Amy Yip LLC

11/14/2025

"Is it a big deal or a small deal?" I heard this today at my 3-year-old's parent–teacher conference.

When a child has a meltdown: big emotions, tears, complete overwhelm...

The teacher gently asks:

"Is it a big deal or a small deal?"

It gives them a moment to pause.

To breathe.

To see the problem for what it really is.

The part that really struck me? The kids now ask each other this question!

And nine times out of ten, they realize it's a small deal.

Driving home, I kept thinking about how important (and how hard!) this is to practice in both life and leadership.

In our fast-paced lives, small deals often masquerade as big ones.

👉🏼 A misinterpreted message.

👉🏼 A tense moment in a meeting.

👉🏼 A decision that bypassed someone.

They're often not big deals, but they consume time, trust, and emotional bandwidth as if they are.

Meanwhile, the actual big deals: the things that TRULY shape our relationships, our work, our well-being... quietly wait in the background.

Misalignment.

Unclear expectations.

Unspoken needs.

Disconnection.

Avoided conversations.

Those are the things that erode trust, performance, and even the quality of our lives… not the tiny moments we spiral over.

The most grounded leaders and the most effective teams aren’t the ones who avoid problems.

They’re the ones who know which problems deserve their energy.

So here’s the question I’m taking with me, and maybe you will too:

💡 Is it a big deal or a small deal?

And more importantly:

💡What small deal are you treating like a big one right now?

Share in comments! I'm curious what patterns emerge.

XO,

Amy

11/03/2025

Change tests us. It reveals us. In life and in leadership.

How we meet it: our mindset, our curiosity

Becomes the blueprint for how we lead others through it.

The leaders who thrive don’t have all the answers.

They ask better questions.

They listen deeper.

They make room for growth, especially when it’s uncomfortable.

Because when you model curiosity, your team models courage.

And that’s where transformation begins.

As the seasons shift, ask yourself:

👇🏼

How am I modeling the mindset I want my team to have toward change?

Remember: Each new season brings new possibilities

10/30/2025

Whew... feeling deeply grateful (and still in disbelief) to receive the Alumni Leadership Achievement Award from the University of Maryland, Department of Communication. ❤️

When I graduated 22 years ago, I had no idea how powerful communication truly is or how deeply it would shape my life.

👉🏼 Communication is at the heart of my work with teams: helping them build trust and truly listen to one another. Because at the foundation of every effective team is connection and understanding.

👉🏼 It also shapes how I share stories on TEDx stages and beyond, using storytelling to connect, inspire, and remind people that they’re not alone in their struggles or dreams.

And most importantly...

👉🏼 Communication helped me to heal and reconnect with my parents. To listen with curiosity, speak from the heart, and ultimately write a book to help others do the same. To be at a place today where my parents tell me "We love you, we're proud of you."

Grateful to the UMD COMMunity for this honor and for reminding me of the incredible power of communication: to build bridges, deepen connection, and transform lives. ❤️

10/24/2025

Pressure. Uncertainty. Constant change. We're all feeling it right now.

We're all moving fast, doing our best, but feeling stretched thin.

And when you’re deep in it, it’s easy to lose sight of why you’re doing it all.

That’s why everyone, whether you're leading a team or part of one, needs a clear “why.”

Not just goals or metrics, but an aspirational vision.

A shared picture of what’s possible.

Something that gives meaning to the hard work, especially when things get tough. 💪

My why?

Freedom.

Freedom to spend six hours on a Thursday going on a pumpkin patch field trip with my little guy.

And more important than just being able to go is being able to go....

✨ Without the guilt

✨ Without feeling like I need to catch up later

✨ Just there because it's what matters to me most

When you’re clear on your why, everything else starts to align. 🎯

What's your why?

XO

Amy

10/22/2025

Just kicked off our work with the CLOC team with a 4-hour Mental Fitness session and WOW!! What a start.

There was a moment when you could feel the energy in the room shift.

From polite conversation to real connection.

People began opening up about their saboteurs, sharing what holds them back, and realizing they weren’t alone. You could see the relief, the empathy, and the trust start to build.

That’s the power of this work: When a team learns to understand themselves and each other on a deeper level, alignment and growth follow naturally.

Excited to continue the journey with this amazing team. 🌱

10/16/2025

It's been a wild year.

A year ago I was sitting in the audience at , running out during breaks to pump. I had a 3-month-old at home and had just given myself 2 months of maternity leave (which is a super scary thing to do as an entrepreneur when the business relies on YOU to run it)

When I wasn't working, there was still overhead... but nothing coming in.

That scary feeling lit a fire in me. And when I saw all the CEOs on stage sharing their story I thought, "I want to be where they are next year."

I made a bold decision to invest in myself and build a business that would:

💡 Make a bigger impact on the people I work with

⚙️ Not rely on me to constantly be “on”

❤️ Give me the freedom of time to be fully present with my two little ones and my husband

Fast forward to today, I got to be the person sitting on stage, sharing my story, in hopes of inspiring others to the possibilities.

And my firm today:

💼 Has incredible new clients

🌟 Is making a deeper impact with the organizations we partner with

💛 And most importantly, I’m spending more time playing with my two little boys and my husband

But here's the thing: We’ve all seen the iceberg image where you only see the tip above the water, while the massive foundation lies hidden beneath the surface.

I’m proud of what’s visible… but what you don’t see is everything that’s happened underneath:

✨ Learning new skills

✨ Implementing new systems

✨ Wrestling with mind trash (so much of it!)

✨ Testing new strategies

✨ And stepping into A LOT of discomfort

And while the growth and impact are pretty awesome, what I'm most excited about?

Next Thursday, I'll be taking the day off to go on my 3.5-year-old’s pumpkin patch field trip 🎃 — something my immigrant parents never could, because they had to work to survive.

The freedom to be able to do that means everything to me.

None of this would have been possible without the incredible support of BoldHaus, the BoldHaus faculty, and the BoldHaus community.

I’m deeply grateful for the growth, the challenges, and the people who placed their trust me.

And the best part? We still have 11 weeks left to create even more magic before 2026 begins. 🚀

XO,
Amy 💛

10/10/2025

Over the last week: 🍁 We chased the fall foliage. 🏔️ We explored the White Mountains.

And with two littles in tow, my husband and I had to be a high-performing, resilient team.

It got me thinking: the same foundations I help leadership teams build inside organizations are what make any team, even a parent team, thrive.

Because traveling with kids requires teamwork at its finest.

💡 Shared Vision - Before the trip, aligning on: "What kind of experience do we want to create for our family? What's our big vision?"

🤝 Trust and Psychological Safety - Feeling safe to say “I need a break” or “I’m stressed,” and knowing it’ll be met with support

⚡ Productive Conflict - When there are disagreements (and let's be honest... there were plenty!), knowing how to move through them together

🗣️ Clear communication - About plans, timing, and expectations (because missed nap windows are no joke 😅)

🎯 Clarity of Roles & Strengths - Who’s better at finding a good breakfast spot? Who’s navigating? Who’s getting which kid to bed?

✅ Mutual accountability - Owning our part in creating the experience we want

Whether it’s a family road trip or a corporate team, the agility, momentum, and impact of any team comes down to the same foundations: alignment, trust, and a shared commitment to navigate challenges TOGETHER.

Because at the end of the day, the strongest teams (at work or at home) are built, not born… through every moment and choice we make.

👇🏼

What intentional choice will you make today to show up with more trust or grace for the teams you're on?

Xo

Amy

09/23/2025

Ever been here?

You’re in a meeting. Everyone nods, everyone seems aligned. Then you walk out… and it’s like the team forgot everything.

Suddenly, priorities shift. Assumptions clash. People pull in different directions.

What’s happening?

It’s not just “soft stuff.” It’s a communication problem.

And here’s the reality:

♨️ Poor communication creates product problems.

📉 Poor communication is a revenue problem.

💰 Poor communication is one of the most expensive—and underestimated—business problems.

👉 Grammarly estimates it wastes 7.5 hours per employee every week.

That’s $12,506 per employee per year.

For a 1,000-person company?

That’s $12.5M drained annually.

And the money isn’t the only cost. When teams silo off, leave meetings with different interpretations, or give customers conflicting answers, the damage multiplies.

👇🏼

Check out the latest edition in The Alignment Gap, where I break down the 3 biggest red flags to watch for (and share a $500M wake-up call my client experienced).

I'd love to hear: Which communication red flag shows up most often in your organization?

Xo,

Amy

The Most Expensive Problem Leaders Overlook Deadlines slip. Teams point fingers.

09/19/2025

✨ I used to SUCK at celebrating myself. I would dismiss my own wins. I'd hesitate to share my successes.

But what I’ve learned is this: when we don’t celebrate ourselves, we diminish our own light and we lose both confidence and motivation. Celebration isn't the same as bragging—it’s about recognizing what deserves to be recognized.

That’s why I love helping others reframe what it means to celebrate themselves and their wins.

Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking at Guidehouse’s hybrid event to nearly 200 employees about this very topic: Mastering the Art of Celebrating Yourself.

One participant captured the heart of it beautifully:

👇🏽

“This course was amazing. Probably one of the best I've attended in a while. It was different than what I expected going in but exactly what I needed. Amy was able to "trick me" into opening up and being vulnerable with a complete stranger. Like I told her I had no idea I'd write that and can't believe I shared it but I'm so glad I did.”

💡 Here’s your reminder: Celebrate yourself. Share your story. Advocate for what you need. You deserve it!

AND: You never know how your courage will inspire others.

So what are you celebrating today?

Xo

Amy

09/10/2025

We all have those "$hit happens" type of days. For me, this morning was one of those days.

Picture the scene: I’ve got my 13-month-old in one arm, 3.5-year-old walking beside me. After breakfast, poops, clothing changes, we’re finally ready for daycare drop-off!

We head to the car and I open the door… there’s ONE car seat. For two kids.

I’ve been gone for three days, and before I left there were two car seats in this car. So now I’m confused… then flustered, because I’ve got an important meeting in 45 minutes.

I call my husband. No answer.

So I pivot.

A local sitter comes over and takes my car to drop off the 3.5-year-old at preschool while I literally sprint half a mile with my 13-month-old in his stroller to daycare.

I had planned to get so much more done this morning. Instead, I got a crash course in flexibility.

Here’s the thing:

You can try to plan everything out as perfectly as you want. But life doesn't look at your color-coded calendar and think, "Oh, now isn't a good time."

As leaders, it's not about avoiding the chaos. It's about learning to adjust in the midst of chaos with grace (and maybe a little humor).

LEADERS:

👇🏽

What’s one way you help your team adjust in the middle of chaos?

XO

Amy

08/26/2025

✨ Ever said yes when deep down you knew you wanted to say no?

🎤 Today at SHRM Florida’s HR Florida 2025 Conference, I spoke to a room full of HR leaders, many who admitted they’re “people pleasers".

We explored why saying no and asking for what you want feels so hard:

👉🏼 Feeling guilt

👉🏼 Fear of disappointing or hurting others

👉🏼 Creating stories in our head about outcomes we don’t even know will happen!! 😱

But here’s the thing

👇🏼

Most of us haven’t clearly defined our boundaries. Where's your line? What's in? What's out? If you haven't defined it, you can't uphold it.

We've also spent years practicing saying “yes,” so it’s become second nature.

The good news? Just like learning to drive a car or ride a bike 🚴‍♀️, with practice, you can get better at saying no and asking for your needs.

Remember:

💡 Saying no isn’t rejecting the person. It’s simply saying no to their request.

💡 You get more respect from being able to say no vs being the 'yes' person.

💡 Change requires discomfort. That gut punch, shrinking, fiddling with your hands, tightness in your chest? It’s a signal to pause, get grounded, and choose what you WANT rather than what you think you SHOULD.



🙏🏼 Thank you to the amazing HR leaders who joined me today. You truly have the power to ripple change in your workplaces.

💭 What gets in the way of your no?

XO

Amy

08/19/2025

Last week, I facilitated a session on trust and psychological safety with a leadership team.

Here’s what struck me most 👇🏽

The leader admitted she doesn’t always get the full truth from her team. Things feel sugarcoated. And when she isn’t fully informed with clients, it reflects badly on her.

I’ve seen moments like this trigger teams to shut down, leading to defensiveness or silence.

Not this time. Because of the way she shared her truth.

👉🏽 No blame. No judgment. Just honesty.

Then, she invited reflections and just listened to understand.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

But in that silence, the team opened up. Perspectives surfaced. And the beginnings of open dialogue emerged.

This is what trust looks like in action.

Not a grand speech.

Not a big initiative.

But the daily practice of👇🏽

✨ Speaking your truth without blame

✨ Listening to understand

✨ Staying open, curious, and respectful in conversation

Trust isn’t built in one big moment.

It’s earned in the small moments, over and over again.

💭 Leaders, your team is watching the small moments.

👉🏽 What will you do this week to earn their trust?

Xo

Amy