70. HR Like a Boss with Pete Schramm

On this episode of HR Like a Boss we are joined by Pete Schramm! Hear him discuss how he went from growing up on a farm, to building robots for the army, to creating Lattitude, a professional development program.

About Pete
Pete Schramm loves bringing people together! Schramm is an entrepreneur, motivator, TEDx speaker, author, and experienced leader focused on guiding diverse teams to solve complex problems. Schramm grew up working on his family’s farm near Pittsburgh, PA where he honed his tireless work ethic and sparked his passion for connecting people. He graduated from Sewickley Academy, then attended Catholic Univ as an athlete with an academic focus on mechanical engineering for undergrad and grad school. Schramm studied abroad in Hong Kong in 2013.
Schramm began his professional career at the world’s largest defense contractor in the Operations Leadership Development Program (OLDP). While at Lockheed Martin, Schramm held roles as proposal analyst, environmental sustainability engineer, supervisor, supplier quality, and manufacturing engineer. He led an effort to design and implement Florida’s largest solar carport in 2017. After the two-year rotational program, he supported the design and build of missile launchers and shipbuilding programs as the lead quality engineer and Irish program manager, respectively. While at Lockheed Martin, Schramm learned the value of professional mentorship – top-down and peer-to-peer. He had a front-row experience of the value of meaningful relationships and intentional people-helping-people.
In 2018, Schramm went to MTEQ (now QinetiQ) where he led a team of more than 100 engineers and scientists along with a $30M+ portfolio of multiple programs – building robots for the Army that “keep the good guys safe from far away.” This is where Schramm was able to lead by example and prioritize people-over-process to unlock new levels of productivity and profitability resulting in a culture of cohesive collaboration. In 2020, Schramm left Corporate America to focus on his startup – Lattitude (previously Lattus). The concept came to fruition in March 2018 after the Schramm realized that his one-on-one mentoring and matchmaking began filling up 15+ hours each week. Lattus is the one-stop-shop, human connection platform that cultivated engagement through conversations. Schramm compares Lattus to “the intersection of LinkedIn, Zoom, Calendly, and Google Docs with flares of Survey Monkey.” Lattus is helping organizations attract, engage, and retain top talent through structured programs including, new employee onboarding, mentorship, DEI, and 360 feedback, mental health, and succession planning.
Schramm is trained and certified Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt, Agile HR Practitioner, Scrum Master, and Project Management Professional (PMP). Pete continues to stay active by playing basketball, hiking, and cycling (#SchrammFarm on Peloton). He loves traveling (30+ countries so far) and is always learning new things – oftentimes in group settings to bring more people together. Schramm received a 30 Under 30 award and he is an active member of the Pittsburgh Rotary Club, PHRA, and on the Sewickley Academy Board of Trustees. Pete’s Purpose: Life is what you make of it – why not make it amazing for yourself and those around you by inspiring potential and igniting the fire inside of others. Let’s level the playing field to provide equitable access to unlimited opportunity to put the right people in the right places to accelerate the solutions of tomorrow.

About HR Like a Boss
HR Like a Boss centers around the concept that with the right passion to be and think different, and HR business professionals can do amazingly awesome HR. People who do HR like a boss understand business concepts, what makes people tick, and how to approach HR as more than a compliance or cost center. This podcast builds the foundation for John Bernatovicz’s upcoming book, “HR Like a Boss.”