Amber Bradbury
Amber Bradbury is an experienced Fractional HR Consultant and Career and Leadership Coach dedicated to helping organizations and individuals navigate growth, transformation, and change through strategy, empathy, and measurable impact. With more than 23 years of experience across industries, including oil and gas, FinTech, and healthcare, she has led complex HR transformations, mergers and acquisitions, organizational redesigns, and culture-building initiatives for organizations ranging from venture-backed startups to Fortune 500 companies.
Amber specializes in aligning people strategies with business objectives, building scalable HR infrastructure, and developing leaders who drive performance, engagement, and sustainable growth. Her career includes senior leadership roles such as HR Director at Priceline, Global Head of HR at ION Group, and Head of HR for startup Compass Production Partners, where she built HR functions from the ground up. She is also the founder of PeopleFirst HR Partners, a boutique consulting firm delivering people-first, business-smart HR solutions, and currently serves as a strategic HR advisor to Integral Health, a behavioral healthcare startup.
Over the course of her career, Amber has supported more than 12,000 employees across 53 countries, implementing global HR systems, talent strategies, and leadership frameworks that enable scalable growth, operational excellence, and high-performing cultures. In addition to her consulting work, she provides executive and professional coaching for leaders navigating career transitions, leadership inflection points, and personal growth journeys, helping them gain clarity, confidence, and momentum.
Beyond her professional work, Amber is deeply committed to community service and advocacy. She has served as a team captain for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for more than two decades, helping raise over $200,000 to support breast cancer research, patient care, and survivor services. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Relations and Business from Amberton University, along with certifications in Positive Psychology, Life Coaching, and Menopause Coaching, reflecting her passion for lifelong learning and holistic leadership.
• Menopause Coaching Certification
• Positive Psychology Coach Certification
• Employee Experience
• Human Resources: Job Structure and Design
• Strategic Human Resources
• Human Resources: Using Metrics to Drive HR Strategy
• Communicating with Confidence
• Daily Habits for Effective People Management
• Generative AI vs. Traditional AI
• How to Speak with Effortless Confidence
• Own Your Voice: Improve Presentations and Executive Presence
• Project Management Simplified
• The 3-Minute Rule: Say Less to Get More
• Amberton University - BS
• SHRM
• Dallas HR
• Fort Worth HR
• Worldwide Women's Association
• Susan G. Komen
• Operation Kindness
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to more than two decades of experience in Human Resources, navigating complexity, leading change, and fostering growth, always guided by one core principle: people are at the heart of every successful business. By combining strategic thought with empathy, I focus on building trust, fostering leadership, and creating environments where both individuals and organizations can thrive.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
My career coach was instrumental in my professional development. During a crucial career transition, she advised me to start my own business, helping me realize my full potential and confidently pursue entrepreneurship. Her guidance still influences how I lead, coach, and mentor others today.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I earned my bachelor’s degree later in life, in my 30s, while balancing family responsibilities and a full-time job. This experience taught me resilience, discipline, and the importance of lifelong learning. It shaped my belief that growth is never linear, and that persistence and curiosity are key drivers of career success.
My advice to young women entering this industry is to stay curious, keep learning, and never underestimate your voice or value. Through my consulting and one-on-one coaching, I’ve seen how confidence, clarity, and continuous growth can transform both careers and businesses. The world of work is evolving faster than ever, and organizations are only as strong as their people, so investing in your development, mindset, and leadership skills will always be worthwhile.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest opportunities and challenges in HR today is the rapid advancement of AI and automation. While technology is transforming areas like recruiting, compliance, and workforce analytics, it can never replace empathy, intuition, and the human connection at the core of our profession. The true opportunity is in leveraging AI to improve decision-making and efficiency while remaining deeply rooted in people-first leadership.
At the same time, we must ensure that technology expands access and opportunity rather than restricting it. Too often, talented candidates are excluded simply because their experience is not tailored for automated systems. HR leaders have a duty to balance innovation with inclusion, making sure that technology supports people, not replaces them. No matter how advanced our tools get, the human element will always be our greatest differentiator.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Compassion, advocacy, integrity, and human connection are the values that guide both my work and my life. For more than two decades, I have been deeply involved in breast cancer advocacy—walking alongside my mother, aunt, lifelong friends, and serving as a long-time team captain, raising over $200,000 to support research, patient care, and survivor services. That mission has become even more personal in recent years, reinforcing my belief in the power of community, resilience, and hope.
Recently, my family has been going through a significant health journey, which has deepened my commitment to empathy, flexibility, and genuinely human workplaces. These experiences continue to inspire my passion for advocacy and reinforce my belief that if we can find a cure for one cancer, we can find cures for many others. As a business owner, I am thankful for the opportunity to lead with these values, emphasising relationships, well-being, and purpose because people, both at work and at home, should always be prioritised.
