Episode 25: Meg Newhouse: From Clinical Psychology to the Boardroom
10/02/23 • 36 min
Have you ever wondered how an aspiring clinical psychologist ended up co-founding a successful tech consulting firm? That's exactly the intriguing journey of Meg Newhouse, our guest for this episode. We get a fascinating peek into Meg's career pivots, starting with her initial discovery of the field of instructional design and her subsequent roles in a tech company and a large consulting firm. Her company, Inspirant Group, was sold to 10Pearls in 2023.
Meg shares how she went from writing training programs to building her boutique learning and development consulting firm. She vividly explains how the Inspirant Group was born when a good friend asked her to help build a consulting firm. In this episode, we dig into the nitty-gritty of how the Inspirant Group's founding team disrupted the consulting industry. They established their core values and behaviors and created an attractive culture for potential team members. We also touch upon the importance of resource utilization and the pitfalls of solely focusing on it.
Our conversation takes us to the complexities of being a solo entrepreneur and the crucial role of transparency and trust among co-founders. Meg reveals how they balanced decision-making processes, incentivized employees beyond sales, and kept company secrets. To top it all off, she discusses the crucial aspects of preparing for exit strategies, constructing a fair bonus structure, and the importance of engaging a broker during a company sale. This conversation is a treasure trove of insights for anyone interested in entrepreneurship and team-building.
Prof. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit. Joe's research, writing, speaking and insights can be found at www.joeomahoney.com
Have you ever wondered how an aspiring clinical psychologist ended up co-founding a successful tech consulting firm? That's exactly the intriguing journey of Meg Newhouse, our guest for this episode. We get a fascinating peek into Meg's career pivots, starting with her initial discovery of the field of instructional design and her subsequent roles in a tech company and a large consulting firm. Her company, Inspirant Group, was sold to 10Pearls in 2023.
Meg shares how she went from writing training programs to building her boutique learning and development consulting firm. She vividly explains how the Inspirant Group was born when a good friend asked her to help build a consulting firm. In this episode, we dig into the nitty-gritty of how the Inspirant Group's founding team disrupted the consulting industry. They established their core values and behaviors and created an attractive culture for potential team members. We also touch upon the importance of resource utilization and the pitfalls of solely focusing on it.
Our conversation takes us to the complexities of being a solo entrepreneur and the crucial role of transparency and trust among co-founders. Meg reveals how they balanced decision-making processes, incentivized employees beyond sales, and kept company secrets. To top it all off, she discusses the crucial aspects of preparing for exit strategies, constructing a fair bonus structure, and the importance of engaging a broker during a company sale. This conversation is a treasure trove of insights for anyone interested in entrepreneurship and team-building.
Prof. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit. Joe's research, writing, speaking and insights can be found at www.joeomahoney.com
Previous Episode
Episode 24 - Pritul Khagram, Founder of People Force
Pritul is now a Director at PWC after selling his firm, People Force to the company in April 2023.
People Force was a Consultancy specialising in people technology services, payroll & immigration. Since 2013, the company grew organically & through acquisition. Pritul led the company through year-on-year growth, which included an astonishing 237% growth during the pandemic.
Pritul successfully sold People Force to PwC UK, where he now works as a Director within HR Technology in the People & Organisation team. Here, with others Pritul is leading the Ceridian Dayforce practice. Starting with a practice size of 60 in April 2023, which includes 50 people that joined through the acquisition of People Force, this team is expected to increase to 100 by the end of 2023. PwC UK has become the largest Global Ceridian implementation partner in the EMEA Region. Projects are delivered in various market segments to include Majors, Enterprise and Large Enterprise.
Prof. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit. Joe's research, writing, speaking and insights can be found at www.joeomahoney.com
Next Episode
Episode 26: Culture, AI and Growth with David Fields
Welcome to a captivating conversation with David Fields. David is does similar work to me, but on the other side of the Atlantic.
Ever wondered how small consulting firms manage to compete in an oversaturated market? David offers his perspective on the role of marketing and the power of referrals, inviting us to question our own strategies. Finding effective differentiation in the sea of sameness, they say, comes down more to reliability and credibility than standing out.
We chat about Artificial Intelligence and its potential impact on the industry. AI's ability to enhance solutions, streamline operations, revolutionize communication, and even manage information storage and dissemination might just be the game-changer we're all waiting for. But what if AI could also create custom bots for clients (it can now!) and play devil’s advocate?
Finally, we dive deep into the art of building a consulting firm for not just short-term wins but long-term success. The secret lies in creating a culture that's satisfying and profitable for everyone, from the owners to the partners. David illuminates the nuanced difference between a firm built to last and one polished for sale, sparking a thought-provoking conversation about the balancing act of competing in two markets - clients and employees. This is a critical examination of the consulting industry that you won't want to miss. Tune in to gain valuable insights from two seasoned professionals.
Prof. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit. Joe's research, writing, speaking and insights can be found at www.joeomahoney.com
The Consulting Growth Podcast - Episode 25: Meg Newhouse: From Clinical Psychology to the Boardroom
Transcript
Welcome to the Consulting Growth podcast . I'm Professor Joe Omani , a professor of consulting at Cardiff University and an advisor to consultancies that want to grow .
Speaker 1If you'd like to find more out about me and access some free resources to help your consultancy grow , do please visit joomanicom . That's J-O-E-O-M-A-H-O-N-E-Ycom .
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