Episode 4: Fractional Everything: Part-Time Jobs, Full-Time Feelings
Labor in the Loop
Episode 04 — Fractional Everything: Part-Time Jobs, Full-Time Feelings
Content note: This episode is rated NSFKM. Not safe for Karen's mom (or young ears).
About This Episode
This week Britt and Karen catch up on real life first — Karen's very first day teaching an intro Human-Computer Interaction class at UC Irvine (4:10am train and all), and Britt's decision point between a full-time offer and a company she's still hoping will call. That turns into a wide-ranging conversation about what "fractional" work actually means, how it differs from freelancing and contracting, and why more HR people are ending up in these roles as companies scale. From there they zoom out to generational shifts in work — pensions vs. 401(k)s, federal employment, and what "loyalty" even means anymore — before landing on burnout, quitting, and how to tell the difference between failing at something and being a failure.
What We Cover
Getting Started Britt and Karen open with some behind-the-scenes honesty about finding their rhythm as new podcast co-hosts — including how many episodes they've scrapped just to get the format right.
Karen's First Day of School Karen recaps teaching her first class since generative AI changed the classroom — an intro Human-Computer Interaction course at UC Irvine, taught on the side of her full-time job. The 4:10am train, the doodle poll that started it all, and what it's like standing in front of 150 college students after years of training working professionals.
What "Fractional" Actually Means Britt opens up about the last six months of doing fractional HR work after leaving a role that had her burnt out — and the two dig into what separates fractional work from freelancing, contracting, and straight-up part-time work. Karen draws the comparison to other industry pairs where the same thing gets two different names depending on who's doing the naming.
The Job Offer Question Britt shares where she's at with a full-time offer in hand, plus a final interview with a company she's genuinely excited about — and how doing fractional work bought her the room to actually take her time with the decision this round.
Pensions, Federal Work, and What Loyalty Used to Mean A detour into Karen's dad's decades-long federal contracting career, why pensions required a kind of commitment that would make either of them feel trapped today, and an honest conversation about what "the deep state" actually means when you talk to the people doing that work.
Side Projects and Watching Your Words at Work Karen talks through the pull between her day job and the projects she actually wants to be spending her time on — writing, teaching, podcasting — and a reflection on the difference between being funny and being the person who deflates other people's excitement about their work.
Sneaky Exercise and Hiking Logistics A detour into an upcoming hiking trip (wine-to-water ratio: still under negotiation), then a lighter stretch on Peloton rides and "sneaky" versus intentional exercise, before circling back to trip planning.
HR Certification War Stories, and Quit vs. Grit The episode closes on some of its most honest territory. Britt tells the story of failing her HR certification exam the first time around (remote proctoring horror story included), then reflects on the five years leading up to her burnout and what it took to stop judging herself for needing a break. Karen recommends Emily Nagoski's Burnout, and the two dig into Annie Duke's Quit and the question of knowing when to fold versus when to keep pushing.
About Your Hosts
Brittany (Britt) is a certified HR professional based in Boise, Idaho with four years of experience spanning HR generalist work, talent acquisition, and fractional HR consulting through her own practice, Lumi HR LLC. She got into HR the long way, through customer service, restaurants, sales, administration, and a lot of figuring it out as she went. That path is exactly why she cares so much about the people side of work.
Karen Boyd is a values and technology researcher and director of research at a think tank in Southern California. She holds an MBA from the University of California, San Diego and a PhD from the University of Maryland's School of Information, where she studied AI ethics and the future of work. She is, by her own admission, better at studying people than working with them.
Connect With Us
Britt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanyhumphreys
Karen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkarenboyd/
Lumi HR LLC:https://www.instagram.com/lumihrllc/
Karen’s author account: https://www.instagram.com/karenboydauthor/
Leave Us a Review
If this episode resonated with you, we'd love to hear from you. Leave a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. We would love your feedback as we build the show! Please reach out with comments or questions at info@laborintheloop.com.
Labor in the Loop is part career strategy, part tech deep dive, part therapy session between two friends who study work for a living.
