Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

Celine Teoh is an executive coach who helps senior leaders convert potential into performance by making the soft skills practical. She is a certified Tiny Habits Coach with Stanford’s Behavior Design Lab, and a facilitator for Stanford Business School’s popular Interpersonal Dynamics course. She is also an ex-McKinsey consultant, business operator, marketing strategist, and investment banker with years of strategy consulting experience with Fortune 500 executives in Asia and the USA. She holds an MBA from Stanford and a BSc from the London School of Economics.  Agnès Le is an executive coach with a focus on emotional intelligence with 20 years of experience in talent development, a multicultural background, and an MBA from Stanford. She's a leadership coach in the Executive Education and MSx programs at Stanford business school, and a group facilitator for the school’s most popular elective, Interpersonal Dynamics, also known as Touchy Feely. She is also an instructor at Stanford Continuing Studies where she teaches the class “Building a Career of Meaning and Impact.”   Key points include: 10:54: The challenges of practicing empathy 15:22: Three hacks based on our research and experience 25:53: Unpacking status 44:38: Understanding the market Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Shane Heywood on Go-to-Market Strategy Shane Heywood is a Bain-trained consultant with 10+ years experience in Marketing, Sales, Operations and Strategy across a variety of industries. He has on the ground experience in 13 countries and currently works in private sector Emerging Market strategy. Shane is passionate about building businesses, delivering impact and helping organisations grow, and in today’s episode, he talks about his practice and processes. Shane can be contacted through LinkedIn, and you can learn more about his company at PortlandVenturesInc.com.   Key points include: 05:44: Steps an organisation can take to make sponsorship happen 10:42: Sponsorship and mentorship for independent professionals 16:25: What’s included in a go-to-market project 18:38: A case example from a Sub-Saharan market Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Phillip Morgan has helped thousands of consultants use specialization to find a beachhead that leads to greater visibility, profitability, expertise, and success. He has recently published his book, The Positioning Manual for Indie Consultants, and in today’s episode, he talks about his expertise incubator, his book, and setting up a thought leadership program. You can learn more from Phillip’s book, and the 10-part email course.  Key points include: 03:01: Examples of small scale research 06:52: Examples of projects in the program 13:02: The platformer advantage 21:51: Earning visibility without a platform Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

McKinsey alum with an MBA from Harvard Business School, Nidhi Chadda has 20+ years of experience as an investment banker, strategic consultant, and investor. She is the Founder and CEO of Enzo Advisors, a global sustainability consulting firm focused on helping companies build best-in-class sustainable business models within an ESG construct. In today’s episode, she talks about ESG in business. You can reach out to Nidhi on LinkedIn or visit her website EnzoAdvisors.com.  Key points include: 02:12: ESG and investing in asset management 08:20: The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) factor 11:19: ESG and value creation 20:32: Trends in ESG Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Founder of Aminad Consulting, Lido Ramadan has over 25 years of experience in founding, growing, leading, and sustaining services organizations. Prior to establishing Aminad, Lido founded multiple successful small businesses and led the operations of several rapidly growing consulting firms. In today’s episode he talks about serving the federal government. To find out more about Lido’s firm or to contact him directly, visit LinkedIn or AminadConsulting.com. Key points include: 05:17:Consulting analysis unique to the government 09:54: Surprising insights from interviews 13:55: An effective strategy 20:11: Projects for the SEC Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

  Alexei Leonard is a Partner at Golenblock, Eisman, Assor Bell, and  Pescoe where he leads the firm’s labor and employment practice.  His practice spans nearly all employment counseling and litigation matters affecting employers today. In today’s episode, he talks about the legalities involved with hiring and retaining an employee. To learn more about Alexei’s services, visit www.golenblock.com or email him at Alexander@Golenblock.com. Key points include: 02:00: Key considerations 13:19: Payroll providers 19:06: Background checks 34:09: Non-disclosure agreements Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Erik Lautier is an expert in ecommerce, marketing, and digital strategy.  After over two decades in roles dealing with ecommerce and marketing for brands like Lacoste, Bebe, and Francesca’s, he founded Erik & Co, an ecommerce and marketing consultancy serving seven and eight-figure DTC brands, retailers, and/or their private equity owners. In today’s episode he shares his expertise in ecommerce. Learn more about Erik and his company at www.Erik.co. Key points include: 07:17: The shift from theatre to ecommerce 10:14: The layers of an ecommerce assessment 12:38: Benchmarks and opportunities 18:26: The choke points in ecommerce Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Andrew is a former engagement manager at Mckinsey where he specialized in asset productivity and served a broad range of industries, including aerospace, automotive, consumer products and mining. He is now the lead consultant at Seay Associates, focusing on operations transformation and corporate strategy. In today’s episode, Andrew talks about how to use Smartsheet on a transformation project. To learn more about Andrew’s company, visit www.SeayAssociates.com.  Key points include: 09:41: Smartsheet for Google Users 21:21: The Smartsheet dashboard 29:56: Smartsheet vs Excel and Google Sheets 44:51: Licensing and sharing with clients Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Marshall has over twenty years of experience defining, managing, and growing the world’s best-known investing brands. He has been an executive committee leader and CMO for Fortune 250 businesses in North America and the Asia-Pacific region. In today’s episode, he talks about how the world of data is revolutionizing marketing, particularly for wealth and investment management firms. You can learn more about the work Marshall does at WellsFargo.com, or reach out to him on LinkedIn.  Key points include: 00:50: Data in terms of wealth Investment Management 08:39: Lead scoring in practice 20:10: Identifying poor leads 22:53: Identifying customer tiers Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Mike is an innovative and entrepreneurial Chief Information Officer (CIO) with over 30 years in executive leadership positions with global technology organizations across multiple industries, including retail, telecommunications, research, and energy. His vast range of experience includes building teams in cybersecurity, application development, cloud services, infrastructure, data centers, software as a service, and more. In today’s episode, Mike talks about strategic technology leadership.  Learn more about Mike’s company at Stratus Key Advisors or reach out to Mike directly at mike@stratuskey.com. Key points include: 05:26: Data in the utility industry 14:54: Security of information 21:30: How companies are monetizing energy usage data 24:54: Key areas of focus in the utility and energy industry Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.