About Amy Beth Cheney
Amy is the founder of ABC Academy, where she blends her background in executive leadership, sales, coaching, and teaching. She helps individuals and organizations craft clear, compelling stories, from career value stories to leadership communication and go-to-market messaging.
Through workshops, coaching, advisory, and speaking engagements, she helps professionals communicate with confidence and lead with influence. Own Your Career is a foundational course from ABC Academy.
Amy spent years in sales and business development leadership, rising to Global Head of Sales for one of Bloomberg’s enterprise businesses, and then as Senior Vice President of Enterprise Sales at Dataminr. During her time at Dataminr, one of the leading AI companies, she launched and scaled the first enterprise go-to-market sales team, built the sales playbook, established strategic accounts and account management functions, and rebuilt the new business team.
At Cornell’s Johnson School of Management and Cornell Tech, Amy co-teaches value-based selling to MBA students and startup founders, focusing on how to listen and connect with customers and communicate value effectively. She also serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Cornell’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement, advising early-stage founders on go-to-market strategy and how to win their first customers.
Amy holds an MBA from Cornell’s Johnson School of Management, a BA in Economics and English from Bucknell University, and is a certified professional coach through iPEC. Originally from Southern California, she lives with her husband and two kids in New York City.
Read more about what Amy’s clients have to say about their experiences:
Testimonials
Amy’s Story
I built a successful career in New York City, doing all the things I thought I was supposed to do: working hard, delivering results, and continuing to move forward.
But at a certain point, I found myself feeling stuck.
From the outside, everything looked right. Inside, I wasn’t sure what I wanted next.
I realized I had been following the path in front of me without ever stepping back to ask whether it felt true to my values or the life I wanted.
So I started to look for answers.
I read, learned from others, and spent time reflecting on my own situation.
As I began to understand myself, new opportunities opened up within my company, and I decided to pursue an MBA, and that path eventually led me to teaching a class at Cornell University.
Along the way, I also learned how to communicate and advocate for myself.
Earlier in my career, I had been passed over for a promotion because leadership didn’t understand the impact of my work. That moment changed me. I began applying the communication and influence skills I developed in sales to advocate for myself and my teams.
Later, as I stepped into executive leadership, I faced another challenge: boundaries.
For years, I said yes to everything, believing that constant availability was the key to success. But when I learned to set clear, thoughtful boundaries and focus on what was most important, something surprising happened. I became more effective, more strategic, and was promoted more, not less.
Looking back, I can see the skills that made the biggest difference in my career: getting clear on what I wanted, communicating my value, and setting boundaries that supported my life.
These were things I had to figure out on my own, over many years.
They were never formally taught in school.
That’s why I created Own Your Career.
It’s a structured course and supportive community designed to help women get clear on what they want next, confidently communicate their value, and build careers that support the life they want to live.
