Deana Herbert joins us and shares her thoughts around the importance of infusing culture into the recruiting process. and establishing partnerships allowing us to show up as our authentic selves in all aspects of our businesses.

Citizen CEO

The Culture Convo

Deana P. Herbert is Co-Founder, President & Chief Operating Officer of Thomas & Herbert Consulting (T&H) with over 33 years of experience in strategic planning, organizational development, leadership, and business transformation. In her role, Ms. Herbert provides strategic advisory support services to various clients and mentees. Deana oversees the daily operations of T&H and serves as an Certified Executive and Leadership Coach for executives in Government, faith-based organizations and other client organizations.  She is also a co-founder of 3 joint ventures, P3 Innovations LLC, Agility LLC and MT&H. Today, Deana shares her insights on establishing and maintaining healthy partnerships based on her 24 year long partnership with Rodney Thomas.

Establishing and Maintaining Healthy Partnerships

We return with our interview with Vicki Vasquez. Vicki Vasques is Founder and CEO of Tribal Tech and CEO of Cowan & Associates. Both companies are American Indian, woman-owned small businesses that provide management and consulting services and technical assistance to federal, state, tribal and corporate clients. For more than 30 years, Ms. Vasques has been an advocate for American Indians, leading education reform, health care and advancing energy initiatives. Today we chat about Vicki’s journey to entrepreneurship, her passion for education reform for American Indians, and intentional culture.

The Acquisition Story

Vicki Vasques is Founder and CEO of Tribal Tech and CEO of Cowan & Associates. Both companies are American Indian, woman-owned small businesses that provide management and consulting services and technical assistance to federal, state, tribal and corporate clients. For more than 30 years, Ms. Vasques has been an advocate for American Indians, leading education reform, health care and advancing energy initiatives. Today we chat about Vicki’s journey to entrepreneurship, her passion for education reform for American Indians, and intentional culture.

Vicki Vasques: From Public Service to Entrepreneurship

Biffrey Braxton, Co-Founder and COO of Applied Development, LLC, returns to Citizen CEO to chat with Kimberly about the lessons learned from 2019.

Learning the Lessons

Kimberly shares her vision for 2020 and her process for developing that vision.Links of interest:www.eosworldwide.comhttp://www.iamthedoc.comhttps://jongordon.com/books/one-word

Being the Bridge

We continue our conversation with Shana Cosgrove, Founder and CEO of Nyla Technology Solutions. On this episode, Shana shares with us the importance of philanthropy and volunteerism as a key component of Nyla’s culture. We also chat about the challenges of attracting top tier talent in a highly competitive technical marketplace. Shana offers insights and inspo about being a business owner and the pros and cons of working in a business with your significant other.A little more info about Shana:Shana Cosgrove is founder, owner, and CEO of Nyla Technology Solutions, Inc., (“Nyla”) a HUBZone-certified and Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned small business (EDWOSB) founded in Baltimore City, Maryland in 2013 and focused on providing mission-focused software systems development services to the United States Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. Shana - a principal engineer, enterprise architect, and product strategist—combines over 20 years of experience in the computer science and systems engineering fields with a creative, proactive, and focused approach to projects that address all aspects of the software systems lifecycle. She brings a strong understanding of a broad range of technologies and techniques used to develop software-intensive systems.Shana started Nyla as the sole employee/owner and has grown it to over twenty-five full-time employees and overseen the authoring of 3 proposals that lead to 3 successful prime contracts with government. Nyla has an exceptional reputation for software engineering, data science, and cyber security capability development services. Nyla builds enterprise-scale, cloud-based software systems that “just work” and “end-users love” and Nyla thought leaders are often requested by name for helping solve some of the community’s hardest problems.Shana is also focused on giving back to the local community and drives Nyla’s philanthropy program. Nyla employees receive 8 hours a year to use for volunteering and are offered a variety of opportunities spaced throughout the year in which they can give back. In November 2018, Nyla’s charity efforts culminated Nyla’s First Annual Charity Chili Cookoff which raised over $6,000 for the charity, K9 for Warriors. Links:Nyla Technology SolutionsBamboo SLACK Google Hangouts 

Shana Cosgrove: Fostering Culture Part 2

Shana Cosgrove, Founder and CEO of Nyla Technology Solutions, shares her journey to entrepreneurship along with insight into the challenges that come along with starting your own business. Shana chats with us about her inspiration for starting Nyla Technology Solutions. We have a deep dive discussion about the ins and outs of creating a culture that is employee focused and community oriented. Shana discusses how intentional she has been in fostering culture through her Culture Manifesto for Nyla and tips for maintaining employee engagement with a distributed workforce.A little more info about Shana:Shana Cosgrove is founder, owner, and CEO of Nyla Technology Solutions, Inc., (“Nyla”) a HUBZone-certified and Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned small business (EDWOSB) founded in Baltimore City, Maryland in 2013 and focused on providing mission-focused software systems development services to the United States Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. Shana - a principal engineer, enterprise architect, and product strategist—combines over 20 years of experience in the computer science and systems engineering fields with a creative, proactive, and focused approach to projects that address all aspects of the software systems lifecycle. She brings a strong understanding of a broad range of technologies and techniques used to develop software-intensive systems.Shana started Nyla as the sole employee/owner and has grown it to over twenty-five full-time employees and overseen the authoring of 3 proposals that lead to 3 successful prime contracts with government. Nyla has an exceptional reputation for software engineering, data science, and cyber security capability development services. Nyla builds enterprise-scale, cloud-based software systems that “just work” and “end-users love” and Nyla thought leaders are often requested by name for helping solve some of the community’s hardest problems.Shana is also focused on giving back to the local community and drives Nyla’s philanthropy program. Nyla employees receive 8 hours a year to use for volunteering and are offered a variety of opportunities spaced throughout the year in which they can give back. In November 2018, Nyla’s charity efforts culminated Nyla’s First Annual Charity Chili Cookoff which raised over $6,000 for the charity, K9 for Warriors. Links:Nyla Technology Solutions Bamboo SLACK Google Hangouts 

Shana Cosgrove: Fostering Culture

We continue our conversation with Gina Ramsey, Founder and President of Pink Dog Digital,. On this episode, Gina talks about leveling up your digital strategy game and provides practical tips using common tools to do so. We also reflect on Gina’s first year in business, lessons learned and her advice for anyone who is interested in starting a digital strategy firm. A little more info about Gina:Gina Ramsey is the President of Pink Dog Digital. She has been involved in digital media since 2006. Her role allows her to help businesses grow through their digital footprint. Her services include website development, search engine optimization, content creation, social media management and consulting and digital ad campaigns. Gina is a two-time Maryland Top 100 Women, BRAVA, Executive Management Award and most recently Women of Influence winner. Additionally, Gina gives back to the community by serving on the Board of Directors for There Goes My Hero, The Girl Scouts of Central Maryland and the Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority. Gina also co-chairs Women In Business and the Executive Forum at The Center Club. Mom of three fur babies and step mom of three, Gina enjoys spending time with her husband Brian and friends and family. Links:Pink Dog DigitalSCORE (Mentoring Programs)Outbrain (Web Advertising Platform)Hootsuite (Social Media Management Platform)eClincher (Social Media Management Platform)Content Samurai (Intelligent Video Creator)

Gina Ramsey: A Journey to Entrepreneurship Part 2

Gina Ramsey, Founder and President of Pink Dog Digital, shares her journey to entrepreneurship along with insight into the challenges that come along with starting your own business. We chat about the importance of mentorship while building your business. Gina also shares her expertise on crafting a simple, effective digital strategy: Determine what you want to be recognized for, Define the appropriate channels for that audience, Define your message, and then refine your messaging. Be clear about your work, your voice and your message.A little more info about Gina:Gina Ramsey is the President of Pink Dog Digital. She has been involved in digital media since 2006. Her role allows her to help businesses grow through their digital footprint. Her services include website development, search engine optimization, content creation, social media management and consulting and digital ad campaigns. Gina is a two-time Maryland Top 100 Women, BRAVA, Executive Management Award and most recently Women of Influence winner. Additionally, Gina gives back to the community by serving on the Board of Directors for There Goes My Hero, The Girl Scouts of Central Maryland and the Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority. Gina also co-chairs Women In Business and the Executive Forum at The Center Club. Mom of three fur babies and step mom of three, Gina enjoys spending time with her husband Brian and friends and family. Links:Pink Dog DigitalSCORE (Mentoring Programs) - Outbrain (Web Advertising Platform) - Hootsuite (Social Media Management Platform)eClincher (Social Media Management Platform)Content Samurai (Intelligent Video Creator) 

Gina Ramsey: A Journey to Entrepreneurship

Jennifer Consalvo returns for her final episode today to offer insights and inspiration for navigating the journey of an entrepreneur. We chat about learning from mistakes of the past, what’s up next for Jen and Established, as well as the importance of investing in women owned businesses, particularly those in underserved communities.Jen is cofounder and co-CEO of Established, a consultancy focused on helping organizations with their innovation, startup, and communication strategies. Previously, she co-founded, operated and sold Tech.Co, a news, content, and events organization focused on better connecting and educating entrepreneurs, and amplifying start-up communities everywhere. Consalvo is also a startup investor and advisor, and a founding member of NextGen Venture Partners.Prior to Tech.Co, Consalvo led product development teams in a range of product areas such as digital imaging, community & social platforms and personalization. Much of her career was at AOL, planning and building products used by millions of people globally. Her deep network across the global technology community enabled her to introduce many entrepreneurs to AOL resulting in interesting new relationships and in some cases, multi-million dollar acquisitions. The most enjoyable part of her role was working together to find areas of potential partnership with these young companies.You can learn more about Jen at www.established.us or follow her on Twitter - @noreaster.

Jen Consalvo: Life as an Entrepreneur and Mom

In this episode, we continue our conversation with Jen Consalvo, co-founder and Co-CEO of Established. Jen chats with us about building Established and the the state of innovation in GovCon.

Jen Consalvo: The State of Innovation in GovCon

This week on Citizen CEO, host Kimberly Citizen is joined by Jen Consalvo, cofounder and co-CEO of Established, a consultancy focused on helping organizations with their innovation, startup, and communication strategies.

Jen Consalvo: Bitten by the Startup Bug

On this episode, you’re in for a real treat as we continue our conversation with Gloria Larkin. Today we get to know a little more about the woman behind TargetGov and her journey, everything from an average day to what inspires her on a daily basis to her advice to her younger self.

More with GovCon Expert Gloria Larkin

On the latest episode of Citizen CEO, author, entrepreneur, GovCon business development expert Gloria Larkin joins Kimberly. Gloria is CEO and Founder of TargetGov, which focuses on government procurement and related business development and marketing services. In this first part of their discussion, Gloria shares best practices, common roadblocks, and lessons learned.

GovCon Expert Gloria Larkin

The business of working with the government—from the inside and the outside. 

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Citizen CEO

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