ABOUT
Background
I was born in Khartoum, Sudan, and grew up living in multiple African countries before moving to Scotland to complete my secondary education and MA in Human Geography at the University of Edinburgh. I have lived and worked in 15 countries; experience that has helped me become an expert in understanding cultural contexts and behavioural change.
My sales career began over 17 years ago with direct B2C sales. This laid the essential foundations which underpin the philosophies and methodologies I use in my work motivating and coaching people to perform at their best.
Post university I worked in the London corporate sector for 10 years focusing on building my B2B sales skills and experience, with a view to returning to Africa to use my core competencies to do some impactful work.
For the last 5 years I have worked as an independent sales consultant helping socially-minded organisations and their teams to build culture and transform their sales results, while at the same time, supporting individuals to become effective leaders.
Mission
The aim of the work I do is to identify, deliver, and sustain improvements in sales and the leadership of sales teams, helping individuals and organisations to grow.
I work specifically with companies that have a social mission, deliver impact and care about their people and the environment we live in.
I also have a personal interest in ensuring that as much funding as possible for development stays in the economies of developing countries.
I believe in equality and want to help organisations that want to offer opportunities to those who otherwise couldn’t access them.
Engagements
Due to non disclosure agreements I cannot name all the organisations I have worked with, however I have worked with over 30 organisations over that last 5 years. Some of these include the biggest names as well as small Social Enterprises in the WASH, Solar, Agriculture, Telecoms, Nutrition and Tech Start-Up sectors, focusing most of my engagements in Africa.
I also work with investors, incubators, and accelerators to support their networks in achieving the results needed to become investment ready or achieve targets.
I have also been invited to deliver public engagements and run workshops at conferences such as Skoll, WEDC, World Water Week, Ashden Awards, Social Enterprise World Forum, Pioneers Post events, Unreasonable Institute East Africa Cohort 2018 and for REPP.
I volunteer as Chair of Trustees for Evergreen Africa, a charity I set up that operates in Uganda where I also have family ties. I similarly sit on the board of Smiling Through Light, a female run solar social enterprise in Sierra Leone.
The problem with “big” consultancies
Many of the clients and investors I have worked with over the past 5 years have come to me following challenging or unsuccessful projects in collaboration with some of the worlds leading consultancies. The typical challenges are:
Language & Culture - A majority of western, english-speaking consultants unfamiliar with local cultures and languages
Diversity & Representation - A lack of female consultants to empower other women, and often overlook local talent
Affordability - Rates are too expensive for emerging markets and the social impact space
Ethics - Only a small fraction of funding pays local people and supports the developing economy
Availability - There are long lead times for consultants despite requirements being seasonal or time critical
Flexibility - A lack of interest in adapting an approach to suit a specific sector or culture
Sustainability - Most firms do not embed long term support for change sustainability, but rather create dependency
Dated approaches - Classroom style teaching rather than practical hands on collaboration
Prescriptive - A “one size fits all” approach, looking only at the symptoms
The Solution
I address all of these barriers in a tailored approach that concentrates on WHO I am working with, WHAT their vision is an HOW I can help them to achieve this in a way that will deliver sustainable, long term change.
Further details on my approaches and previous projects can be found on the Services and Testimonial pages. Alternatively you are welcome to reach out via e-mail or the online form for a free exploratory discussion.
It all begins with understanding your challenges or blocks to success. Are they small enough that you can solve them yourself or is there a business case to working together? We can have a free of charge, no obligations, confidential conversation to learn more.