The Principal Podcast

Look into the "3 Ways to Generate Leads With Your Podcast" E-book for free here on our website! (https://ghapodcast.com)Want to solve Branding and Lead-Gen for good for your B2B Business? Download our Completed Playbook for FREE: https://ghapodcast.com/b2b-podcasting-secrets-pod**********************************************************************Trayton Vance has spent more than two decades helping organisations improve performance through leadership coaching, cultural transformation, and practical people development. Through Coaching Focus Group, he partners with CEOs, HR leaders, and executive teams looking to create stronger alignment, better collaboration, and more resilient organisations. What makes Trayton’s approach different is its practicality. Rather than relying on theory-heavy leadership frameworks, his work focuses on real-world implementation, helping firms embed coaching behaviours into the everyday way leaders communicate, manage performance, and build trust internally. Before founding Coaching Focus Group, Trayton served as a Royal Marine Officer and later worked with McKinney Rogers International, advising global organisations on performance and change. That operational background continues to shape the direct, grounded way he approaches leadership and business growth today.Proposed Interview Structure: 1. What originally pulled you into the world of coaching and leadership development after your time in the Royal Marines?2. What specific problem are you helping clients solve today, and why does solving that problem matter to you personally?3. Who are your ideal clients today, and inside those organisations who usually makes the decision to bring you in?4. You’ve built Coaching Focus Group over more than two decades. What has worked best when it comes to attracting professional services clients consistently? Current Acquisition Channels: Referral, Content, Webinars Sub Question: What’s your view on podcasting as a marketing tool for consultants, coaches, and other professional services firms today?5. When you’re speaking with organisations about leadership or culture transformation, what helps you build enough trust and credibility to win the engagement?6. You’ve clearly built long-term relationships with clients over the years. What do you do to retain clients, keep them coming back, and make the relationship valuable over time?7. Where do you find yourself most stuck right now as a consultant and business owner, if at all?8. Looking ahead, where do you see the biggest opportunity for leadership coaching and organisational culture work over the next few years?*********************************************************************Know more about Trayton VanceWebsite Link: https://www.coaching-focus.com/Connect with Trayton Vance on LinkedInLinkedIn link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traytonvance/Apply to be a guest on The Principal Podcast:https://ghapodcast.com/application-to-be-a-guest-on-consulting-leaders/

Look into the "3 Ways to Generate Leads With Your Podcast" E-book for free here on our website! (https://ghapodcast.com)Want to solve Branding and Lead-Gen for good for your B2B Business? Download our Completed Playbook for FREE: https://ghapodcast.com/b2b-podcasting-secrets-pod**********************************************************************Nick Palmer operates at the intersection of strategy and execution, where most consulting work either succeeds or quietly fails. At Oaklin Consulting, he works with senior executives to guide mergers, acquisitions, and alliances across the full lifecycle, with a clear focus: making deals work in practice, not just on paper.What stands out in Nick’s approach is his emphasis on “value inflection points”, the critical moments where decisions, alignment, and execution disproportionately impact outcomes. Rather than treating M&A as a linear process, he frames it as a series of high-stakes moments that require precision and experience. For consulting firm owners, this conversation is a reminder that real differentiation doesn’t come from frameworks alone, it comes from the ability to guide clients through complexity, uncertainty, and execution when it matters most.Proposed Interview Structure: 1. What got you into consulting, and how did you end up focusing so deeply on M&A, alliances, and integration?2. What specific problem are you helping clients solve when it comes to M&A and alliances, and why does solving that matter so much to you personally?3. Who are your ideal clients today, and who typically holds the decision to bring you in on these engagements?4. In such a high-trust, high-stakes space, how do clients typically find you, and what have you seen work best to build credibility? Current Acquisition Channels: Referral, Speaking engagements Sub Question: You’ve been involved in podcasting yourself, how do you see podcasts playing a role for consultants in complex advisory spaces like yours?5. When you’re dealing with senior executives and complex deals, how do you move from an initial conversation to actually being brought in to advise?6. You’ve worked with clients across multiple transactions, how do you retain clients over time and build those long-term advisory relationships?7. Where do you find yourself most stuck right now in your role (if at all), whether in growing the North America practice or delivering this level of work?8. Looking ahead, where do you see the biggest opportunity for your work in M&A, alliances, and transformation over the next few years?*********************************************************************Know more about Nick PalmerWebsite Link: https://btd.consulting/Connect with Nick Palmer on LinkedInLinkedIn link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-palmer-b8b72/Apply to be a guest on The Principal Podcast:https://ghapodcast.com/application-to-be-a-guest-on-consulting-leaders/

Look into the "3 Ways to Generate Leads With Your Podcast" E-book for free here on our website! (https://ghapodcast.com)Want to solve Branding and Lead-Gen for good for your B2B Business? Download our Completed Playbook for FREE: https://ghapodcast.com/b2b-podcasting-secrets-pod**********************************************************************Priscilla McKinney has spent more than 16 years helping B2B organizations build marketing systems that generate visibility, trust, and revenue. As the founder of Little Bird Marketing, she works with CEOs, sales leaders, and professional services firms that need more than random acts of marketing, they need predictable growth. Her background in cultural anthropology gives her a unique lens into buyer behavior, decision-making, and why people trust certain brands over others. That perspective helped shape her proprietary S.O.A.R. framework, designed to bring structure, accountability, and scalability to B2B marketing efforts. In this conversation, we explore what professional services firms often get wrong about growth, how consultants can build authority without sounding generic, and why relationship-driven marketing is becoming one of the biggest competitive advantages in modern consulting.Proposed Interview Structure: 1. What originally pulled you into consulting and marketing, and how did your background in cultural anthropology shape the way you approach business growth today?2. What specific problem are you helping clients solve today, and why does solving that problem matter so much to you personally?3. Who are your ideal clients today, and who usually holds the decision to bring you in or hire your team?4. You’ve built strong authority in B2B marketing and social influence. What has worked best for attracting consulting and professional services clients consistently? Current Acquisition Channels: Referral, Content, Webinars, Podcast (guesting), Podcast (hosting), Speaking engagements Sub Question: You host two podcasts yourself. What role do you think podcasting plays for professional services firms trying to build trust, authority, and long-term relationships?5. When consulting engagements involve multiple stakeholders and longer buying cycles, how do you personally move prospects from initial conversations to signed engagements?6. You’ve built long-term client relationships over many years. How do you retain clients, keep them coming back, and continue creating value beyond the first engagement?7. Where do you find yourself most stuck right now as a consultant and agency owner, if at all?8. Looking ahead, where do you see the biggest opportunity for B2B marketing and digital transformation firms over the next few years?*********************************************************************Know more about Priscilla McKinneyWebsite Link: http://www.littlebirdmarketing.comConnect with Priscilla McKinney on LinkedInLinkedIn link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priscillamckinney/Apply to be a guest on The Principal Podcast:https://ghapodcast.com/application-to-be-a-guest-on-consulting-leaders/

Look into the "3 Ways to Generate Leads With Your Podcast" E-book for free here on our website! (https://ghapodcast.com)Want to solve Branding and Lead-Gen for good for your B2B Business? Download our Completed Playbook for FREE: https://ghapodcast.com/b2b-podcasting-secrets-pod**********************************************************************Neal McNamara has spent more than 25 years advising organizations through some of their most critical business moments. Before founding Virtas Partners, he led KPMG’s Accounting Advisory Services division across the U.S. and Americas, overseeing a 350-person consulting practice supporting acquisitions, IPOs, restructurings, carve-outs, and complex transformations for Fortune 500 companies and private equity-backed businesses.Today, Neal is building Virtas Partners into a different kind of consulting firm, one designed for complexity, relationships, and long-term trust. The firm works closely with CFO organizations, investors, and executive teams facing operational and financial inflection points where execution and judgment matter more than ever. What makes Neal especially relevant for professional services leaders is how openly he talks about the realities of building consulting firms today. From AI’s impact on consulting economics to burnout, talent retention, and the changing expectations clients have of advisors, Neal brings an operator’s perspective on what firms need to do to remain valuable and durable over the next decade. Proposed Interview Structure: 1. What originally pulled you into consulting and advisory work, and what kept you in the industry long enough to eventually build your own firm?2. What specific problem is Virtas Partners helping clients solve today, and why does solving that problem matter so personally to you?3. Who are your ideal clients today, and who usually makes the decision to bring Virtas in during high-stakes engagements?4. You’re very active publicly discussing trends in consulting, AI, leadership, and private equity. How important has thought leadership been in growing Virtas and attracting the right clients? Current Acquisition Channels: Referral, Content, Podcast (guesting), Podcast (hosting), Speaking engagements, Cold outreach Sub Question: You recently launched Consulting Uncensored. What do you think podcasts can do for professional services firms trying to build trust and authority in the market?5. In high-trust consulting engagements, especially around transactions and transformation work, how do you typically build credibility and win the client relationship?6. Virtas operates in environments where trust and execution matter deeply. How do you make sure clients continue coming back and view Virtas as a long-term strategic partner?7. As someone building a modern boutique consulting firm in a rapidly changing industry, where do you personally feel the most challenged or stuck right now, if anywhere? 8. Looking ahead, where do you see the biggest opportunity for firms focused on complex financial and operational advisory over the next few years?**********************************************************************Know more about Neal McNamaraWebsite Link: http://www.virtaspartners.com/Connect with Neal McNamara on LinkedInLinkedIn link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealmcnamara/Apply to be a guest on The Principal Podcast:https://ghapodcast.com/application-to-be-a-guest-on-consulting-leaders/

Look into the "3 Ways to Generate Leads With Your Podcast" E-book for free here on our website! (https://ghapodcast.com)Want to solve Branding and Lead-Gen for good for your B2B Business? Download our Completed Playbook for FREE: https://ghapodcast.com/b2b-podcasting-secrets-pod**********************************************************************Martha Dorris has spent her career helping government organizations modernize the way they serve people. During her leadership tenure at GSA, she helped pioneer some of the federal government’s earliest digital service and customer experience initiatives, laying the groundwork for many of today’s citizen-focused government programs. After leaving government, she founded Dorris Consulting International to help agencies and private-sector firms navigate customer experience, digital transformation, and service delivery modernization. Alongside her consulting work, she created the Service to the Citizen Awards, recognizing hundreds of public and private-sector leaders improving government services across the country.This conversation goes beyond government transformation. Martha shares what it takes to build a trusted advisory business in a relationship-driven industry: how credibility compounds over time, why community-building matters, and how long-term partnerships become the foundation of sustainable firm growth.Proposed Interview Structure: 1. What originally drew you into government transformation and customer experience work?2. What specific problems are you helping agencies and industry partners solve today, and why does solving those problems matter so personally to you?3. Who are your ideal clients today, and who typically makes the decision to bring you in or engage Dorris Consulting International?4. You’ve built visibility through awards programs, newsletters, events, and podcasting. What has worked best for growing your consulting business and building credibility in the government space? Current Acquisition Channels: Referral, Content, Webinars, Podcast (guesting), Podcast (hosting), Speaking engagements Sub Question: You also host the CX Tipping Point Podcast. What do you think consultants and advisors can learn from podcasting as a long-term relationship and trust-building tool?5. Government and enterprise consulting often involve long trust-building cycles. How do you personally move relationships from early conversations to long-term consulting engagements?6. You’ve maintained relationships across government and industry for years. What’s your approach to retaining clients, staying relevant over time, and creating partnerships where clients continue coming back?7. Given how much the government CX and digital transformation space is evolving, where do you find yourself most challenged or stuck right now as a consultant (if at all)?8. Looking ahead, where do you see the biggest opportunity for customer experience and digital government consulting over the next few years?*********************************************************************Know more about Martha DorrisWebsite Link: https://www.dorrisconsulting.com/Connect with Martha Dorris on LinkedInLinkedIn link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martha-dorris-798b3b7/Apply to be a guest on The Principal Podcast:https://ghapodcast.com/application-to-be-a-guest-on-consulting-leaders/