Welcome to Poppulo Meets… — our series of conversations with senior Communication and People leaders that explores their work and the experiences that shaped their leadership along the way.

It’s our great pleasure to introduce Helen Russell, Chief People Officer at HubSpot. Helen leads a global remit spanning Talent Acquisition and Development, Culture, Total Rewards, Operations, Belonging, and ESG. The role sits at the center of how HubSpot grows: less about policy, more about how people drive growth.

Her career spans senior People leadership at Yahoo, Sonos, Atlassian, and Rivian. The through-line across all of it: building cultures that scale.

At HubSpot, that means navigating one of the more consequential shifts in modern work — integrating AI in a way that drives impact at every level and keeps human effort focused on what matters most.

Her focus is making sure those two things move together.

Helen grew up in Yorkshire, England, and she now lives in Santa Barbara, California.

In conversation with

Tim Vaughan, Editorial Director, Poppulo

My first job was doing a paper round with my brother when I was 11. It gave me a strong work ethic (papers are delivered 7 days a week!!), teamwork (my brother and I had a system we developed to finish as quickly as possible) and resilience (those Northern winter mornings are cold).

The person who has had the most influence on my career was my dad. He had played professional football and so created an inspiring and somewhat competitive environment at home.

He also had a fierce work ethic which he ensured we all developed. For example, to my dad,100% attendance at school was just as important a measure of success as exam results.

Looking back, the thread that has run through my working life is change and transformation. In almost every company, role and position, I was instrumental in driving pretty material change and so it has prepared me for what the world is today facing as a result of AI.

A moment early on when I felt out of my depth—but kept going anyway—was when I stepped up from a regional leadership role to a global leadership role to cover the maternity leave of our CHRO.

I arrived in the US with a 3 year old and a 6 month old and my arrival coincided with the arrival of a new CEO who wanted to change everything. He had come from IBM and so understood what good looked like and expected me to know that too!! My crucible experience.

That experience taught me that curiosity and a strong dose of humility is what is needed to recruit advocates to be in the work with you.

If you asked people who know me well what drives me, they’d probably say a strong value around fairness with a desire to have impact and make a difference.

The best advice I ever received—and still come back to—is index to the highest common denominator.

And the advice I find myself repeating most often now is that no one wakes up in the morning and thinks how can I be obnoxious today.

The part of this role that people don’t see, but feel the effects of, is the constant balancing of priorities across all of our critical stakeholders of which our employees are just one (investors, customers, partners, Board).

A decision I made that has stayed with me longer than I expected was navigating through COVID at Rivian. A large number of our employees were based in our manufacturing plant in Michigan and could only do their work from the factory.

Contrast that with other roles across the enterprise that could be done remotely. How do you demonstrate the same level of care and concern when you are asking one cohort to take more risks?

What that experience taught me about leadership was the power of constant communication (I emailed every Friday for 2 years), transparently calling out the different expectations but ensuring every communication was delivered with care and supported by planning and rigor to ensure everyone felt as safe as possible.

With so much uncertainty in the world, people need to feel they belong. And belonging is built on trust and trust is something we have to earn every day, through our actions, not just our words.

Upheaval in the wider world and its impact on the workplace, combined with the pace of constant, accelerating change, is making the role of managers increasingly difficult—resulting in managers feeling overwhelmed and like they cannot keep up.

This is a moment for them to drive clarity and focus by removing as much noise, friction and anxiety as possible—for themselves and their team/s.

At HubSpot, culture plays a critical role in supporting managers by giving them the tools and clarity to lead with confidence and ensuring they never have to choose between doing right by their team and doing right by the business.

The most honest conversation a company can have with its people right now should be about how we still don’t fully know or appreciate the implication AI will have on the world, our business and all of you.

What I love most about my role at HubSpot is that we all have the opportunity to work in a highly people orientated environment that genuinely cares.

But what can make it challenging at times is navigating the uncertainty that AI is having on the world and businesses more generally.

I have no time for cynicism, but I believe skepticism can be positive because it proves you care enough to ask the hard questions which typically results in a better outcome.

When it comes to AI and the future of work, what excites me is how much more effective and productive we can all become.

But what makes me cautious about AI in a work context is the potential implication on jobs and humans—which is still being tested and determined.

The skill that will matter more than most in the years ahead will be strong human judgment.

If I could go back and tell my younger self something, I’d say slow down.

Outside of work, the thing that helps me reset is family (I have 2 sons), walking with my dogs (I have 2 dogs) and hot yoga.

Something people might be surprised to learn about me is that I have just started taking latin dance classes with my husband.

What still excites me about this work—after all these years—is the feeling of purpose and loyalty it promotes.

In another life, I could see myself as being a small coffee shop owner.

• For more information on Poppulo Meets... contact tvaughan@poppulo.com.