Christina Coyle has spent more than two decades working in the field of recruiting and workforce transformation, building a career that began with a psychology degree and eventually led to leadership roles inside some of the most well-known companies in the United States. Over time, that experience shaped a perspective that now guides her work as the founder and CEO of Amp11, a tech start-up whose mission is to fortify the leaders who run the frontline.
Coyle explains that her path into the field was not originally planned. After studying psychology, she entered recruiting early in her career and remained in the profession for roughly twenty years. According to her, those years included nearly every role possible within the recruiting function. She recalls starting with the operational side of hiring, coordinating offers, and supporting hiring processes before moving into executive leadership roles within large corporations.
That progression eventually placed her inside several major organizations, including leadership roles connected to talent strategy and recruiting transformation. During that time, she worked in sectors that depend heavily on large hourly workforces, particularly retail, restaurants, and high-volume service environments. From her perspective, those industries revealed how closely hiring systems are tied to everyday operations. She explains that frontline workforces often determine how customers experience a brand, yet the systems that support those workers can sometimes lag behind the complexity of the job.
A defining chapter in her career occurred while working within the McDonald's organization. There, she helped lead talent transformation initiatives connected to talent attraction, hiring, onboarding, and workforce planning for franchisees. Coyle notes that one project in particular, the McHire digital hiring platform, became one of the most rewarding experiences of her career because of the scale of its impact. According to her, the platform changed how hiring occurred across thousands of restaurant locations and set a new standard for conversational AI in recruiting.
That experience reinforced her belief that technology can meaningfully support both employers and employees when it is designed around real operational environments. Coyle explains that her approach to workforce systems has always been grounded in firsthand observation. During her corporate work, she spent significant time inside restaurant locations observing daily operations and speaking directly with employees and managers. Those interactions, she says, revealed how demanding frontline roles can be and how often managers are expected to carry multiple responsibilities at once.
"Managers in these environments are often the unsung heroes of the workforce," Coyle says. "They are running shifts, supporting employees, serving customers, and solving problems all at the same time, often with limited support systems around them."
Today, that understanding informs her consulting practice and shapes the technology, design, and implementation she provides through Amp11. Prior to the technology firm, her consulting practice focused on advising companies in sectors such as restaurants, hospitality, and multi-unit retail organizations. According to Coyle, the goal is not simply to improve recruiting and hiring, but to redesign the broader systems that influence retention, training, and long-term workforce stability.
Her work often involves guiding large organizations through frontline strategy, talent system design, and organizational change initiatives. Coyle explains that these projects frequently require intentional orchestration across multiple levels of leadership, particularly in franchise environments where, she emphasizes, alignment between corporate leaders and individual operators increases their likelihood for success.
In those situations, she emphasizes the importance of thoughtful change management. From her perspective, organizational change succeeds when communication begins early and continues throughout the process. Leaders must understand how new systems will affect different groups across the organization and address questions openly rather than presenting change only after decisions have already been finalized.
Coyle notes that transparency plays a central role in that process. When organizations introduce new tools or operational shifts, she encourages leaders to communicate clearly about what the change will involve and how it may affect daily work. According to her, employees respond more positively when they feel included in the process rather than surprised by it later.
Her perspective on leadership also reflects the influence of her psychology background. She emphasizes the need to understand how individuals experience change differently based on their previous workplace experiences. Those perspectives, she believes, shape how employees interpret new initiatives and whether they ultimately trust them.
Looking ahead, Coyle's work continues to explore how technology might better support the frontline workforce. Through Amp11, she is currently developing a technology solution designed to assist restaurant managers in being better leaders. While the product remains in early stages, she views it as part of a broader effort to provide practical support to the people responsible for daily operations.
Ultimately, her long-term goal remains consistent with the motivations that first drew her to recruiting. "I have always wanted to make work a little less stressful and a lot more rewarding for people," Coyle says. "If we can use technology and better systems to create that space for leaders and teams, then the impact can reach far beyond one team, one company, or one industry."
