Amber Ontiveros: Overcoming Bias and Emotional Wounds

Culture and Leadership Connections Podcast

Amber Ontiveros: Overcoming Bias and Emotional Wounds
Bio:
Amber Ontiveros is the CEO and owner of a change management firm. She is a longtime civil rights advocate, having served in advisory roles at the US Department of Transportation during both the Bush and Obama Administrations. She now runs Ontiveros and Associates, which specializes in change management, policy development, and executive coaching. Amber is the author of Heal the Four Wounds: A Guide to End Discord and Discrimination.
Links:

• LinkedIn: Amber Ontiveros
• Website: Heal the Four Wounds

Quotes:
"When you don't have people around you who are educated, you don't know what your options are."
Episode Highlights:
In this episode, Amber shares her powerful journey, from growing up Latina on a farm in Arizona to a near-death experience that led her to meet the "infinite creator." This awakening inspired her to explore consciousness and the neuroscience of unconscious bias. Amber teaches us about self-serving and "mini-me" biases, and how the brain's reticular activation system filters information based on existing beliefs. Her techniques offer practical steps for mindful listening and healing internal wounds. Listen to learn more.
Childhood Experiences:
Amber’s passion for management started in childhood. She vividly recalls playing with paper in their chicken coop as if she were an administrator. As an adolescent, Amber took a moot court class because it aligned with her personality traits—public speaking, analyzing situations, constructing arguments, and posing solutions.
Influential Groups:
Amber is a Mexican-American who grew up in Arizona and was the first in her family to attend college and graduate school, despite having no educational role models. She attended Lewis & Clark College, though her GPA could have earned her admission to more prestigious schools. In college, Amber became passionate about civil rights and policy. Her career began in a political campaign where a senator recognized her potential and helped her become a lobbyist. After working in the legislature and for a lobbying firm, Amber became a policy adviser at the Department of Transportation, where she helped develop federal civil rights laws that provided economic opportunities for women and minorities, including securing contracts in construction and professional services for transit agencies and government departments.
Personality and Temperament:
Amber describes herself as direct, honest, and fiery. After her near-death experience, she realized she had been engaging in self-loathing and bullying herself. Today, she has learned to accept and love her feelings, using techniques to change the thought patterns that once undermined her. She now sees her previously criticized traits as her best attributes.
Cultural Epiphanies:
In Amber’s culture, during Christmas, her family makes tamales, menudo, and pozole. Amber is baffled that many Americans dislike pigs' feet or cow stomach, which are delicacies in some Asian cultures and among the best foods she’s ever had.
What Brings Out the Best in Amber?
Amber enjoys working with organizations that are clear and authentic. This clarity makes it easier for her to help them achieve their goals.
Soapbox Moment:
Are you a CEO feeling unhappy and seeking tools to manage your emotions? Are you stuck in negative thought loops or imposter syndrome? Amber invites you to explore her website, her book, and her executive coaching program.

Support the show