Our founders, facilitators, and collaborators bring a rich history of experience consulting, training and coaching. While a lot of our full-time and part-time team members have a comedy background, that's just the icing on the cake. With experience in operations, learning and development, and elevating company culture, we provide you with an experience that is impactful and memorable.
Amanda Austin
Amanda is excited to continue her work in training and development with Comedy House. She has spent a good portion of her professional career consulting, writing, and facilitating workshops of all sizes using techniques from improvisational comedy and more recently, Design Thinking.
Amanda was the Founder/CEO of Dallas Comedy House (2009-2020) where she oversaw day to day operations of all four revenue streams with over 100 part time and full time employees for over 11 years. She was also the founder and Executive Producer of the Dallas Comedy Festival (2009-2019). She’s the co-author of the REALway™ leadership training program.
She is a graduate of Leadership Dallas 2018 with the Dallas Regional Chamber and served as the Leadership Consultant for the 2019 and 2020 cohorts. Amanda received her Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Minor in Business Administration from Texas A&M University. She's currently pursuing graduate work in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Harvard University.
Amanda serves on the Executive Committee of the Auxiliary Board for the AT&T Performing Arts Center and on the strategic task force for the Deep Ellum Foundation. She is a 2020 Tory Burch Foundation Fellow. Amanda is the recipient of the 2020 Arts and Culture Award from the Asian Chamber of Texas, and was previously awarded the Dallas Business Journal's Women In Business Award and named Best Theater Director from the Dallas Observer.
As a comedian, she believes the vulnerability required to improvise and create something together on stage as a team can be translated to a professional group of any size. She uses the philosophy of improvisation and the power of "Yes, And" as a catalyst for positive change within an organization. Her active listening approach to coaching focuses on teaching individuals and teams the difference between listening to respond and listening to understand.
Kyle Austin
Kyle graduated from Baylor University in 2004 with a degree in Communications. His passion for communicating has been evident in his work over the last decade. Kyle spent the last 16 years on the leadership team for WCUMC where he was promoted within several times. Kyle co-founded the Dallas Comedy House in 2009 and spent more than a decade teaching and coaching. His real passion lies in corporate training where he delights in the "light bulb moments" people experience through his teachings.
Kyle is married to the love of his life, Maggie, and has two adorable children, Martha Jean and Arthur Vance. In his spare time you can find him cuddling with his kids, doing "bits" around the house, or on the golf course, weather/children permitting.