About James
Your partner for the journey
I help teams create paths for accelerated, sustainable growth - locally and globally
Some consultants are travel agents. Asking standardized questions, they want to fit you into the frameworks and tools they know. They sell you an itinerary and send you on your way.
I'm a guide. Based on what you want to achieve, I'll help you prepare, bring you to the trailhead, then trek right alongside you to help you reach the destination. Because each client brings different strengths, interests, and organizational needs, each journey is unique and offers fresh opportunities to create tailored strategies, platforms, and tools to drive growth.
"Old ways won't open new doors."
Cross-Industry Experience
I’ve loved whatever industry I’m working in - because each company and client offers fresh opportunities to arrange pieces together, find key growth levers, and work alongside talented people to help them drive and achieve change.
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Need to launch an advanced new product? That’s change for your sales channel, clients, and front-line service teams.
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Need to stimulate more growth from your sales team or an in-country leadership team? That’s also change.
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Want to pursue a new market? ...or introduce a new strategy? ...or improve a process to support your growing organization? Change, change, and CHANGE.
Responsibilities and Relationships
My business career began wearing all the marketing hats for a regional company before shifting into consulting and eventually leaping into 15+ years managing corporate marketing for global companies. I've experienced companies driven by world-class sales organizations and others driven by world-class lead generation systems. I've led corporate marketing teams, but never lost the desire to roll up my sleeves or jump into the trenches shoulder-to-shoulder with sales professionals.
My early consulting work helped me learn how well-designed systems and processes can unleash commercial teams to create and convert opportunities. The relationships I've built with salespeople have helped me see how vital their role is in growing B2B companies and how steps taken during upstream and downstream marketing processes make front-line teams more effective.
Academia and Volunteering
I earned a BA from Colorado College and an MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. I mentor high potential employees and students, helping them learn from my practical, real-world experiences of working with business partners around the world. I volunteer as a member of the Board of Advisors in the Carlson Ventures Enterprise at the University of Minnesota and am a guest lecturer for the Marketing Department of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado – Boulder.
When I'm not helping businesses grow I'm often planning adventures to expose my family to the amazing places our world has to offer.