Beyond Barriers

What Beyond Barriers does

Beyond Barriers Labs, Inc. is a Chicago-based career development platform founded in 2022 that targets women in leadership roles. The company operates a 'career fitness' model that combines individual subscriptions with corporate-sponsored subscriptions, positioning itself in the women's professional development and DEI talent pipeline category.

The platform's product surface centers on coaching content and community, anchored by the proprietary 'Momentum Metric' — a measurement and personalization layer — alongside 'Predictive and Personalized Guidance' features. The company distributes content through its Beyond Barriers Podcast (350+ episodes) and integrates with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Reported outcome metrics include +40% engagement, +20% retention, and +54% promotion among participants. The platform claims global distribution despite being headquartered at 332 S Michigan Ave in Chicago, with a team of 1-10 employees.

The business model is dual-sided: Individual Subscriptions monetize individual users directly, while Sponsored Subscriptions are funded by enterprises purchasing cohort access for their female employees. Named corporate customers include TriNet, The RealReal, Ares Global Management, Salesforce (delivered via CBS Solutions), and Tractor Supply Co., indicating a cross-industry B2B presence in HR technology, retail/resale, financial services, and enterprise software. The company is led by co-founder Brooke Skinner Ricketts (CEO) and Laura Ricketts (Board Director).

Name

Beyond Barriers

Legal name

Beyond Barriers Labs, Inc.

Website

https://gobeyondbarriers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Beyond Barriers is a Chicago-based career development platform founded in 2022 that delivers women's leadership coaching via individual subscriptions and corporate-sponsored cohorts, serving enterprise customers across HR technology, retail, financial services, and software.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Development Platform

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Customer & Go-to-Market Onboarding (Sales/CS/Support) (EDABAOAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cross-Functional Onboarding (Interdepartmental Collaboration) (EDABAOAK)

Keywords

• Professional development platform
• Women leadership coaching
• Career fitness software
• Employee engagement tools
• Corporate learning platform

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Subscription: Subscription-based model with automatically recurring payments for periodic charges. Members pay for subscription access to the platform and services.
2. Sponsored Subscription (Corporate): B2B corporate customers (Sponsors) purchase access to the Service for their employees. The Sponsor Agreement may include additional terms around usage and content. Employees access the platform through their employer's sponsorship.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Beyond Barriers operates a career fitness and professional development platform sold via subscription to both individual professionals and corporate customers. The platform combines a proprietary Momentum Metric assessment, predictive personalized career guidance, 1:1 coaching, and a cross-company peer community, with a separate Corporate Offering that provides Sponsored Subscriptions to enterprises for employee access and aggregated progress reporting.

Product overview

Beyond Barriers is a professional development platform offered as a unified product portfolio. The core offering is the Beyond Barriers Platform, which combines career fitness assessment tools, predictive guidance, 1:1 coaching, and peer community features. The Momentum Metric tool enables measurement of engagement, retention, and promotion outcomes. For enterprise clients, the Corporate Offering provides Sponsored Subscriptions for workforce development. Additional offerings include the Beyond Barriers Podcast (audio content focused on leadership and career growth) and Clarity Sprint (a member learning library). The platform is accessible to both Individual Customers (direct subscription) and Business Customers (company-sponsored access).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Beyond Barriers Platform A professional development platform for individual professionals that provides predictive and personalized career guidance, 1:1 coaching, peer community access, and career fitness assessment tools. Members subscribe monthly to access content, assessments, coaching, and the cross-company peer community on a self-directed basis.
• Corporate Offering (Sponsored Subscription) A B2B enterprise subscription product in which corporate customers purchase Sponsored Subscriptions to provide their employees access to the Beyond Barriers platform for talent development, leadership pipeline building, and DEI initiatives. Sponsor Agreements may include custom terms, usage limitations, and aggregated progress reports for the sponsoring organization.

Quantifiable outcome

• +40% improvement in employee engagement
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature2 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BetterUp: BetterUp is the largest enterprise coaching and mental fitness platform, offering 1:1 coaching, AI-driven insights, and leadership development to Fortune 1000 HR buyers. It directly competes with Beyond Barriers for the same enterprise L&D/DEI budget with a similar subscription-based B2B motion.
• Torch: Torch provides leadership coaching and development programs to enterprise HR teams with a network of vetted executive coaches. Its coaching-led delivery model and enterprise sales motion closely mirror Beyond Barriers' Sponsored Subscription approach.
• Sounding Board: Sounding Board matches enterprise employees with certified coaches for leadership development on a subscription basis. Targets the same HR/L&D buyer and shares a coaching-and-content hybrid model with Beyond Barriers.
• CoachHub: CoachHub is a global digital coaching platform serving enterprises with AI-matched coaches and development programs. Competes head-to-head with Beyond Barriers for international enterprise coaching budgets and offers comparable subscription pricing.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm offering talent development, executive coaching, and leadership programs. While much broader than Beyond Barriers, its Leadership Development and DEI practices target the same enterprise HR buyer with overlapping solutions.
• FranklinCovey: FranklinCovey provides enterprise leadership and organizational performance training, including DEI-focused programs. Its established content libraries (e.g., 7 Habits) and global training delivery compete for the same HR/DEI budget as Beyond Barriers' Corporate Offering.
• LinkedIn Learning: LinkedIn Learning is a broad enterprise e-learning platform with courses on leadership, DEI, and professional development. While content-only and not community-driven, it is frequently considered by the same HR/L&D buyers purchasing Beyond Barriers' Sponsored Subscriptions.
• DDI (Development Dimensions International): DDI is a global leadership development firm offering assessment, training, and coaching to enterprise HR. Its leadership pipeline programs compete directly for the same enterprise buyer evaluating Beyond Barriers for talent development.
• Skillsoft: Skillsoft provides enterprise corporate learning, including leadership and DEI content via Perlego and Skillsoft Leadership Development. Competes for the same HR/L&D budget with broader content catalog but less curated community/coaching experience than Beyond Barriers.

Emerging players

• Chief: Chief is a private membership network for women executives offering peer groups, coaching, and events. Overlaps with Beyond Barriers' women-leaders focus and community-driven model, but skews toward C-suite/VPs versus Beyond Barriers' broader enterprise employee base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/BeyondBarriersTV
• Xx.com/ibeyondbarriers
• Facebookfacebook.com/iambeyondbarriers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/beyondbarriersco

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Beyond Barriers