The Yes Works

Our clients come to us to engineer their cultures for four things:

PROFIT     |     GROWTH     |     INNOVATION     |     FUN

Because your culture is your future.

I'm synthesizing a life of learning and a diverse career of communications, customer service, training, and leadership development to help improve the work-lives of the people I serve. There is no work/life balance. There is only a balanced and fulfilling life. Work is part of life. Let's make it good.

Happily, fulfilling work and good productive work go hand in hand as a part of a balanced life.

I work with business teams to help build habits of work, communication, and collaboration to enliven work and make it good. It's good for business, it's good for people. That's the bottom line.

Co-Founder & CEO

Giant Leap

Lead two regional groups of Chief Executives and Business owners through a peer-mentoring experience...

We're whole humans leading companies, and it can be lonely at the top. Members of these groups find peers who have no agenda with them, have no fear of them, and will therefor put their best interests frontmost and share their honest, insightful thoughts and questions.

We're helping leaders live the entrepreneurial lives of their dreams.

CEO/Owner Peer Group Leader

Vistage Worldwide, Inc.

Get the most your team has to offer today, and grow their capacity tomorrow. Leading humans humanely and effectively for high performance and high fulfillment levels. Communication and collaboration culture. Innovation and problem solving.

Speaker

First 5 FUNdamentals

Founded in 2008, First 5 FUNdamentals (F5F) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to mobilize and inspire communities to achieve their collective goals for children and families. F5F currently supports three initiatives - Project Child Success, Help Me Grow Pierce County, and the Washington Communities for Children.

Vice President Board Of Directors

Mighty Good Work Podcast

Producer & Host

Stadium High School

I teach classes in theater to High School students in every grade level, and direct the school productions in our state of the art theater.

Teach juniors and seniors a course in Business Communication -- Public Speaking and Presentation, Customer Service, Copy Writing, Marketing, Surveys and other topics.

Theatre Arts & Business Communication Teacher

Gold From Straw Theatre Company

Managing Executive Director

Infinite Encore Coaching

Guiding leaders where they are to where they want to be.

Dream it.  Do it.  Live it.

Leadership Coach

Keller Williams Realty

Real Estate Consultant

Oakland School for the Arts

Tech Director and Theatre Teacher

People-first leaders come to us to help make their good teams LEGENDARY:

➡️ Do you have a nagging sense… We could be even BETTER? 

➡️ Do you have a strong culture that's still hampered by CONFLICT & miscommunication?

➡️ Have ACCOUNTABILITY gaps cost you sales, profit, clients, employee retention?

➡️ Is MISTRUST slowing you down?

➡️ Has a KEY PERSON quit out of the blue, citing more money & growth opportunity... And you can't allow a REPEAT with anyone else?

➡️ Is your headcount GROWING -- organically or through acquisition -- faster than team CHEMISTRY?

➡️ Is it hard to see how today's team can accomplish your AUDACIOUS GOALS for tomorrow?

It's time to REFUSE to accept a status quo where:

❌ MEETINGS are a dull time-suck // when they could be fun and productive.
❌ Gaps in communication and/or accountability create CHAOS.
❌ TRUST between team members is weak, so productivity suffers.
❌ Problems are suppressed until they become CRISES // instead of being brought to light.
❌ People resist CHANGE // instead of embracing reality and driving continual improvement
❌ Fixable PROBLEMS persist // when everything they need to find the solution is right there.

We can help. 

Think you can't have SWIFT & LASTING transformation with the team you have?

YOU CAN!

Because we use a unique science-backed approach to training and consulting. And we follow the advice of Albert Einstein:

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

Check out these client results:

🎯 “There’s nothing else like The Yes Works.” Joe Mc Swiney, CEO, SOG Knives. Six months after we worked with his leadership team, Joe said that they’d seen a:
50% increase in mutual appreciation. 
30% increase in mutual understanding. Conflicts were easier to navigate.
80% increase in their ability to communicate positively and constructively under pressure.

🎯 “Your work got us through COVID. We embody the principles you trained us in every day.” Joe LeRoy, CEO, HopeSparks

🎯 “What you did with us is a part of the fabric of this company.” Philip Goward, CEO, TextExpander (Then Philip and partners were able to sell TextExpander ahead of schedule.)

🎯 “Here’s how important you are to me. You give me hope that my company’s culture will be preserved through scaling. 50 years from now, I’ll want you training our leaders to keep us who we are.” Hugh Stewart, CEO - Platform Transition 


Ready to see your team's full potential in ACTION?

Then ask for a call:

📞 https://calendly.com/aaronyes/15min

🌐 https://www.theyesworks.com/

Aaron Schmookler, Culture Engineer

CompTIA

Thrilled to bring my skills and experience together at CompTIA. CompTIA is the most authoritative, respected place to help people launch and succeed in a tech career, allowing them to unlock their potential. Our affordable training solutions can be found on our website, in community colleges and online universities, and with training providers. Over 3 million CompTIA certifications have been awarded.

Sr. HR Business Partner

Quantcast

I work collaboratively with the business, building relationships throughout the organization, coaching and advising managers from front line to C-Suite. A pragmatic problem-solver, I seek resolution aligned with stakeholder and business needs. I work closely with others on the People team and with my client groups (Commercial, G&A, ENG) for core people processes (e.g. annual review, calibrations, performance mgmt, etc). I also partner with L&D to design and/or deliver in-house training, predominantly focused on manager development. I coach and advise managers on performance-related matters and work closely with Legal and CHRO for employee relations. When evaluating a policy, procedure, communication, project, or decision, I think through how this will impact the employee experience, culture, and desired outcome.

HR Business Partner

I've returned back to my practitioner roots and am an HRBP at a global advertising tech company (AdTech).

Associate HR Business Partner

HR.com

With the acquisition of NCHRA, I transitioned to a role on the leadership team, reporting to the CEO. I built a new department and led a global product team, created to serve the HR community via educational programming. My primary focus was building a high-trust and productive team, harmonizing product offerings, building the infrastructure to market and sell educational products, overseeing go-to-market strategies, and managing partner relationships. I also worked closely with the leadership team to effectively integrate NCHRA staff.

Vice President, Education Services

Next Concept HR Association (NCHRA)

I re-entered the workforce as a volunteer for NCHRA (Northern California HR Association), a membership non-profit serving HR professionals, and soon became a manager responsible for our educational programming, securing 75% of organizational revenue. This was my first foray as a Professional Development SME producing 100+ educational offerings annually. This role allowed me to combine my passions – HR, professional development, and relationship building. I produced themed learning experiences for Women’s Leadership and Young Professionals, as well as core educational programs our community desired centered on Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, Employee Experience, Communication, and Relationship Management. I led our marquee event, HR West, a 3-day annual conference, with an eye on the speaker, vendor, and attendee experience. 

I had direct experience peering into the life of the CEO, serving as interim CEO during a leadership transition as well as leading the company through an acquisition.

Vice President Professional Development

I made a conscious decision to join the unpaid workforce of stay-at-home-moms. Became a youth soccer coach, ran the Boston Marathon, volunteered in the classroom, and planned events for young ones that brought joy to our lives. I explored teaching, developed a business plan for a bed & breakfast, and ultimately invested in and managed a vacation property. While my world-view expanded during my time overseas, during this period my community awareness grew immensely. I navigated many ‘firsts’ (mine and my children’s) and I am grateful for this period of personal growth.

Momma Bear & Explorer

Citi

Progressive People career expanding globally over 10 years.  I learned HR while at Salomon Brothers, a top investment banking firm in Manhattan. I led a team responsible for retirement plan administration, developed new processes to help employees better understand their retirement portfolio, and was a member of the corporate team responsible for the conversion of numerous 401(k) and pension plans to a new record keeper. 

Relocated to London, where I managed the Health & Welfare dept, designed and implemented new benefit programs and partnered with colleagues to review, select, and implement a new medical provider, resulting in significant savings for the Firm. 

Upon return to the States, I was tapped to design, implement, and manage new employee onboarding and orientation. In addition to ensuring a positive initial employee experience, I partnered with department heads across the business to ensure their needs and goals were represented in the program.  

Started at Salomon Brothers> merged to Salomon Smith Barney> transferred to Schroeder Salomon Smith Barney > transferred to Citigroup Asset Management.

Vice President Human Resources

I’m an intentional, seasoned, HR professional who thrives in a team environment. My leadership experience + HR experience = actions tied to business outcomes.

Superpowers include:
Listening
Courage
Curiosity 
Connecting the dots 
Building relationships 
Coaching up, down, inside, and outside
Surviving uncomfortable conversations
Helping others shine
Intentionally creating team culture
Figuring it out

Education: 
Master's in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from NYU
Bachelor's in Business Administration from Boston U
HR Certified with SHRM and HRCI
Certified Coach, Coach Training Alliance

Memberships: HR Advisory, International Coaching Federation, Josh Bersin Academy

Outside of work: I appreciate the outdoors as much the city. I enjoy travel and am inadvertently within reach of visiting all of the States. In my spare time, you will find me hiking, coaching, or learning something new - sometimes all at the same time!

taplio

The Battle

Aaron Schmookler, Culture Engineer

Lisa Hickey, SPHR

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