EP # 3 Penn Lat: People-First Leadership Even in the Difficult Moments

Episode notes

I sat down with Penny, Co-CEO of Virtua Solutions, a remote staffing company that's been quietly doing something most companies just talk about — keeping people. At 95% employee retention, some team members still around from 2014, Penny's built something rare: a team that actually wants to stay. But this conversation isn't a highlight reel. Penny gets honest about the moments that humbled her — including a hard lesson about communicating change to her team the wrong way, one that cost Virtua a client. That story alone is worth the listen. We go deep on what "people first" actually looks like when performance is slipping and a client is frustrated. We talk about why slowing down isn't weakness — it's leadership. And we get into something I think we don't talk about enough: emotional regulation as a core leadership skill. Not a wellness trend. A real, practical requirement if you want to show up steady for your team. Penny also shares how she and her co-founder Francis model the culture they want — not through leadership manuals, but through how they show up in every meeting, every check-in, every joke.