UX and AI consultant Shayla Williams Fender launches Groundswell Strategy

Shayla Williams Fender, a Farmington, Connecticut-based UX/AI transformation consultant and founder of The Groundswell Strategy, is helping entrepreneurs build human-centered businesses with AI systems and neuro-affirming strategy. Her work reflects a growing push for more sustainable, personalized approaches to productivity, leadership and business design.

Why it matters: - Shayla Williams Fender is building consulting tools for entrepreneurs who want more time freedom, less operational chaos and business systems that fit how they actually work. - Her approach combines UX design, behavioral psychology and AI transformation strategy. - The model targets founders and coaches who feel successful on paper but overwhelmed in practice. - Her work also reflects a broader shift toward productivity and business advice that is more personalized and sustainable.

What happened: - Shayla Williams Fender, a UX/AI Transformation Consultant based in Farmington, Connecticut, launched The Groundswell Strategy in October. - The Groundswell Strategy is a consulting and coaching practice focused on AI-driven systems design for founders and coaches. - The practice helps clients automate repetitive work, improve workflow architecture and align operations with purpose. - Shayla Williams Fender is also a neurodivergent business owner and a mother of two.

The details: - Shayla Williams Fender started her career in public service in the Mayor’s Office in Hartford, Connecticut, where she worked on community relations and constituent services. - She later worked in state government supporting AmeriCorps programs through grants administration, then moved into nonprofit and federal government roles focused on program management and strategy. - She said she moved into user experience design because public-service timelines made it hard to see measurable impact quickly. - Her background includes psychology studies at Williams College. - She completed a UX certification at Bentley University before moving into UX research and consulting. - She later joined Slalom Consulting, where she supported Fortune 500 companies and government agencies on experience strategy and transformation initiatives. - Shayla Williams Fender says she has built businesses and communities around a childhood candy-selling venture she ran with her sister. - Her work through The Groundswell Strategy centers on helping entrepreneurs create systems that support both productivity and personal well-being. - She describes her business approach as neuro-affirming, designed to support diverse ways of thinking, working and processing information. - Her values include community over competition and building spaces where neurodivergent business owners can show up authentically. - She keeps work off when her daughters get home from school and prioritizes being fully present for her children at night. - She says her success depends heavily on multiple communities, including human design, technology, Growth Hub and AI consultant groups. - She points to her Influential Women profile for more information.

Between the lines: - Shayla Williams Fender is positioning AI as a support tool for human-centered work, not a replacement for it. - Her emphasis on neuro-affirming systems suggests a market for business strategy that accounts for neurodivergence instead of forcing workers into one-size-fits-all workflows. - Her critique of traditional career advice points to a wider frustration among professionals who do not fit standard productivity models. - Her focus on boundaries and family time reinforces the message that sustainable leadership can look different from conventional hustle culture.

What’s next: - The Groundswell Strategy is likely to keep expanding its consulting and coaching work for entrepreneurs who want more tailored systems design. - Shayla Williams Fender says the opportunity ahead is in helping more people move away from rigid productivity advice and toward approaches that match their strengths. - She also sees room for more industries to adopt flexible systems that better reflect how people actually work.

The bottom line: - Shayla Williams Fender is betting that the next wave of business innovation will blend AI, UX and human well-being into one operating model.