Navigating Career Pivots: Amanda Ramirez on Soft Skills and Tech Industry Success

Her Success Story

This week Ivy Slater, host of Her Success Story, chats with her guest, Amanda Ramirez. The two talk about the critical role of soft skills in tech, the challenges and rewards of starting her own consulting company while balancing motherhood, and how she now helps other seasoned executives launch their own successful ventures through her innovative consultancy and advisory firm, Garden Labs

In this episode, we discuss:

• How Amanda found her niche in tech without a technical background

• What strategies helped Amanda scale her business

• Why Amanda believes in decision over indecision

• How Amanda built her team and expanded services

• Amanda's advice for other leaders

Amanda Schwartz Ramirez - Strategy and Operations Executive, Advisor, and Coach

Amanda Schwartz Ramirez is a strategy and operations executive, advisor, and coach with expertise in scaling high-performing tech companies. With over 15 years of experience spanning early-stage startups, hyper-growth companies, and Fortune 500 enterprises like PayPal, Amanda specializes in building and scaling businesses at the intersection of emerging tech and mainstream adoption.

As the founder and CEO of Garden Labs, Amanda leads a boutique advisory firm that guides venture-backed startups and executive leaders through critical growth phases. Through her Maven course and growing community, she empowers executives to make a successful transition into advisory and consulting roles.

Key Highlights

• Maven Course and Community: Amanda teaches The On-Ramp to Full-Time Advising and Consulting for Busy Execs, a popular course that provides executives with the tools and strategies to transition confidently into advisory and consulting roles.

• PayPal Tenure: Amanda led numerous strategic initiatives during her tenure, helping scale PayPal’s revenue from $4.5 billion to over $25 billion. She was instrumental in operationalizing PayPal's crypto business and expanding its payouts business into China. She still works with PayPal as an advisor today.

• Dapper Labs: As VP of Business Operations and Strategy, Amanda supported Dapper Labs' rapid growth from 180 to 600 employees, drove three acquisitions, and redefined corporate structure and strategy.

• Garden Labs: Since 2022, Amanda has advised CEOs on efficient growth, organization-building, and strategic clarity.

Expertise

• Transition to Advisory and Consulting: Guiding executives through pivotal inflection points as they move into advisory roles, as featured in her Maven course.

• Strategic Operations: Scaling for sustainable growth and implementing Minimum Viable Operating Practices

• Business Incubation and Intrapreneurship: Innovating within a Fortune 500 to incubate new businesses

• Leadership and Organizational Development: Building diverse, high-impact executive teams

• Emerging Tech for Enterprises: Guiding organizations in stablecoins, crypto, zero-knowledge tech, and AI adoption

Content Considerations

• Workshop

• The Path to Consulting: Leveraging Executive Skills to Transition to Advisory Work, inspired by Amanda’s Maven course

• Talks:

• Advisory as a Growth Strategy: Exploring the Role of Advisors in Scaling Startups

• Streamlining Success: Crafting Your Minimum Viable Operating Practice

• Mastering Leadership: Leading in Hyper-Growth Environments

• Operationalizing Innovation: Practical Approaches to Emerging Tech

• Panel Topics:

• From Hands-On to High-Level: Maximizing the Impact of Advisors in Startup Growth

• Future of Payments: Stablecoins and Onchain Innovation

• M&A Strategies: Effective Corporate Transitions

• Building High-Performing, Diverse Teams

Website:

https://www.gardenlabs.xyz/

Social Media Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandamschwartz/