Ask Ashley

Empathy and business results pull in the same direction, and Steven Holt has spent his career proving it. Steven is a Human Resources Business Partner at Apple whose path ran through Google DeepMind, Tesla, Archer Aviation and Uber, and started with a year each in Ukraine and Moldova at 18. He lost his father to brain cancer at five, grew up in a single parent home of four kids, and now works alongside AI while guarding what makes people human. He talks with Ashley Russo about all of it.


Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to Ask Ashley

00:59 Steven's start in Ukraine and Moldova

02:23 A stroke of luck: seven and a half years at Google

04:19 Tesla, Archer Aviation, Uber, and joining Apple

05:38 Why move through so many companies

07:23 Growing up in the Valley in a single parent home

10:16 Holding empathy alongside revenue goals

13:11 Using AI without losing your own thinking

17:45 Keeping the employee experience real

20:26 Team Human and the human experience

23:40 Staying grounded through hard things

27:32 What he would say to his younger self


You can follow Steven Holt here:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-j-holt/

What is Ask Ashley?

In Ask Ashley, Founder, Thoughtleader and award-winning media personality Ashley Russo sits down with leaders who bring purpose and humanity to business.

Each episode explores how people navigate uncertainty, lead with empathy, and create meaningful change in their organizations and lives. Listeners gain practical insights on resilience, leadership, and financially confident decision-making amid disruption.

This podcast is brought to you by Ask Ashley. If you’re interested in building a confident, purpose-driven wealth plan, reach out to Ashley at ashley.russo@nm.com.

00:00:01:20 - 00:00:30:01
Ashley
Welcome to Ask Ashley, the podcast, where we shine a light on the unsung heroes of the workplace. I'm your host, Ashley Russo, financial AI board member, thought leader and wealth management advisor. Each week we sit down with inspiring leaders, exploring their journeys, motivations, and the real challenges they face, from job insecurity to the evolving role of AI in a world where many feel overlooked.

00:00:30:02 - 00:00:59:14
Ashley
These guests are building hope and connection for their colleagues. Join us as we uncover their stories and discover how they're making a difference, one conversation at a time. Hello everybody. This is Ashley Russo, and I'm very excited to talk with our guest today who I would describe as resilient, interesting, fascinating. Steve, hello. Welcome to the podcast. Please give us your introduction.

00:00:59:15 - 00:01:27:00
Steven
Hi, Ashley. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me. So for me, I would probably talk about my introduction in a way of starting all the way back when I was about 18 or 19 years old, and I had my first really, truly othering experience when I left the United States and went percys to Ukraine and Moldova.

00:01:27:02 - 00:02:23:05
Steven
And so I'll probably revisit that later and talk about some more of the specifics on that experience. But that's kind of where everything started for me and really launched my interest and desire in HR in my current profession, and kind of guided me to where I am today. And so I think, you know, I spent a year in Ukraine, I spent a year in Moldova, came back, taught Russian at the university level, loved that experience, was able to learn and gain a lot of insights and thoughts about how to work through adult learning principles and how to develop people, how to train and coach, and really just helping to guide people and take them from

00:02:23:05 - 00:02:57:20
Steven
where they are to where they could be. And I think that's really kind of been my guide. And my interest in HR itself as a profession has always been to help improve things from a business perspective, through working with its people and guiding and delivering results through its people. And so for me, right after that experience of teaching at the university level for three years, I then was able to have this amazing stroke of luck.

00:02:57:20 - 00:03:23:08
Steven
And that's really all it was. It was nothing super special. It was truly a stroke of luck to go and work at Google. I was there for seven and a half years, excuse me, worked in a variety of roles there, worked at Google DeepMind. That was where I had my first HR role there. And for for those who aren't aware of Google DeepMind, they're the people behind Gemini.

00:03:23:10 - 00:03:48:06
Steven
And this was working in AI before AI was cool and before it was, you know, the buzzword that we all talk about and this was this is, you know, the people before all of that was kicking off and just kind of thinking of AI as, as this kind of side project. And it was an extremely exciting area to be in.

00:03:48:08 - 00:04:19:11
Steven
Then after being at Google for a little while, I started getting my master's degree, had some great contacts there, and went over to use. Through those contacts, I was able to land master's internship at Tesla and so I started a completely different journey over a Tesla. I like to describe it as a 180 degree difference from my experience at Google.

00:04:19:12 - 00:04:49:06
Steven
Just by culture, by, you know, working on hardware rather than software, but still an incredible learning experience. After there, I went to Archer Aviation, which is for those who haven't heard of that company. It is a company that makes flying taxis look them up. They're pretty exciting. Had a lot of fun there, guiding and leading the talent management programs at that company.

00:04:49:08 - 00:05:18:03
Steven
And then I did a short stint at Uber, where I was kind of my first official role as a full HRP, and then after being there for some time, they were going to I was doing a contract role for them, and they wanted to convert me to full time. But at the same time, Apple reached out to me, also provided me an offer, and I decided to come to Apple.

00:05:18:03 - 00:05:22:20
Steven
And so I've been at Apple for the last year and a half, been really enjoying my time here.

00:05:22:21 - 00:05:38:21
Ashley
I'm curious on that point. That's quite a pedigree there. What drew you to move through so many different companies? Was it getting different experiences? Was it really to draw something new? How did you navigate that?

00:05:38:22 - 00:06:15:22
Steven
It's a great question. I for me, I consider myself to be a life time lifelong learner. I love to be able to experience new things. I've been to 30 countries and I've enjoyed every single bit of being able to dive into new things, being able to learn new things. I actually am one of those people that just absolutely loved my master's degree, because I just felt like I was learning every single day so much, even subjects and different things that I had no idea I was going to like, for example, employment law.

00:06:15:23 - 00:06:45:08
Steven
I thought I was going to dread that class. It ended up being my very favorite class of the entire experience. And for me, I love being able to experience and see new things and being. And I think for me, it has been able to expand my HR acumen, my business acumen, being able to see these incredible companies, multiple mag, seven companies and being able to take that everywhere I go.

00:06:45:13 - 00:07:01:17
Steven
And so for me, I, you know, absolutely loved each of my experiences. I'm so grateful for each of them. I wouldn't trade any of them for anything. And I'm also grateful for the variety. So it's both.

00:07:01:18 - 00:07:23:08
Ashley
There's much more to explore there, to say the least, but I want to take a step back. I know in our previous conversation you shared that, you know, you grew up in the Valley in a single parent home, just as it was starting to boom. Yes, I'm curious how bad environment shaped the path that you eventually took.

00:07:23:10 - 00:07:49:22
Steven
Yeah, I think about that a lot sometimes I don't, and the answer to that question is actually it was unintentional. And, you know, my family still jokes about it all the time. They're like, how did you end up in the same place that we started, you know, all those years ago? And, you know, for me, just to, you know, to to talk a little bit about my background.

00:07:49:24 - 00:08:03:08
Steven
So I was born in, in Livermore, which is for those who don't know, it's just outside of the Bay area, just part of East Bay. And.

00:08:03:10 - 00:08:44:00
Steven
We're living there just in the early 90s. And then my father was working at the Lawrence Livermore lab and also doing a variety of different tech companies at the time as an engineer, so completely different field. But he ended up getting brain cancer, and he passed away in 1996. So my amazing and wonderful mother was left with four kids between the ages of five and 12 to figure out, you know, pieces from what was left.

00:08:44:00 - 00:09:23:17
Steven
And she had family in another state, and we decided to move there and get the support that we needed. And we left, you know, trying to be able to get get back to family, get back to a sense of normalcy. And so for me, I think what I've always been drawn to, and I feel like I've gained this from my dad, even though, you know, from kind of beyond on the other side is that I just have this draw towards tech, towards what's the next new thing, what is going to be taking us forward in society?

00:09:23:18 - 00:09:46:03
Steven
What is going to help us progress? What is going to help us to grow, help us be better people, help us be, you know, kinder, better to each other. And that's something that's always driven me. And so I think ultimately, when the opportunities did come and have come, I've been enthusiastic to to jump.

00:09:46:03 - 00:10:16:17
Ashley
In with that incredible perspective. Obviously story experience. I know in our in our previous conversation, you believe that the human experience should still be part of the equation. I'm curious how you take your incredible empathy, which is felt right. You're focused on the human experience, how you hold that alongside very realistic business goals like revenue.

00:10:16:18 - 00:11:00:18
Steven
Yes, that's a great question. And I think the way that I like to think about it is that they aren't as different as maybe people think that being able to be successful in business is very similar and is very importantly intertwined with empathy. And I think, you know, especially in my masters, I was able to study a few different, different cases, different business cases that showcased how when managers and when people lean into empathy, when they lean into striving to really think and put themselves in other people's shoes, that drives business results.

00:11:00:18 - 00:11:46:14
Steven
And it doesn't only do it from an employee perspective. For us, being able to think about what our employees need and how we can help them grow and how we can help them develop, and also dealing with, you know, employees and employee relation issues, right? Like how helping them to navigate certain issues at work, but it also helps us from a development perspective, if we are putting ourselves in the customer's shoes and using empathy to really think about their experience and really thinking about how they are, how they are using our product, then that's the best way to be able to try to understand how to improve things and how to make it better.

00:11:46:16 - 00:12:22:14
Steven
So for me, I've always thought of them as two sides of the same coin, and they both need to be considered separately but towards the same type of goals. And I think that's especially true within the HR profession. You need to be always thinking about. You need to always be thinking about your employees experiences. What is it that this new policy, this new program, this experience that this person is going through, how is it experiencing them right now, in this moment, in what they are experiencing?

00:12:22:14 - 00:12:57:15
Steven
And if you can really capture that, if you can really think that way, you're going to be naturally driven towards the best business results, which will increase engagement, which will increase, which will increase people's sense of loyalty and and desire to build the company. It's it can only lead to, to better things. And I think is that these are these are goals that are tied and connected to each other in effective ways.

00:12:57:17 - 00:13:10:23
Steven
And so we need to, you know, we need to make sure that we're it's a business imperative to think about empathy and how it can drive results.

00:13:11:00 - 00:13:40:18
Ashley
For some reason in this, I can't explain why the song the hip bones connected to that, right? The way you painted that picture is, it's all interconnected, and I feel that that makes sense. I'm curious to you from some, from what I know you, you are all over new technology and you're all about it. So just be a user of the tech also shaped the way you do your job in our act with people.

00:13:40:19 - 00:14:11:10
Steven
Definitely. I would say, and I think particularly with AI, you know, we're all talking about AI now, how it's impacting HR as a profession, how it's impacting all of our jobs. I think AI is, you know, and I think the way that we stay on top of it and the best way for us to be able to understand how to move in this new AI world is for us to engage and use it as much as possible.

00:14:11:10 - 00:14:38:03
Steven
And I know there's a lot of different thoughts and a lot of different perspectives about how to properly use it and how to how to engage in it in the best possible way. And I think ultimately we ourselves need to be engaged in it as much as possible so that we can understand what are the limitations. What does this do to me when I am using it?

00:14:38:04 - 00:15:10:17
Steven
How does it impact the way that I think, the way that I create, the way that I the way that I work? How does it actually impact me in those ways? And I think what I've found as I've done that kind of, you know, self research, if you will, is that I do sometimes find that I'll use it to replace some of my thinking and to replace some of my creativity and to replace some of my.

00:15:10:19 - 00:15:38:22
Steven
Some, some of the, the, the practices and regular daily routines that are actually helping me to maintain and develop some of my professional skills. And I think that's what's been really important for me to discover, because this it's not going away, you know, and it's only going to be getting better. And we need to understand how impacts us as human beings.

00:15:38:22 - 00:16:05:02
Steven
And the best way we can do that is by using it. And so as you're using and working alongside AI, which you should be, I think everyone should be as much as possible. And and recognizing that this is a tool that in many ways, it tries to replicate the human experience and the human the human touch, the human way of doing things.

00:16:05:02 - 00:16:50:10
Steven
And since it is replicating those things, we need to also recognize how how it impacts us and and where we should be using it, and maybe where we should continue to lean on and leverage our own skills, leverage our own minds. And so I think that's that's so important. And we need to constantly be pushing the technology, but then also and trying to use it more in new ways, in our own work, in our own lives, but then also recognizing and reflecting on how it is it is impacting us so that we can catch those early on.

00:16:50:10 - 00:17:00:06
Steven
We can, you know, we can defend ourselves, I guess is maybe the best word to say how this technology may be impacting us.

00:17:00:07 - 00:17:23:09
Ashley
Yeah, that's actually it's a beautiful way of thinking through it because it's not the it's just not fear based. Right. It's it's yes, it sounds like you're talking about being in partnership, but then identifying the potential pitfalls and addressing them versus being overtaken by them. I love that perspective. That's a great perspective. I think there would be a lot less fear right now if people adopted that.

00:17:23:11 - 00:17:45:04
Ashley
Going in a in another direction right now is an interesting moment in time. And I'm curious, you're feeling about fresh or in terms of the employee experience and making sure that you can maintain the best employ experience, in the current environment. So I'm curious, you're feeling in Fox there?

00:17:45:04 - 00:18:04:00
Steven
Yeah, that's a great question. And I guess I'll ask a follow up to that if that's okay. And employee experience, I guess. What would you like me to focus on? I think there's so many different ways we could take that. Like, is there a specific area that you'd like me to focus on within the employee experience? Do you?

00:18:04:01 - 00:18:10:02
Steven
Are you referring to the way it happens in with AI or other technology.

00:18:10:02 - 00:18:30:14
Ashley
Or very fair? That's very fair. Clarification. I'm I'm speaking in wherever you're comfortable to go with this in terms of right now around potential muted feeling right, the employee feeling muted and maybe having a less of an environment to engage in the disservice that may cause.

00:18:30:16 - 00:19:07:11
Steven
Got it. Yeah yeah I'll speak in general just about, you know, experiences that I've had. And this doesn't necessarily apply to any specific place that I've worked. But but just in talking to just peers throughout industries, throughout other companies, etc., it is so important. And I think this goes back to the point that I was making earlier about empathy and business results and the idea that that they are intertwined and that they are heavily connected.

00:19:07:15 - 00:19:54:23
Steven
I think it's just vital for us to to continue to remember that and to, you know, despite what pressures are happening in the world in in our culture anywhere else, it's important for us to recognize that, that what is going to drive us forward, as I would say, well, of course, as a business, but also as a culture, as society, as as professionals, as, you know, everything that we're experiencing on the data is we need to recognize that that we as human beings, we are we are the people that make these businesses.

00:19:54:23 - 00:20:26:05
Steven
We're the people that are is driving this technology. We are we are the future, right? We're not going away. And that experience is also not going away. And ultimately, the intent of organizations and of business and in products and of of any organization that we create as a human species, is intended to improve the human experience. That's that's the intent.

00:20:26:08 - 00:20:48:00
Steven
And so, you know, I think ultimately that's how we should we should look at ourselves and our teams and our organizations is we shouldn't look at it as just, okay, what is, you know, what is the current trend? What is the current kind of like way of thinking about things? What is the current culture? Let's kind of be all on one team, team human here.

00:20:48:01 - 00:21:17:09
Steven
You know, let's think about this as how can we drive the human experience forward? How can we how can we push, how can we push that experience forward? And I think people will probably say, that's a little wishful thinking or even like two idealistic or or any of that. But the reality really still stands when you're thinking about your coworkers, when you're thinking about how engaged you are and work.

00:21:17:11 - 00:21:41:19
Steven
Just read through, like the Gallup survey, you know, look at the questions that are on there. It asks about, do you have a best friend you know, at work? Do you do you, you know, are you are you loyal? And and if you think about really what gets you engaged and passionate and excited to come to work and do and bring your best work, to the company, that's what it is.

00:21:41:20 - 00:22:21:05
Steven
It's inspiring people, people who bring the human experience to work and and bring their whole selves to work and then and exude that and radiate it to others. If we lose that, then I, I don't, you know, then I, I think we have a bleak future, you know, that if we come to think of organizations just purely as production machines, you know, of these this kind of like early industrial just function of being able to produce money and products.

00:22:21:09 - 00:23:08:12
Steven
I think we are we are seriously disservice ourselves and and we are disservice to the products and the wealth that is created from those organizations themselves. Because what is for what is the money and the products all for? Ultimately, it's for to once again improve the human experience. And so I think we just we we need to keep that in mind no matter what cultural trend is going on right now, no matter what is happening in the environment, in, you know, anywhere, any, anywhere and anything that's going on, we need to keep the human experience forefront and, and vitally in the center of what we're trying to accomplish.

00:23:08:13 - 00:23:20:09
Ashley
I think I need it. T shirt doesn't already exist that says Team Human. You should license that. That's great. I mean, I want that shirt.

00:23:20:11 - 00:23:21:18
Steven
I want to. Yeah,

00:23:21:20 - 00:23:40:03
Ashley
Right, I be let's get on that. Yeah. So you I said this to you before, but you just come across as incredibly grounded and just well put together. But I know that obviously you've had as you shared challenges. I'm curious.

00:23:40:05 - 00:23:41:03
Steven
Yes.

00:23:41:05 - 00:23:54:14
Ashley
How do you reconcile this outward image of just very calm and put together again, grounded with your inner story? How have you sat with the the hard things?

00:23:54:16 - 00:24:17:14
Steven
Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you for saying that. I appreciate that. I definitely often don't feel that way, but I guess I can I can at least show or or, you know, portray myself in that way. But I would say, yeah, and thank you for that question because that's such a beautiful thing to, to talk about. I think.

00:24:17:16 - 00:24:49:08
Steven
So, I mean, as I mentioned earlier, you know, my family, my direct family, we've seen death, we've seen divorce, we have now live in a blended family. So there's ten kids and we're all all married and have our own families. And so now it's kind of is a little chaotic, but ultimately, and then, you know, alongside that, I've also in our immediate family have also seen mental health issues.

00:24:49:08 - 00:25:29:11
Steven
We've seen special needs, some very severe special needs across the spectrum. There's been physical special needs. There's been mental special needs that I've seen in my direct family. And all of these things have have kind of given me a unique story, for sure. And they've given me a unique perspective on, I think ultimately what is most important. And once again, I think it just goes that same thing I've been saying, which is it's the human experience.

00:25:29:11 - 00:25:54:17
Steven
What is all of this for? What are what are we? What are we working so hard for? What are we? What are we sitting here and learning and growing? It's it's to further the human experience. And for me, I think. And you asked why like, you know, maybe why do I feel like I put together. And I think ultimately it's because it's because I found meaning in those, those moments.

00:25:54:19 - 00:26:23:06
Steven
I love what you mentioned in our other conversation before hopping on here on the podcast with about Viktor Frankl and man's search for for meaning. And ultimately I think that's that. That's if you've gone through difficult things, which I don't want to say my case is necessarily more or less or any anything in comparison to other people's experiences.

00:26:23:06 - 00:26:51:01
Steven
I just want to say that if you if you've gone through difficult things, then connecting the dots and kind of finding the string, finding the thread through all of that, to say this has meaning for me in my life for some reason. That is such a powerful thing to keep you going. Something to. And I would say sometimes that's that's what you need.

00:26:51:02 - 00:27:09:12
Steven
You just need something to keep you going, you know? Just something to say. Let's get through today. Let's go. You know, let's go on to tomorrow. But then ultimately I think it's it's what helps helps you stay grounded, helps you stay centered in in what's most important. Yeah. That's not answer that question.

00:27:09:14 - 00:27:32:03
Ashley
I love that I went back I'm going to ask you my my final question, which happens to be my Gator question, by the way, okay. With all of the life experiences that you've had, both challenging good and bad, everything you've seen, if you can say one thing to your younger self, what would you say?

00:27:32:04 - 00:27:55:13
Steven
I don't know if you're going to like the answer that I have for that question. Already because okay, all right. I'm going to go this direction. We'll see how this pans out. But I actually wouldn't say anything to my younger self. And do you want to know why? It actually ties very closely to my last answer, which is and this is, you know, this is just for me.

00:27:55:13 - 00:28:37:15
Steven
I'm not saying this is how anybody else's story or anybody else's journey works, but once again, I wouldn't change any of that. There is so much struggle, so much challenge, so much pain, so much self-doubt, so much discouragement even that has made me into who I am today. And if I gave myself advice, I might have not gone through that, and I wouldn't have had to go through the challenges and the battles and the fights that I had to in order to get to where I am.

00:28:37:15 - 00:28:59:11
Steven
I think if I, you know, like I said, I'm a lifelong learner. I want to constantly be learning, growing, understanding more. I hope I look back, maybe I'll listen to this in a couple of years. And I really hope I'm going to say, oh man, I've grown a lot since then. Like, oh wow. Like I felt like I've grown so much.

00:28:59:11 - 00:29:28:16
Steven
But even now, in the last couple of years, I've grown so much. And I think ultimately that's what it comes down to for me, is that I in order for us to learn, in order for us to grow, we have to fight our own battles. We have to and then we we have to accept and take in and and learn from our own journeys and our own paths and and love that path no matter what it is.

00:29:28:17 - 00:29:44:04
Steven
Right? I think a lot of people, if they they looked at the things that I've gone through and the things that I've struggled with, they'd be like, oh, I don't, you know, like, no, thank you. And I mean, sometimes I look at my own and I say the same thing. I'm like, wow, that was that was really not fun.

00:29:44:06 - 00:30:12:13
Steven
But but ultimately, once again, if I hadn't gone through that, and this is my personal belief that if I hadn't gone through that, then I wouldn't have developed the skills, the the empathy, the strengths that I have now, today. So maybe if I saw myself for many years ago, I would just look and I would just smile and I'd just maybe give myself a hug and I'd be like, keep going, keep fighting.

00:30:12:14 - 00:30:28:11
Steven
And I would just say that maybe. So maybe I would say that thing, but but I wouldn't want to change something because I think I would be taking away vital, an important lessons from myself and from my future.

00:30:28:16 - 00:30:59:04
Ashley
Steve, you are just refreshing, truly, truly refreshing and humble and kind and grounded and and I appreciate you sharing your perspective, your experience. I know people listen to this and have so many takeaways. The sides are t shirt idea. I mean, we own that. We we're sure. But truly, truly you are just a breath of fresh air and I appreciate you and you share it.

00:30:59:04 - 00:30:59:20
Ashley
Your story.

00:30:59:21 - 00:31:07:05
Steven
Thank you. This is the full opportunity. I really appreciate you just reaching out and being able to be a part of this. So thank you.

00:31:07:08 - 00:31:08:02
Ashley
Choose.