Influential Women Profiles: Amy Jo Esser, Founder of AJE Speaking Solutions, LLC
Madison, Wisconsin – Amy Jo Esser is a leadership development expert, leadership keynote speaker, and creator of Winning Rhythms™: The Finish Line Formula. She helps leaders and high-performing teams bridge the gap between potential and sustainable excellence by mastering the daily rhythms that drive consistent execution, stronger leadership, and long-term results.
Amy Jo brings more than 30 years of corporate IT and quality leadership experience, including 15 years in executive leadership roles across information technology, quality assurance, and organizational development.
Throughout her career, she has led complex enterprise initiatives, built high-performing teams, and cultivated cultures rooted in trust, accountability, communication, and excellence.
As Founder of AJE Speaking Solutions, LLC, Amy Jo partners with organizations, leadership teams, and ambitious professionals through keynotes, workshops, and coaching programs focused on leadership development, team performance, employee retention, communication, accountability, and culture. Based in Madison, Wisconsin and serving organizations nationally, she is recognized as a leadership workshop facilitator and keynote speaker who brings both corporate credibility and heart-led methodology to every engagement.
At the center of her work is a simple belief: every leadership challenge is first a self-leadership challenge. Before leaders can effectively lead teams, they must learn to lead themselves with consistency, clarity, discipline, and intention.
Through her Winning Rhythms™ framework, Amy Jo teaches leaders how to stop starting over and follow through on what matters most. Her work helps individuals create sustainable systems of execution that transform success from an occasional achievement into a repeatable process.
A graduate of Concordia University-Wisconsin with a degree in Management and Communication, Amy Jo began her career as a software developer before advancing into leadership positions throughout the technology and quality assurance industries.
At ProAssurance, one of the top four professional liability insurance companies in the United States, Amy Jo built the quality and testing department from the ground up and led distributed teams across multiple locations long before virtual collaboration tools became commonplace. She directed multimillion-dollar initiatives and implemented operational improvements that transformed organizational performance. Over those 12 years, she achieved something rare in today’s workplace: zero voluntary turnover. Every employee and consultant on her team chose to stay. Not because they had to. Because they wanted to. That kind of loyalty does not happen by accident. It is built through a corporate team retention philosophy that refuses to choose between high standards and genuine care for people, and it is exactly what Amy Jo teaches today.
The experience reinforced a leadership philosophy she continues to teach today: great leaders do not choose between results and relationships. They develop both.
Early in her career, long before she held formal leadership positions, Amy Jo made a decision that would influence the way she approached work for decades to come. Love would become the foundation of how she approached her work, leadership, and life.
She committed to learning how to embrace and love her work, the people she worked with, the problems she was called to solve, and the processes required to achieve excellence. Initially, it was a personal commitment that shaped how she showed up each day. Over time, as she moved into leadership roles, that same philosophy influenced the teams she built, the cultures she created, and the way she developed others.
Years later, while reflecting on the factors behind her retention record and leadership success, Amy Jo recognized that this early decision had become the foundation of everything she teaches. By creating environments where people felt valued, challenged, supported, and connected to meaningful work, she cultivated cultures where people wanted to stay, grow, and perform at their highest level.
Today, that philosophy continues to influence her work through Winning Rhythms™ and OQ Leadership™ (her framework for leading with ownership and heart): sustainable excellence is created when leaders learn to lead themselves first, lead others with heart, and maintain high standards along the way.
Amy Jo has shared her expertise at international conferences and industry events as a leadership development speaker, and developed programs that help professionals lead with confidence, communicate with clarity, and achieve meaningful goals without sacrificing their health, relationships, or purpose.
Throughout her leadership journey, she has demonstrated that high standards and high care can coexist. Her ability to combine accountability with encouragement has helped teams exceed expectations while fostering trust, loyalty, and long-term growth.
Lead with Heart. Finish with Excellence.
Amy Jo believes leadership is not simply about achieving goals. It is about helping people become the best version of themselves while pursuing those goals together.
Throughout her career, she has also been shaped by mentors who helped refine her leadership philosophy and communication style. She credits Roger Love, world-renowned voice and communication expert, with helping her develop a more intentional and impactful presence. She trained under Roger Love for two years, an experience that fundamentally shaped how she connects with audiences and communicates with intention. She also acknowledges the influence of Anthony Trucks, Jen Gottlieb, and Chris Winfield, whose guidance and mentorship have contributed to her growth as a leader, speaker, and entrepreneur.
These experiences reinforced Amy Jo’s belief that growth accelerates when leaders surround themselves with people who challenge, encourage, and elevate them.
Today, Amy Jo encourages and specializes in helping emerging and high-achieving leaders, particularly women entering leadership roles, to be bold, be brave, and lead from the heart. She believes success is built through consistent action, intentional relationships, and a willingness to pursue meaningful goals even when the path forward feels uncertain.
Her advice is simple: lead yourself first, support others generously, and never underestimate the power of showing up consistently for what matters most. Organizations and leaders ready to close the gap between potential and performance can connect with Amy Jo directly at aj@amyjoesser.com.
Learn More about Amy Jo Esser:
Through her Influential Women profile: https://influentialwomen.com/connect/amyjolene-esser
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