The Consulting Growth Podcast

What happens to a professional services firm when AI makes the work faster—but clients expect to pay less? Shawn Yeager, founder of Upshift, works with professional services firms on the commercial implications of AI: not simply which tools to adopt, but what firms should sell and how they should price once parts of traditional delivery become easier to automate. Drawing on three decades working with emerging technologies, Shawn argues that AI is exposing the weaknesses of the billable-hour m...

How can a boutique consultancy scale beyond founder-led growth without losing the culture that made it successful? Rob Ferrone is a product data and PLM strategy advisor who founded and led Quick Release, a specialist engineering consultancy focused on product data management and product data flow. In this episode, he explains how the firm grew through referrals before developing a structured, consultative approach to business development and expanding to more than 200 people across the UK, U...

How can boutique consultancies scale, diversify, and prepare for exit without losing the culture that made them successful? In this episode, Professor Joe O’Mahoney speaks with Martin Mehalchin, a former Lenati leader who helped build the Seattle-based customer strategy and experience design firm into a nationally recognised consultancy before its 2018 merger with PK. Martin reflects on the growth journey from a locally anchored boutique to a broader North American player, including the role ...

How do you scale a consulting business from £2M to £30M without losing culture, customer focus, or entrepreneurial energy? In this episode, Joe O’Mahoney speaks with Stuart Packham, Group CEO of Alchemist Group, about scaling professional services businesses through a combination of organic growth, acquisitions, operational rigor, and people-first leadership. Stuart shares lessons from building a private equity-backed buy-and-build platform across leadership development, sales training, and e...

How do you build multiple successful agencies, recover from failure, and keep scaling without burning out? In this episode, Joe speaks with Jamie Shanks, founder and CEO of Get Levrg, and a three-time agency founder who has built businesses in sales training, technology, and outsourced revenue operations. Jamie shares the entrepreneurial mindset that has driven him through wins, setbacks, and multiple reinventions. He explains why founders must learn to enjoy the climb rather than chase a fin...