Consulting Industry – Page 2

Croixstone Debuts on the 2023 Inc. 5000 List

“Our debut on the 2023 Inc. 5000 list is fueled by the incredible support that Croixstone receives from our talented consultants, employees, clients, partners and friends.”

– Patti Weber (CEO and Co-Founder, Croixstone Consulting)

We have big news to share today: Croixstone is excited to share the following news as announced this morning by Inc. Business Media.

• Croixstone is debuting at No. 511 on the 2023 Inc. 5000, the annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. This ranking puts our firm among the top 10% of the fastest-growing private companies in the USA.
• Croixstone is debuting at No. 8 as the fastest-growing private company in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia NC-SC metro area.
• Croixstone is debuting at No.16 as the fastest-growing private company in our home state of North Carolina.
• Croixstone is debuting at No. 56 as the fastest-growing private Business Products & Services company in the USA.

Learn more about the Inc. 5000 List: The 2023 Inc. 5000 list ranks the top 5,000 privately held businesses in the U.S. by three-year revenue growth.

View the complete list here.

Read our press release: Click here.

Explore our digital library: Click here.

We are one week away from sharing big news.

“On the heels of celebrating our seventh business anniversary in June, I am thrilled to launch our countdown as we prepare to share big Croixstone news on Tuesday, August 15.”

– Patti Weber (CEO and Co-Founder, Croixstone Consulting)

The countdown begins today: The Croixstone Consulting leadership team is exceptionally excited to launch a 7-day countdown beginning today. The firm is preparing to share some big news with the general public on Tuesday, August 15.

Get social with us: We invite you to follow and engage with Croixstone on our social media platforms as we countdown to Tuesday, August 15. The sharing of big news that happens to be great news is always a happy occasion. Our social media presence is sure to reflect our excitement, and we welcome you to join in our enthusiasm.

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Threads
• Instagram
• Facebook

Learn our news on Tuesday, August 15: Join our mailing list if you aren’t already a subscriber. Read our blog. Follow our socials. We plan to be here, there, and everywhere on Tuesday, August 15.

Truist and Supplier Diversity

“Supplier diversity is not only the right thing to do, it’s a smart business strategy that helps us to bring our purpose to life for our clients, teammates and stakeholders.”

– William H. Rogers, CEO – Truist

Fast Fact: Croixstone Consulting was invited to attend this week’s Truist Tier2 Supplier Diversity Business Summit in Charlotte, NC. As a woman-owned professional services firm and a nationally-certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE), Croixstone was excited to participate in this dynamic event. Croixstone was represented by the firm’s CEO, Patti Weber, and Ed Ritter who leads the firm’s Risk & Compliance practice.

About Truist: Headquartered in Charlotte, Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC) is a purpose-driven financial services company committed to inspiring and building better lives and communities. Truist is a top 10 U.S. commercial bank with total assets of $555 billion as of June 30, 2023.

Truist and Supplier Diversity: Truist recently reported that its engagement with small, minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses led to over $1.7 billion in contributions to the U.S. economy and sustained more than 11,978 jobs. Last year, Truist purchased $870 million in products and services from diverse business in the US. The company’s total spend with small and diverse suppliers increased by 38.7% from 2021 to 2022.

Benefits of Supplier Diversity: In addition to being the right thing to do, there are sound commercial reasons for companies to create supplier diversity programs. Harvard Business Review cited the following benefits in an August 2020 article:

• An inclusive procurement strategy widens the pool of potential suppliers and promotes competition in the supply base, which can improve product quality and drive down costs;

• By providing more sourcing options, inclusiveness can make supply chains more resilient and agile – an increasingly important advantage in these uncertain times;

• The “feel-good” factor associated with diversity programs can also burnish a brand.

Learn more:

• Read Truist’s 2022 Supplier Diversity Impact Report

• Read the Harvard Business Review article entitled “Why You Need a Supplier-Diversity Program”

• View Croixstone’s photos from the Truist Tier2 Supplier Diversity Business Summit held on July 26, 2023

Croixstone Consulting Celebrates 7th Business Anniversary

“On our lucky number 7 business anniversary, I offer the deepest thanks to our consultants, search professionals, clients, leadership team, business partners, friends and family to whom we owe the ongoing success of our unique firm.”

– Patti Weber, CEO

Where it began: 7 years ago this month, our founders Patti Weber (a former leader with Accenture and public school educator) and Mark Weber (a serial entrepreneur, consulting industry veteran, and former staffing industry executive) launched Croixstone Consulting in a former photography studio loft in Charlotte’s vibrant South End neighborhood.

The inspiration: The conventional consulting industry is notorious for recycling PowerPoint decks and burning out its consultants. These practices, along with other systemic issues in the consulting industry, contribute to the delivery of subpar services to clients. The Webers believed there was an opportunity to build a high-performing, boutique firm around consulting industry mavericks (known as constructive noncomformists) who could deliver their expertise and passions in a better way, while concurrently fueling innovation and solving problems for clients.

The name: Rivers are an indispensable part of our lives, and they are wonderful gifts from nature that have the power to teach us. The inspiration for Croixstone’s name is the St. Croix River (French: Holy Cross), a tributary of the Mississippi River that forms a border between the states of Wisconsin (the home state of the Webers) and Minnesota (where the firm’s founders each began their careers).

The right way to say our name: “kroy-stone.”

Our achievements: We’ve packed a lot into our 7 years in business. As a small but mighty firm, we not only survived, but thrived, amidst the global pandemic. We owe a huge thank you to all those who believed in our ability to deliver a differentiated business model for our consultants, clients and internal leadership team. Here are some of our key achievements over the past 7 years:

• 2016 – Croixstone was launched in Loft 309 of the former Lance Crackers building on South Boulevard in Charlotte’s trendy South End neighborhood.

• 2017 – Inspired by a future of work conference that Mark Weber attended in NYC, Croixstone relocated to the One South tower in Uptown Charlotte and is a founding member of the Industrious coworking community.

• 2019 – Croixstone launched the firm’s human capital and executive search practices.

• 2020 – Croixstone received national certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) by the Greater Women’s Business Council, a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). Additionally, Patti Weber was accepted a part of a competitive application process into FORTUNE magazine’s “Rebuild Program.”

• 2021 – Patti Weber was selected as one of only 25 women in the USA to participate in the “Accelerated Growth Program” sponsored by Wells Fargo and hosted by the National Association of Women Business Owners. Additionally, Patti was also named to The Charlotte Ledger’s 2021 “Forty Over 40” list in recognition for her contributions in making Charlotte a better place to live, work and play.

• 2022 – Croixstone landed on the Charlotte Business Journal’s “Fast 50” list as the Charlotte region’s second fastest-growing private company.

• 2023 – Croixstone was ranked #11 on Inc. magazine’s fourth annual “Inc. 5000 Regionals: Mid-Atlantic” list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Learn more: Checkout Croixstone’s Linktree to learn more about unique firm.

Your Ticket to Career Adventures

“The right boutique consulting partner can serve as your ticket to unparalleled consulting adventures with unique clients who are tomorrow’s economic drivers.”

– Mark Weber (Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Croixstone Consulting)

What is a Boutique Consulting Firm?: A boutique consulting firm is defined as a small or niche consulting firm that specializes in delivering specialized services and expertise to clients in specific industries or functional areas. Unlike larger consulting firms that offer a broad range of services, boutique firms focus on delivering highly tailored solutions and personalized attention to their clients. Croixstone Consulting is a boutique consulting firm that drives business outcomes by accelerating and sustaining transformations for a national portfolio of middle market and large corporate clients.

Opportunities to Apply Your Expertise in New Ways: Many large and boutique consulting firms hire for deep functional expertise in a specific industry. That said, there are firms like Croixstone Consulting which seek to hire highly intelligent professionals who have applied their expertise across a broad swath of industry sectors and company sizes. Croixstone tends to work with clients who value the expertise and diverse perspectives that can be delivered by consultants who bring new insights and best practices that can be adopted from other industries. Innovation is often fueled by this type of approach. And best of all, this approach enables consultants with a sense of adventure to apply their expertise in new, invigorating, and career-building ways.

Consulting Adventures Defined: Since Croixstone’s founding nearly 7 years ago, our consultants have applied their expertise in a variety of adventuresome ways. Examples include:

• Outer Space: We helped to stand up the HR function for a global leader in space exploration.

• The Sun: We helped to optimize operational processes for a fast-growth developer of utility-scale solar farms.

• Planet Earth: We created a technology training program for an organization that studies and documents languages around the globe.

• The Seas: We helped to lead an enterprise Payroll technology project for a global telecommunications company that delivers critical communications services to the maritime sector.

• Your Backyard: We completed market research for a market leader in fencing that is owned by one of the world’s top 10 private equity firms.

• Your Bedroom: We guided a divestiture for one of the largest USA producers of components for the bedding industry.

• Your Medicine Cabinet: We provided Interim Plant Managers to fill critical vacancies for a PE-backed global manufacturer of protective packaging for the pharma and health sectors.

If You are Seeking Adventures in Your Career: We recommend that professionals who crave adventure and continuous learning opportunities in their careers explore the pathways that can be delivered by boutique consulting firms.

Learn more: Read Croixstone’s blog to explore our career-oriented posts on topics including the boutique consulting sector, portfolio careers, artificial intelligence and the career search, the future of work, and much more.

ChatGPT and Job Seekers

“If used as a guide, distiller of content and framework, ChatGPT could have many benefits for its job-seeking users.”

– Robin Reshawn (Executive Career Strategist and Contributor to USNews.com)

What is ChatGPT?: ChatGPT is short for “Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer” and is an artificial chatbot developed by OpenAI. The technology was released in November 2022. ChatGPT has the fastest-growing customer base of any technology in history.

Why you need to become familiar with ChatGPT: As shared by Alan Murray (President and CEO of Fortune magazine), “generative A.I. is likely to have the most profound impact on the business world of any technology since the PC.” Paul Dougherty, CTO of Accenture, said that what is coming is a reinvention “of the way work is done, dramatically amplifying what people can achieve.”

Job Seekers are using ChatGPT: A Forbes magazine article published last month shared that 46% of 1,000 current and recent job seekers surveyed by ResumeBuilder.com used ChatGPT to craft their resumes or cover letters. The job search can be a tedious and time-consuming journey, and ChatGPT can deliver incredible time savings and helpful resume writing capabilities.

Yes, but: If not used the right way, the content delivered by ChatGPT risks being generic and buzzword heavy. Resume writers also risk losing their voice in building what should be a tailored marketing document. We recommend that job seekers regard ChatGPT as a great tool that delivers many benefits, however, it needs to be used with an eye toward understanding its limitations and how to best compensate for its shortfalls.

The bottom line: Job seekers should become familiar with ChatGPT and how to best incorporate the emerging technology into their searches. The experience gained will not only deliver benefits to the job search, but it will also help the job seeker to better understand how the technology might be applied in the workplace.

Learn more: We like the insights shared in a February 2023 article published by USNews.com entitled “Using ChatGPT for Your Resume and Job Search.” Read the article here.

Why the Portfolio Life is Attracting so Many

“I prefer the term “portfolio life” over “portfolio career,” but whatever you want to call it, it’s an opportunity to gain control over your life in the midst of uncertainty and constant disruption.”

– Christina Wallace (Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School and author of The Portfolio Life)

A new way to view career: In launching Croixstone Consulting in 2016, our firm’s co-founders, Patti Weber (CEO) and Mark Weber (Managing Partner), designed a business plan that placed “portfolio professionals” at the center of the firm’s universe. While the concept of “portfolio life” or “portfolio careers” was not well known at that time, the career framework is gaining increasing popularity and adoption by professionals who understand that the future of work demands a new blueprint for architecting one’s career – – and life.

A guide to future-proof your career: Last month, Christina Wallace of Harvard Business School published a fascinating book entitled The Portfolio Life. This on-point book serves as a guide to future-proof your career, avoid burnout, and build a life bigger than your business card.

Definition of portfolio career: We like the following definition of portfolio career as published by Harvard Business Review. Whereas a career path tends to be a singular pursuit (climb the ladder in one direction and focus on what is straight ahead), a career portfolio is a never-ending source of discovery and fulfillment. It represents your vast and diverse professional journey, including the various twists and turns, whether made by choice or by circumstance.

Four pillars of the portfolio life: Christina Wallace advises that the following four pillars are essential when adopting the portfolio life / career:

1. Identity
2. Optionality
3. Diversification
4. Flexibility

Learn more: Learn more about the portfolio life / career framework and the four pillars to adopt this increasingly popular career framework here.

SEED20 OnStage is Back!

Join the Croixstone team (virtually or in-person) for a very unique nonprofit experience.

The big picture: The Charlotte region’s most unique nonprofit pitch contest, SEED20 OnStage, returns to the stage this month on Thursday, April 27 at 7pm EDT.

About the host organization: This signature event is hosted and produced by Social Venture Partners Charlotte (SVP), one of the Charlotte region’s most unique nonprofits that supports fellow nonprofits.

Why it matters: Innovators imagine the future and fill in the gaps. The SEED20 stage provides social entrepreneurs across the Charlotte region with a platform to share their innovative ideas that benefit our community.

How it works: 10 nonprofits will give three-minute pitches on why they are passionate about the work they are doing and the impact it is making on our community. You and the rest of the audience then vote on the grand prize of $20,000.

And there is more: After the pitches conclude, you will have the opportunity to grab an adult beverage, snacks, and then mix and mingle with the nonprofit leaders who inspired you.

Check out these links: Click and learn more. You’ll understand why you want to be in the room on event night.
• Check out SVP’s pitch for SEED20: 47 Second Pitch Video
• Learn more about the nonprofits: Visit the event website at SEED20 Class of 2023
• Buy event tickets: Onstage Tickets! (in person are $80 and if you can’t make it in person, livestream tickets are available for $25)
• Donate: Use Pledge to donate to one or all of these amazing nonprofits (no fees for contributions less than $1,000– you can reduce the tip amount all the way to 0)

Croixstone and SVP: Croixstone has served as a corporate partner with Social Venture Partners Charlotte for several years. SVP is a nonprofit comprised of Partners (both corporate and individuals) who donate their professional skills and invest their collective social and financial capital in innovative nonprofits who are tackling Charlotte’s most pressing problems.

“Innovation is seeing what everyone has seen
and thinking what nobody has thought.”

-Albert Szent-Györgyi

Lunch and Learn (Virtually) with Croixstone on April 19

“Nothing happens until something moves.”

– Albert Einstein

As organizations face the possibility of a recession, making choices on what actions to take in light of uncertainty can be difficult. And that difficulty can lead to organizational inertia. It is the responsibility of leaders to wake their teams out of inertia.

Join Croixstone Consulting for a lively “lunch and learn” virtual event to learn practical tips on how to “own the moment” and propel your organization past organizational inertia.

Event Details:

• Cost: Free with Eventbrite Registration
• Date: Wednesday, April 19
• Time: 12:00 Noon – 1pm ET
• Type: Virtual Meeting (Zoom – Interactive)
• Registration Deadline: 5pm ET on Monday, April 17
• Event Link: Click here

About the Expert

Jennifer Bowron serves as a Senior Consultant in Croixstone’s Human Capital Practice with more than 20 years of broad experience as both an internal and external consultant across growth businesses.

Jennifer’s background spans across a variety of industry sectors including: high-tech manufacturing, consumer products, financial services, healthcare, education services, and nonprofit. She has guided teams in senior Human Resources leadership roles at companies including: Polypore International, Daramic, Celgard, Stanley Black & Decker, and RR Donnelley Financial.

Based in Charlotte, Jennifer is known for her savvy leadership in helping companies to “own the moment.” Be sure to read Croixstone’s latest whitepaper, “Overcoming Organizational Inertia” (authored by Jennifer). Click here to read.

The Power of Women-Owned Companies and Supplier Diversity

The big picture: As a woman-owned and certified firm, two of Croixstone’s leaders (Patti Weber, CEO and Lisa Cahill, Senior Talent Leader) are joining more than 4,000 fellow participants at the annual WBENC National Conference taking place this week in Nashville. The conference is the largest event of its kind for women business owners, welcoming thousands of women entrepreneurs and corporate executives ready to make connections and do business.

A quick look back: In 2020, Croixstone celebrated a milestone moment in achieving national certification as a WBE (Women’s Business Enterprise by the Greater Women’s Business Council, a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

The power of women: According to Fundera, the USA has 12.3 million women-owned businesses, with 40% of all US businesses being owned by women. Businesses owned by women general $1.8 trillion a year to the US economy. Women are starting new businesses in droves – – they started a net total of 1,821 new businesses every day last year.

The benefits of supplier diversity: Croixstone actively promotes the benefits that come with robust supplier diversity programs. As Harvard Business Review shared in its August 2020 article entitled “Why You Need a Supplier Diversity Program”, there are sound commercial reasons for creating supplier diversity programs. These reasons include:

• Inclusiveness is great for innovation. Diverse suppliers bring diverse ideas, viewpoints, backgrounds and knowledge to companies.

• Inclusive procurement strategies widen the pool of potential suppliers and promotes competition in the supply base, which can improve product quality and drive down costs.

• By providing more sourcing options, inclusiveness can make supply chains more resilient and agile.

• Supplier diversity delivers numerous channels from which a business is able to acquire goods and services.

• Inclusiveness allows a business to benefit from new prospects from business growth with the rise of new customer requirements based upon shifting demographic certainties.

• The “feel good” factor associated with supplier diversity programs can also reflect positively on brands.

Yes, but: There are several common obstacles that challenge companies in building and sustaining robust supplier diversity programs. Common challenges include:

• Supplier diversity professionals find it challenging to secure cross-functional buy-in from managers and senior-level executives.

• Capacity. According to one study, 54% of corporations dedicate one staff person or less to supplier diversity.

• A lack of supplier diversity data and insights.

• Difficulties in identifying suppliers who also meet procurement criteria.

• Challenges and/or inability to verify supplier diversity claims.

Moving forward: Croixstone is committed to promoting the benefits of supplier diversity, and to helping corporate America navigate the ongoing challenges and obstacles that face corporate supplier diversity professionals.

Let’s talk: To learn more about the benefits of supplier diversity and how Croixstone can help, contact our CEO, Patti Weber, at pweber@croixstone.consulting.

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