About ZIA

The work is hard enough.
The structure shouldn't make it harder.

ZIA was built for organizations where growth is real but the foundation hasn't caught up.
Grounded in Industrial-Organizational (IO) Psychology.

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Our story
A note from the founders

We named this company after a word that means light.

Zia. In several languages and traditions it points to something illuminated, made visible, finally clear. We didn't choose the name for branding reasons. We chose it because of what we kept watching happen inside organizations that were growing — and struggling — and couldn't quite see why.

We've both spent years working inside that moment: the point where a team stops being able to hold what the business has become. Not because the people stopped caring. Because the structure was never updated. Roles that made sense at ten people collapse at thirty. Founders who built everything themselves become the bottleneck. New talent walks into a system that was never designed for them to succeed in.

We started ZIA because we believed that problem was solvable — and that most organizations were trying to solve it with the wrong tools. More hiring without more clarity. More training without more structure. More effort applied to a foundation that was already cracking.

So we built something different. A way of placing talent that starts with organizational understanding, not a job description. A leadership program, ZIAversity, built on real IO Psychology — not motivational content or generic frameworks. And a team of our own that we built the same way we help our clients build: distributed across 11+ countries, culturally diverse, and genuinely accountable to each other.

We're committed to building organizations where people are seen, roles are real, and leadership is something the whole team can feel — not just the person at the top. That's what ZIA is here for, and we're just getting started.

Michael Jonathan

Michael Bonanno & Jonathan Bonanno

Co-Founders, ZIA
Our Story

Where ZIA came from
and where it's going

The Starting Point

Growth was exposing what structure was hiding

The same moment organizations begin to scale is when their systems, roles, and leadership habits stop working. What got them to growth is what holds them back.

The Observation

Talent was being placed into broken systems

Organizations were hiring without addressing what was underneath. Skilled people underperformed not from lack of effort, but because roles were unclear and expectations unspoken.

The Building

ZIA was built to address both levers at once

Talent that truly integrates. Leadership that evolves. Structure that holds under pressure. That's the ZIA model: talent and psychology working as one system.

Today

A distributed team across 11+ countries

ZIA operates the way we help others build: distributed, multicultural, and accountable. That lived experience informs every placement, every cohort, and every client conversation.

"Most teams don't fail because of effort. They fail because roles blur, decisions stall, and leaders carry too much."
ZIA Core Belief
11+
Countries · Active Team

ZIA operates as a modern distributed organization. We build trust and accountability across time zones and cultures because this is how our own team works.

How we think

The ZIA perspective

These aren't values on a wall. They're the operating principles behind every placement, every cohort, and every conversation.

01

Psychology is infrastructure

How a team thinks, relates, and handles pressure is the actual foundation of an organization. Before systems, before talent.

02

Talent needs context to perform

Skilled people underperform when roles are unclear and expectations are unspoken. Placement without structure is expensive friction.

03

Distributed is the new default

Modern organizations are already hybrid and multicultural. The question isn't whether remote works. It's whether the leadership is built for it.

04

Reactive growth breaks teams

Adding headcount on top of a fragile foundation doesn't scale the business. It scales the dysfunction.

05

Long-term fit, not short-term fill

We place talent to take real ownership, not to cover a gap. Cultural alignment and trust come before skills alone.

06

People-first is a discipline

Not a slogan. It requires structure, honest feedback, and real conversations about what the system asks of people.

The people behind ZIA

Meet our team

Distributed across 11+ countries, our team is proof of the model we believe in. Different backgrounds, one direction.

Michael

Michael, NLP

President

Jonathan

Jonathan, Ph.D.(C), M.S.

Managing Partner · IO Psychologist

Caio

Caio

Director, Operations

Vanessa

Vanessa

Brand Manager

Ian

Ian

Project Manager

Zane

Zane

Strategic Growth Consultant

Zoe

Zoe

Digital Presence Strategist

Taylor

Taylor, Ph.D.(C), M.S., M.A.

IO Psychologist

Stephen

Stephen

Solutions Architect + Cloud Engineer

In their words

What people say

★★★★★
"The team at ZIA is experienced, insightful, and they really care. I highly recommend working with them."
Dr. AJ | Physical Therapist, Private Practice Owner
★★★★★
"Even with over 20 years of experience in the field myself, I can't say enough how helpful Jonathan's coaching was. He brought real depth to every session."
Diane T. | Office Manager, Private Practice
★★★★★
"My business is moving in the direction it should be as a result of bringing on my virtual team member."
Katrina S. | International Speaker, KOL & RDH
★★★★★
"Two of my recent hires were Office Managers in two of my locations. We've experienced positive growth in the practice and team in the first month."
Sarah C. | Chief Operating Officer, DSO
★★★★★
"Thanks for the training! My team and I are excited to take the ideas you shared with us and incorporate them into our regular meetings."
Dr. Ryan | Dentist, Private Practice
★★★★★
"Jonathan — thank you for your linguistic jujitsu on my team's brain. Loved every moment of working with Chief Psycho."
Dr. Sean | Dentist, Private Practice
Two ways to go deeper

Where do you want to start?

Start the conversation

Not sure where to begin? That's exactly what the call is for.

No pitch, no pressure. A real 15-minute conversation about what's happening in your organization and whether ZIA is the right fit.