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How This TikTok Creator Is Breaking Through The Misconceptions Of Human Resources With One Video At A Time

• Kyle Kaplanis / Leigh Henderson - HR Manifesto • Episode 64

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In today’s episode we are bringing Human Resources to the Party, and what not better guest to join me than Leigh Henderson who has over 379K followers on TikTok under @HRmanifesto

You may think HR is all about existing solely to protect the company you work for, or that they are simply just a Purely Bureaucratic Function of a business, or they are just there to hire and fire you… but today on the show we are going to be debunking the misconceptions about HR and they too can be the life of the party!

Leigh's brand, HRManifesto, was born on TikTok in June 2021 as a creative outlet for Leigh while she pens her “no BS” workplace survival guide. Focused on tragic work realities and inspired story telling, the goal of HRManifesto is to coach, guide, and support followers in their quest of successfully surviving the workplace and staying employed.

Guest:

Leigh Henderson
@HRManifesto - 379K Followers (As of 10/14/2021)

Book Leigh for Virtual Coaching: https://www.thehrmanifesto.com

Connect with Leigh on LinkedIn - Leigh Henderson 

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Reach out to Kyle directly at kyle.kaplanis@prjtztalent.com

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Kyle Kaplanis:

Welcome back to another episode of BizTok for TikTok in today's episode is all about human resources. Yep. You heard that, right. And don't go skipping this episode because you think it will be boring, no way you are wrong. We're going to be bringing the party to human resources today. You may think HR is all about existing solely to protect the company you work for. Or that there are simply a bureaucratic function of a business, or they're there to just hire and fire you. But today on the show, we are going to be debunking the misconceptions about HR and they too can be the life of the party. And to help me do that, I'm going to introduce to you Leigh Henderson. Leigh has 15 years. Experience in corporate America, supporting a handful of fortune 100 companies as a human resources executive. Leigh now devotes her time to HR consulting, writing content creation and coaching. Leigh's brand, HR Manifesto has 371,000 followers over on TikTok. She started her TikTok in June, 2021 as a creative outlet for Leigh. While , she pens her no BS workplace survival guide focused on tragic work realities and inspired storytelling. The goal of HR manifesto is to coach guide and support followers in their quest of successively surviving the workplace and staying employed. So let me introduce you. Leigh Henderson. Welcome to BizTok for TikTok. Leigh Henderson: Yes. Hi Kyle. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here with you and your followers. Thank you so much. Typically how I get connected with any of my guests is I scroll through TikTok. TikTok is literally is my world. I'm wearing a hat right now. But it is really a part of who I am as just me as a person. So. When I find guests, typically it's something that really resonated for me. And the funny thing is, is that you popped up on my four you page. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is hilarious. And, you were talking about, this is HR approved and the video is, the one with Shakira, that video where she's like shaking,

Leigh Henderson:

do not lie. There is

Kyle Kaplanis:

no. Exactly. Once you engage with a creator, their videos start popping up more and more onto your, for you page. So I started seeing more of your content and I was like, oh my gosh, I have to have her on because you don't see too many people. Talking about HR on TikTok. I wanted to share a quick clip because before we dive in, so that way it can just set the tone for this episode to understand why this is going to be fun. Yes. At the tone. Okay. Here we go. John, as you can say, you crazy.

Leigh Henderson:

Ooh. So once surprisingly, this is absolutely not HR approved. And let me tell you why. Although they're utilizing one of the key concepts from my workplace, survival guide for continuous employment known as. The application of this concept is completely wrong. Yet we still frowned upon forklift foreplay all day, every day for safety reasons. And I don't know if you saw that backside, fondling of the gas tank there, but that little thing is something we call flammable. Ooh. So for risking your lives for putting the safety of others in jeopardy and for entertaining the hell out of Darwin, yeah. Today's your last day?

Kyle Kaplanis:

Oh, my gosh. The funny thing is people might think, oh, you're just going to be coming on here to talk about HR and just such a straightforward way. But no, you bring the fun. To HR.

Leigh Henderson:

Yeah, no, absolutely. I want a lot of people reach out to me on TikTok messages, comments, you name it. And they're like, gosh, we thought HR was stoic. We thought HR was stiff. We thought HR was lame or not, or bureaucratic. Right. Some of the words that you use to open up the segment here, and it can be, but the reality is, is that the people doing HR are guess what. There are people to robots and we're also employees as well. Right? So it sucks for us to write it, Dan, you know, we have bad days. And so, the reality with HR. So is that, Hey, this is me. This is my work reality. And I'm an HR professional. But God, I love it. So this is me sharing, who I am and what I do professionally and really trying to shift, perceptions on HR,

Kyle Kaplanis:

and sometimes people avoid. That part of a company like, oh, it's HR and like, it's true. They're normal people. The funny thing is my mom is actually HR at her workplace and I know my mom and she's a party girl. She likes to get down. And it is true. It can become like a little bit of an isolating position. I think right for people because they're just like avoid you. And you're like, hello, I'm a human being too. I'm not just the robot sitting here and coming up with all these policies and making sure you're following all these things. So you're breaking those misconceptions and stereotypes. About HR. And you're doing it in such a fun way. That is really grasping the attention of TikTok. Before you even thought of this, tell me your story and how you even got on the app to make a video in the first.

Leigh Henderson:

I'll tell you that HR manifesto is 15 plus years in the making, hands down. When I first started my career, one of my first jobs was as a labor relations., so I was supporting thousands of employees, 24 7, 365, a handful of unions. I was walking a mile and 25 foot long factory. You name it, wore out a few pairs of shoes. I'll tell you that I was negotiating grievances, doing arbitration prep, doing contract negotiations. But I was experiencing. The human condition, right. And HR, we say you do labor relations, union relations, just the contentious nature of it. The fact that you are always on call, having such a large population like that and an old school manufacturing environment, you really earn a badge, an HR badge. Um, so very early in my career there, I am just tossed into this male dominated environment and culture. And I'm that Porsche mug, literally, I'm not even kidding, breaking up fights between grown men. Having grown men cry on my shoulder at times. Telling grown men, they stink, having all these hard and difficult, crucial conversations with people and just literally tossed in there. And the majority of my peers and colleagues were much older than me and could give a shit about really supporting me. So there I am just figuring it all out. But in that process, again, I'm having these crazy experiences. Right. And I start sharing with everybody that I know of course, for therapeutic reasons what's happening to me and get this and get that. And I'm just sharing it over dinners and at the club and wherever, right. And people are dying, laughing. I mean, I'm making people piss their pants by retail. No worries. And so here I am a couple of years into my career and instantly I know I am writing a freaking book one day. Just let me just like that instantly. And I'm a very creative person. I've done a lot of creative writing and I'm artsy fartsy. I paint and I draw and I play instruments and I sing and this and that. And I just knew, gosh, one day I am writing. And so there it is 15 years ago and I'm like, I dunno if we can say this word, but I'm like, Hey, I'm going to maybe start blogging on Facebook, your mops. Right. And then it was like, oh, well maybe, instead of Facebook now it's Instagram. Oh. And then maybe, Ooh, let me start that account on Snapchat. Oh, and then it's a. And so, the years have progressed and pass , and during that time I've grown my career and I got married and I traveled a ton and I have two beautiful boys and you just get busy with life. Right. And finally, in June I left my corporate nine to five, which was the biggest blessing of my life and became an entrepreneur. And so HR manifesto was born and the whole purpose of HR manifesto. And I'm not even kidding was to test material. Was to share the stories that I had been sharing at dinner parties and on the phone and on place times and zooms and whatever and meetings, you know, as, and we just 15 years worth of stories. I just started sharing them on TikTok to just test material from. That's so cool. Play survival guy for continuous employment. And I just wanted to know, Hey, the people in my circle and in my life, they think this shit's funny. Does the world like, do the people want the book right. Yeah, exactly. And so that's how you try to manifest it was born in June and in fact I think today, or maybe it was yesterday is my four month anniversary of HR manifesto.

Kyle Kaplanis:

Congratulations, and the success. So I love that because it. Other people, creators, people that are looking to grow their personal brand and saying, take folks a great way to get some feedback from your audience about maybe some ideas you have. And it's a great place to test and trial new things because that might not have worked. And then you can try something else and see if that works and things like that. But now you have a really clear understanding and saying, you know what? Okay, I'm onto something because I just gained 371,000 followers within the last four months. Clearly. People are going to be interested and your content. And so funny is because , you're talking to the audience, like they're the one in the seat. And you say things sometimes, like, this is going to be a tough conversation, but let's sit down and have a chat

Leigh Henderson:

conversation.

Kyle Kaplanis:

And the funny thing is, if you go to comment, section is how many people are just sharing their stories, or this reminded me of this. And this reminded me of that. And they're really getting involved and having such a good time with it. And that's what you want on social media. And that's the feedback you were looking for because now you realize, wow, people will find this interesting. Yeah, no,

Leigh Henderson:

absolutely caught. And I'll say, my favorite part of HR manifesto that was unexpected and unanticipated to me are the followers and their engagement. Yes. Oh my gosh. If you look at any of my comment section, I'm deep in my comments. I'm up for hours, depending upon Lance, because of course I'm basically a professional coach, right? I've only ever done coaching. I want to engage with you. I want to help you. I want to serve you. I want you to be successful. And so people are constantly commenting and they're emailing and they're, DM-ing, they're reaching out. They're asking me and sharing their personal, lives and experiences at work. They're being very vulnerable with me. And when people are vulnerable with me, I'm always going to listen because that's. On, or to me, right. Or that way I will do it professionally. That is an honor for me, that I get to hear, what they're suffering through or what they're celebrating. And so I am constantly in the comments. I try as hard as it is, fonda each and every one. But that has been the greatest joy unexpectedly in HR manifesto. The way people have opened up very genuinely and authentically to me, which I appreciate because that's what I'm putting out to them. These are real experiences of either mine, that I've gone through or that. I seen or witnessed with my colleagues and supported and or friends, that have had these situations, scenarios and situations happen to them. And now I get to recount them, for audience., but that has been the best part. Are people really engaging and connecting with the content? What is it?

Kyle Kaplanis:

Right. How fun is that? Because, that's what everybody kind of hopes to have for their content is a ton of engagement. And you really are, , getting that, which is so humbling. And people are vulnerable. That's what I'm thinking. I do notice about TikTok is when people are very vulnerable and that they're willing to show a piece of themselves more show than they were, because the Instagram world is like that fake persona. You can't share those things because haven't forbid you share that stuff. It's only got to be the perfect stuff where, untake talk, you're able to be real in a human being, which is so exciting. And that's what you're doing as well as, sharing your content and sharing that people in this situation are real people as well. And that they're fun. Which is so cool. I'm going to your TikTok channel right now, which you're almost a 372,000, by the way. You're so close, but you've had some really huge success with some of these videos. Like for instance, one of your top ones is that nearly 10 million views. That's a lot of views right there of people who seem you and are listening to your story. Did you ever imagine, not only having 371,000 followers, but being able to, get videos that hit 10 million view numbers?

Leigh Henderson:

No, I mean, I think, do you know anyone who's putting themselves out there in that way? I think you're hopeful., but it had never been. Been my purpose, right? It had not been my purpose for creating content to have a viral video. I was always like, God, I'm hopeful for one. And that would be fantastic only because I would want someone to see my content and maybe learn from it. Right. What my purpose for doing HR manifesto, quite frankly, is to coach people. And so here's where I'll get nerdy for a second, that you may feel entertained by my content. You may think I'm funny, which is fantastic. but I am low key or very, obviously it depends on the video coaching and every single one of those videos, all of those videos and HR manifesto are creating a narrative. For me. Just know that it's very thoughtful and strategic from me, the creator. It's not me being very flippant about what I post. It's very thoughtful content and the fact that I am coaching through these videos, sometimes I'm the protagonist and sometimes I'm the antagonist and I'm the bad boss character with the big glasses and I'm this, and I'm the bad guy. And then I'm the good guy. And then maybe I'm doing something with a, an audio that I'm just, mouthing something. I'm not really talking or I'm doing a whole role-play oh, I'm doing all sorts of different things. But I am low key, or again, very optically, obviously coaching and every single one of my videos. And that's just another kind of show or display, how look, how HR can be used for. Purposeful impactful, fun, entertaining. And so just FYI, if you're listening to this and you've seen my content, you've been coached by me. So maybe you can put that on your list. I don't know.

Kyle Kaplanis:

The fun thing is. Your goal was to use this for testing to see , if people would be interested in your book, but TikTok is really, I think helped you think outside the box now of, okay. There could be more than just this book there now is this whole coaching aspect. And there's all these different avenues. You can go and be able to monetize. And now, like you said, you're not just an HR employee now you're now an entrepreneur, . This is what is happening in the world right now, because technology is Available to everybody., we have the opportunity as an individual to be able to do these things and be an entrepreneur whereas before it was a lot harder, right? You didn't have the opportunity like you do today. Doesn't matter who you are. Everybody has the equal opportunity. As long as you have a. And you have stories to tell which we all do. So I think that's why we're seeing a huge shift even in workplaces and with employment rates, being really low right now, it's cause everyone's out there , has the opportunity to build these small businesses they always wanted to, or be the creator that they always wanted to. So I think it's cool. And outside of that, it comes with some very interesting things because your followers, are also asking you for some funny things. Like for instance, they want you. To fire them. Correct.

Leigh Henderson:

They do? No. I mean, I, you know, it's like, Hey, I don't know if that's a kink or what, but, it'll be therapeutic for us both if we do so. So to your point about, Hey, I started, this whole thing because I was writing a book, which I'm about 10,000 words. Like that's me cheering myself on, but I'm not 10,000 words into this book. I'm shooting for 20. We'll see if we'll see what happens. Cross fingers there. Now to your point, Followers are so they're so beautiful and wonderful. But , they really start dictating. It becomes the symbiotic relationship now, , where I was acting upon them.. But now they're acting upon me and it has completely taken me aback because again, that's one thing. I wasn't expecting, . I'm not an actor. I'm not this professional TikTok person. I'm a corporate professional,, executive type of worker., and so I could never have anticipated, that, Hey, that I was just testing material and now my followers are like, we want a coaching from you. One-on-one virtual. Okay. Well, I had that set up. You can email me at HR manifesto at g-mail dot com and yes, you can be coached by me. We can get a session and then it's like, oh, well I want HR consulting support for my small business. Okay, well, yeah, reach out. To your point. It's Hey, can you fire me? I know I'm signing ups, cameo just accepted me this morning., and so yeah, let me sign up with cameo and let me get out there because I've had hundreds of you literally asked me to tell you that. It's your last day, last day, like you want me to fire you, maybe you want to send it to your boss, right. So far you maybe want to send it to your friend who knows what? I'm just so taken aback by how, demanding followers have been, and they want more of you and they want you in different ways. And again, I must say. Servant leader. Okay. So if I, if someone's like, Hey, can you help me or do this or do that? I'm going to ideate and be like, yeah, yeah, I can't do that. You want me to tell you happy birthday for 50 bucks or whatever? Yeah, sure. Why the hell? Why, you know, , it brings you joy. Well done. Exactly. Making people laugh way long before TikTok.. I came out so it's like, sure.

. Kyle Kaplanis:

I think we like we've shifted as societies, things that we found entertaining in the past. Totally shifted. We now have the ability to reach out to people that we really enjoy watching. Celebrities before , were not touchable. You couldn't reach them in the public space unless you ran into them in public and you couldn't ask them, Hey, make a happy birthday video for me, it was like awkward. So now the, as these people are developing and becoming the new Hollywood, these are the new stars. These creators are the new stars, but the most recent. Aspect of it is they're reachable and that's why it's so powerful. And it's really changing the whole world is because the reachability and people feel they have a connection. Because they do have that chance to be commented back. By their favorites star, or there's an opportunity for them to say, I spent some money cause I know it takes you time, but can I get a happy birthday video? And it's not uncommon to be able to get that now, which is so cool. And I wanted to ask you because I thought this might be fun, but how good are you on the spot?

Leigh Henderson:

Oh, gosh. I've never done any sort of improv. I'll tell you that.

Kyle Kaplanis:

That'd be funny right now, if you did some sort of video, like on the spot to me, so people can get a sneak peek of what that might look like for them,

Leigh Henderson:

well, Kyle, I am so glad that, , that you were able to meet with me today. We've talked a lot about your disruptive behavior in the office. Remember. Yes. Yeah. Do you remember that? But yet you continue to pass gas. It is. Oh, it is not good. It's actually creating a toxic work environment for those around you, literally. And physically, if you catch me, in fact, it's hard to be with you now. Today's your last day? I should've put on my glasses. Look, my HR glasses, which are real glasses. I know exactly. I actually need them to see. I have no idea where you even are right now, but

Kyle Kaplanis:

I love that lead, and the cool

Leigh Henderson:

thing is, you know, before you come to work,

Kyle Kaplanis:

You don't just get inspiration because you're funny and you're comedic writer, but you really get a lot of these ideas in your mind because you. Been through this in the real

Leigh Henderson:

world conversation. And I tried to keep that one clean because my mind went to 20 different things. But I was like, kids to be watching. Maybe my sons might watch this, this my funeral one day, God, let me clean, nothing like that. Oh

Kyle Kaplanis:

my gosh., the funny thing is I actually have another video. Rules in perfectly in segment. And it's one of your videos about one year craziest stories, of somebody in the workplace. And I'm going to share that now,

Leigh Henderson:

Hey everyone, I got a stitch for ya. What is the most disturbing thing you have ever experienced? In your workplace, wherever you work, whatever you do. What's the most disturbing thing that you've seen at work all start in my career as an HR professional, , the most disturbing thing that happened. Experienced was that we had an employee who was running a brothel, a literal brothel. So imagine your workplace and imagine somebody operating a brothel inside its walls and this guy, he was serious. He had a waiting room. He established ambience with potted plants. There was a television. In fact, there was a mattress. He brought a mattress into the workplace and was running a successful brothel.

Kyle Kaplanis:

You can't make this stuff up. You

Leigh Henderson:

can't, you can't. And that's, that's one of, probably a handful of most asked, frequently asked questions is, Hey, is this based on true life. There's no way, how is this real, and, it's all real. If you can dream, it it's happened 100%, you know,

Kyle Kaplanis:

that is so true. The fun thing is you don't have to be HR to know these stories at your workplace. Cause we all, even as employees I've heard of things, you're like no way, a fun story. To me is that I used to work in the, healthcare space. I was a respiratory therapist and one night a gentleman came in and his dogs were fighting and he tried to break them up, the dog bit, his finger off. He brought it in separate. It was separated. We asked them, Hey, we can do like surgery and blah, blah, blah. But he was like, you know what I'm doing? With having no finger for, the rest of my life. So he was like, nah, , don't worry about it. Just discard my finger. So we set it up in the trauma room. We put the finger on the bed and kind of tucks it in into the sheets and stuff and then called phlebotomy to come down to do some blood work for shit. And, , they walked in, they're like, where's the patient? And we said, it's laying in bed. And it was hilarious, but word got out obviously to HR and that was , not an appropriate, thing. So I'm wondering H w you know, your video of you doing HR approved or not? It probably wasn't, but luckily nobody got in trouble, but it was just a funny moment between us coworkers, but that was an interesting story I had to share. Oh

Leigh Henderson:

yeah. There's thousands of stories. what all shared to, with everybody, is that the reality is that we bring our whole selves to the office. Yeah, we really do good. And we bring the bad and we bring the narcissism and we bring the joy and we bring, we just bring our whole selves to the office. People don't come to work in pieces. That's the biggest takeaway of my career if I name one and so I am witnessing. The full scale of the human condition every day at work because of what I choose to do for a living and a, and I'll tell ya, it's really something else. But it's also been, such a privilege for me to be able to be there for people in that way.

Kyle Kaplanis:

Right.

Leigh Henderson:

Yeah. To be there for families that maybe are going through a death or, people that are celebrating promotions, people that are welcoming new babies or adoptions, which is beautiful people that are transitioning to their true selves, which is what. We'll help people through that process. I've had that again, privilege, to experience just the full gamut of the human condition and really be able to connect with whole people. We don't come, we don't go anywhere and pieces. We're not robots most of us, the majority 95% of our, how to guess are on our best behavior. Right. We're putting out. Ford, no one wants to fail at their job. It's very rare, no one's trying to screw you or screw the business. It's a very small percentage that does that , very small. And it's wonderful to be able, to be in this role, , and have a calling for this , and support people, , and their good, bad and ugly. Now, my style because again, I'm who I am and I'm an employee too. If you would have. Tell me about that story. You shared Kyle, I probably would have giggled alongside of y'all, I would have said, Hey, remember per policy, whatever, but OMG, right. I mean, you know, because , I do approach things with., I live in gray and I'd say the people that aren't great at HR, the people that are really super black and white, some roles have to be, , but what I've done, there's so many HR specialties where I specialize in HR and kind of the. Partner a world in client support world. I don't have to be black and white, I can live in kind of this gray, which means, Hey, I can give grace where grace is needed. Hey, I can think really, objectively about things and I don't have to, always be so stiff. I can take things with a grain of salt. I can take a joke, which is fantastic. Right. I want humor and joy in the workplace because guess what? That's what I want in my life. And also an extension of life, right? So why am I going to shut down? my smiles, when I walked through the door, I want to work a place where I can still continue to be my authentic, true self apologetically, and really enjoy it and have others enjoy me and me enjoy them. Right.

Kyle Kaplanis:

luckily in that situation to the HR lady she'd come and hang out with us , and stuff like that. She laughed. But she said off the record, I do have to mention policies , and things like that. And we said, look, we understand that, but you did say , look like that was funny. And, , but it just got brought to my attention. So as my job, I have to remind you guys and we were like, sure., I like to share this, even though it kind of goes along with things, but in that workplace, what I loved is we had a policy in place that, you had to smile. Start a conversation hello, good morning. How are you? I'm within five feet of every single person that walked by. So there was no phones, like unless there was an emergency, it was a hospital. So some people had pagers and they were on the run. But if it looked like you were casually walking through you, weren't allowed to look down and walk and things like that. You had to actually engage in acknowledged people. And that was the first place that we ever had that, but the conversations you would have, and you'd actually meet every single employee in the place , and learn about each other and just have each other's back , to be able to work, there was a waiting list. And there was people that have worked there for 30 years. And there's people that are like literally on the brink of death, but they're not even quitting because they love to like work there., so that was like such a fun, positive, , thing to just add for people listening in. That's just something. I wish all places would add that to their workplace.

Leigh Henderson:

I love positive, wonderful cultures. I do. When people complain about HR, , first off , my thought is, oh, , you're probably that 5% that most HR professionals have to spend 80% of their time with because you're having sex at work or sex with yourself. Right. So , you're a part of that 5% that just, , does whatever they want or is breaking the rules. And any one that holds you accountable you're mad at. Right. And so HR is one of those people. So instantly when I get a comment, on TikTok or a message, that's, I hate HR and expletive expletive, expletive expletive. My first thought is, oh my goodness., you're probably struggling at. For whatever reason hurt people, hurt people. Right. I feel bad for those folks, that unfortunately experienced that., but part of the reason for that is because they're probably in a culture, that's not people focused. That's not great. Really HR isn't to blame for that because culture starts at the top. Right. They're reinforcing that because they care jobs., but you know, they're being told what those policies are and to go hard on people and to not get into whatever. And so people like that gravitate to cultures like. Yeah., so that's just how that works. Cultures as a collection of behaviors that we tolerate in an organization. And so you need to go to an organization that like you described, if that's what your heart's saying, you want to smile and you want to talk to people and get to know people. Yeah. And try and seek out those very positive people, focus cultures, instead of those more, maybe toxic cultures. It's very subjective because remember someone's toxic culture could be someone's perfect culture because it's rewarding them in some way. Right. So,

Kyle Kaplanis:

very true.

Leigh Henderson:

So you just go where your heart leads you and where you're most comfortable and fit. Exactly.

Kyle Kaplanis:

That's true. Some people , they, follow , the., , but then when you're in the place, you're like, I don't care., because I've been in that situation where I'm making good money and I'm like, I don't care about the money. Cause I hate it here., so I'd rather find a culture that fits, if I was going to stay in the corporate world, which , I'm grateful to be out of it, to be honest., but if I was, let's say to go back, I would follow culture over.

Leigh Henderson:

A hundred percent. It's all about fit because that's the number one reason why people leave is that lack of fit and then secondarily your manager and their lack of right. So it's a, it's not going to work. I think money is like seventh on the list all the time.

Kyle Kaplanis:

It's hilarious., in the beginning it sounds exciting. And then, but yeah, and then you realize when you're there, you're like, You've built your tech talk and you're building a personal brand. And I'm just looking to see if you have any advice or any tips for developing your brand on TikTok , for others.

Leigh Henderson:

I do. Yeah. And I'll do a shameless plug here. I'm going to start building coaching content on YouTube. And so YouTube is a place that's really undiscovered for me., I think I have maybe a hundred followers over there., I focused on Tik TOK first, because again, I was just, , Getting the joy of acting for you all. I do love to add growing up, all my teachers told me I should be a comedian. So, you enjoy that., I can use my expressive face for good instead of evil at the office., but, , I started then focusing on Instagram and I'm just recycling, , , TikTok, really for the audience that isn't on, Tik talking. Right. And so mostly millennials over there hanging out and I've started to, put some memes on there and , I'll build that out more so people can more personally know me. If you're following me on TikTok and you're like, what is she doing on the weekends? Or what is she about? Well, there's where , I'm sharing some of that. Right. And things that I'm up to., and so I want to figure out YouTube and so many people I've asked for coaching content. And so many of my followers are asking all the same questions and I find myself, either coaching them live or coaching them through comments or coaching them through DMS, like , long list of coaching, I'm sharing the same things. They're having the same struggles. And so I'm going to pull that into, seven to 12 minute YouTube, , kind of bite-sized coachings, but in my style,, because I'm not going to lecture you. Philosophically about something I'm then going to break it down a little bit, but I'm not going to be all preachy. This is my style. I'm going to share, , the way, you all are used to seeing me. And so I'm going to, I'm going to build some content out there. Just a couple of things, and why I mentioned that is because., so many people have asked me, how did you do it with HR manifesto? Right. So authentic. It feels so real because it is . I'm being unapologetically, who I am, but how did you, get to this follower level, , so quickly., and so I did put together. This top 10, , suggestions. I can't help myself, but to coach people. So I put together this list. I thought, about it., I got very thoughtful. God, what did I do? What did I focus on? And so I haven't jotted down here and I'd love to just share. I won't go all in. I'll say the., but just a couple of things that I can pull out here is that, I completely picked a lane and committed to it. I'm an HR professional with, I believe a narrative and compelling stories to share. And that's really what you get from me is work-related content. So many. So many times I have wanted to post like silly shit that has nothing to do with work. And I have wanted to get on all sorts of trends and dads and do whatever shit right on TikTok. If I cannot connect it to the work place and to a coaching, the value is gone for me. So that tells me authentically it would be gone for my follower as well. They're not looking at. To be silly. Okay. And do a whipped cream challenge or whatever other hell I think I just made that up and I didn't mean it as sexual. Okay. So that's important. I would say, create a strong and memorable brand., one of the first things I did with HR manifesto was I captured the handle across all plants. So even on Facebook, I grabbed it, even though I don't do Facebook., but I didn't want anyone else to take it right. Grabbed it on Instagram. Although I didn't put anything on Instagram until maybe a month or two ago, I don't even remember. And I grabbed it on the YouTube and I grabbed it on the tic-tac.. And so I'm grabbing it across everything. And I brand myself, , the HR lady at TikTok, so I get mentioned. Like you wouldn't believe we need HRS input. Is this HR approved? Get the HR lady on this, so I get probably hundreds of mentions a day. People are tagging me in other videos because they want now my input, which I think is fun, incredible, probably on these videos, so creating that strong, memorable brand, , is incredibly important., another thing I'll mention is. Having a process for capturing ideas and brainstorming frequently. Okay. So what I'd say , is that, this may not be for everybody. If you're not naturally air quotes, I think you can build muscle, but if you're not naturally creative and it's hard for you to think of ideas or it feels like. Or, it hurts to dedicate, time to do that., it's miserable. Oh, this probably isn't for you because I am constantly ideating. I'm waking up in the middle of the night with ideas and have to write things down. I'm waking up with, , I'm. Oh, I have a Google doc with thousands at this point of ideas. I can't keep up with all the content ideas.. And I have a very formal process. There's one where I'm putting it all in a Google doc and on a drive. And then I have, a notes on my phone really quickly when I get an idea of, oh, I'm and , I'm just putting in a note, right? And so I have this running note drop because I have to capture everything, so that's very important. And that's, part of my process there, , one thing that I've mentioned already is being unapologetically.. You need your authentic, genuine self., that is so important. And I'll end with this one, , because you can not be replicated. Yes. Right. You cannot be replicated. So I get told constantly that I have a presence. I have this presence. I have a face that someone described as we're all my features are 30% oversize, but God made them fit in. Somehow she's hot kind of attractive. The funniest comment I've ever received on tour. It was hilarious. I'll have to do with the Q and a or respond to it

Kyle Kaplanis:

and send me that. So I can add that

Leigh Henderson:

to the. So funny. She's like, God, he's the guy said something like, oh my God, she's hot in this. All of our features are 30% over-exaggerated but God made him fit and attractive anyway. People say I have this presence about me., But really what it is is that they haven't seen me yet. They haven't experienced me yet. And that's because I'm not trying to be somebody else.. This is actually my voice. I meant to apologize at the beginning. Sorry. This is literally my voice. People think it's called the TikTok., no, this is my actual voice. Yeah. These are my actual expressions. I play characters, shore all over exaggerate stuff, but this is. Really who I am, and I'm going to speak credibly, , as the expert, I am on the topics that I've done for a living, and I'm going to coach you because that's what I know. And that's what I do. And so you get my point about being unapologetically yourself at all times is so important. That's why if I go on and I do this video, but I can't connect, which one just by me doing that, right? If I'm going on there doing that, but I can't think of something fricking clever.

Kyle Kaplanis:

Then

Leigh Henderson:

that's not me, not me. And so no, , the content that makes me, the happiest and brings me the most joy that I put out there is where Matt and they're hearing my ugly laugh, or they're seeing. Russian or wrinkles I'm 39. All these two have gotten being authentically myself at all times. And that's the space. I know that's the space I love. That's the space I own and occupy. And no one else can take that from me. So whether you all follow me or I get likes or whatever, I am true to my content. It means something to me, it brings value to me. And I just hope that it brings value to you, right? Is that.

Kyle Kaplanis:

I love that Lee, like those are such great tips. And I think a lot of people can learn from it. I love that. You mentioned even, if it doesn't feel right it might not be a good fit because it is true. If it becomes a work that's where people quit and maybe, there's going to be something out there for you, that you can look to do. And , now people might be hyped up excited. And really wanting to learn more from you. So this leads to be able to segue into tell me everywhere that people can fall to you to learn.

Leigh Henderson:

Well at first, I suck at self promotion. I think I told you that off to the side. I am not kidding. Like a hundred people asked for merge like three months ago and I went out and I learned how to do it. I studied e-commerce I created all that and I have merged.. And then I told nobody, so I do have I still have it. I just did, with the. I'm so lame. I've had , a few handfuls of orders, but I never advertised. So you can find me at my website, the HR manifesto.com., that's where I have some insight on the types of coaching that I do., You could reach out to me for HR consulting, speaking engagements, , voice work. I've had a few people do that as well., I'm on Instagram, I'm building out that YouTube. And of course my home channel is the tic TAC, which I call it in my spice girl millennial way., yeah, I definitely had that merge. And then I mentioned earlier, I'm going to set up that cameo cause everyone wants. To fire them or do their resignation for them, which would be fantastic. I would love to do your resignation video for you, for your boss, , but to your previous point, Kyle, which is a great one, I'm completely, approachable and accessible, , which is good and bad., but you're absolutely welcome at any time, to schedule a coaching session, just reach out if you want some, I'm here for you. And then I feel like I'm here to serve you all. Just like I would in my HR capacity.

Kyle Kaplanis:

That's awesome. I made it really easy. Cause some of you are going to be sitting on the edge of UC and trying to find this. So all you have to do is go to the and click the links that are associated there to be able to go straight over, to learn about Lee and on HR manifesto and be able to book a session with her, or just be able to learn more from her or have a good laugh, for your day Lee, I appreciate. You so much. And thank you for taking the time on the show. This was so much fun and definitely a different vibe than some of the other guests I've had on. And , people are going to be laughing their ass off this whole episode. And I thank you so much , for bringing that value and that fun to this episode

Leigh Henderson:

while you are welcome. And I appreciate you and all the work that you do. So thank you for the invitation Kyle has been.

Kyle Kaplanis:

Absolutely. Thank you so much.

Leigh Henderson:

Take care.

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Kyle Kaplanis

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