The Thirteenth Floor

By Carly Fliesher

The thirteenth floor of a Las Vegas hotel isn't supposed to exist, but Carly Fliesher slept there anyway—just hours before surviving the deadliest mass shooting in US history. What began as a carefree weekend at the 2017 Route 91 Harvest music festival became a defining moment that would transform how she understood trauma, leadership and the critical responsibility organizations have to support employees through life's darkest chapters.

From processing trauma and coping with PTSD in high-pressure corporate environments to navigating life afterward, this powerful memoir and guide reveals how leaders can create psychologically safe workplaces where survivors don't just endure but excel. Drawing from real experiences with gun violence, workplace grief and emergency preparedness challenges, The Thirteenth Floor: How Dealing With Trauma Transformed My Approach to Employee Well-Being demonstrates how vulnerability in leadership builds stronger, more resilient teams.

Additional Information

Fliesher’s ability to weave in practical frameworks for recognizing trauma responses, implementing crisis protocols and fostering community care expertly transforms personal survival into professional purpose. In the process, she shows leaders how to turn trauma into collective strength while ensuring the fact that employees need not face their greatest challenges alone.

About the Author

Carly Fliesher is a wife, mother of two and the Senior Vice President of Enterprise Sales at Openforce and Technology Chair for the Express Carriers Association. A survivor of the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting, Fliesher became determined to transform her trauma into purpose. While developing frameworks for supporting employees through crises, she also advanced her career from a small startup that was acquired by Walmart to a role in executive leadership.