About Thinking People
Where Business Strategy Meets Human Strategy
Leadership should build you – not break you.
Our Philosophy
It Starts With You
The most powerful shifts in leadership don’t start with a strategy. They start with a person.
At Thinking People, we believe that when leaders have the space to think, the support to grow, and the strategy to act, they can transform not only themselves but their teams, their organizations, and their culture.
That belief is the foundation of our philosophy in action:
It Starts With You.
It’s how we work. It’s how we lead. And it’s how real change begins.
We bring this philosophy to life through our 4 Cs framework:
Clarify
What’s really going on?
Customize
What will actually work here?
Challenge
What needs to shift?
Cultivate
How do we make it stick?
Built From the Inside Out
Thinking People was founded by Amber Wendover, a strategist and facilitator with 25+ years of experience inside some of the world’s most complex and recognizable organizations.
At Whole Foods, she led training and missions across the Pacific Northwest region, championing conscious leadership and reorganizing the team to support more holistic growth.
Amber helped launch Amazon Go, built learning strategy at Microsoft and Amazon, and served as a senior leader and master trainer at Insights Learning & Development, where she rolled out Insights Discovery programs and trained new practitioners worldwide.
After a career spent inside HR, operations, and L&D teams, she started Thinking People to do things differently.
No cookie-cutter content.
No theoretical fluff.
Just real strategy, real support,
and leadership development
THAT ACTUALLY STICKS.
Since 2018, the firm has grown into a collective of consultants and coaches who bring the same blend of insight, empathy, and execution to every engagement.
Global Impact. Grounded in People.
Leaders trained globally
Workshops facilitated
Client organizations served
Countries reached
Early-career professionals supported
We’re Not a Vendor. We’re Your Thinking Partner.
We know the difference between what looks good on paper and what actually works on the ground. Our clients don’t come to us for slide decks or org charts. They come for clarity. For alignment. For leadership that finally clicks.
Here’s what sets us apart:
Deep operational experience
We know how businesses actually run
Human-centered, business-savvy strategy
Leadership and culture tied directly to performance
Embedded support
We don’t just consult. We roll up our sleeves and lead alongside you
Custom everything
No off-the-shelf workshops. No plug-and-play programs.
Real results
Our work is practical, reflective, and built for the real world
We Work With People Who Want to Lead Differently
Our clients are ambitious, values-driven, and deeply human.
They’re executives who know something isn’t working, but aren’t sure how to fix it.
They’re HR leaders who need a partner, not a playbook.
They’re managers navigating burnout, misalignment, and swirl.
They’re early-career professionals who want to lead with confidence from day one.
We’ve served organizations across industries and continents, from global tech companies and scrappy startups to mission-driven nonprofits and healthcare networks.
If you care about people and performance – you’re our kind of people.
Leadership
That Resonates
You’ve been an incredible coach, partner, and shining light through this Tango journey.
Amber, you and your team are the easiest to work with.
Kelly Mumma, Executive Director, Human Resources
Amber brings poise, intelligence and caring to her role as an excellent facilitator, speaker and consultant.
Amber is very knowledgeable about human communications, team development and leadership, and can convey concepts in an easily understood manner. She is a rockstar.
Scott Schwefel, CEO
Amber’s ability to accurately assess groups, individuals, group dynamics and strengths and to recommend ways to capitalize on those strengths and dynamics is remarkable.
Jason Kap, CEO
Amber’s generosity and dedication to empowering others make a real difference.
Mahesh Balachandran, AI/ML Product Leader
I carry Amber’s coaching and 1-on-1 support with me to this day and proudly own my green-ness.
I’ll never forget that initial workshop, Amber – how much I learned and how much I loved what I learned. Thank you for your impact then and even now.
Sonia Highet, Enterprise Customer Success Manager
Meet the founder
Amber Wendover
Founder & Principal Strategist, Thinking People
Amber Wendover is a leadership consultant, master facilitator, executive coach, and business strategist with more than 25 years of experience inside some of the world’s most dynamic organizations.
She’s designed and delivered over 10,000 leadership experiences, coached hundreds of senior leaders, and helped more than 750,000 professionals grow with confidence, clarity, and a whole lot less burnout. Her work has reached 30+ countries and spanned every level of leadership, from early-career talent to the C-suite.
Amber blends strategic insight with deep operational fluency. She’s held leadership roles at Microsoft, Amazon, and Whole Foods. She’s helped launch retail innovations, rebuild cultures, and design leadership systems that align performance with humanity.
Her clients describe her as a respectful disruptor, a trusted truth-teller, and a thinking partner who doesn’t flinch from hard conversations.
Our work is about bringing HUMANITY back to work, helping people grow by first understanding themselves. Because it always STARTS WITH YOU.
Read Our Blog
Thinking People: It Starts With You
Amber shares leadership insights, stories, and writing from her book-in-progress Thinking People: It Starts With You, on Substack. It’s part field notes, part tough love, and part lifeline for leaders navigating complexity with heart.
Leadership That Works for Humans. Not Just Org Charts.
Whether you’re rethinking leadership, rebuilding culture, or growing fast, we’re here to help you do it with clarity and confidence.
