AMY SANDLER
Spiritual being. Human messiness. Welcome to the Paradox.
I’m Amy Sandler—TEDx speaker, Radical Candor podcast host, Harvard-trained soul-whisperer, leadership coach, storyteller and paradox-lover.
I help high-performing humans come home to themselves through a multi-dimensional mix of curiosity, deep listening, storytelling, and practices that actually stick. My work blends transformation that begins within—and extends far beyond—the boardroom, the meditation cushion, or your phone.
I am committed to this work because the world is noisy. Perfectionism is exhausting. And too many brilliant people are waiting to feel “ready." I help people reconnect to what’s real—not by trying harder, but by giving up what’s in the way. This is the paradox. And this is the path home.
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TEDx speaker: “I Give Up” on overthinking, introducing The I GIVE UP Paradox™
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Host of the top-rated career podcast Radical Candor (1M+ downloads annually)
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AB & MBA from Harvard Business School, MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA
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Top-rated workplace meditation on the Unplug app
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One of the first 30 certified teachers of Search Inside Yourself (developed at Google)
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Brought mindfulness to YPO and Vistage global leadership communities
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Certified Breathwork teacher
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In 4th year of Qi Gong teacher training
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Radical Candor Principal Coach teaching in rooms and Zooms around the world
The Bio (a little official, a little spiritual)
Bring The I GIVE UP Paradox—and Radical Candor—to Your Life, Team, or Stage
Whether you’re leading a team, navigating a transition, or just trying to stay human in a high-speed world, I’m here to help you reconnect with what’s real—without losing your edge.
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Speaking + Keynotes
Signature Talk: The I GIVE UP Paradox™. A simple, soul-led framework that helps you reconnect to the part of you that already knows what to do. It’s not about giving up on yourself. It’s about giving up what’s in the way of being yourself.
Also available: Custom talks for leadership, women’s summits, and conscious business events.
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Radical Candor®
Bring the Radical Candor framework to your team to improve feedback conversations, build trust, and transform your workplace into spaces where collaboration and innovation thrive. Radical Candor also improves communication, increases employee engagement, and improve performance. Includes keynotes, workshops, and custom leadership programs.
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Retreats + Experiences
Join me for transformative retreats and immersive experiences that integrate the wisdom of mindfulness with the real-world demands of leadership. Designed for high-impact professionals seeking more clarity, resilience, and authentic connection, these gatherings offer a space to slow down, breathe deep, and reconnect—with yourself, your purpose, and the way you lead.
Live Conversations
Radical Candor Podcast
A Letter to You
Here's the real story, beyond the resume. I first learned meditation while a freshman at Harvard College and picked it up again at Harvard Business School in the mid-1990s.
While my MBA classmates were getting jobs (and stock options) in something called “the internet,” I decided to go to the Boston Bartenders School and get a Master of Mixology degree so I could bartend and write the Great American Novel.
Unfortunately, bar owners prefer people with actual experience and books don’t just write themselves.
So I considered another option: a letter in an unmarked envelope encouraging me to apply to be an “Intelligence officer” for the CIA. Imagining untold adventure and channeling my inner Jodie Foster, I considered it for a few days...
...and then realized I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone. A tree falling in the forest and all that metaphysical jazz. So, I moved to Los Angeles and like any self-respecting Angeleno in the late 1990s, got an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA and deepened my practice of yoga, meditation and energy healing.
While I wasn’t an actual spy, I did live a double/triple life, for 20+ years – by day, playing the role of marketing and communications leader in organizations including Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), Vistage and UCLA; by night and on the weekends, going to meditation and breathwork classes, yoga retreats, shamanic journeys, learning from the top experts in healing, wellness and personal development.
In 2014, after being selected as one of the first 30 teachers trained to teach the Search Inside Yourself mindfulness-based emotional intelligence program developed at Google, I began to integrate my seemingly-opposed worlds, leaving the secure “day job” to become an executive coach, corporate mindfulness trainer and professional speaker.
Since taking that leap, I've trained tens of thousands across a spectrum of roles, including C-level executives, mid-level and new managers, and individual contributors just starting on their career paths.
As Principal Coach & Podcast Host at Radical Candor, the executive education firm based on Kim Scott’s best-selling book, I've shared Radical Candor with audiences from around the world.
I've learned that self-love isn't a candle - though who doesn't love candles - it's a loop and a spiral that includes:
a CHOICE,
a PRACTICE,
an EXPERIENCE,
an EVOLUTION
...a REVOLUTION.
And it's a lot more fun - and effective - when we practice, together.