Our Story

Impact People Partners was created to offer founders and small business owners a different path, one that brings seasoned People and Culture leadership without the financial strain of a full-time VP or Director of HR. After nearly two decades of working closely with founders, I saw how often they felt forced into solutions that did not match their stage of growth or the realities of their business.

Since 2008, I have partnered with small businesses as a full-time People and Culture leader. I have helped founders create structure, navigate complexity, and grow teams with clarity and care. Through these experiences, I learned that leaders deserve support that fits their stage of growth, honors their budget, and strengthens both the business and its people.

Over the years, I saw leaders doing everything they could to support their people, hiring senior HR roles before the business could sustain them, especially because those roles are considered unbillable and non-revenue-generating, or investing in PEO solutions that did not fully address their challenges. Their intentions were right, but the solutions often created financial pressure instead of responsible growth.

Impact People Partners exists to provide a better way.

Our fractional model is not outsourced HR. It is an embedded, intentional partnership, ongoing, flexible, and integrated into your team and operations. We show up as an extension of your leadership, offering clarity, consistency, and human-centered care without requiring a full-time role. Alongside fractional work, we provide project-based People and Culture support and strategic advisory services that help businesses build strong foundations and make responsible, values-aligned decisions.

Ultimately, Impact People Partners exists to steward our talents, gifts, and resources with purpose and care. Through meaningful collaboration and values-driven, human-centered service, we strengthen workplaces, support responsible growth, and create impact that reflects the values of the communities and people who shaped us.

Who We Serve

We partner with founders, owners, and small to mid‑sized businesses who value people as one of their greatest assets and are ready to intentionally build strong People and Culture foundations.

Ideal organizations typically have headcounts from 1 to 150 employees and are in early‑stage, emerging, or scaling phases of growth. They are seeking clarity, structure, and partnership that strengthens both the business and the people who make it possible.

In person, we serve clients throughout the Austin metro and surrounding areas. Virtually, we have the capacity to support multi‑state organizations and distributed teams across the U.S.

We work with leaders who believe responsible growth means caring for both the business and the people who make it possible. They seek partnership, not outsourcing, and value collaboration with a People and Culture leader who becomes an embedded extension of their team.

Why We Exist

We exists to help small to mid-sized businesses grow responsibly by building and strengthening People & Culture foundations that support both the company and its talent. We exist to bring stewardship, clarity, consistency, and human‑centered care to workplaces so businesses can thrive financially while their people thrive personally and professionally.

  • We partner with founders and leaders to build healthy, high‑functioning workplaces rooted in clarity, consistency, and care. We strengthen the foundations that enable responsible growth and help people and businesses grow.

  • Intentional Partnerships: We invest in relationships with clients, communities, startups, and each other. We show up with authenticity, energy, and care, building trust through authentic, intentional partnership.

    Thoughtful Experimentation: We pause, think creatively, and design solutions that fit the realities of each business. We experiment with intention, iterate with curiosity, and stay comfortable being different in how we solve problems.

    Purposeful Execution: We deliver work with clarity, consistency, and care. We honor the details, follow through on commitments, and build People & Culture foundations leaders can rely on. Our execution is steady, principled, and grounded in purpose.

    Human‑Centered Care: We prioritize our authentic self, well-being, and experience of every person we support. We listen deeply, communicate with clarity, and help create workplaces where people can thrive personally and professionally.

  • We show up with clarity, consistency, and care, every time.

Who We Are

We love this work, and we approach every partnership with clarity, consistency, and care. Our commitment to community is an extension of how we operate, building foundations that help people and businesses flourish together.

One of our core differentiators is that we give 5% of annual profits back to the local communities we serve. This commitment reflects our belief in stewardship and responsible growth. Each intentional partnership contributes to meaningful community impact.

Why Us

Meet the Founder

Ana Marisa Hernandez

Ana Marisa, Founder & Principal, was raised by two educators who taught her the importance of being a good steward of her gifts, her opportunities, and the communities she serves. Her parents instilled faith, service, and a deep belief that meaningful impact begins with how we show up for others. That foundation continues to shape her leadership and her life.

Ana Marisa earned her Bachelor of Science in Dance, with a minor in Art and Design, from Texas State University in San Marcos. Her creative training shows up daily in her work: in her thoughtful experimentation, her ability to solve problems with curiosity, and her instinct for reading a room. Dance gave her poise in boardrooms, the confidence to command attention with professionalism and energy, and the ability to improvise and match the rhythm of each client’s culture.

Ana Marisa has worked in the HR profession since 2000, beginning her career in the hospitality industry. Hospitality shaped her earliest understanding of service, anticipation of needs, and purposeful execution. It taught her to support people with clarity, consistency, and care and to make a positive impact on every person she worked with.

Over the next two decades, Ana Marisa worked her way through the HR profession, growing into roles as a full‑time recruiter, regional trainer, HR manager, and ultimately Director of People & Culture for CEOs and founders across diverse industries. These experiences strengthened her strategic approach, deepened her commitment to responsible growth, and affirmed her belief that people fuel the progress of every business.

Outside of her professional work, Ana Marisa has served as an emergency foster parent and is an adoptive mother, a wife, and part of a blended family with two stepsons. She finds joy in service, cooking new recipes, gardening, and exploring both domestic and international travel. She chooses to live with intention, creating a life rooted in joy, impact, and a lasting legacy personally and professionally.

Impact People Partners is the culmination of Ana Marisa’s values, her lived experience, and her calling. Her work reflects the belief that healthy, high‑functioning workplaces are built through clarity, consistency, and care, and that when leaders invest in people with intention, both people and businesses flourish.