Pain Points

About Pain Points

Welcome to StaffBuffalo’s Pain Points Podcast, your go-to source for insightful conversations around the pain points businesses and people face in today's workplace! Our staffing, recruiting, and human resources firm delves deep into the pain points that organizations encounter across various domains. We tackle business pain points head-on, leveraging our knowledge and expertise to talk through potential solutions and explore the intricacies of Talent Acquisition, Recruiting, Marketing, Human Resources, and more! Join us as we engage in real world discussions that not only shed light on the many hurdles businesses encounter, but also on how you can overcome hurdles through the People side of your business. Hear from our team of seasoned professionals, industry experts, thought leaders, and guests! We bring you real stories, practical strategies, and the latest trends in the world of recruiting, staffing, and human resources!

Publisher

StaffBuffalo Team

Category

business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

15 Feb 2024

Latest episode

2 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

79 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Oct 2026

   Different Circumstances, Same Potential: Pain Points of Disability and Employment

   In this episode, Maggie Shea sits down with Chris Anselmo, author of the Hello, Adversity newsletter and rare disease advocate, for a personal conversation about disability, career changes, self-advocacy, workplace accommodations, and learning how to move forward when life looks nothing like you expected. Together, Maggie and Chris discuss: Chris's journey from Northeastern to becoming a rare disease advocate The Pain Points of navigating a career while living with a progressive disability Turning personal adversity into meaningful work Job searching before, during, and after disclosing a disability Why candidates sometimes hesitate to discuss accommodations The importance of advocating for what you need at work How one simple workplace accommodation changed Chris's perspective The additional considerations people with disabilities can face during a job search Common misconceptions about hiring people with disabilities What employers can do to make their workplaces more accessible and welcoming Why inclusion needs to show up in a company's actions, not just its stated values One of the most powerful parts of Chris's story is how his approach to asking for help changed over time. Early in his career, as his physical abilities began changing, Chris needed a lighter laptop. It sounds like a small request, but at the time, asking for it meant explaining something about himself that he had not been comfortable discussing openly. Eventually, he asked. His employer accommodated the request and then went a step further by asking what else they could do to help him succeed. That experience stuck with Chris. It helped him realize that workplace accommodations are not about giving someone an unfair advantage, they are about removing a barrier so that person can focus on doing the job they were hired to do. Chris and Maggie also look at the hiring process from both sides. For job seekers with disabilities, a requirement around travel, relocation, office attendance, or scheduling can create another decision before they even submit an application. Is the requirement actually necessary? Is there flexibility? Will the company be willing to have a conversation? Sometimes a simple yes-or-no application question does not leave room for any of that context. For employers, Chris encourages taking a closer look at job postings, applications, workplace policies, and company culture. Small changes in language can show candidates that a company is willing to have a conversation instead of immediately screening someone out. The episode also tackles some of the misconceptions surrounding disability and employment. People with disabilities work across industries, build businesses, earn advanced degrees, lead teams, and bring valuable perspectives and skills into organizations. Sometimes the way the work gets done looks a little different. That does not change someone's ability to contribute. Chris's message to job seekers is equally important: do not automatically remove yourself from an opportunity because you may need an accommodation. Advocating for yourself can be uncomfortable, especially when you do not know how an employer will respond. But communicating what you need can open the door to solutions and help you determine whether an organization is truly the right place for you. For employers, recruiters, HR professionals, leaders, and job seekers, this episode is a thoughtful conversation about what accessibility can look like when we replace assumptions with communication. 💼 Connect with Chris Anselmo Newsletter: Hello, Adversity Website: helloadversity.substack.com LinkedIn: Chris Anselmo Instagram: @hello_adversity Follow Chris for learn and read more about adversity, resilience, disability, mental health, uncertainty, and navigating major changes in life. 🤝 Connect with StaffBuffalo & Pain Points Podcast Website: staffbuffalo.com More Episodes: staffbuffalo.com/painpoints

2. 

   15 Sept 2026

   People, Data and AI: Pain Points of Modern HR

   In this episode, Lauren Lewis sits down with Laura Azzarella, PHR, MS HRM, an experienced HR professional and leader in the Buffalo HR community, to talk about employee relations, leadership, data, AI, and how the role of Human Resources continues to evolve. Laura's path into HR was not exactly planned. A first-generation college student originally studying media production, Laura found an HR assistant position while looking for a new job. What started as an opportunity to try something different turned into a career focused on people, leadership development, employee relations, and making complicated HR topics easier to understand. As Laura puts it, she likes to make HR make sense. Together, Lauren and Laura discuss: Laura's unexpected journey into Human Resources The Pain Points of navigating difficult employee situations Why HR professionals spend so much time operating in the gray Working in HR across manufacturing, higher education, and professional services Using data to identify problems within an organization The importance of protecting your professional reputation and not burning bridges Why AI-generated information still needs human oversight Laura's involvement with the Buffalo Niagara Human Resources Association Creating practical resources for emerging HR professionals A major part of the conversation focuses on AI and its growing role in the workplace. Laura has been experimenting with generative AI since its early days and sees it as another tool HR professionals can use to work more effectively. Instead of replacing the human side of HR, she believes technology can take repetitive and administrative tasks off someone's plate so they have more time for strategic work and real conversations. But using AI also comes with responsibility. Laura and Lauren discuss why professionals still need to understand the fundamentals of their field. AI can provide an answer that sounds completely confident and still be wrong. When you're dealing with employment law, employee relations, investigations, or someone's career, simply accepting an AI-generated answer is not enough. You still have to check the work. They also discuss some of the new challenges AI creates for employers, including generated images, altered information, workplace investigations, and the need to think carefully about what employees and companies upload into these tools. Beyond technology, this episode gets into what HR is really about: people. Sometimes an attendance problem has a bigger story behind it. Sometimes an employee struggling at work needs resources or support. Sometimes HR has to make a difficult decision that an employee is not going to like. The challenge is knowing how to listen, understand the situation, protect the organization, support employees, and make the best decision possible with the information available. Laura also shares her approach to leadership and why she does not believe being a leader means being the best at everything. Instead, great leaders surround themselves with people who bring different strengths, perspectives, and skills to the table, then give those people the opportunity to succeed. Whether you're an HR professional, business owner, manager, emerging leader, or simply curious about how AI is changing the workplace, this episode offers a practical and very human look at where HR is headed. 💼 Connect with Laura Azzarella LinkedIn: Laura Azzarella, PHR, MS HRM Applied Potential Solutions: appliedpotentialsolutions.com Laura is also developing an Employee Relations 101 course designed to make topics like investigations, progressive discipline, ADA, FMLA, and difficult workplace conversations more approachable for HR professionals. 🤝 Connect with StaffBuffalo & Pain Points Podcast Website: staffbuffalo.com More Episodes: staffbuffalo.com/painpoints

3. 

   1 Sept 2026

   What Actually Makes You Happy? Pain Points of Career and Life Fulfillment

   In this episode, Maggie Shea sits down with Christopher Musialowski, career and life coach and founder of Own Your Path Coaching, to talk about career changes, burnout, work-life balance, and why so many professionals reach a point where they start asking, "Is this really what I want?" Chris knows that feeling firsthand. His own career took him through banking, government, nonprofit leadership, fundraising, and executive roles before he recognized a common thread. The part of his work he enjoyed most was helping other people develop, think through their careers, and figure out what they wanted to do next. Eventually, Chris decided to take a risk and turn that passion into his own coaching practice. Maggie and Chris discuss: The Pain Points of leaving a steady career to start your own business Why a career path does not have to be linear Recognizing burnout before making a major career decision Why so many millennials are questioning traditional definitions of success Finding the areas of your life that are leaving you unfulfilled Balancing work, family, relationships, finances, and time for yourself Why getting a promotion does not always mean moving in the right direction Separating your definition of success from what others expect of you Making small, sustainable changes instead of impulsive decisions How career coaching can help turn a big goal into realistic next steps Why your priorities can change throughout different stages of life Finding fulfillment outside of your career through hobbies, volunteering, and relationships Chris also talks about something many professionals can probably relate to. You can have the career, family, paycheck, and life you thought you were supposed to want and still feel like something is missing. Instead of immediately quitting your job or making a drastic change, Chris encourages people to figure out where that feeling is actually coming from. Sometimes the answer is a new career. Sometimes it is a different role within the same company. Other times, work might not be the problem at all. You may simply need to make more room for the parts of life that make you feel like yourself again. For many people, the version of success they grew up expecting no longer matches the reality of their lives. Chris believes that is exactly why it is worth asking a simple question: What does success actually look like for you? Whether you are feeling burned out, considering a career change, chasing a promotion, or simply wondering what comes next, this episode offers a refreshing perspective on slowing down, asking better questions, and finding a path that fits the life you actually want. 💼 Connect with Christopher Musialowski & Own Your Path Coaching Website: ownyourpath.coach LinkedIn: Christopher Musialowski Facebook: Own Your Path Coaching 🤝 Connect with StaffBuffalo & Pain Points Podcast Website: staffbuffalo.com More Episodes: staffbuffalo.com/painpoints

Who has been a guest on Pain Points

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Christine Mathieu
• Sheri Scavone
• James Brand
• Kristen Huffcut
• Carmelo Morreale

Reach and audience

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

YouTube views

20,993

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 67 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

85

Social presence

0

YouTube

72

Engagement

51

Contact Pain Points

Guest appearances

Books guests

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

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