By The Human Reach Editorial Team
In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, AJ Mizes made a decision that surprised many of his colleagues: he left a senior HR executive role at Meta — one of the most coveted positions in the tech industry — to start a career coaching company. The Human Reach was born not from necessity, but from a conviction that the insights he’d gained from years inside one of the world’s most sophisticated talent development environments could help thousands of professionals who would never have access to those insights otherwise.
The Path to Meta
Mizes’s journey to Meta was itself a story of strategic career development. After graduating from Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Management and Organizational Design, he built his HR expertise across a series of increasingly senior roles.
At KSL Capital, he specialized in coaching leaders to select, develop, and retain talent at luxury resort properties. At Premier Staffing, he partnered with major tech companies to refine talent strategy and recruiting. As VP of Talent and Engagement at Sungevity, the world’s leading residential solar platform technology company, he led an expansive HR team across the United States.
But it was his six-plus years as a Global HR Executive at Facebook/Meta that defined his professional identity. There, he led international teams of over 30,000 people, spearheading innovative leadership programs that are still in use at the company today.
The Insight That Changed Everything
During his years at Meta, Mizes observed a pattern that troubled him: the most talented professionals in the world — people with extraordinary skills and accomplishments — were consistently undervaluing themselves in the job market. They didn’t know how to identify their own value, articulate it compellingly, or position themselves for the opportunities they deserved.
“I was seeing incredible people get passed over for roles they were perfect for, not because they weren’t qualified, but because they didn’t know how to show their value. The system was failing them. I wanted to fix that.”
Building The Human Reach
The Human Reach launched in 2020 with a mission to revolutionize how professionals perceive and pursue their careers. The company’s flagship program, Career Amp, combines one-on-one coaching with a systematic methodology for identifying, articulating, and positioning professional value.
The results have been remarkable. Clients have landed roles at companies including Google, Amazon, Apple, and Meta. Many have achieved compensation increases of 50 to 70 percent or more. And thousands have found not just better jobs, but more fulfilling careers.
In 2023, USA Today named Mizes the #1 Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year — recognition of both the company’s growth and its impact on the professionals it serves.
The Philosophy Behind the Work
Mizes’s coaching philosophy is grounded in a simple but powerful belief: confidence comes from action, not from waiting. The professionals who achieve the most in their careers are not the ones who wait to be discovered — they’re the ones who take deliberate, strategic action to create the opportunities they want.
This philosophy is embedded in everything The Human Reach does: from the Career Amp program to the free strategy calls Mizes offers to executives who are ready to take the next step.
About AJ Mizes: AJ Mizes is the founder and CEO of The Human Reach. He is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), a former global HR executive at Meta, and USA Today’s #1 Emerging Entrepreneur of 2023.