Behind the blog.

TheRealMe Editorial Team

Advancing the Soft Skills-First Movement.

TheRealMe Editorial Team explores the intersection of hiring, human skills, workforce readiness, and AI. Our mission is to help employers build stronger teams, improve hiring outcomes, and prepare the next generation of talent for success in a rapidly changing workplace.

Jonathan Samuels is Founder and CEO of TheRealMe, Inc. He has over 25 years of experience helping early-career talent launch successful careers. He recognized that resumes and interviews often fail to reveal the qualities that predict long-term success. Jonathan founded TheRealMe to help employers identify workplace-ready talent, uncover human potential beyond the resume, and build stronger teams through soft skills-first hiring and workforce development.

Deb Samuels-Peretz, Ph.D., is Co-Founder and Vice President of Learning & Development at TheRealMe. A social scientist and educator specializing in adult learning, cognition, and applied neuroscience, Deb has taught at institutions including Boston University, Boston College, and Brandeis University. She is passionate about helping organizations develop workplace-ready talent and believes that human skills such as communication, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, learnability and adaptability are among the strongest predictors of long-term career success.