Photo by Kristin Abigail
Aimee Groth is a Los Angeles–based author, narrative strategist, and journalist focused on the intersection of organizational transformation, leadership, and AI. She works with VC-backed technology companies, developing narrative infrastructure that aligns teams, accelerates product adoption, and shapes organizational identity. Her reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, TIME, and other publications.
Her book, Kingdom of Happiness (originally published by Simon & Schuster), is a firsthand account of the late Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's $350 million bet to transform an iconic American city into a more socially conscious startup ecosystem while decentralizing hierarchy at his Amazon-owned company. Written during his lifetime, the book captures a pivotal moment in his journey — and its broader implications for reimagining business and society.
Aimee's expertise draws on more than a decade immersed in the transformation economy, including a partnership at HolacracyOne, and in-depth coverage of how organizations adapt (or fail to) during pivotal moments of change.
She is also developing a scripted limited series inspired by Kingdom of Happiness, bringing the story to a broader cultural audience through narrative television.⇩
The New York Times
"We invited [Bayer CEO Bill] Anderson to discuss how D.S.O. is playing out, two years in, with Aimee Groth, an expert in decentralized organizations. Groth documented Zappos’s effort to flatten its org chart in her 2017 book, The Kingdom of Happiness, and has been following the movement ever since."— Andrew Ross Sorkin, NYT DealBook Founder & Editor-at-Large, June 2025