Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenn Lien.
Hi Jenn, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up with a single father in Sunnyvale, California, doing my homework in conference rooms of start-up companies. After dropping out after 8th grade and making a series of questionable decisions, I started managing one of my dad’s start-up companies, Ocean Path, Inc. It was the mid-nineties, and we did permanent placement of engineers in tech companies, making 20-25% of their salary when they started. With no overhead (we ran it out of his house), it was feast or famine, and he made even worse decisions than I did. In 2001, he skipped the country to escape payroll taxes and an upside-down mortgage, and I was left to defend myself with the IRS to the tune of $136k at age 21.
Fortunately, I already had the work ethic and a few years of experience, so I went to a staffing agency to find a “real” job, and they hired me in-house on the spot. From there, I managed the Contingent Workforce at Apple, Sun Microsystems, and then Yahoo!. Through those roles, I learned the ins and outs of how companies run and what makes people successful. I became intimately familiar with the behaviors, motivators, and competencies that make high-performing teams work.
That path led me to Program Management. One of the managers I’d supported reached out after his program fell apart once I left, and brought me back as a contractor to fix it. I doubled my rate overnight and got out of staffing. No more orientations, investigations, or chasing people out of buildings after they’d been fired. I’d found my lane.
From there, I climbed into bigger, cross-functional roles, eventually serving as Chief of Staff for a global engineering org. I learned the other side of operations—headcount planning, performance cycles, budgets, and the nuts and bolts of scaling teams. Ten years at Yahoo taught me everything about how large organizations move… and stall.
But the real shift came after I broke down. I’d experienced a(nother) traumatic event that left me with acute PTSD and forced me to stop. I couldn’t function. I accidentally found yoga, and it changed my life. A month in Baja doing yoga teacher training, sleeping in a tent, eating simple food, breathing again, was the reset button I didn’t know I needed.
When I came back, I started teaching yoga, then realized I loved building the business of it more than teaching. Under the principle of non-attachment, I sold or gave away everything I owned, put a camper shell on my Silverado, and drove cross-country to heal and start over. That trip became the backbone of my first book, Yoga, Then a Little Bit of Life, which I later published on Amazon.
Eventually, I went back to California, finished school, and took a job in tech again, but this time on my terms. I ran HR Operations, launched mentorship programs, built employee resource groups, and helped send 50 women to the Grace Hopper Celebration in 2018. It was meaningful work that married my love for systems and people.
When COVID hit, I left San Francisco for Ocean Beach (sight unseen) and landed in the most perfect little house a mile from the sand. Then, I rented the place next door for my mom so we could start a relationship.
Then came Airbnb. I joined their Business Operations team and learned the inner workings of Trust & Safety, Global Crisis, and Privacy. It was fascinating but eventually too consuming. I’d been down that burnout road before, and this time, I chose peace.
I took time off, published my travel journal, and finally launched my own company, Sunnyvale Jenn Consulting, in early 2024. I’m not one of those “someone-find-me-something” posters on LinkedIn. I’m the “Direct-Message-two-thousand-contacts” person. Within a week, I had my first two clients.
Since then, I’ve been helping early-stage companies and women founders build their infrastructure, everything from payroll and benefits to vendor management, onboarding, and compliance frameworks. One of my first clients, Curioso, hired me to build their company from the ground up: HR, finance, IT, compliance, you name it. I’ve also worked with local, women-owned wellness studios, gyms, and spas, some paying me in trade (Pilates, yoga, facials—no complaints) and others in cash.
Recently, I co-presented at the Grace Hopper Celebration in Chicago alongside a client who’s in stealth mode, patent pending. It was my first time speaking on stage, and I loved it. Now, I’m manifesting the next wave of dream clients: women with brilliant ideas who just need structure and strategy to bring them to life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not smooth. My journey’s been more like a dumpster fire in an earthquake—but every time I got knocked down, I got back up, dusted myself off, and kept moving forward. – In the ’80s, I started raising my 3-year-old brother when I was 5.
– In the ’90s, I spent my teenage years addicted to meth, unsheltered, and trapped in a violent two-year relationship with my dealer.
– In 2001, my dad skipped the country with my name all over the company documents, leaving me to battle the IRS over a business I wasn’t even old enough to legally run.
– In 2011, I got a DUI that forced me to face how much I was just surviving instead of living.
– In 2015, I found my boyfriend lying in a pool of blood. That broke me completely.
– In 2016, I sold everything I owned and camped across the U.S. for five months to find myself again.
– In 2019, I graduated from De Anza College with an AA in Social & Behavioral Sciences and a 3.89 GPA—while working full time and getting my employer to pay for it.
– In 2020, I moved to Ocean Beach, sight unseen.
– In 2022, I moved my mom next door, and we built what is now a beautiful relationship.
– In 2024, I published my first book and started my own company.
– In 2025, I spoke at the Grace Hopper Celebration on Digital Empathy and Intelligent Companions (AI).
So no, it hasn’t been smooth. There were meltdowns. There was shame. There were years where I had no idea what I was doing or why. But every collapse cleared the path for something better. Every time I let go of a job, a title, a city, or a relationship, I got closer to the truth of who I am and how I can serve.
Sobriety, yoga, therapy, and road trips saved my life. Those experiences built the foundation for my business today. I help other founders (especially women) build structure that supports their vision rather than smothering it. I know what it’s like to burn out, rebuild, and start from zero. I’ve lived it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Sunnyvale Jenn Consulting?
Sunnyvale Jenn Consulting helps early-stage companies and women founders build operational muscle so they can scale—without chaos. I specialize in fractional business operations and strategy: setting up systems, infrastructure, payroll, onboarding, compliance, and cross-functional processes that actually work. Most of my clients come to me when they’ve outgrown their “scrappy start-up” phase but aren’t ready for a full-time COO. They need clarity, structure, and someone who can see around corners. I build frameworks that keep teams aligned, budgets on track, and founders sane.
What sets me apart is that I’ve done this inside Fortune 500s and brand-new LLCs. I speak both languages, corporate and creative. I can build a hiring process for a global org or an invoicing tracker for a two-person yoga studio. And I do it without jargon, fluff, or unnecessary complexity.
My ideal client? A woman with a brilliant idea and a bias for action. She’s passionate about what she’s building and ready to move forward… she just wants a roadmap and a trusted partner to help her get there.
If that sounds like you, let’s talk. I offer consultations to help founders identify their operational gaps and build a plan to move from chaos to clarity.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
The harder I work, the luckier I seem to be. I’ve worked really, really, really hard. That said, the luckiest I’ve been was when my landlords gifted me their house in their trust. Granted, they’re is young with a ton of life left in them but having home security is a real thing that she finally let me experience.
Pricing:
- Initial Consult: $200 for 2 hours
- Bill rate: $150/hour
- Project Based: Can provide a quote
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sunnyvalejenn.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennlien
