E27: Building Human-Centered Cultures in Fast-Growth Startups with Amy Campbell

🎧 Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts:

What happens when a mental health expert steps into the high-stakes world of tech startups? In this episode, Dr. Amy Campbell shares the unexpected lessons she learned building a thriving people-first culture from scratch—revealing how psychology isn’t just “nice to have,” but a true superpower for high-performing, resilient teams.

Dr. Amy Campbell is the Chief People Officer at Overhaul, where she draws on her unique background in mental health, education, and corporate leadership to build people-first cultures in the fast-paced tech world. With a PhD in counseling psychology, Amy began her career as a counselor, educator, and creator of mental health programs, before moving into tech where she helped Overhaul grow from a team of five to a global organization of nearly 700 employees. She is passionate about integrating evidence-based psychology and human-centered leadership to drive both well-being and business performance, championing environments where people feel supported, engaged, and empowered to thrive.

Below are the key takeaways from this episode:

• Psychology is a business driver: Applying psychological principles and human-centered leadership leads to higher engagement, cohesion, and company success.

• Self-awareness matters: Effective leadership starts with leaders prioritizing their own well-being and modeling healthy behaviors.

• Strengths-based approaches work: Emphasizing team and individual strengths, as seen at Overhaul, boosts morale, engagement, and even profitability.

• Openness to experimentation and vulnerability: Great leaders aren’t afraid to experiment, show vulnerability, and foster psychological safety for their teams.

• Simple connections build culture: Small, fun activities like virtual water cooler moments create genuine team connection and help support a healthy, positive culture.

Todays guest, Amy Campbell, can be found online at:

Website: https://over-haul.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-campbell-phd-962850116/

Your host, Dr. Bobbi Wegner, can be found online at:

Groops: https://www.joingroops.com/

Harvard Extension School Faculty Spotlight: https://youtu.be/zwLai-lu-pk?si=GpKNhtxVvTrS3-pu

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbiwegner/