Blue Sky Thinking, Kathy Glynn
Now that Glynn's business is up and running, she reports having "about as much work as I can handle. "I work on my own and cooperatively with other consulting organizations."
Fearing she had exhausted her initial networking contacts, she took a friend’s recommendation and turned to SCORE. She attended the “Overview to Planning and Starting Your Business” workshop to learn the basics, then began meeting with mentor Dan Butler. “I wanted guidance on how to market myself and engage potential clients in a conversation about the possibilities of improved products and services, and the benefits of original thinking,” she says. “I wanted to know how to deal with cautions related to being on my own without the safety of a large corporation.”
She and Butler met once per month for six months. “He was sometimes a pain,” she admits, because her mentor challenged Glynn’s ideas. “I prepared for each session, and sometimes was frustrated at the added questions and challenges, but I was determined to clearly define my value proposition and the benefit my clients would gain by working with me.”
Kathy Glynn worked with a global manufacturing corporation for 30 years, 20 of which she spent focusing on learning and development as a performance consultant.
After leaving her corporate position, she decided to offer similar consulting services — usually reserved for large companies — to nonprofit organizations and small businesses.
Her company, Blue Sky Thinking, uses problem-soling methodology to help organizations “think outside the box.” But while Glynn is well versed in assisting others, she needed help refining and telling her own story to demonstrate her value to potential clients. “I wanted to be able to tell a compelling story when I networked with potential clients,” she says.