The Consulting Growth Podcast

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 of clear positioning in customer experience, the importance of client diversification, and the value of developing a more productised niche around loyalty.
The conversation explores how Lenati’s employee-first culture supported client retention, internal promotion, and low churn. Martin also discusses the firm’s PE-backed acquisition, why the fit with PK and Carlyle worked, and how a careful approach to integration helped preserve momentum. The episode closes with Martin’s view on AI in consulting, especially its impact on junior roles and why firms should build AI capability through experimentation rather than top-down mandates.

In this episode you will learn:
Why clear specialist positioning can drive both sales and talent attraction
How Lenati reduced dependence on Microsoft by building new verticals
How employee-first cultures can support client outcomes and firm value
What made the PK and Carlyle acquisition a positive experience
How boutique firms should approach AI through team-led experimentation
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(07:22) Building an Employee-First Consulting Culture
(09:00) Scaling From Local to National
(13:00) Turning Local Case Studies Into National Growth
(19:10) Low Churn and Promoting From Within
(20:55) Choosing a PE-Backed Acquisition
(24:50) What Made the Private Equity Experience Work
(29:30) Lessons Learned From Growth and Exit
(33:50) Keeping the Fundamentals While Adopting AI
(35:15) Final Thoughts

Follow Martin on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehalchin 
Follow Joe on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeomahoney/
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https://twitter.com/joeomahoney
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https://www.equitysherpa.com

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Prof. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit. 
Follow Joe on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeomahoney/

Follow Joe on Twitter:
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Visit Joe’s Website:
https://www.equitysherpa.com

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 experiential learning.
The conversation explores the realities of integrating acquired firms, managing founders during M&A transitions, and balancing infrastructure with entrepreneurial culture. Stuart also discusses how consulting firms should think about AI, both as a customer-facing capability and as an internal scalability lever, while avoiding “technology for technology’s sake.” The discussion also covers private equity partnerships, the importance of financial discipline and operational infrastructure, and why culture and sales enablement become critical as firms grow internationally.
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(03:20) Building a Buy-and-Build Consulting Platform
(07:50) AI’s Impact on Consulting and Sales Training
(15:50) Scaling from £2M to £30M Revenue
(19:40) Infrastructure, Systems, and Operational Control
(26:00) What Private Equity Really Changes
(33:20) Culture, Retention, and Integration in M&A
(39:30) Common Sales Mistakes in Boutique Consultancies

Follow Stuart on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartpackham 
Alchemist Group Website:
https://thisisalchemist.com 
RAIN Group Website:
https://www.rainsalestraining.com 

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Prof. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit. 
Follow Joe on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeomahoney/

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https://twitter.com/joeomahoney

Visit Joe’s Website:
https://www.equitysherpa.com

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 final destination, and why resilience often matters more than strategy alone.
Jamie also breaks down the practical systems behind scaling revenue. He explains his “lighthouse and tugboat” framework for balancing inbound authority-building with outbound prospecting, how Sales for Life grew rapidly by leveraging partnerships and repeatable campaigns, and why many founders make the mistake of buying tools before defining principles and process.
The conversation also explores recurring revenue, founder-led sales, outsourcing, and cash flow discipline. Jamie offers candid lessons from mistakes made in earlier ventures, including project-based revenue dependency and poor payment terms, and explains how he rebuilt Get Levrg using a stronger economic model from day one.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:20 Three Agencies Journey
03:11 Fear and Motivation
06:52 Social Selling Breakthrough
07:24 Sphere of Influence Playbook
11:23 Principles Process Platforms
15:30 Outsourcing Done Right
20:49 Relationship Signal Intelligence
23:51 Exiting Founder Led Sales
31:21 Hard Lessons and Cash Flow

Follow Jamie on LinkedIn: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamestshanks 
Get Levrg Website:
https://getlevrg.com 

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Prof. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit. 
Follow Joe on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeomahoney/

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https://twitter.com/joeomahoney

Visit Joe’s Website:
https://www.equitysherpa.com

What really changes when a consulting firm takes on private equity, and how should founders prepare for it?
Karen Thomas-Bland shares practical insights from working across private equity-backed consulting firms, transformations, and integrations. She explains that the biggest shift post-investment is not capital, but discipline: more rigorous reporting, structured governance, and collective decision-making. Founders must adapt from autonomy to accountability, while also managing cultural transition as firms move from “family” environments to scalable businesses.
The discussion explores the metrics that matter most in consulting firms, including client concentration, pipeline conversion, sales cycle length, and pricing discipline—often an underdeveloped lever in boutique firms. Karen also highlights the importance of sequencing value creation initiatives, focusing on a small number of priorities, and building operational infrastructure without over-scaling back-office costs.
The episode also covers integration strategy, arguing that firms should “transform first, integrate second” to avoid compounding weaknesses. Finally, Karen outlines how leaders can build a strong market presence through focused, insight-led content, emphasizing clarity, consistency, and relevance over reach.

In this episode you will learn

Why private equity introduces discipline, not just capital
The key KPIs consulting firms should track before and after investment
How to avoid common mistakes in pricing and margin management
Why focusing on 2–3 priorities drives better value creation than long lists
The importance of transforming businesses before integrating acquisitions
How to scale sales beyond the founder and embed a firm-wide sales mindset
Practical advice for building a credible and effective LinkedIn presence

Follow Karen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenthomas-bland 
Follow Joe on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeomahoney/
Follow Joe on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/joeomahoney
Visit Joe’s Website:
https://www.equitysherpa.com

Send us Fan Mail
Prof. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit. 
Follow Joe on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeomahoney/

Follow Joe on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/joeomahoney

Visit Joe’s Website:
https://www.equitysherpa.com

What does it take to build a consulting firm that lasts 25 years and successfully exits to a Big Four firm?
Adrian Moorhouse, Olympic gold medallist and former world number one swimmer, shares the story of how he transitioned from elite sport to building Lane4, one of the UK’s most respected leadership development consultancies. After retiring from swimming, Moorhouse moved into talent development in British Swimming before co-founding Lane4 in 1995 with academics and a sales partner, applying principles from sport—such as improving inputs to drive better outputs—to leadership development and consulting.
Over the next 25 years, Lane4 grew into a multi-million-pound consultancy before joining EY in 2021. In this conversation, Adrian explains the strategic choices that shaped that journey: building a team with distinct roles for sales, delivery, and account management; overcoming growth plateaus; and navigating the realities of selling a consulting firm. He also reflects on leadership, learning, and the mindset shift required to move from individual performance to leading a team-based business.
In this episode you will learn
How Adrian Moorhouse transitioned from Olympic athlete to consulting entrepreneur
Why separating sales, delivery, and account management can unlock consultancy growth
The importance of “better inputs lead to better outputs” in building consulting capability
How Lane4 broke through a revenue plateau by redesigning roles and investing in new business development
Why understanding the difference between the customer and the consumer matters in consulting
What founders should expect when selling a consulting firm and navigating an earn-out
How leadership mindset shifts from individual performance to building a high-performing team

Connect with Adrian:
LinkedIn: Adrian Moorhouse

Send us Fan Mail
Prof. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit. 
Follow Joe on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeomahoney/

Follow Joe on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/joeomahoney

Visit Joe’s Website:
https://www.equitysherpa.com