I’ve spent more than 30 years inside the people situations that stop leaders cold.
E Factor Leadership is built around practical HR judgment, capable managers, and the belief that the right support should leave your business stronger.
Dr. Kimberly D. Washburn, DBA
Founder, E Factor Leadership
I know what it costs to be the person everyone needs steady.
I’m Kimberly Washburn, DBA. I’ve spent more than thirty years in HR and leadership, much of it where the stakes were human and the budgets were tight.
My work has taken me into rural hospitals and community organizations, including home health and hospice, a federally qualified health center, and United Way of King County. People were doing work that mattered, often with limited resources, and they needed an HR leader they could trust.
I carried the layoffs and investigations. I helped leaders prepare for conversations they would rather avoid, and worked through decisions that affected someone’s livelihood.
I know the responsibility that comes with being the person everyone looks to when something gets difficult.
That experience shapes how I work with you. There usually isn’t one perfect HR answer. There are options to understand and consequences to consider, alongside the realities of the business you’re trying to run.
Beside you, never above you.
You know your business best. I’m here to help you think through the people side without talking down to you or creating a relationship where every answer has to come through me.
The goal is to leave you and your managers more capable than when we started.
The law is a guardrail, not a wall.
Compliance is part of good HR judgment. It is not the whole of it. Strong decisions also account for context, culture, leadership, consistency, and the business you are building.
You make the call. I work beside you so you can make it with more confidence.
Support for owners, managers, and solo HR.
I work with small business owners and managers, especially businesses with roughly 20–40 employees, and solo HR professionals supporting organizations with 20–100 employees.
Based in Bend, Oregon, I work with Central Oregon businesses in person and clients nationwide remotely.
Practical help that leaves you more capable.
A formative stretch at Microsoft taught me to test new technology inside my everyday work. That curiosity stayed with me, and it now informs the manager tools and custom AI builds I create through E Factor Leadership.
I build around the work itself: preparing for a difficult conversation or creating an interview process that helps managers evaluate candidates consistently. Your judgment stays central.
Whether we’re working through an employee situation or building a tool your team can use again, I want you to leave better equipped for what comes next.
A little about me.
I’m based in Bend, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest is home. My husband and I have been married for 36 years, we have one daughter, and our blue heeler mix puppy keeps life interesting.
I’m a lifelong learner who enjoys finding a practical use for something new. I also serve on the Central Oregon SHRM board as Marketing & Technology Director.
That curiosity carries into my work with you. I want to understand the business you’ve built and what’s making the people side harder than it needs to be.
“This tool needs to be in the toolbox of every leader, parent, or person who has important conversations.”
It gives you a safe place to frame the conversation and practice, not with an unresponsive mirror or a rehearsed monologue, but with a trusted partner that prompts you to reframe, reconsider how your message is delivered, and work through responses that are uncannily accurate.
I’ve used it for tricky family-dynamic conversations, and it is a masterful tool in the workplace.
Kimberly, you are a communication genius. I’m so thankful you created this incredible tool to help us have more strategic, meaningful, productive conversations.
AllysonTell me what’s on your plate.
We can figure out what kind of support makes sense.