1 Why did you join Berkeley?

I joined The Berkeley Partnership because I was looking to reinvent myself as a consultant. As many consultants and even aspiring consultants know, the consulting philosophy of ‘doing something different every day’ is an attractive trait of this career path. 

However, with time and career advancement, naturally a consultant will gain niche specialization in one industry or group, spending months to years doing the same activities with the same client. Routine is no punishment but the daily repetition of managing the same working tasks and responsibilities can cause a feeling of a professional plateau and fatigue. 

Berkeley has provided me with the opportunity to both broaden my exposure to different industries and working styles, while also continuing to elevate my professional skills. It keeps my appetite for innovation fresh and my mind motivated to support my clients at our collective highest capacities. 

2 What do you like most about being a transformation leader?

I like being a transformational leader because of the magnitude of impact I can make within a client’s organization. Depending on where I am focused and the needs of our clients, an idea vocalized with the right level of support can mobilize into becoming the first building block of many exciting opportunities for the organization. 

Each initiative comes with working with highly skilled business and technical stakeholders, with various backgrounds and job descriptions, who came together with a common goal to accomplish something fresh for the company. Coming from a background of playing team sports, I thrive in a team environment and recognize the significance each role plays in reaching the desired outcome. As a transformational leader, leaning on this collective spirit is pivotal to assembling teams whose combined strengths and perspectives round out a successful and beneficial client engagement. 

2 What are your values and how have they informed your career?

I value my time, my mind, and my relationships. I truly want to invest my time wisely with the right people and by doing the activities that I most enjoy. Sadly, we are not guaranteed a tomorrow, which can help put into perspective how valuable your time is and how to spend it. 

I want to continue to learn and entertain new ideas as I grow in my career and life in general. I value making sure I am able to adapt the way I see and view the world so that I can become the best version of myself and for those around me. 

With relationships, I truly feel if you invest in the right people and allow them to invest in you, you will become a much richer person. I value relationships that build me up, rather than tear me down, and people who put in just as much as they take out.

For my career, a job is a true marriage between all three of these values; with the wrong balance of each, I do not feel I am able to be true to myself and my full potential. For this reason, I value an organization that respects and appreciates my time, and provides professional training, coaching, and feedback on how I may continue to grow and prosper in future areas of work. And lastly, I look for empathetic and intelligent co-workers who will support me and my career aspirations as I grow within the organization.

In summary, I aspire to work to live rather than live to work. My job should not be the center of my life but instead a catalyst to the life I desire to live and provide for my family.