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North Highland not too long ago named Barbara Ray as President of Consumer Companies. It’s a 
vital milestone, with Ray turning into the Atlanta-headquartered agency’s first-ever feminine President. In her new expanded function, her work will focus on main and evolving all industries and portfolios throughout the agency, creating worth for purchasers and driving progress. Even with the pandemic nonetheless on everybody’s thoughts, and far uncertainty forward, progress has remained a precedence for a lot of companies seeking to emerge from this disaster stronger than ever. We caught up with Barbara to speak about her new function, how purchasers are viewing progress at this stage within the pandemic, and what being North Highland’s first lady President means to her.
Consulting: What’s going to a few of your priorities be in your expanded new function?
Ray: Precedence one for me is bringing collectively the business experience with the account management to prioritize the place we’re going to focus from an business perspective, driving progress into our varied portfolios the place we’ve got a excessive prevalence of purchasers in these industries, and how can we carry the transformation experience from our capabilities into these industries and accounts. Pulling all of that along with a agency view versus an account view or some sub-portfolio view, so it on the agency degree and creating these priorities, then investing in our folks, rising our folks, being very deliberate and strategic about what do we have to herald order to have the ability to actually amplify this sort of work on this explicit business.
Consulting: Are firms nonetheless in COVID lockdown mode or are they really eyeing progress?
Ray: It actually depends upon the consumer and the business. The life sciences business, for instance, has had minimal COVID impression, and in some methods have had a constructive COVID impression. These industries we’re seeing they’re actually seeking to speed up their agile capabilities, they’re seeking to speed up their digital capabilities. So there are particular industries which are definitely utilizing these alternatives to speed up their positions. The hospitality business has been hit very onerous. We have now definitely a pleasant group of purchasers in that business, and what’s been fascinating is whereas they’ve undoubtedly pulled again and eradicated spend on issues that they don’t must spend on or can’t afford to spend on given the present state of affairs, they’re coming to us to assist with their plans to get out of this. For instance, an entity that furloughed 1000’s of individuals firstly of COVID, come summertime they realized the top’s not close to, and leaned on us to assist formulate their new enterprise mannequin. So given the place they’re, and imagine they’ll be for a while, how can we pivot into a brand new enterprise mannequin, what sort of folks do we’d like in an effort to accommodate that, and what are our plans as we predict we’re popping out of this. We’ve discovered ourselves being a associate with our purchasers even in industries which have suffered enormously as a result of pandemic to assist them clear up their most strategic issues.
Consulting: What are a few of the distinctive challenges corporations with progress aspirations are going through proper now?
Ray: I nonetheless suppose there’s an incredible quantity of uncertainty proper now. In our political setting, with the pandemic itself, within the financial system. My speculation is there’s not a lot additional right down to go along with the large firms which were considerably impacted. They most likely course-corrected at their backside, however their upward trajectory might be considerably slower if there’s some further impression. You concentrate on hospitality and airways and people firms which were very entrance and heart within the information of getting vital impression. Those that haven’t been as impacted, like life sciences, I don’t suppose any additional shutdowns may have substantial impacts on them. There’s uncertainty, and with uncertainty comes the query of whether or not there might be continued or future downward pressures.
Consulting: Have purchasers’ calls for modified between the spring pandemic heights to now?
Ray: Completely from the peak to now. Through the top, there have been many spigots that have been utterly turned off due to the unknown. As a result of globally we didn’t actually have a view of how lengthy this is able to final and what the impacts can be. I’d say within the spring we noticed vital shutdowns. We speculated that might change within the August timeframe, my expertise has been it was a bit nearer to September the place organizations felt comfy that they knew their place, whether or not they’ve benefited or whether or not they’ve had vital monetary impression. It felt as if our purchasers and our financial system was comfy with its present place in September. That has sustained itself via the winter to date, and we’ve seen a continuing uptick of alternatives and wish primarily based on that confidence of figuring out what their place is available in the market and the financial system and having plans to maneuver ahead primarily based on wherever they’re.
Consulting: What does it imply to you being the primary lady president at North Highland? What kind of challenges, alternatives, or expectations do you see as coming with that distinction?
Ray: North Highland has had an extended custom of some fabulous feminine leaders, and I’ve been lucky over my 9 years with the agency to have labored instantly with some unbelievable feminine leaders from whom I’ve taken nice classes and nice teaching and who’ve actually helped me get to this place in my profession. It’s humbling, and I’m extremely pleased with that title. I’m unsure I’ve ever been the primary something. What’s been fabulous is I’ve had so a lot of my feminine colleagues and females in our group extra junior attain out and say to me how proud they’re to have a feminine on this function, how that makes them see themselves and their profession and their upward trajectory differently. It’s actually been humbling to be that function mannequin and to serve that imaginative and prescient for different females in our agency. The piece of the story that you simply’re the primary feminine president for North Highland has resonated and been impactful to sufficient individuals who have reached out to me to precise that is an unbelievable honor, and one thing I cannot take calmly, and one thing I’ll lean into considerably and guarantee I’m offering the teaching and mentoring and the steerage and the instance for others to comply with in my footsteps.
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