About Us
Because leadership and culture work is human work.
Meet The Human and Heart Behind StartHuman
Hey! I’m Amber Barnes, the founder and Chief Education Officer.
I started this company because I believe leadership is human work. That means it’s messy. It’s courageous. It’s relational. And it’s deeply personal.
I’ve spent nearly two decades supporting leaders and shaping leadership cultures. But really, my leadership story started much earlier—as the oldest of six, learning how to navigate conflict, influence outcomes, and care for people long before I had words for any of that.
Over the years, I’ve worked in environments that truly nurtured leadership—and ones that quietly crushed it. I kept hearing the same stories from leaders: the pressure to perform, the loneliness of the role, the desire to lead with heart in systems that don’t always make that easy. Those stories—and my own—are what led me to create StartHuman in 2011.
My mission is simple:
To support the humans who lead other humans.
To stand for our collective potential, even when the systems around us don’t.
To help leaders create the kind of workplaces that ripple out into healthier families, communities, and futures.
I’m known for creating spaces where leaders can be real, experience being “gotten”, and grow in meaningful ways. Whether I’m coaching one-on-one, facilitating a retreat, or guiding strategy with a leadership team, I care most about building trust—so people feel safe enough to stretch and supported enough to stay.
My work is about increasing awareness and equipping people with tools to lead from choice, not from unconscious patterns of protection.
When I’m not doing this work, you’ll probably find me out in the wild—literally. I’m a climber, mountain biker, whitewater paddleboarder, and backcountry explorer. I spend as much time as I can hiking remote trails, paddling rivers, or chasing sunsets in my van with my dog by my side. Nature is where I come home to myself. It’s where I remember what matters, and where I practice presence, resilience, and courage—the same things I help leaders cultivate in their work.
If you're looking for a partner who will walk beside you with curiosity, love, and a little bit of fire—you're in the right place.
I'm here for the leaders who are ready to do the real work—the human work—and I'm glad you've found your way here.
Decisions, Decisions... Why StartHuman?
Because we know good partnering is about who’s been in the trenches, who keeps growing, and who truly gets it.
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Amber doesn’t just coach leaders—she’s led across industries, roles, and sectors. She’s managed onsite teams at a retail bank, led virtual teams at a global technology company, and directed multiple functions—including HR, marketing, operations, and a print shop.
She’s also served on several nonprofit boards, including as a founding board member of Conscious Capitalism Northern Nevada, Executive Committee Member and Board Development Chair for Komen Northern Nevada, and board member for Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada. She was previously an advisor for Social Impact 360.
Amber brings systems fluency, operational experience, and deep empathy to her work—because she knows what it means to lead in the real world.
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She holds a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential through the International Coaching Federation (ICF), is a certified Co-Active Coach, and a Certified Conscious Leadership Coach. Amber is trained in trauma-informed coaching, Internal Family Systems (IFC) Coaching, and Somatic Experiencing as well.
With thousands of hours logged, this is not just a skillset—it’s a practice.
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Amber has studied under Brené Brown, the Blanchards, Conscious Leadership Group founders, and other renowned thought leaders. She’s certified in Dare to Lead™, The Daring Way™, Blanchard’s full suite of offerings, and trained in trauma-informed approaches, IFS, authentic relating, mindfulness, MBSR, and somatic work.
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With degrees in business, education, and a master’s in organization development, Amber brings a rare blend of formal education and embodied experience in both how humans grow—and how systems transform.
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In the past 14 years, Amber has partnered with over 100 organizations—spanning higher ed, government, nonprofits, family-owned businesses, franchises, and international systems. She only works with a few clients at a time to ensure depth, presence, and results.
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Amber brings five years of internal consulting experience as an employee with a Fortune 50 company—coaching, facilitating, and scaling leadership and culture development solutions that actually work. She knows what it takes to create sustainable, human-centered change inside complex systems.
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You cannot guide others where you haven’t gone yourself. Amber lives this work. She actively engages in her own growth with coaches, mentors, and therapists—and brings humility, humanity, and lifelong learning to every engagement.
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StartHuman aligns with the principles of conscious capitalism and social entrepreneurship. We celebrate organizations that live what they believe—and we help others get there, too.
Who’s the “we” behind StartHuman?
Amber wants to deliver the best partnership experience possible, so she doesn’t do this work on her own. She has a great team of advisors and coaches who help her stay in integrity and provide valuable insight and support when she gets stuck.
Our team keeps StartHuman running and includes people from operations to tech. When we have a big project to work on, additional coaches and facilitators join Amber to support the work and ensure that you get the attention and value you’re looking for.
There are many organizations whose research and work guide what we do. You can see a partial list of them here:
Brené Brown Education and Research Group
Conscious Leadership Group
Susan Fowler
Blanchard
Dr. Kristin Neff
Dr. Marshall B. Rosenberg
Dr. David Rock
Institute for Self Leadership