Compliance Chronicles with Liisa Thomas

About Compliance Chronicles with Liisa Thomas

Working in privacy or compliance today means doing organizational change in an AI‑driven world, often without a playbook. Compliance Chronicles brings you lessons with leaders who have navigated that reality, using a simple structure in every episode: their career journey, the challenges they faced, the lessons they took away, and the advice they have for you. Compliance Chronicles is a practical, conversation‑driven podcast for privacy, cyber, and compliance professionals who are being asked to “figure out” AI, data protection, and regulatory change while still handling their day‑to‑day work. Liisa’s practice focuses on helping companies design and mature AI and privacy governance programs, and this show reflects the real questions clients bring into that work. Hosted by law firm partner and adjunct professor Liisa Thomas, the show is designed for CLOs, CPOs, CISOs, CCOs and their teams who need to create workable solutions to tricky AI, privacy, and cyber compliance problems. In her conversations with leaders across the industry, Liisa draws on her legal and organizational change experience helping companies build privacy and AI governance to ask the questions you wish you could have, and to surface patterns you can reuse with your own teams. In each episode, Liisa interviews leaders in the industry who share their career journey, the challenges they have faced and lessons they learned along the way, and their parting advice for others walking a similar path. Guests talk openly about moving skeptical businesses, working with boards and regulators, and operationalizing privacy, cyber, and AI governance in complex, fast‑moving environments. Whether you are new to privacy or a seasoned CPO, you will hear relatable stories, hard‑won lessons, and human‑centered strategies you can apply in your own organization. If you’re wrestling with AI, privacy and cyber governance in your own organization, you will also hear how Liisa approaches these issues in her work with clients. You can find all episodes at https://www.compliance-chronicles.com (https://www.compliance-chronicles.com).

Publisher

Liisa Thomas

Category

business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

7 Jan 2026

Latest episode

14 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

21 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 Oct 2026

   Finding Champions for Compliance with Kristin Greenhaw (Ep. 21)

   In this episode of Compliance Chronicles, Liisa Thomas talks with Kristin Greenhaw about what it means to handle privacy, cybersecurity, and compliance as a legal department of one across a media company, investment company, and family office. Kristin shares her journey from private practice to in‑house roles at AT&T and Sonic Drive‑Ins (later acquired by Inspire Brands). The conversation explores why privacy and compliance often receive less attention and funding than more visible legal issues, and how to get business teams thinking ahead about risks in an evolving regulatory landscape. Kristin discusses the importance of early involvement with business initiatives, building trust so teams invite legal in “when the dreams are just percolating,” and finding champions who understand and advocate for privacy compliance work. This episode covers: How Kristin’s career evolved from private practice to in‑house roles at AT&T, Sonic, Inspire Brands, and ultimately Chief Legal Officer at Griffin Media Why privacy and compliance can be overlooked compared to “screaming” issues like litigation—and how to make their importance visible How to navigate an evolving privacy regulatory landscape when you can’t always point to big, scary precedents to persuade the business Practical strategies for getting involved early in product and business initiatives so privacy considerations are built in, not bolted on How to embed yourself with business teams through one‑on‑one conversations, understanding project cadence, and attending the right meetings The mindset shift from being “the no person” to “the no, but…” person who offers alternatives and constructive options Why identifying champions with both interest and clout—often in IT, tech, and cybersecurity—is essential for funding and advancing compliance projects Under‑resourced compliance functions and the challenge of getting attention and budget Stakeholder engagement, organizational change, and finding high‑clout champions Being a legal department of one and managing workload, tools, and external support The limits of AI for complex privacy and cybersecurity problems and the need for human experts If you enjoyed this episode of Compliance Chronicles, please consider subscribing and leaving a rating or review—it helps others discover the show and supports more conversations with leaders across privacy, risk, and compliance. Follow Compliance Chronicles on your favorite podcast platform (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more) and connect with Liisa on LinkedIn so you don’t miss future episodes.

2. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Building Compliance Consensus in Complex Systems with Justin Martin (Ep. 20)

   In this episode of Compliance Chronicles, Liisa Thomas talks with Justin Martin, an in‑house technical executive who straddles general counsel‑level work and COO‑level technical leadership in an electrical engineering organization. Justin shares how he moved from law firm partner into in‑house roles, driven by a personal mission around energy, environment, and electricity. In this episode, he shares how his experience making products “bondable” and transactable in markets translates into making complex technology and energy systems understandable and manageable for boards, officers, engineers, and lawyers. This episode covers: Why understanding complexity “in its full complexity” is essential before you can responsibly distill it into tools, policies, or operational guidance Using system‑level thinking across transmission, distribution, generation, end use, and retail The challenge of people saying “it doesn’t have to be that complicated” and why, in reality, some systems are complex, and how oversimplifying can distort the underlying technical tradecraft The attorney as helper, “grabbing an oar” to help business and technical teams Using a brick-building approach to working with business teams, to operationalize solutions The difference between building consensus and building resentment, especially in multi‑level corporate structures with parent‑subsidiary relationships and complex approval flows Understanding if data should go in the bank or a library, and protecting it accordingly How clarifying “what is the data and what are you doing?” helps right‑size controls and avoid over‑engineering security or compliance requirements If you enjoyed this episode of Compliance Chronicles, please consider subscribing and leaving a rating or review—it helps others discover the show and supports more conversations with leaders across privacy, risk, and compliance. Follow Compliance Chronicles on your favorite podcast platform (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more) and connect with Liisa on LinkedIn so you don’t miss future episodes.

3. 

   16 Sept 2026

   Effective Compliance by Untangling People Problems and Staying Authentic with Corey Tanner (Ep. 19)

   In this episode of Compliance Chronicles, Liisa Thomas talks with Corey Tanner about building an employment law function from the ground up and navigating the human side of compliance and investigations. Corey shares how a college job as a secretary at a small employment law firm led to law school and a career focused on workplace issues, internal investigations, and compliance across law firms, the University of Texas, and in‑house roles. She explains why she has always been drawn to the human element: understanding why people do what they do, untangling complicated facts, and helping organizations resolve difficult people problems. Along the way, Corey has created employment law functions, handled complex investigations, and learned how to show up as a trusted partner rather than “the department of no” or “the person you only call when someone is in trouble.” This episode covers: The challenge of wanting the “best possible outcome” as a young lawyer—and the freeing lesson that you can’t change the facts, only work with the circumstances in front of you How to shift perceptions from “legal/compliance means I’m in trouble” to “legal/compliance is a value‑add partner” Practical ways to build trust, including showing genuine interest in people, starting with “Where do you want to go?” and working backwards from desired outcomes Designing paths that move from A to B to X, Y, Z instead of expecting an instant jump from A to Z; and why early, ongoing partnership beats late‑stage roadblocking Balancing a heavy job with being a partner, parent, and friend, and the role of exercise, priorities, and perspective in finding some equilibrium The importance of honesty and how “the cover‑up is worse than the crime” shows up in investigations and legal practice Why almost every mistake is fixable if you own it and ask for help, and how perceived failures can become the most valuable learning experiences The concept of “moral drift”: small compromises that slowly move you far from where you intended to be, and why staying alert to those steps matters How different people can sincerely believe different versions of events, and what that means for investigations, employment law, and compliance Why authenticity, humor, and humility are Corey's core leadership principles; bringing your full self to work, being able to laugh when appropriate, and openly asking experts to “explain it like I’m a third grader” If you enjoyed this episode of Compliance Chronicles, please consider subscribing and leaving a rating or review—it helps others discover the show and supports more conversations with leaders across privacy, risk, and compliance. Follow Compliance Chronicles on your favorite podcast platform (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more) and connect with Liisa on LinkedIn so you don’t miss future episodes.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Contact Compliance Chronicles with Liisa Thomas

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.