The Improv Effect

What The Improv Effect does

The Improv Effect is a privately held, Jacksonville, Florida-based professional services firm founded in 2007 by Jessie Shternshus that delivers experiential corporate training, coaching, and facilitation built on applied improvisation methodology. Its core service categories are Training, Coaching, Speaking/Keynotes, Facilitation, Events & Retreats, and Change Management, augmented by two published books (CTRLShift, No More Meetings), a LinkedIn Learning course on design thinking, and downloadable Gumroad communication templates. The company applies a structured Discovery-Design-Activation-Sustainability delivery model and claims a 75% retention rate for active, hands-on learning versus 5% for traditional lecture-based methods, blending improvisation with design thinking and visual thinking techniques.

The firm is organized around a team of six core facilitators (CEO/founder, two leadership coaches, a presentation coach, a corporate trainer, and a visual communications designer) led by Jessie Shternshus, who personally delivers most enterprise engagements. Customers are predominantly Fortune-class enterprises and notable institutions, including Amazon, Google, Netflix, Mayo Clinic, the United Nations, the US Department of Defense, Coca-Cola, FedEx, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Macy's, CapitalOne, General Electric, and PGA Tour, with women-in-leadership programs and empathy/communication training for medical professionals (Mayo Clinic Medical Humanities partnership) as flagship use cases.

The business model combines high-touch, quote-based enterprise engagements (training, coaching, facilitation, keynote speaking) with low-friction, self-serve digital products (books on Amazon, ~$17-$19 PDF templates on Gumroad, a subscription course on LinkedIn Learning). The go-to-market is consultative, direct enterprise sales supported by content marketing, organic social (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube), podcasts, Medium articles, and conference speaking (RubyConf 2018, Agile on the Beach 2019, All the remote things 2023). The company is bootstrapped, founder-owned, with no disclosed outside investment, M&A, or institutional funding across its 17+ years of operating history.

Name

The Improv Effect

Legal name

The Improv Effect

Website

https://improveffect.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Improv Effect is a Jacksonville-based applied improvisation training and coaching firm that delivers experiential programs in leadership, communication, presentation, change management, and team building for enterprise clients, serving brands like Amazon, Netflix, Mayo Clinic, and the United Nations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Jacksonville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Training Services: Enterprise training engagements delivered in-person or virtually. Programs include leadership development, communication skills, team building, presenting & storytelling, and change management training.
2. Coaching Services: Individual and team coaching sessions focusing on leadership, presentation skills, and personal/professional growth. Includes interactive coaching reinforced by targeted resources and exercises.
3. Speaking Engagements: Keynote and speaking services at corporate events, conferences, and summits. Topics include conscious curiosity, social playground shifting, and unlearning challenges.
4. Events & Retreats: On-site and virtual events designed to facilitate meaningful connections and team building. Includes SideTrek retreats and Together to Gather community events.
5. Books: Published books including CTRLShift (50 Games for 50 F***ing Days Like Today) and No More Meetings (Unlearn 'bored room' Practices to Change the Way We Connect), sold through Amazon.
6. Digital Templates: PDF practice communication exercises sold through Gumroad: Communicating to Leadership with Confidence ($17) and Communicating Up & Down in an Organization ($19).
7. Online Courses: LinkedIn Learning course 'Design Thinking: Cultivating Curiosity for Empathy and Inclusion' delivered through the LinkedIn Learning platform.
8. Facilitation Programs: Training on facilitation fundamentals, teaching participants how to create immersive learning experiences. Delivered as 4-part program (16 hours total).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

The Improv Effect delivers custom experiential training programs, individual and team coaching, keynote speaking, and facilitation services to organizations using applied improvisation methodology. Core focus areas are leadership development, communication, change management, presentation/storytelling, team building, and women in leadership, delivered via interactive workshops and programs by a small team of certified coaches and facilitators. Complementary content products include published books, PDF templates, and a LinkedIn Learning course.

Product overview

The Improv Effect is a training and development company offering a portfolio of services centered on applied improvisation techniques for organizational growth. The core offering consists of experiential training programs and coaching services covering leadership development, communication skills, change management, team building, presentation skills, and women in leadership. Supporting products include two published books (CTRLShift and No More Meetings), downloadable PDF communication templates, and a LinkedIn Learning course on design thinking. Additional offerings encompass keynote speaking engagements, facilitation training, and specialized events/retreats. The company is organized around six service categories: Training, Coaching, Speaking/Keynotes, Facilitation, Events & Retreats, and Change Management, all delivered by a team of facilitators using interactive, hands-on learning approaches.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Training Programs Interactive, experiential training programs covering Confident and Connected Communication, Introduction to Design Thinking, Leadership Presence, Leading Through Change, The Creative Catalyst, Presentation Skills, Storytelling, Team Cohesion, Unlearning, and Women in Leadership; designed for enterprise teams and individuals.
• Leadership Coaching Individualized coaching for leaders to identify improvement areas, set and achieve goals, and develop essential skills for enhanced performance, teamwork, and resilience.
• Presentation Skills Coaching Coaching program helping individuals develop compelling narratives and master delivery techniques for effective presentations and audience engagement.
• Keynote / Speaking Keynote presentations designed to resonate with audiences and leave lasting impressions, including topics like Conscious Curiosity, The Social Playground, and Unlearning, delivered at corporate events, conferences, and summits.
• Facilitation Fundamentals A four-part program (16 hours total) teaching the fundamentals of creating immersive, engaging, and effective learning experiences through hands-on approaches combining offline and online methods.
• SideTrek A leadership transformation retreat experience combining new paths and perspectives, available in virtual or in-person formats for deeper self and team connection.
• Together to Gather An inclusive meetup event designed to facilitate meaningful connections and community building for women and nonbinary individuals, featuring authentic conversations and inclusive environments.
• CTRLShift (50 Games for 50 F***ing Days Like Today) A book co-authored by Jessie Shternshus and Mike Bonifer featuring 50 original improvisation games tailored for challenging days, designed to help readers manage stress and regain control through interactive exercises.
• No More Meetings (Unlearn 'bored room' Practices to Change the Way We Connect) A practical guide offering ways to make work gatherings more meaningful, human, purposeful, creative, and fun by replacing outdated processes with fresh approaches.
• Design Thinking: Cultivating Curiosity for Empathy and Inclusion An online course by Jessie Shternshus on applying design thinking principles to foster empathy and inclusion in professional settings, distributed via LinkedIn Learning.
• Communicating to Leadership with Confidence Four PDF practice communication exercises for building confidence when communicating with leadership, available as printables or digital fillable forms via Gumroad ($17).
• Communicating Up & Down in an Organization Six PDF practice communication exercises for improving upward and downward organizational communication, available as printables or digital fillable forms via Gumroad ($19).

Quantifiable outcome

• 75% retention rate in active, hands-on learning vs 5% in traditional lecture-based methods
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers46 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Mayo Clinic Medical Humanities DepartmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Mayo Clinic's Medical Humanities Department to enhance listening, collaboration, and empathy skills for medical professionals including doctors, nurses, and administrators. The program integrated applied improvisation, visual thinking, and design thinking to improve patient care and team dynamics.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Second City Works: The corporate training and professional development arm of The Second City. Directly comparable to The Improv Effect: uses improvisational theater methodology to teach communication, leadership, collaboration, and creativity to enterprise clients.
• Humor at Work: Michael Kerr's applied-humor and improv-based corporate training firm. Directly comparable to The Improv Effect in offering humor- and improv-driven keynotes, workshops, and team-building programs to enterprise audiences.
• ComedySportz: Improv comedy organization that runs both entertainment shows and corporate workshops using improv-based team-building and communication training. Closely mirrors The Improv Effect's improv-meets-business positioning.
• Performance of a Lifetime: Uses acting, improvisation, and performance techniques to coach executives and teams on presence, communication, and leadership. Highly comparable to The Improv Effect in methodology (applied performance) and target buyer (corporate L&D and executive development).

Broad incumbents

• The Second City: Parent brand of Second City Works and a much larger entertainment + corporate-training organization. Comparable as the broader incumbent that popularized the use of improv comedy for professional development, but operates at significantly greater scale and scope than The Improv Effect.
• Dale Carnegie & Associates: One of the largest and most established corporate training incumbents globally, focused on leadership, communication, presentation, and people skills. Competes with The Improv Effect for enterprise L&D dollars across overlapping course categories.
• FranklinCovey: Global leadership and organizational performance training company serving enterprises and governments. Overlaps with The Improv Effect in leadership development, change management, and team-effectiveness offerings but at much larger scale and broader scope.
• Center for Creative Leadership: Top-tier executive education provider specializing in leadership development and innovation training. Comparable in addressing the same enterprise buyers and leadership-skills problems as The Improv Effect, but via research-anchored programs rather than improvisation.
• Crucial Learning: Combined entity of VitalSmarts and Crucial Conversations, offering training in communication, leadership, and performance improvement. Directly competes with The Improv Effect in the communication and team-effectiveness training category at enterprise scale.

Others

• Applied Improvisation Network: International membership organization for practitioners of applied improvisation across business, education, therapy, and community work. Not a direct competitor but the most relevant ecosystem/industry body in which The Improv Effect operates and from which competitors and partners emerge.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ImprovEffectJax
• Facebookfacebook.com/improveffect
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-improv-effect
• Instagraminstagram.com/theimproveffect
• Xx.com/theimproveffect

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 The Improv Effect