Corporate Strategy Talent: Brian
Brian is a Strategy Consultant with over 12 years of experience helping PE portfolio companies and Fortune 500 clients execute growth, transformation, integration, and operations improvement strategies. Having launched his own firm, Monarch Point Consulting Group, to help Financial Services, Technology, and Outdoors/Sporting Goods firms execute strategies to improve profitability, processes, and performance, Brian's role has also evolved into a strategy and leadership coach, where he advises, teaches, and motivates business leaders to help them lead more effectively and successfully achieve their strategic objectives.
Q. When you’re at a networking event, how do you describe your independent career status, and where you focus your work?
Basically, I just name my firm, Monarch Point Consulting. Occasionally people ask how many people work and then I'll say it's just me - but I use subcontractors if I need specialists or additional manpower. I focus most of my work on strategy, operations, transformation, & PMO consulting for financial services, technology, and outdoor companies.
Q. Describe a recent or successful assignment in terms of scope, duration and any particular milestones in the results.
I've been fortunate to have worked with some amazing clients who had some very challenging objectives to achieve or obstacles to overcome.
But if I had to name one that I absolutely knocked out of the park, it would be when I helped organize the PMO to execute a post-merger integration following a Fortune 500 firm's acquisition of a smaller regional firm.
With over 20 different workstreams comprised of over 250 stakeholders, this was not a simple project at all. Further compounding the challenges, was that the acquiring firm was an international firm with a lot of cultural sensitivities that needed to be adhered to. Despite all these challenges, I was able to successfully complete the integration 20% faster than the anticipated target date using my consulting toolkit to identify shortcuts, cost savings, and help the client streamline task completion. Not only was this one of my more challenging projects, it was also one of the most rewarding in terms of personal development.
Q. What's your favourite thing to do when you're not on the clock?
I love spending time with my family and pursuing my hobbies outdoors like surfing, fishing, spearfishing, and hunting. Depending on my schedule, I try to squeeze in one of these activities before or after work.
Q. What is the biggest challenge you had to face in your career so far and how did you overcome it?
I've had several challenges but arguably one of the most difficult was leaving a corporate career in consulting to start out as an independent. When I started out I didn't know of Talmix or other firms that help pair independents with clients so I basically had to start from scratch and source my own clients. I took any project I could, even with startups that ended up failing and couldn't pay me just to build up my track record of achieving results. Eventually, the quality of my work spread throughout the local business community and was able to take on larger (and better paying) projects before ultimately getting hired to serve some Fortune 500 clients as I did in my corporate career. Had I known about Talmix or other talent sites at the time, that would have saved me A LOT of time in scaling my consulting business.
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