Today we’d like to introduce you to Betsy Allen-Manning.
Hi Betsy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I didn’t set out to be a leadership expert. I started out managing at five-star hotels, working crazy hours and learning quickly that how you treat people and the employee experience determines whether people will be motivated and devoted. The teams that thrived weren’t the ones with the best perks; they were the ones led by people who cared, who communicated clearly, and who made their staff feel valued.
That realization lit a fire in me. I left hospitality to conduct more research, and then started showing other leaders what I’d learned about people, purpose, and performance. What began as small workshops eventually grew into Destination Workplace™, an award-winning culture abd leadership training company in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of training more than 15,000 leaders and teams, from small businesses to Fortune-level companies like Toshiba, Aflac, Fidelity, and even the U.S. Department of Defense. My mission has always been to help leaders put purpose, accountability, and loyalty back into the workplace.
That mission led me to conduct the National Workplace Trends Study, a research project uncovering the latest workforce trends and what today’s employee truly wants and needs. The findings have shaped our Destination Workplace™ Framework and training programs, which help organizations transform toxic cultures into places where people apply, engage, contribute, promote, and stay.
Today, I travel the country as a leadership keynote speaker, author, and workplace culture strategist, but at the heart of it, I’m a person who believes the greatest ROI will always come from investing in your people.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not. Like most entrepreneurs, my journey has had plenty of bumps, breakdowns, and moments of questioning whether it was all worth it.
When I first started, I left a stable job in the hospitality industry to build a company from scratch—with no business degree, no investors, and no roadmap. I just knew I wanted to help leaders create workplaces people didn’t dread walking into every day. What I didn’t know was how long and hard the road to that vision would be.
In the early days, I faced the usual entrepreneurial struggles—cash flow challenges, self-doubt, and rejection. I was told “no” far more times than “yes.” There were times I spoke to rooms of ten people when I dreamed of hundreds. But every “no” became fuel. Every challenge refined my message and strengthened my mission, and eventually God blessed my efforts and turned my business into a success.
Then came 2020, when overnight, every live event on my calendar was canceled. As a keynote speaker and trainer, my entire business model vanished in one week. It was one of the hardest seasons of my career, but also one of the most defining. Instead of folding, I reinvented. I pivoted to virtual keynotes, launched updated program topics, and started conducting nationwide research on what employees were really feeling during that time. That research became the National Workplace Trends Study, which now powers everything we do at Destination Workplace™.
Looking back, the road has never been smooth, but it’s always been purposeful. Every challenge forced me to grow in leadership, faith, and resilience. And now I get to help other leaders navigate those same storms with a little more confidence and a lot more hope.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My company is called Destination Workplace™, and our mission is to help organizations create workplaces where people apply, engage, contribute, promote, and stay.
We’re a Dallas-based leadership and workplace culture training company that equips executives, HR leaders, and managers with data-driven tools to build stronger teams, reduce turnover, and become what we call a “Destination Workplace™”—the kind of organization everyone wants to work at, and people never want to leave.
What sets us apart is that our work isn’t just motivational, it’s measurable. Everything we teach is backed by data from the National Workplace Trends Study, a nationwide research project we conduct to uncover what employees are truly experiencing and what today’s workforce values most. From that data, we created the Destination Workplace Framework™, which focuses on five pillars that define an exceptional employee experience: Culture, Leadership, Growth Opportunities, Team & Belonging, and Well-Being.
We’re known for transforming workplace culture through our leadership keynotes, culture audits, certification programs, and multi-day leadership training experiences. Whether we’re working with a small business or a multi-billion-dollar corporation, our goal is the same—to help leaders put purpose, accountability, and loyalty back into their workplaces.
Brand-wise, what I’m most proud of is that our message is catching on. Companies are realizing that culture isn’t a “nice-to-have” anymore; it’s a business strategy. Destination Workplace™ has become a movement in organizations, and we get to be part of helping them rewrite their story.
At the end of the day, Destination Workplace™ is more than a company. It’s a movement. We want to see a world where people love where they work and leaders love who they lead.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
So many people deserve credit for where I am today. No one builds anything meaningful alone.
First and foremost, my husband Sean Manning has been my biggest supporter, business partner, and sounding board. He’s also our VP of Sales at Destination Workplace™, and with over 25 years in business growth and sales leadership, he helps me turn ideas into executable systems. I’m the visionary, and he’s the integrator. Together, we balance faith and strategy in every decision we make.
I’ve also been blessed with incredible mentors over the years: leaders like John Maxwell, whose teachings on leadership shaped the start of our programs. I’ve had many incredible speaking mentors along the way, and I’m constantly inspired by the people I get to serve: the executives and HR leaders who bring us in to help their teams. They trust me with their culture, their people, and their challenges, and that’s not something I ever take lightly.
Behind the scenes, my team deserves huge credit too. From Grace, my outreach director who helps keep the operation running smoothly, to Jeilanie, my social media manager, to our facilitators, editors, and creative partners who bring the Destination Workplace™ brand to life—they’re the heartbeat of the company.
And, honestly, my faith plays the biggest role of all. Every major decision, partnership, and pivot has come from prayer and trusting that God’s timing is better than my own.
So yes, I’ve had amazing people cheering me on, and at the end of the day, I’m here because a lot of generous, faithful, and hard-working people believed in the vision long before it became a reality.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://betsyallenmanning.com and https://destinationworkplace.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betsyallenmanning/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetsyAllenManning/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsyallenmanning/
- Twitter: https://x.com/betsyamanning
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BetsyAllenManning
