A huge part of the world’s best coffee is grown and processed in Africa. In 1950, the Dormans Group started operations in Kenya with a trading and roasting entity called ‘C. Dorman Limited’. Today, they have trading, milling, agronomy, and roasting operations spanning Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

Meet the Leader

Rozy Rana joined the Dormans group of companies in 1992 as a PA to the MD and progressively rose the ranks to Administrative Assistant, Human Resource Manager, Chief Operating Officer, Finance Director, and finally to her current role as Managing Director. Rozy recently completed her Doctorate in Business Administration and feels fortunate to have had a mentor in her immediate boss and current Chairman Jeremy Block. As a woman raised in a village, she never dreamt that one day she would be a leader in a prestigious firm like Dormans.

Dormans is an ‘equal-opportunity’ employer and today Rozy is in the minority of women leaders in a C-Suite position in a male-dominated industry. “I am aware that this has resulted in my being an inspiration to other women and I have chosen to dedicate some of my spare time to developing talent. I enjoy facilitating leadership-oriented courses for my teams as well as for youth and women leaders outside of Dormans. My family has been a pillar of support throughout my career. I believe it is very important to work hard, be curious, question every norm, and keep upskilling,” says Rozy.

Brewing the Perfect Cup

Dormans Coffee Ltd (popularly referred to as ‘Dormans’) is East Africa’s premier coffee roaster and a trusted household brand. The company supplies a diverse range of freshly roasted coffee blends to hotels, coffee shops, supermarkets, and wholesalers countrywide. They are the agents of some of the world’s best brands of coffee machines and accessories.  Their product mix extends to syrups and coffee premixes which have won prestigious food awards. They also offer Barista training and other bespoke coffee courses at their training school, ‘The Nairobi School of Coffee’.

As a B2B company, Dormans supplies products and services to both the retail and hospitality industries. Their target market is predominantly Kenya. Coffee is an experiential product, and in their quest to support the customers, they provide delightful coffee experiences to their final consumers. Dormans’ model includes tastings, training, audits, and awareness campaigns at customer sites and at their Nairobi School of Coffee.

As a trusted thought leader in the coffee industry, Rozy believes they have an obligation to stay at the forefront of innovation to keep offering the best value to their customers. “Most importantly, we listen to our customers and collaborate as a team to generate solutions to meet new and changing needs and to continually elevate the customer experience. This has driven the rollout of all our products and services,” explains Rozy.

 A Cup of Care

Growing coffee and the production processes involve a lot of natural resources. Given the focus on maintaining the ecosystem, sustainability is at the forefront of all that Dormans do. They often go beyond routine business to create a positive impact in the communities. Investment in Fairtrade certification and other sustainable coffee certifications like Rainforest Alliance testify to their commitment to sustainability and community support. These global certifications offer proof to consumers that fair labour practices, optimal husbandry, and friendly environmental practices are being observed along the coffee value chain.

As a group of companies, Dormans is committed to attaining zero carbon emissions by 2050. What gets measured gets done. Current initiatives in this respect include:

– Platinum level sponsorship to the ‘Mount Kenya Trust’ whose core mission is to protect and conserve the environment, water, soils, and wildlife in Kenya.

– Clean Energy: Dormans has invested in a green facility with clean sources of energy from solar panels on the roofs.

–  The group has a farmer-facing entity, which collaborates with various global investment partners, and one of its core functions is to educate farmers on best agricultural and husbandry practices to improve their yields and adapt to climate change while improving biodiversity. For example, cultivating other crops alongside coffee and growing shade trees among other climate-smart activities to act as buffers and provide protection to coffee and the environment at large.

– Well defined best waste management systems

Guiding the new Entrants

Various opportunities exist in the industry at different levels of the supply chain from farming cherry to milling and trading green coffee, roasting, packaging, and preparing varied coffee drinks, running coffee shops, and making coffee by-products. Rozy’s advice is that these opportunities may indeed have promise but one needs to invest in learning and elevating their coffee skills first. “There are many intricacies surrounding coffee, so upskilling will serve you and not just guide you in the right selection of business or career path in coffee, but also ultimately lead to your success in your chosen line,” adds Rozy.

Ensuring the Best Brew – Always

Dormans’ success has hinged on meticulous quality control, robust food safety management systems, and keeping sustainability at the forefront of all their initiatives. These factors will continue to remain relevant, and following the pandemic are even likely to take center stage for the entire industry in the future. Rozy is also excited about how they can use their expertise to leverage the new trends and change the ‘hot beverages’ landscape because historically tea was the hot beverage of choice for the majority of the population.

Rozy believes that she has a dream team at Dormans and each member is passionate about coffee! She desires to see themselves at the forefront of the industry pivoting new trends and she looks forward to seeing team members growing as leaders in their respective areas and maintaining the culture of being passionate about what they do in the years to come.

Highlights:

Dormans has pioneered various initiatives, and some notable successes include:

• Setting up the first Barista training school in Africa
• First roaster to get Fair Trade certification label in the region
• First and only coffee roaster to successfully pass Food Safety Systems Certification Audits since 2009 (FSSC 22000) in the region
• Setting up the first-ever coffee premixes manufacturing line in Kenya
• 2019 Gold Award winner at the Africa Food Industry Excellence Awards (FOODEX 2019).
• 2019 Gold Award Winner for best new hot beverage (3-in-1 new premix).
• 2021 Silver Award Winner in the beverage category (Syrups)
• 2021 Platinum Award Winner in the beverage category for Cold Brew

If what we eat is who we are, then we must eat good and healthy to stay so. But health food is often notoriously boring and bland. Moreover, it might consume more time to create a perfect healthy platter that takes care of all the nutritional needs. So more often than not people look to supplements. In North America alone, the dietary supplements market size had been valued at USD 50,118.6 million in 2020. From 2021 to 2028, it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.6 %. Increasing consumer awareness, growing demand for preventive health products, the rising number of fitness centers are all key growth boosters for the market. Helping people achieve their nutritional goals to lead a healthy and disease-free life through healthy and delectable supplements is the Supplement Group USA.

The Leader

Leonard K Armenta Jr heads the Supplement Group USA as its Founder and CEO. Leonard is a 22-year veteran in the Supplement/Functional Food industry. He has helped build many companies including MusclePharm.  In June of 2020 he met his business partner David Lovatt. They soon acquired SINFIT Nutrition and since then they have acquired or started from scratch 14 different companies.

As an entrepreneur, Leonard is all in for his business. He’s willing to work when others are sleeping or taking a break.  However, he does make it a point to have a proper work life balance.  He always makes sure to take the time he needs to be with his kids and family. He feels this keeps him grounded. “I guess what I am really trying to say is that make sure you are willing to go all in on your business and make sure that you spend time with the ones you love.  The balance will make your business more successful,” says Leonard.

He feels, as an entrepreneur, one must “Do what you love, what your passionate about, something that helps others and then you will give all you have to your business.” He also offers his advice for the budding entrepreneurs saying, “Make sure that your business idea solves a problem or a need in the industry you are looking to become a part of.  Know that you are willing to give everything you have to your business and lastly never try to be a know it all. Take advice from those who have been there and done that.   Learn from those who you employ and do it without an ego.”

Sustainable Health Solutions

Supplement Group strives to bring new and exciting products to market on a regular basis. Its current brand list runs the gamut across all Health and Wellness categories; from functional food brands to extreme sports supplementation. It offers many products with unique supplement profiles and patented ingredients.   It also has a Patented sparkling protein water called Fizzique where there is nothing on the market like it. The group constantly tries to innovate its look and products to stand out from the rest.

What makes Supplement Group unique from other brands is that it owns brands in the beverage, supplement, and functional food space.   They have 14 brands to offer their customers so that they can be a one-stop shop.  Their goal is to have the top-selling most innovative company in the industry and have a full-service business from A to Z to achieve it.

Its most popular brands are Storm Lifestyles, American Metabolix, SINFIT Nutrition, and Fizzique. While American Metabolix is an award-winning brand and one of the fastest-growing premium supplement companies, Fizzique is arguably the clearest, cleanest, most refreshing protein drink ever.

Braving the pandemic and competition

The biggest roadblock Leonard and his team have faced so far is launching in the peak of Covid. The company was founded in the year 2020. Leonard initially struggled with the supply chain, but with his team, he was able to overcome supply chain issues and has not had many issues moving forward. The team had heard how so many companies dealt with this exact issue and they are really proud with how they were able to resolve problems.

When it comes to taking on competition and strategizing for it, Leonard prides himself in not being a know it all.  Everything he does for his business comes with a collaboration with his team.  He knows that if they are sold on what they are doing, they will be more successful and will work harder than ever to make sure that things are done right. He adds, “I have an open-door policy for my team, and I encourage them to challenge me when they don’t agree with something I have planned.  Having outside eyes looking in on your plan is a must-have.  For instance, our brand STORM Lifestyles.  I had an idea in my head of where I wanted it to go and what I thought about it, but my marketing team thought they could take what I had wanted and make it even better.  I turned my all-female marketing team loose and they made the brand what it is today which completely exceeded my expectations.”

For a Healthier Future

In the near future, Leonard sees himself still running the company and building an even bigger team with more brands and innovations.  Supplement Group is also expanding internationally with the intention to deploy brands overseas as well.   The Group’s goals are to stay on the path of growth they are on and to keep innovating in the industry.  They want to be one of the biggest players in the space.

At Inspired Development Solutions Pty. Ltd, Dr Lynda Folan, and her team create leading-edge developmental solutions that deliver transformation for individuals, teams, and organizations. As a sought-after Leadership and Organisational Development Consultancy, the firm inspires and challenges individuals, teams, and organisations to grow, develop and flourish.

About the company

Inspired Development Solutions Pty. Ltd. is a well-established and highly respected consultancy with clients across all sectors in the Australian and Asian markets with some projects in Europe. Established in 2012, it is now a highly respected brand and has significant reach across Australia and beyond. The company focuses on providing bespoke solutions designed to align with organisational development principles that result in sustainable outcomes for organisations, teams, and individuals.

Lynda’s passion for leadership development and organisational excellence, coupled with her knowledge and experience of human behavior, has driven the organization’s success and resulted in a broad network of clients across Australia and further afield. As the Managing Director, she ensures that the organisation delivers exceptional strategies that align with the client’s requirements and produce results within the specific context.

Each organisation is unique and so are its requirement. Inspired Development Solutions offers solutions that are adapted to the client’s need. Their services include but is not limited to Organisational Development and Reviews, Cultural Optimization and culture change, Structural alignment, Leadership Development, Psychometric Assessment, and Design and Facilitation of Training.

Meet the Leader

 Dr. Lynda Folan has an illustrious career spanning four countries on three continents. Born and brought up in South Africa, she completed her first degree and started her career as a Human Resources officer in Local Government. At 22, she moved to Belgium, completed her second degree, and pursued a career in organisational psychology. During her stay in the UK next, she built a highly successful career running International Human Resources and Organisational Development teams and delivering large scale cultural change programs in a range of organisations. After a successful career in the corporate world with roles in Hard Rock Café, Tesco Stores (Retail), Wyndham International (Hotels) and The Number (Telecoms), she set up her first consulting business in London. In less than a year, she built a reputation for excellence with clients from across all sectors.

In 2007 she moved to Australia. After working for a consultancy business, she reestablished her consulting company in Perth. “The drive to set up my own business came from the desire to provide excellent service and deliver innovative interventions for my clients. Over the years, I have continued to grow my business, develop my skills and extend my expertise. In early 2020, I completed my Doctor of Organisational Psychology through Murdoch University. And in November last year, I published my first book, “Leader Resilience – The new frontier of Leadership (2021)”, which is having a significant impact in Australia and is now starting to reach markets further afield.

Here are some high points of Lynda’s leadership of Inspired Development Solutions:

• Design and delivery of over 450 leadership programs across all sectors.
• Delivery of over 50 large-scale culture change programs that have had a significant positive impact on organisations.
• Executive Coaching for thousands of Leaders across the globe in all sectors.
• Published research on a highly topical issue in the leadership arena.
• The highly acclaimed book ‘Leader Resilience – The New Frontier of Leadership was successfully launched in 2021.

Staying Ahead in a Competitive and Dynamic Environment

The foundation of Lynda’s business has been built on relationships. Her strategy has been to deliver exceptional outcomes for the organisations she works with and build strong relationships with the clients. When competing with other consulting firms, Lynda and her team know that their reputation for excellent service and contemporary approach sets them apart from other consultants. As a business, they have never had to market or sell their services due to the strength of their reputation. They constantly research new ways of doing things and develop contemporary strategies that deliver results.

Apart from competitors, Lynda has to consider the challenges that the company must face due to the dynamic industry environment. The recent COVID pandemic, for instance, has posed challenges for consultancy work. It requires a shift in focus and agility to meet the changing needs of organisations. There are three critical areas of change at the moment that are very relevant:

• Resilience has become a significant challenge for organisations and individuals across the globe.
• There is also an increasing demand for psychometric assessment and individual Executive Coaching.
• The final area showing an increased demand is comprehensive Organisational Reviews and Culture Change programs.

Inspired Development is well placed to take up these challenges. With regular research and a dedication to building skills, the organisation is always ready to support their clients to succeed.

Inspiring Young Entrepreneurs

As a successful entrepreneur, Lynda shares some wisdom for young entrepreneurs:

• Seek a wide range of guidance and advice but in the end, make your own decision.
• Get help with the things that are not your strength. You will make everyone’s life easier.

• Accept that you are your own boss, and the buck stops with you.
• Take care of your resilience and always book a time to refresh even when you have to work 18-hour days to get things done.
• Have a mentor who will challenge and support you equally.

Looking Forward 

Planning in the context of VUCA is a challenging task; however, Lynda has some extension plans chalked out for the future. She is looking forward to days when one can travel freely to seek more opportunities to speak at global conferences. Inspired Solutions is developing more material for delivery online which will be necessary to keep up with digitalization. As a team, they get involved in Not-for-Profit Boards and spread their expertise to a broader range of organisations. Lynda also plans to grow the business further in 2022, with additional team members coming on board.

“My role as a consultant is incredibly varied, and I am constantly challenged to grow, develop and stay ahead of the changes in the world of psychology and business. I am fortunate that my passion in life, to support people to reach their potential, aligns with my work. For me, every day is an opportunity to build capacity in individuals, teams, and organisations and make a difference in the world of work,” concludes Lynda.

Documentation helps one go over and over a meeting and important discussions during it to understand and analyze it thoroughly. More so, the dynamic nature of the financial sector and the recent pandemic, have made it imperative that one must learn how to do business in different ways. The pandemic sure has pushed things further and changed the way business is conducted forever.

The industry scenario has embraced more and more technology in a world that is ever demanding better communication, more engagements, deeper relationships, and a myriad of ways to communicate. Documenting and memorializing one’s communications is so much more beneficial to the client, the advisor, and the firm when done immediately after one’s meetings or conversation. And this is where Maree Moscatti and her team at Copytalk LLC step in.

Ms. Moscati is extremely passionate about the financial services world because she has experienced it first-hand. She knows what needs to be done to survive and how advisors have the power to positively impact one’s financial life and future. She brings over 30 years of experience within the financial services industry. Over these years, she has served as a Compliance Director, an advisor, Trust President, and Divisional Brokerage manager.

Decoding Copytalk

Copytalk is a premier dictation service employed across industries and trusted by leading financial institutions. Copytalk’s services meet the broad need for documentation.

Mobile ScribeTM records and transcribes dictation on the go;

Digiscribe transcribes everything from meeting notes to uploaded media;

Enterprise records and transcribes notes from conferences, meetings, and committees;

CopytalkerTM Fintech Integration embeds Copytalk service directly into CRM’s or advisors dashboard or workstation – which eliminates the need for a phone or APP.

Copytalk’s latest technology, Dictation Guides allows advisors and their teams to create structured templates with the flexibility to update and change according to their practices. They have also created a Reg BI dictation guide that can be customized for firms according to their Compliance rules and regulations. Copytalk employs only live transcriptionists working in-house at locked down workstations within one of their securely managed transcription facilities. Given the current pandemic situation, some work in-house, while a subset works remotely.They are unparalleled in their delivery of accurate transcriptions, impeccably formatted, and prepared in line with protocols that protect the client’s privacy and safeguard their security.

Staying Competitive and Ahead

Ms. Moscati, the CEO of Copytalk, believes in the simplicity of the technology, the best in class for customer service with the focus on innovation and responsiveness to the client’s needs. She is a firm believer in meeting and speaking with the clients Copytalk serves to see what they are doing right, what needs improvement, and what needs does one has that they are not currently meeting. Coming from the advisory world, she finds that both firms and advisors alike are most willing to share their “pain points” so that service providers like Copytalk may create technology innovations to meet those needs.

She also welcomes the competition. “I learned early on to complement your competition. Competition makes you stronger as a firm – One must simply point out why YOUR firm is the premier firm and what sets you apart from others. And, a leader must always encourage their teams to strive to be the best every day we serve,” says Ms. Moscati.

Making her mark as an Entrepreneur

Ms. Moscati’s journey as an entrepreneur has been riddled with many roadblocks and challenges. The first challenge was garnering confidence. She was a woman in a sea of men in the financial arena. In the early stages of her career, there were very few women in the world of wealth and most were challenged in many ways. “ However I never let anyone see me sweat and I always stayed true to who I am as a person, my ethics and belief carried me through. It also was very helpful for me to have some wonderful mentors (and most were men) that really coached and guided me through my career and some still do today,” reminisces Ms. Moscati.

She advises the budding entrepreneurs to “Never give up, get a mentor that you trust and inspire to be and be your own person. Learn, listen and ask a myriad of questions. Plan. Plan and then Plan some more.”

Ms. Moscati’s success has been acknowledged by several industry awards and recognitions, including the Bank Insurance and Securities Association (BISA) recognizing her with inducting her into their prestigious Hall of Fame and awarding her a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ms. Moscati was also recognized as one of the Top 10 Women CEOs in 2021 by Industry ERA and recognized as a top tech leader by MYTECHMAG. Her career allowed her insight and knowledge of what firms and advisors are up against to meet the stringent regulations within the industry. Being able to positively support the industry with leading technology and understanding and knowledge of regulatory and privacy mandates is critical in today’s environment. Her vision inspires her Copytalk family to provide the best-in-class service to all those they are privileged to serve.

A Note to the Future

Ms. Moscati plans to continue leading Copytalk to heights beyond where they are today. With an incredibly talented and dedicated team, this goal is very attainable as they have proven through her ten years tenure here. Her future goals are to continue to be a thought leader and speaker for the younger generations, especially women on career maximization and attainment.

When Emmanuel Daniel started his quest for professional life, he saw himself as a lawyer. Two years down the line, he was hit by a realization that being a lawyer was not important for him. He then spent 10 years moving jobs to see what he liked doing the best. He discovered his strong independent streak and his love for traveling, writing, and meeting people. All things combined, he realized publishing would be a suitable career. A job with a European publishing house introduced him to the world of banking and he took to it as fish takes to water. “Banking was what I called a ‘cathedral’ industry – it sits in the middle of any society, you have to deal with it from birth to death and it is run by the most important people in the country, besides the politicians,” says Emmanuel. So he set out to start his own publication called “The Asian Banker” with his own money as well as money from three investors.

Hitting the Road Block

The Asian Banker almost went under in year one, and the investors asked for their money back. Emmanuel paid them back and then owned the entire company. The following three years were unprofitable. “It was very painful. I have no idea how I survived. In fact, I must say that in the first three years, I did not know how to hire salespeople. We have freelancers representing us, and they would come back every month telling us that nobody wanted to spend money with us. Then I would go visiting clients and they would spend money immediately. I must say that entrepreneurs are their own best salespeople in the early years of any business. The year 2008-2009 was the worst in the history of the Company when the entire banking industry simply stopped spending money with us for more than three months.”

Finding his Feet

For the first three years, The Asian Banker(TAB) was just a print publication. Emmanuel started the first banking conference in 1999, and it was so profitable that it was the first time that he realized that the brand had taken a life of its own. In 2000, TAB started its first conference in Hong Kong and then in 2001 in Shanghai, China. Because of Emmanuel’s management consulting experience, banking research and consulting were a natural extension of TAB’s business.

In 2017, Emmanuel started a new title, Wealth and Society. By this time, banking had become passe for him. He wanted to meet high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) to focus on their philanthropy and impact investments. Today, that includes commitments to the United Nations Social Development Goals (SDG). The clients that spend money with TAB in this area are mostly the private banks, which made for a natural extension of its banking publication business.

Be yourself. Be nothing but yourself every single day of your life. This is what allows others to relate with you and do great things with you.

Today, The Asian Banker is just one of the titles in a stable of digital communities managed by TAB International, the holding company. TAB International manages a range of content and community platforms, including the original The Asian Banker, but also Wealth and Society, The Banking Academy, Statecraft, and others. On each of these platforms provide news, research, consulting, and community services to the various industries, including banking, finance, wealth management, philanthropy, and impact investments.

Living the Entrepreneur Life and Advising it!

Emmanuel believes that there’s no other professional life he would have chosen other than being an entrepreneur. The most important attribute, he thinks an entrepreneur should have, is motivating and mobilizing his people. “It’s a skill that I took a very long time to harness. In my early years, I used to be easily upset when my employees did not see what I saw or shared what I valued. Then over the years, I came to realize that no entrepreneur or company has a monopoly on great staff. The secret is in enabling ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things. Even here, no entrepreneur can achieve this unless he is blessed with people who believe in him or her enough to stay with him over time. I am just grateful today that I have staff who have believed in me, despite ups and down.”

The future of the digital world is clearly in content creation. I am starting a venture fund where we will identify and fund content creators, and then build communities around them.

To the budding entrepreneurs, he says, “Be yourself. Be nothing but yourself every single day of your life. This is what allows others to relate with you and do great things with you.”

The Bustling Industry Teeming with Competition

The information industry has evolved dramatically because of the digital revolution. Nobody pays enough for information alone because the information is practically free today. So it is a ruthless industry. Some social media platforms engender large numbers of followers but these are either fleeting or shallow in terms of value to the audience or in terms of a business model that can scale and grow beyond its founders. Also, increasingly people imbibe knowledge through audio-visual media rather than by reading alone. For this reason, it is important to know how to mix the media and platforms to build a viable business model. It is also important to realize that not everything that is visible or noisy in the information industry is profitable or valuable as a business.

As for competition, Emmanuel says, “I do agree with Peter Theil who wrote in “Zero to One” that a company should not be built on competition. We do have competitors, but all of them copy us, which does not bother me.” The Asian Banker has become a global brand name in its own right since 1996. The banking conference market, which used to be a large source of income, is very crowded and noisy today with many players. Even governments run their own banking conferences, so TAB doesn’t play in it anymore. The team focuses on digital communities which are quieter but much more valuable to the subscribers and much more profitable for them.

Planning Ahead

Emmanuel’s first book “The Great Transition” is going to be published in 2022. The book is on the future of the financial services industry, and how it will be disintermediated by new technologies. He believes that many traditional banks and financial services industry players will finally be disintermediated as technology enables individuals to access finance from each other directly. This will have important repercussions not just in finance but entire economies.

Having built a business organically that has stood the test of time, the next step for Emmanuel and team TAB is to become an investor in building platforms, content, and communities. “The future of the digital world is clearly in content creation. I am starting a venture fund where we will identify and fund content creators, and then build communities around them,” concludes Emmanuel.

Now a ship alone doesn’t deliver your package. Does it? It needs people right from the time a product onboards to making it across the state, country or even continent and finally being delivered to the consumer. The growing pace of industry indicates the requirement of people or logisticians who would be required to excel in this fast-paced and competitive environment. So an industry that is blowing up along with a 52-year record for unemployment is keeping talent advisors like Brent Orsuga quite busy.

Brent, a branding powerhouse and the Founder of Pinnacle Growth Advisors, has established himself as the top recruiter in the logistics space. He started Pinnacle out of a bedroom in 2014 from nothing. No clients, no dollars, no website, nothing! But he knew the niche he was focused on and took massive action to scale the company. The focus was to “win the day” and build momentum.

I see our company continuing to scale and grow (we doubled in 2021) and continuing to become the top firm in our niche. Supply Chain cannot go away and neither will we.

Brent did recruitment from 2003 to 2008 within the construction industry. In 2009 he got an opportunity to partner with someone in freight, and he took to it as a fish does to water. “Once I got into it, I was like, This is it. This is an industry that literally cannot go away, I’m going to go all-in, learn everything I can”, recalls Brent. In 2014 he finally took that leap, bet on himself, and started the company. Brent has 20 years of recruiting,  and since founding Pinnacle the company has almost doubled and scaled every single year since its inception. The current phase, he says, however, is the busiest one.

The Biggest Differentiator

Unlike regular recruiting companies who just get a job for people who contact them, Pinnacle looks for premium talent for its client companies. Brent looks at his team as Talent Advisors, not just Recruiters. They work very closely with the companies they partner with. They visit client offices to get to know them. They even meet the leadership team to know about the company’s aspirations from its people. This allows them to truly play matchmaker and not just toss resumes out there. Going into an office allows you to see and sense the culture firsthand. Culture is very easy to say, but very hard to define. So being in the environment directly allows Brent to clearly convey this to candidates.

Being so niche the main thing Pinnacle focuses on is becoming subject matter experts in its industry, making it very serious and absorbing as much knowledge as possible to speak to the market in an educated manner. This allows Pinnacle to place the top talent at the top companies. He runs his company on a vision inspired by the famous Zig Ziglar quote “If you help enough people get what they want, you will always get what you want in return”. Stop selling and start helping. Pinnacle’s main role is to be so well versed within the everchanging dynamics of the industry, that people rely on them for intel and industry trends that can help guide their careers.

You will never outperform your own self-image, if you take this leap you cannot give yourself an out or a plan B. Your identity will be forged and the company will grow as you grow personally.

Today, Pinnacle Growth Advisors is the top Talent Advisory Firm for the fastest-growing logistics companies in the US and Canada. The company is focused on helping client companies drive their profits through their primary competitive advantage- their people. Pinnacle has been instrumental in the success of freight and logistics companies through its philosophy of healthy growth through excellent hiring.

At Pinnacle Brent and his team coaches companies and candidates through the challenging waters of recruitment. They work in most of the major markets, including Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, Denver, Charlotte, Seattle, Minnesota, New Jersey as well as Canada. They work with multiple $25 Million to 1 Billion dollar companies, proactively helping them find and place new employees, from sales reps to CEOs. Pinnacle has won numerous awards for growth including back-to-back winners of the Arizona State Sun Devil 100, which is for the fastest growing companies led by Alumni. They were also recently ranked as a top 10 Executive Search firm in the Phoenix market, an award solely based on the number of placements over 100k.

Leading the Entrepreneur Life

When Brent started his venture, he introduced himself as “The top recruiter in freight and logistics” at a leading social media platform. This was when he had just started his venture in a very niche industry, with no client and his limited resources. What was unlimited though, was self-belief. He knew that he was so invested by this point, that he was going to outwork anybody to dominate that space. Self-belief, mastering the art of self-talk, ability to not get emotional with decision making, ability to make quick decisions, perseverance and grit are some key qualities that Brent suggests an entrepreneur must possess.

He advises the budding entrepreneurs saying, “You will never outperform your own self-image, if you take this leap you cannot give yourself an out or a plan B. Your identity will be forged and the company will grow as you grow personally.” Brent invests so much into himself each year between business coaching, entrepreneur groups like EO as well as many seminars and personal development programs he can align with.

The initial years as an entrepreneur can be tasking. “Early on you are your biggest cheerleader, not every day is going to be a good one but have to stay focused on the big picture and “control what you can control” which are only two things- activity and attitude,” says Brent. This is also why he believes that having mentors and people you can rely on around you is crucial. If you go about building a business alone, it’s really hard. When you build a circle around yourself of people that not only support you but have had experiences that they can share with you, it just makes this journey so much easier.

 What the Future Holds

Brent has a 98% success rate securing interviews for candidates. Moreover, his skill at matching high performers with the right organizations has led him to place thousands of hires successfully and efficiently, generating over $1 Billion in bottom-line growth.

Sought-after for his ability to drive high-performing matches quickly, Brent quickly cemented Pinnacle Growth Advisors’ position as the number-one talent acquisition firm in its space. Looking forward to the year ahead, Brent says, “I see our company continuing to scale and grow (we doubled in 2021) and continuing to become the top firm in our niche. Supply Chain cannot go away and neither will we.”