Yeah.
Christy Honeycutt (12:56)
but it's true. It's very, very true. It's how do you elevate in the world of technology? But it doesn't mean you have to eliminate resources. It means that we need to elevate ourselves as well. Like, so by doing these things, we can spend more time on the human. We can spend more time interacting with the person instead of the process of going back and forth for an interview time, going back and forth on a resume or a submission or all of those different pieces. We can actually spend more time having that conversation.
Jen Porter (13:24)
So a little bit more on the human side of this, how do you know the experience that the candidate is having? Where do you get that information from the new hires?
Christy Honeycutt (13:36)
So we have a, it's a survey tool that's built into our platform. So it actually asks them and it gives them an opportunity to rake their interview and to provide feedback. So they're always giving us feedback on how it's going. And we take that feedback to heart. And so, and then the customers that use this as well, they take that feedback to improve and validate what's working and what's not. And then put in performance and coaching plans as needed.
Jen Porter (14:03)
That's awesome.
Christy Honeycutt (14:04)
meaning that there's been some really naughty hiring managers that were called out. So it's different when you're sitting in a corporation in your HR and it's your manager that's misbehaving, that relationship's a little hard. But when you have an outside data source that's coming in saying, ooh, Bob, maybe you shouldn't ask this person if they were pregnant.
Jen Porter (14:08)
got it. Yeah.
Christy Honeycutt (14:25)
It's being documented. There's just different, I mean, that's really wildly that I said that, but that has happened, not here, but I've had that happen. It's kind of in a way, it's giving everybody a 360 view to participate and give feedback.
Jen Porter (14:40)
That's pretty incredible, particularly on the candidate side. On the employee side, not surprising. You're just making it more automated and accessible. But for the candidate experience to be included in that is pretty unusual and beneficial.
Christy Honeycutt (14:57)
Well, and we take feedback from our clients and from our candidates, right? We think of it as a two-sided market because we're serving organizations and we're serving candidates. And so we take that feedback very seriously because we want to continuously improve. And I think that's, I know that's where we're different. We're not going to like sell something and walk away. You get our thought leadership and our insights and we help walk along our clients. So they can see opportunities for improvement that they might not have otherwise seen. Cause usually HR teams are pretty lean.
and you're doing a lot of multiple things. So when you have smart technology that can give you an executive summary and give you the nuggets you need, you're more impactful. And it also allows you to roll that up to the executive leadership team.
Because what I find and what I'm really passionate about is elevating my stakeholders, my HR, my TA leaders that I work with is helping them take all of this information and putting it in a digestible format for their executive team. So they can be elevated. Because sometimes when you're in the mucky muck and you're doing the day to day work, you don't get the pats on the back or you don't get seen as a leader. Doesn't mean you're not, means you don't have the bandwidth. So when you have smart technology that can roll up
your themes and can roll up and you can see opportunities, suddenly now you have a seat at the table and that's what the technology does.
Jen Porter (16:17)
And how did you land in this line of work? Have you always done this?
Christy Honeycutt (16:23)
No, found myself, moved to Dallas with my husband, found myself very quickly single, had to get a job, and my boys were, I was working at a bank as a manager, and my boys were playing baseball, and I never missed a game or anything. And one of the...
dad said, you just always look like you run around with your hair on fire. I said, I am, I'm trying to support two boys and I'm, you know, I've got all these things I'm doing. was traveling a ton, which is very hard as a single mom. I don't know how I did it, Jen, honestly, I have no idea how I did it. But he said, have you ever thought about recruitment? I said, I don't even know what that is.
So right like where I was in life, I didn't know what that was. And he said, well, it's, you know, it's basically just talking to people and finding a fit. It sounds like you do that because I was in, you know, marketing and sales and banking. I was like, okay, yeah, that's pretty easy. So that's how I fell into it. I fell in love with it. And it was very easy. It's you have a need. Here's the needs. Here's this person that wants this and it meets these needs and you just tie it together. I mean, it just made sense to me.
Jen Porter (17:32)
You strike me as a problem solver as well, like an innovator. It sounds like you're always trying to find the best solutions. And that's probably what led you, is that what led you to this company because of their solution?
Christy Honeycutt (17:47)
It did. So I actually got, I was head of an organization over DNI, LND, HRTA, I'm sure engagement, several other things. There was a lot of responsibility. It was a great opportunity. It was fun. But a former colleague of mine from Corn Ferry reached out to me and said, Hey, there's this company they're looking to launch and grow.
I think you should talk to them and consult with them. So I met with them to understand what their go-to-market strategy was, what they were looking to bring to the market, what I knew. And I actually sold our competitors, their competitors prior.
And I fell in love with what they were doing and the way they were doing it, how thoughtful it was with the patents, how thoughtful it was with the taxonomies of, you hear a lot about upskilling and reskilling. You hear a lot about community pools and all these texts will sell you and go, you have a community pool. What they don't tell you is it's up to you to go in there and parse through it and have a MBA in accounting and Excel.
to be able to do these things, right? So when I saw this, I was like, this is a game changer. This is gonna change our world. And it's hitting a segment that hasn't been serviced because traditionally the hourly population has been serviced by agencies and those are known as churn and burn and not for care. They just gotta get someone to show up to get paid. And so the opportunity to turn it on its head and humanize and just bring
love to this population, it just was a fire inside me. And you know, I come from a blue collar family. I, my brother worked at Baker Hughes and he had been there since he graduated high school. It was in his thirties. He was up for promotion and they required him, although I didn't have a resume when he started, they required him have a resume. So he calls me and he's like, sis help. Well,
because of my background, it was done in 10 minutes and he had the promotion in two hours, but not everybody has a Christie in their pocket. So this, this, platform, the service, resonated with me because it helps the good old boys and it helps the people that just maybe for whatever reason haven't come up in the world or maybe they're just starting out, whatever it is, it's just this population is treated so differently and it needs to change the way that we think about it needs to change. And so this is my opportunity to do that.
Jen Porter (19:44)
Right.
How have you changed in your leadership? Meaning, you're an executive now. You've moved up the ranks over your time, and you're now leading with influence. You use your voice, you show up, and influence strategy. How has your own leadership evolved in recent years to the point that it is now?
Christy Honeycutt (20:37)
I asked that question to myself a lot because I was actually on a panel today on coaching and mentorship. So I learned a long time ago from my grandpa. I call it the grandpa Langley method. It's my own method, but he was a World War II vet, prisoner of war, amazing man. was a cop. He was a pastor.
He was an AT &T linesman. I this guy was salt of the earth, just an amazing human being. And he sat down with me and he said, sis, you always have to be in the middle. And I said, well, what's that mean pops? And he said, well, you always need to be reaching up to get to the next level. You always need to be hungry and curious and reaching for the next thing. He said, but you have to have somebody reaching down to help pull you up. So you need to find that person, that advocate, right?
I makes sense, Pops, it makes sense. And he said, but you, part of karmic law, you have to be reaching down. You need to be pulling someone else up. You need to be pouring into somebody. And I really, that's always stuck with me and I've tried to do that. It's really, really been impactful. And I think a lot of us, including myself, when you get...
Jen Porter (21:41)
Yeah.
Christy Honeycutt (21:49)
thrushed into management or leadership for the first time, there's not really any, there's not really, I have yet to see a lot of really clear guidelines on now you're a manager, kind of like when you become a mom for the first time, now you're a mom. And all of a sudden, know, for, I have two, I don't know how many people have, but the first one, everything's like, the second one, you're like, cause you've been there. So I think my, leadership has evolved and I have come to the self-realization that I wasn't always the best leader that I could be, you know,
crass or a little bit too direct and wasn't really aware of my emotional intelligence or meeting people as authentically as I could because I had been shown in corporations that you had to keep a guard up. You had to position. I'll never forget the same colleague that introduced me to this company said, why do you wear high heels and suits all the time? And I said, what do you mean? Why do I wear high heels and suits all the time? I said, have you seen where we work?
I mean, we look like the men in black, basically. And she goes, if she was from another country, she goes, F that. No. She goes, no, you don't need to do that. And it was her shaking that perception in my head of what was expected and literally what was expected and letting me know it was okay that it wasn't, that I didn't have to fall in line with what was expected and could still be impactful.
And I think that's where I started to turn is not going off of my predecessors. This is how you do it. This is why you do it. You have to hold a stern chin and they don't need to know everything behind the curtain. But more of, no, I have an internal intuition to be transparent and authentic with every interaction I have because this relationship is mine after this moment and it will carry on with me. And I think...
That was the biggest thing for me that changed my brain is that every interaction is not owned by an employer or by a boss. It's owned by you because whatever interaction you leave with that person, that's what they think of you. And I can reach out to a number of different people because I did find my authenticity and I did find how they impact.
Jen Porter (23:54)
Say
more about that because that's a struggle for women, I'm sure, and men too, to find our authentic voice for sure. Voice is a huge part of that. I want to hear how you've discovered your voice over time and leveraged your voice. But it's also all the other things, right? It's how we dress, how we move, how we lean in or draw back. mean, it affects so much.
How did you, what was that journey like in finding your own authenticity?
Christy Honeycutt (24:28)
You know, it's been really interesting because it, you know, as humans, have, as women, have different shapes and sizes, right? So you can, you, I'm obviously very fit, but I've been, I've been through a lot of things in my life. I've been up to 205 pounds. I've had, lots of different things. I went from cutting my hair off, like long hair to a pixie and suddenly got treated completely different in the boys club for some reason.
It was a complete shift. This is super personal, but I had a breast reduction. Suddenly I got a promotion. Now, can we validate that that's why those things happen? Maybe, maybe not, but I can tell you it was my experience and it like almost happened immediately. So as women, I think it's a lot more difficult. know, for me, just this last year, I had alopecia. My hair fell out all the way around. A lot of people didn't know that. So I went from having a pixie
to having a wig because you have a pixie, which is pretty much a guy cut to a wig, it's pretty noticeable, right? And I feel bad for people interacting, especially men, because they don't really know what to do or they say it looks good, do they say anything at all. But I had a gentleman say, wow, your hair grew fast. And
Knowing that he didn't know knowing he had a good heart. I said, well, thank you so much for the compliment I'm glad that this looks nice I'm I'm struggling right now with a thing called alopecia and what that is and I went into you know What alopecia was and that yes, I didn't know what it was before Will Smith smacked Kevin Hart on stage But it actually was a real thing and it's very emotional because as women our hair is tied to us in so many different ways and
Jen Porter (26:06)
Yeah.
Christy Honeycutt (26:15)
I feel for women that have cancer, anyone that loses their hair, men lose their hair too, right? It's hard on everybody, but it's how do you approach each other authentically and in a human way. And so in that position, I just said, I just wanted to share with him, right? Not to reprimand or not to make him feel bad, but just like, this is what is going on and everything else.
And I think that as women, we encounter that a lot. But what I just figured out, maybe it's because I just turned 50, I just don't care. I really don't care. And what I've learned is that when I trust my gut and I listen to my intuition, it's never led me wrong. And I do think that my voice matters. And I do feel like it is my responsibility to speak up for those that can't or won't speak up for themselves. That does mean that I do occasionally get
Jen Porter (26:46)
Mmm.
Christy Honeycutt (27:07)
I feel like this is something I need to work on that I get seen as the noisy woman. I think we all have that fear sometimes, right? When you speak up, it's not this, I can say the same thing a man can say, but it doesn't come across the same way. And all I can say to that is keep speaking up, right? Like don't give it, sorry, I don't wanna cuss, but don't give a shit, keep speaking up because.
Jen Porter (27:24)
Mm-hmm.
Christy Honeycutt (27:30)
Each person matters, each perception matters, each point of view matters, and there's something we can learn from each other. There's a better way to always do something, except my grandma's blackberry cobbler recipe. But other than that, there's always a better way to do something.
Jen Porter (27:46)
Tell me about your Native American roots and how has that influenced your leadership, your career? How have you brought that in and what challenges have you faced?
Christy Honeycutt (28:00)
You know, the earliest memory I have is, so I went to public school, I didn't live on a reservation. I know there's a big misnomer that everyone thinks all Native Americans lived on a reservation. I think there is a lot of challenge when it comes to that because there's culture and we're more, I like to call it woo, we're more woo, right? There's some stuff tied to our culture that a lot of people don't understand, just like a lot of people don't understand a lot of other cultures.
But I think for me, my earliest memory is I went to school, we would make moccasins and dream catchers. I learned about the history. We had an Oklahoma land run one year. And what I don't know if you're familiar with the audience, familiar with that, but way back in the day, Native Americans were pushed on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma territory and they were given land. It was not their land and it was not given.
and Europeans were offered to come over to get free land. And so that was the land, right? So they reenacted this at school. You had to dress up like pilgrims, like coming over from the Mayflower. So my Native American grandmother made me a full pilgrim costume. I was the cutest little Native American ever in a pilgrim costume. But I look back at that and go, wow, how damaging was that for my family to have
had me go through this exercise and for me to reenact an abuse that had taken upon our ancestry years and years ago. You know, the same thing with Thanksgiving and people's perception of Thanksgiving is a little bit different at our house, right? So I think what that's done for me personally is I just have a little bit of, not a little bit, I have a lot of empathy for people because we don't know what's.
behind the mask. We don't know what's like, not even my lifetime, but my grandparents lifetime and before them. And then how is that honored and how does that show up from heritage? Like, how do we pass that on? For me being Native American, I'm all about the earth, I'm all about grounding, I'm all about nature and doing everything as naturally as we can and being as connected to nature and each other as much as possible.
Jen Porter (30:22)
how has, how has that shown up in your leadership? If at all, for example, is it, you know, culturally, like for me, I wasn't, I wasn't taught to use my voice. I had to, I've had to learn that and that has taken bravery over the years. I didn't, I wasn't raised to see myself as a leader. And so it took a long time for me to see myself that way and then step into the leadership roles that were coming my way. So that's, I'm curious,
Christy Honeycutt (30:25)
you
Hmm.
Jen Porter (30:52)
if you've reflected on how has that influenced you?
Christy Honeycutt (30:57)
You know, it definitely has because if you think about, so for Native Americans, there was the Daw Rose, like where you would register, almost like a, what do they call it when they come and they do, what is it called? Census. Yeah, so where they do the census, right? So was very similar to that back in the day. And so if you identified,
Jen Porter (31:11)
A census.
Christy Honeycutt (31:19)
the way you were, if you spoke your voice and said, yes, I am native, you lost your land. So if you think about how far back that went, we've learned to suppress who we are, what our backgrounds are for a very, very long time and to be seen as mainstream as possible, because that's safe. And I do believe that I know for a fact that that impacted me through my career because I wore the suits and I wore the heels and I showed up the way I was expected to show up. And I said the things I was supposed to show up.
I was sitting in a boardroom with 13 people. There were two women in the room. One was, there were two people in the room, both diverse. I'll just put it that way. I was one of the two. The rest of the team were all men. Fill in the blanks on that. When it came time to get up,
to do there was coffee and things. I'm the one and I by the way, I was one of the most senior in the room. I got up and got water got coffee tea. Do you want a pastry? Do you want this? I'm leading the meeting and I'm doing these things. This individual, the stakeholder female was the decision maker and I quote this organization is not diverse as it has positioned itself to be.
Jen Porter (32:20)
Yeah.
Christy Honeycutt (32:34)
and went away. Now I got another opportunity at this individual two years later who said, well, things have obviously changed. So there were more women in the room. There were more representation in the room of all phases. And I think that we need to learn to get away from that. Even for me, my manager here at Appi here is a wonderful man. He teases me because if we have to schedule a meeting, he goes, don't you schedule that meeting? I'll do it.
Jen Porter (33:02)
Yeah.
Christy Honeycutt (33:02)
You don't schedule it just because, know, cause he wants to make,
make a point that it's not because I'm a woman that I'm scheduling meetings. I've happened to be more organized sometimes, but he makes a point to share the load. And I appreciate that because in so many organizations, oftentimes women will do the extra housework at work. Because why? Cause we were told to, or because it's expected of us. So in the coaching I got from him, which was really weird was sit back and let other people do it.
Jen Porter (33:11)
Yeah.
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Christy Honeycutt (33:32)
But that doesn't feel good to me because I want to make sure it's done, right? Because I've always done it. But is it because, yeah, is it because it makes me feel good or is it because it's been, it's a learned behavior that that's what it's supposed to be? And so I think.
Jen Porter (33:36)
and done well and done right.
Yeah, yeah, change is uncomfortable. And sometimes it's
unfamiliar, you know, sitting with the discomfort of not leaning in and jumping in to the administrative task or the party planner.
Christy Honeycutt (33:57)
Mm-hmm. It's hard. It's yeah, it can be hard, but it's empowering when you It's empowering when you do allow yourself to elevate It's a very good place to be when you have your aha moment in and you can stand firm in that and say I am knowledgeable I do know my stuff
Jen Porter (34:00)
It is fun.
Christy Honeycutt (34:19)
And I do bring value. And for me personally, what really keeps me motivated is I try to do at least one to two karmic activities a week, meaning that out of the love of everything wholly inside my body, I do something completely selfless for somebody else, whether it's make an introduction or help them in their business or send them a nice text to say, I was thinking of you today, you're a badass. Like whatever that is, it always comes back tenfold.
Jen Porter (34:42)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Hmm. So I think it would be easy for someone to be listening and see you, you know, having arrived at this executive level, you you've figured out leadership, you figured out authenticity and you found your voice and you're influencing in ways that are important to you. But you probably haven't always been this person. You probably had to go through some challenges to get to this place.
Christy Honeycutt (34:49)
So it's just defense.
Jen Porter (35:17)
What kind of challenges have you faced? If you're looking back and saying, how did I get here? Walk us through some of the challenges that you experienced.
Christy Honeycutt (35:29)
Yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot, right? So I mean, I've got a couple of big ones that were just like life changing for me moving to a state away from my entire family and within a month.
separating from my husband at my choice, finding a job. I was a glorified stay-at-home mom. I was on the board of the private school and I did events and party planning and that's what I did. So I went from that to being a full-time working mom with two boys in sports and a dissolved marriage in a state that I didn't know a single person.
My dad tells me all the time, my three brothers are be very upset if they see this, but tells me all the time I'm his only true son. I'm the only one that never came home. I never cried. I never asked for help. I figured it out. I still don't know how I did it, really don't. But I think looking back, it's just I was authentic. I made connections and I networked and people that were meant to come into my life organically did and I just continuously elevated.
Jen Porter (36:23)
Yeah.
Christy Honeycutt (36:37)
yeah.
Jen Porter (36:38)
Can, let me pause there. There's
this pattern that I'm seeing in women that they persevered through significant challenges and there's just a resiliency. so I'm curious, what was it about you that gave you what you needed to get through that particular season? I mean, I know there's more seasons that you had to get through. This is just one, but.
Christy Honeycutt (37:05)
you
Jen Porter (37:07)
maybe the biggest one that you had faced in your life at that time, don't know. What was it about you that helped you get through that?
Christy Honeycutt (37:15)
You know, not having a safety net at all. You have no choice. We have two beautiful young little boys looking at you with the biggest, most hopeful eyes and they are your everything. You will do anything. And for me, that was getting very clear, very quick on what do I do? How do I do it? And how do I start positioning for the next thing? So I never ever went into anything without forethought of what's after this thing I'm about to go into.
I, the boys were the biggest thing for me there. And then when I actually found my feet and got to my first, I'd say corporate kind of role, that was interesting because I had a situation with this individual who I rep, did marketing and represented and there was a situation that came up. think they were having some marital issues or whatever the case may be. And he had told me he was going to have his wife give me a call.
and that I needed to put her questions to bed. I, just experiencing a divorce for reasons I won't speak of on this podcast, felt that to be completely against everything that I stood for. don't know, I didn't have firsthand information of if something did or didn't happen, nor did I care, nor did I need to be put in that position. And Jen, I didn't have a job lined up.
I still had those two beautiful boys with those big o eyes looking at me depending on me. And I did receive the phone call from the spouse asking the questions. And I said, woman to woman, if you feel the need to call and ask someone a question in your heart, you already know what's going on and you need to go address that. But I need to let you go because I need to go resign. And by the way, if anything did, it was not with myself.
Jen Porter (39:05)
Mm-hmm.
Christy Honeycutt (39:05)
and
I walked into my manager's office and I resigned on the spot. And it was the scariest thing I had done, not having any backup plan and a way to support my boys. But when I showed up for myself and I held true to my path and what was important to me and honoring myself, another opportunity even better opened up within days.
Jen Porter (39:29)
So you were true to yourself. You held firm to your convictions, even though there were consequences, which is, I gonna be able to pay my bills? Am I gonna take care of my kids?
Christy Honeycutt (39:40)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I didn't want to be in an environment that I was trying to get out of, that I was trying to elevate myself and my family away from and, you know, trust and transparency and just, and there are those humans out there that you can have these types of relationships with, right? And so I just, what I've learned in my time and I'm really big into like Reiki and energy and all that is that you give what you get, you attract it to you.
And so for me, I'm not going to attract any more of that towards me. I don't want that in my sphere, right? And so that was really my first that I can think of like the first really big professional pushback that I did to myself.
Jen Porter (40:13)
There you go. Yeah.
Yeah. Well,
you went from being a stay at home mom, not having a job where you were paid to then being a single mom and having to find, having to build a career and you did it.
Christy Honeycutt (40:27)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Yeah, when you, yeah, I guess I did. And I don't have a college degree. So if anybody's trying to hire me and I go out and apply for your job, don't ask me what college I went to. I did go, just didn't finish. Decide it was more important to get my kids through school. Yeah.
Jen Porter (40:52)
Yeah,
I think there are a lot of, mean, I've spoken with women over the years who have been stay at home moms, something shifts in life, something particularly unexpected, and then they have to figure out what in the world do I do?
Christy Honeycutt (41:08)
Oh, your podcast or what you've got going on, the lioness speaks it. That's so powerful because if you think about, if any woman, I don't care who it is, if it's your children, if it has to impact your children, you just get super strength and superpower. It's almost like your time expands, right? It's the weirdest thing because I just told you, when I was raising those boys and trying to get through,
my career, the ups and downs, I've had some health problems. battled cancer a couple of times, never missed a ball game, somehow got my work done, somehow continued to climb and be successful. And I look back and go, how did I do that? Well, I know how I did it is because I had those two beautiful boys that were depending on me. So my lioness energy and strength came in and just, you know, and just took care of it.
Jen Porter (41:54)
Yeah, it came out.
What
did your lioness energy look like at that point? In these points where you had to resign, you had to fight for your kids, you had to make tough decisions. If I were looking at you at that stage of your life, what did lioness energy look like?
Christy Honeycutt (42:20)
grit 100 % grit, no sleep. Jen, was a time for about a year, a good year. I worked three jobs. I had my full-time job and in recruitment. I was a bartender at night three times a week and then I worked in a boutique on Saturday and Sunday. Never missed a game and my boys were in baseball, football, soccer. Never missed a game, never missed anything.
Jen Porter (42:20)
Yeah.
Christy Honeycutt (42:47)
literally don't know how I did it outside of grit, right? Because you don't have a choice. When you don't have a choice, you're going to make it happen.
Jen Porter (42:54)
It's like your superpowers kicked in.
Christy Honeycutt (42:56)
I could have lifted a car, pretty certain.
Jen Porter (42:59)
And that's what
that, mean, that's real. That's a real thing, right? We, can engage the superhuman power when something significant is at stake.
Christy Honeycutt (43:08)
for sure. Yeah. You know, and there's been others throughout time. I remember I was working at, I won't say the name, but I was working at a very large, respectable company that we all know. And I kind of got pigeonholed into a position because I was their highest performer for three years running.
Jen Porter (43:11)
Wow.
Christy Honeycutt (43:29)
And it was great. They got a lot of revenue off of me, but I wasn't growing and I was bored. And I went to our leader and said, you know, I want to take a step backwards and I want to go into this role so I can learn it because I was so curious and I wanted to do more. And I knew I could be better if I understood the whole landscape. So this hunger for knowledge, he refused and said, no, we can't afford to lose you. And I said, to be clear, if you don't let me do this, I quit.
I had the job the next day.
Jen Porter (44:00)
Okay, there's a huge lesson for those listening in that. Okay,
let's look at that. What was it about you that gave you the confidence to say, no, let's be clear, this is gonna happen or I'm gonna leave?
Christy Honeycutt (44:18)
was completely like on autopilot. And for me, needed to, me and how I'm built, I'm purpose driven and I want to continuously grow. So I had maxed. I wasn't growing any more from there. And I had expanded into engagement committee and doing different things for the company, which fulfilled me for a little bit. But I needed and wanted more. there weren't, you know, again, like I was making
Jen Porter (44:27)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Christy Honeycutt (44:44)
I don't know, $45,000 a year at the time. There was no upskilling, mentorship, coaching that wasn't for that level. It didn't exist. Well, and I knew that in order for me to grow, I needed to be exposed. I needed to learn more, right? And I fought for the... So the funny thing is, I went into a recruiter role. In 30 days, I hired 70 people. That entire internal team did not hire that many people the former 12 months.
Jen Porter (44:51)
and you're making them all the money.
Christy Honeycutt (45:14)
I was only in that role for 30 days and then they pulled me up into my first leadership role.
Jen Porter (45:20)
Okay,
hang on. So I remember when we first spoke, you mentioned this, and this blows my mind. You hired 70 people in 30 days. And this was a new role, a new company that you stepped into?
Christy Honeycutt (45:32)
in 30 days.
Brand
new role, yeah, brand new. My first time, so I went from being kind of, we'll just say account management to keep the names safe. So I went from account management to actually recruiting. So I understood the account management piece. What you need, here's the order, okay, we'll get the recruiters to do it, right? I went to being a recruiter going, here's the need, done. And so they said,
Jen Porter (45:52)
Okay.
when you're hired 70.
Christy Honeycutt (46:05)
The president goes, that little girl in Texas now owns this. So I was literally only demoted for 30 days of self elected for 30 days and then was promoted to lead that function and take that completely over. And that's where my career took off because that's where I, I then went from just supporting an account to
Jen Porter (46:13)
Yeah.
Wow.
Sounds like it.
Christy Honeycutt (46:27)
staffing internally to launching to partnering with sales and implementations to then being a thought leadership and then resource management and then creating wait for it up skill reskill and coaching back before it was termed for those individuals to grow because we had to bring in people to certain margin and the people at that margin don't have experience. So what did I do? I created a recruiter bootcamp and we brought people in and we trained them how to do it. And so
I just thrived. was given a, I took a risk. I took a big risk. Again, I didn't have anything lined out and I had two beautiful boys counting on me, but it worked out and it worked out beautifully. I did. And I didn't know everything.
Jen Porter (47:00)
You did.
You bet on yourself.
What was happening? Of course not. No, no. So
when you stepped into that recruiter role and you, you killed it, I mean, you knocked it out of the park. What was developing in you over the course of even, you know, okay, not just the 30 days, but you were being promoted. You were given new opportunities. What, do you remember what was developing in you as a leader, as a professional, as a woman through that period of time?
Christy Honeycutt (47:42)
I wanted it to be right. I wanted people to feel seen and I wanted people to have an opportunity. The other thing I did that really blew their mind, this is way back before we had Instagram and all the different things is I didn't ask permission.
I just figured it out and did it. And I asked for forgiveness more than I asked for permission. And I very rarely had to ask for forgiveness, but we had to do a very big, so we would hire for big launches for big companies, right? So sometimes like General Motors was one of my clients. I hired when we had the RPO for them, I hired everybody globally, globally on time at 120 % delivery. But for me, it's about
what's the need, how do we meet the need, and is there something we haven't thought of? So when I was doing this, yeah, that's what it is. But I got on Facebook and said, Facebook is cool, let's try this. So I did a hiring event on Facebook. And so then I was hiring 30 people a day and we would do these like job fairs to launch. It was nuts. It was so fun. It was great.
Jen Porter (48:32)
That's your problem solving and innovation showing up there.
Incredible. Incredible.
Well, you talked about not asking for permission, which holds a lot of women back, me included. I was somebody that felt I needed some elusive permission and I've moved, I've grown a lot. I've grown a lot. I still say it probably shows up sometimes, but was that a theme for you in your life? This concept of I'm not gonna ask for permission. I might have to ask for forgiveness.
Or was that new for you?
Christy Honeycutt (49:20)
So my dad will tell you that I should have been an attorney because when I would go to my dad from very young age, let's say that I wanted to go to the movies with a boy, right? I knew the answer is gonna be no. So I had to him really outlandish things up front to wear it down and to get to kind of where I wanted to be. I would start with, can I go to the zoo? And we've got dogs. Can I go to the zoo and wear a tutu? Like what, I mean, I would have to go to
Jen Porter (49:37)
you
Christy Honeycutt (49:50)
questions for him and he'd like, what? And I'd wear him down and he'd I want to go to the movies with Bob. His mom's going to be there. Mom will drop me off. It's fine. And he's like, okay. So we'd finally get to what I wanted. So I learned the art of persuasion very early.
Jen Porter (50:02)
No kidding.
Wow. So you, you leverage that you persuaded people to, to let you try new things. Is that what was happening in your career?
Christy Honeycutt (50:07)
So.
I think so, yeah, because a lot of it really, I mean, if you think about it, if you've never done it before, you don't have proof, right? So it's really just, hey, I have an idea. I think this will work. Let's do it. And there was something I put together a long time ago, and we were told from legal that we can't do that anymore kind of thing. We got bought out, and they were like, can't do this anymore. But I created what's funny, and I thought about this the other night.
Jen Porter (50:23)
No.
Christy Honeycutt (50:44)
I created this Excel format, everybody we interviewed, I'd like, this is, know, Joe Schmo is an engineering recruiter in this location and this is his pay range. And so then when I would get something in, could do it. It would pop up my people in that area at that. I created it. And that's how we staffed so quickly because the good people you interview, I mean, sometimes it's a timey thing or a money thing or a location thing. It doesn't mean that they're not great.
Jen Porter (51:00)
You built a CRM.
Christy Honeycutt (51:14)
But that built a lot of credibility. And the other thing too, and I tell everybody that I work with or I partnered with is that if you've worked with me or for me, you have access to me. And that has given me such a, I feel like that's given me good karma to do that in this world. And that's really helped me a lot.
Jen Porter (51:38)
So what's next? Well, I want to hear about this podcast that you're starting. So you're taking over a podcast. Will you tell us about what the focus is going to be, kind of, you know, who you're going to be talking to you on the podcast?
Christy Honeycutt (51:52)
Yeah, so I'm really excited and this is all about, for me this is about karma too, right? So these are two individuals that I worked with a long time ago, 20 years ago, and they started this beautiful platform called Work Defined, and they have a show called Inside the C-suite. So we're reimagining the show with me as the new host, and it's Inside the C-suite, an energetic exchange. Traditionally they would ask,
individual CEOs or anybody in the C-suite, you how'd you get here? And you know, they wonder about their career path. Very interesting, still want to know that, but really what we want to know now is, okay, what's the biggest failure you made and what did you learn from it? And you know, how are you doing innovative stuff? I want to know how they got there, but I also want to know what are they doing to keep themselves at the top? Because I find that leaders all have similar
drivers, whether it's they get up earlier, right, they're reading the news, they're working out. There are very common things that I want to understand what those are, because I'm curious and I want to continue to grow. But I also want to know, you know, where did they mess up? What would they tell their younger self? Like, share that wisdom. And so that's what we're going be doing is sharing that wisdom with the community. Got some really great people lined up. And this is the first time it's actually been announced. So depending
Jen Porter (52:53)
Yeah.
Okay.
Christy Honeycutt (53:13)
Yeah,
it doesn't launch until like next week or week after but super, super stoked.
Jen Porter (53:18)
And so how do people find you? How do people find the podcast and AppyHere Whatever you want to share about that.
Christy Honeycutt (53:28)
Yeah, so appyhere.com. So it's A-P-P-Y-H-E-R-E.com. It is Canadian. A lot of people try to say apply, but it's Appy. You can connect with me on LinkedIn. You can connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, and then Work Defined is where the podcast will be hosted. It's also on Spotify, YouTube, and a few other areas that I don't know yet, but it's coming.
Jen Porter (53:53)
Awesome. And can people connect with you on LinkedIn? OK.
Christy Honeycutt (53:55)
Please, I love, I'm
kind of maxed out, so please follow and message me, but I am an open networker, and I believe you get 50 % of everything you ask for, so if anybody has questions, if anybody wants a kind friend, totally open to new connections.
Jen Porter (54:12)
And what's next for you when you think, I mean, you've grown so much over, you know, your career, but even, you you and I talked in our first conversation about how much you've grown just in the last five years, right? So when I, when I think about you in just five years, so much less 10 years, what do you see for yourself?
Christy Honeycutt (54:26)
Yeah.
You know, want to, gosh, that's such a tough one, Jen. I don't know how many people can just tell you off the top of their head. I think I'm still figuring it out. You know, what I want is financial security. I think that's really important for women, regardless what situation they're in, to always be financially secure because you can make better decisions. I want to, you know,
continue down my happy relationship and hope that that just is the ever after that we all wish for when we're little girls, which, you know, I found it at 47 and going strong at 50. So we'll keep going down that path. I really want to impact every human that I come in contact with. want them to know that they matter and know that they're loved and know that we're all one energy. And for me personally, I mean, whatever it takes to kind of get to that platform to help people be inspired and grow and know it's possible.
Jen Porter (55:29)
beautiful. It's beautiful. And I love your Grandpa Langley method. I mean, that's, yeah, I mean, that's, that's how you've lived your life, right? And he knew that you needed that.
Christy Honeycutt (55:34)
method.
It's funny, it's what I read this thing the other day. So our minds don't know the difference on if we're talking to each other or talking to ourselves. So the mean girl thing, right? When people are mean, it comes back to you and your brain doesn't know that you're talking about someone else. It thinks that you're saying those things about yourself. So I think the more that we can, especially women, I think we can be really hard on each other. I think that I know
that the more we empower each other and ourselves and we speak kinder to ourselves than one another, we're all going to rise. And so that's what I, that's what I really, really hope. And I do want to elevate more female voices it's needed. And I'm so honored to get to know you and for our mutual friend who is a lioness, who is just amazing. It's your vibe attracts your tribe. And that's my whole thing is I want to bring more beautiful people and souls together that, that want to raise their elevation.
Jen Porter (56:18)
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Christy Honeycutt (56:41)
their vibration. Good thing.
Jen Porter (56:42)
Yeah, I love it. We're on the same
page there. mean, you know, all everything I do through my coaching work is about empowering women. And then everything I'm doing through the book project and through the podcast is really elevating women sharing their stories of bravery and courage and looking for those patterns like you're going to be doing in your podcast, looking for those patterns of what makes someone successful in that C suite. You know, I'm seeing these patterns of what makes women successful. And it's a lot of
Christy Honeycutt (56:55)
I love it.
Jen Porter (57:11)
overcoming some major challenges in their life. Having the resiliency and the grit, to use your word, is what it takes. And then amazing things happen. But I love the way that you're living your life and the work that you're doing and bringing in your values into every single thing that you're doing. It's really beautiful.
Christy Honeycutt (57:18)
Yeah.
I like to try to scare myself as much as possible. And I know it sounds crazy, but like zip lining and surfing, and I feel like when we get ourselves out of our comfort zone, it allows our brain to open up so much more and to be able to perceive what's possible. And so the more we can stay in those moments, it's growth. And that's the thing I have found that's been common in C-suite has been like this hyper...
Jen Porter (57:51)
Yes.
Christy Honeycutt (58:00)
almost like extreme sports, but not really. But what I'm finding commonality, what I'm cracking the code is they take care of themselves, right, physically and mentally. And so that's something that I'm very passionate about. But I'm curious, if I may ask you a question, I'm curious about one thing. So what's your why? Because you're making such a huge impact, but I have to know.
Jen Porter (58:08)
Yeah.
Sure. Yeah.
my wife, I have just a deep passion for elevating women's voices. think, you know, and I think about, we always give out of the places of our own journey. And I am not somebody that always had my voice. I never saw myself as a leader, as someone of influence, of someone that had something important to say. And because that's been such a hard journey for me,
I wanna, it's my passion to be able to do that for others. You know, I never saw myself as an entrepreneur. I never saw myself as, you know, leading an organization or a company. And so it's my way of taking my values and just living it out every single day. And it's the most fulfilling and fun thing that I've ever done. so I feel really aligned in this work.
And you know, talked about energy and attraction and things like that. It's amazing. It's amazing what happens when women come together and support each other. When we take that lioness energy and lioness energy is about strength. It's about feminine strength, but it's also like a quiet strength too. It doesn't always have to be a loud roar. And so it's just, it's just really fun. And I find that women won't
share their own stories unless they're invited. And so that's that every, every time I reach out to somebody or every time somebody is nominated, it's an invitation. It's an invitation to see ourselves newly as a lioness. And when we see ourselves that way, when we sort of try that on, it opens up possibility because we start to see ourselves as, I am brave. I have ever come a lot. Maybe I could do that thing, that dream in my heart.
Christy Honeycutt (59:49)
Thank you.
Jen Porter (1:00:15)
So that's why I'm doing what I'm doing.
Christy Honeycutt (1:00:17)
You know, you made me think of something I'll share with you real quick. So something I did with teams, because I find what you just said is that women don't share, but also we don't always hear what we're good at, right, in the professional world. So with my teams, I've done this thing and it's a beautiful thing. And someone did it for me the other day and I was literally in tears. But I did a whiteboard and we put up one person's name. So it'd be like Jen Porter. And each person would get up and they would say,
the one thing that they thought about you that resonated with them the most. And every person at the end stood by the whiteboard and wanted their picture taken because it was powerful words like empathetic, loyal, trustworthy.
Jen Porter (1:00:54)
wow.
Christy Honeycutt (1:00:59)
upbeat, like just things that that's how they resonated that person. So not only did they watch them write it, so it was this impact, this meaning, they saw it and they took a picture. And so I have a writer that I work with and she did that, brought it up on a screen and asked everybody questions. And the way they described me, I was like, I'm a bad bitch. Like I really was, was like, whoa!
Jen Porter (1:01:22)
Hahaha!
Christy Honeycutt (1:01:24)
It was funny and I'll never forget because my nephew was there too and what he said was the cutest thing. goes, she doesn't take any, and I was like, that's how he sees me? He sees Auntie like that? But it was a beautiful exercise and I think, John, I'm manifest for you that you're gonna be doing conferences and you're gonna just, like, you're onto something. I'm so happy to have met you. Thank you for everything.
Jen Porter (1:01:49)
I'm,
yeah, it's an honor, truly, right? It's an honor to get to just intersect. And I can't wait for our next conversation. We're definitely gonna stay in touch. Thank you for sharing your story today.
Christy Honeycutt (1:01:57)
Absolutely.
thank you for having me. Thank you for doing this work. So good.
Jen Porter (1:02:04)
You're welcome.
You're welcome. All right, until the next episode, the lioness in me sees the lioness in you.
Creators and Guests
