MindSalt Co-Leaders Ann Thompson and David Deaton were featured guests on the Today y Mañana podcast on the I Love CVille network on Thursday, Sept. 7.
Ann and David joined hosts Alex Urpí and Michael Urpí to chat about how they each got their start in consulting, why they recently joined forces to form MindSalt, what challenges they help clients solve, and what that process typically looks like. It was a fantastic discussion that covered many of the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) about MindSalt and the work that we do.
Watch at the link below. A big thank you to Alex, Michael and @Nick Urpí for the opportunity to share more about MindSalt with the Today y Mañana listeners!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What is MindSalt?
A: We are a comprehensive business and management consulting firm that takes an integrated, whole-business approach to help organizations of all kinds become more purposeful, productive, and profitable. We are powered by a dynamic, cross-functional team, offering a wide range of expertise from strategic planning to operations and process improvement to communications and marketing. Our approach drives real change and enduring success with the ultimate goal of making a greater impact in our communities, economies, and beyond.
Q: What does MindSalt mean?
A: Our team is insightful and savvy, yet real, hardworking, salt of the earth people. Our name reflects who we are and what we offer – insight and analysis delivered through hard work and a little sweat.
Q: What are the most common services you offer to clients?
A: Our partnership to form MindSalt enables us to bring a broader range of expertise and capabilities to our clients to support their success. Drawing from Ann Thompson’s engineering background, we offer consulting expertise in operational efficiency, business process improvement, and business optimization with specialization in cutting costs, increasing productivity, and improving service delivery. We combine that with David’s expertise in strategic planning and execution, market research, and finance for a whole-business approach to solve our clients’ biggest pain points and help them become more purposeful, productive, and profitable over the long term.
Q: What does the process of working with you typically look like starting from the initial phone call?
A: Most organizations come to us with a challenge they’re facing or a specific pain point. It could be anything from hyper growth or turnaround to jumpstarting a stalled organization or a leadership change. Every organization’s situation, needs, and goals are different. So, part of the initial discussion is understanding the need, then we custom-build an approach to solve the immediate challenge and set the organization up for success long term. We are very results driven, so everything we do is grounded in data and measurement.
Q: How did you meet and how did you decide to join forces?
A: We met in 2018 through the Community Investment Collaborative (CIC), where we were both volunteering within their comprehensive Entrepreneurship Workshop program to help entrepreneurs launch or pivot their businesses. We realized that we had complementary experience that would be beneficial for our clients, so we began collaborating almost immediately. Our collaboration allows us to expand the portfolio of services we can offer to clients and deepen the impact we have for them.
Q: How does your experience being entrepreneurs translate into your work with clients?
A: Together, we have nearly 30 years of entrepreneurial experience, so we completely understand what our clients go through, the challenges they face, and the range of emotions they feel running a business. This enables us to bring a relatability to our business and management consulting that can only be forged through first-hand entrepreneurial experience. This, combined with our corporate experience, gives us flexibility in understanding a wide range of issues common to small businesses, large corporations and everything in between, and how to solve them.
Further, we understand that at the heart of every organization are people who have aspirations, which are precious. When organizations succeed, aspirations are realized, and people and communities thrive. We recognize our role in bringing this vision to reality, which drives our work every day.
