The Culture Strategy
Meet Abby
Strategic Culturist | Community Builder | Professional Do-Gooder
Hi! I’m Abby McKiernan a native to Michigan. I am an entrepreneur, author, and social-impact innovator who helps leaders build cultures where people feel supported, seen, and set up to succeed.
My work is rooted in lived experience. After navigating a season where I needed support myself, I saw both the power of community—and the gaps that can make asking for help feel risky, complicated, or dehumanizing. So I built a different kind of model: one grounded in dignity, clear communication, and healthy boundaries.
In 2017, I founded Spark in the Dark, a nonprofit community that has met over 100,000 real needs by connecting people to help in real time. I later co-founded HelpLink, a platform that brings that same “care infrastructure” into the workplace by aligning corporate giving with employee well-being and community strength.
Now I speak and consult with organizations that want culture to be more than a value on a wall. My sessions translate empathy into practical behaviors leaders can use immediately—improving retention, strengthening trust, and creating measurable impact.
The Culture We Carry
.jpeg)
The Culture We Carry is a powerful and practical guide for anyone who wants to shape healthier, stronger, more human workplaces regardless of their title. Blending compelling real-life stories, neuroscience, organizational psychology, and decades of hands-on leadership experience, Abagail McKiernan reveals a transformative truth: culture is not created in policies or mission statements. It is created in moments. Small, intentional choices build trust, connection, and belonging.
Through vivid storytelling and relatable examples, from online communities to corporate boardrooms and from struggling teams to extraordinary acts of empathy, McKiernan shows how everyday interactions shape the emotional climate of our workplaces. She explores how emotions spread through teams, why micro-moments matter more than grand gestures, how calm leadership stabilizes chaos, and how kindness, psychological safety, and accountability form the backbone of sustainable success. Readers learn how to shift from reacting to responding, how to bridge the gap between intention and intentionality, and how to lead with clarity even in the gray areas where most real-world decisions live.
As a business owner for over 25 years, I have seen firsthand the importance of creating an environment that empowers every employee to view their role as vital to the success of the whole. This book is full of great examples that validate why leading with motivation and understanding rather than solely by authority, is the key to success.
M. Marsh
Well written in both content and style! It spoke to me, causing me to revisit decisions and reflect on where I am as a leader. Thanks for the encouragement that this style of leadership is the best. Thanks also for sending my brain and emotions into an overdrive trying to figure out what is the best gap to fill, both professionally and personally!
R. Nugent
I can’t wait to gift the book to some of my grandkids! It will be a great book for them as they will be entering into the corporate world of life and career opportunities!
I want the best for them and this book is full of inspiration and knowledge. They will experience all kinds of personalities in their life moving forward and the book is full of great information on how to deal with so many different emotions and situations!
D. Schafer
As a business owner for over 25 years, I have seen firsthand the importance of creating an environment that empowers every employee to view their role as vital to the success of the whole. This book is full of great examples that validate why leading with motivation and understanding rather than solely by authority, is the key to success.
M. Marsh
Well written in both content and style! It spoke to me, causing me to revisit decisions and reflect on where I am as a leader. Thanks for the encouragement that this style of leadership is the best. Thanks also for sending my brain and emotions into an overdrive trying to figure out what is the best gap to fill, both professionally and personally!
R. Nugent
I can’t wait to gift the book to some of my grandkids! It will be a great book for them as they will be entering into the corporate world of life and career opportunities!
I want the best for them and this book is full of inspiration and knowledge. They will experience all kinds of personalities in their life moving forward and the book is full of great information on how to deal with so many different emotions and situations!
D. Schafer
