Description: Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup people and compensation practices with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Isidora Torres, VP of People at Beehiiv, we explore what it truly means to bring a therapist's lens into HR — from embedding wellness into high performance culture, to building radical transparency with your CEO. Isidora shares how Beehiiv has redesigned performance reviews, structured comp cycles, and created a culture where honesty and vulnerability are championed from the top down. Stay tuned to hear how she's redefining what people operations can look like in a remote-first, high-performing startup.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:44 Startup People Summit 2026 Announcement
01:03 Guest Introduction: Isidora Torres
01:46 Bringing a Therapist Lens into HR
03:34 Integrating Therapeutic Skills into Leadership Development
05:20 Building a Management Operating System
07:16 Defining Core Values at Beehiiv
08:13 The Role of Wellbeing in High-Performance Culture
09:10 Rest as Part of the Performance System
10:33 Personal Responsibility vs. Organizational Support
12:04 Working Remotely and Maintaining Culture
14:04 Psychological Safety and CEO Transparency
16:55 Building an Honest Relationship with Leadership
19:40 How Isidora Interviewed Her CEO
23:42 Principles for a Strong CEO-HR Relationship
26:17 Wellness Days and Their Impact
27:29 Decoupling Performance Reviews from Comp Reviews
30:23 How Merit-Based Pay Still Works
33:03 Running Four Comp Cycles a Year
35:16 Safeguarding Honesty in Reflections
36:22 The "Sun Shining" Channel
39:13 The Traction Framework and Rocks System
44:47 People Analytics and Meaningful Data
46:35 Remote Work and Talent Philosophy
50:47 Writing a Newsletter and Growing in Public
55:19 Final Advice: Experiment and Ask
56:46 Closing Remarks

Join Startup People Summit, a one-day virtual conference designed for startup People leaders who want practical insight, honest conversations and proven approaches to scaling their People function — get your ticket here: www.startuppeoplesummit.com

Connect with Isidora

Visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/torresisidora/

Resources Mentioned

Books Mentioned: No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer — the Netflix culture book referenced for the "sun shining" concept Traction by Gino Wickman — the framework behind Beehiiv's rocks-based goal-setting system

Companies Mentioned: Beehiiv — remote-first startup where Isidora serves as Head of People Operations Shapes — people operating system / AI tool for people data (mentioned in mid-roll) Bridgewater Associates — referenced in discussion of radical transparency culture Morning Brew — where Beehiiv's CEO Tyler learned the Traction/rocks framework Clay — mentioned as an example of companies using coaches for employee wellbeing

Concepts Mentioned: Sun Shining — a Slack channel practice at Beehiiv where leaders publicly acknowledge mistakes and learnings Replays — Beehiiv's version of performance reviews, decoupled from compensation Rocks — goal-setting units from the Traction framework (company, team, and individual levels) Wellness Days — monthly Fridays off at Beehiiv built into company benefits

More FNDN Episodes:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484

TherapyAtWork, PeopleOps, HRLeadership, StartupCulture, WellbeingAtWork, PsychologicalSafety, RemoteWork, PerformanceReviews, CompensationStrategy, StartupCompensation, HighPerformance, EmployeeWellness, PeopleOperations, MentalHealthAtWork, RadicalTransparency, StartupLeadership, FlatOrganization, EmployeeEngagement, HRNewsletter, StartupBestPractices