03 Mar Celebrating 12 Years of Impact
It’s hard to believe that 2026 marks 12 years since we launched Broughton Consulting. It has been an incredible journey. From writing case studies about innovative companies to coaching businesses through ownership transitions and transformative cultural shifts to speaking at conferences on all we’ve learned, every year has reinforced my belief that when employees and businesses align their interests, great things happen.
Launching NCEOC
Not long after founding Broughton Consulting, I learned about the efforts to start new state level employee ownership centers in response to the Silver Tsunami of retiring Baby Boomer generation business owners. Right away I decided to start one in my home state of North Carolina. Building strong relationships in the employee ownership field throughout the state, founding the North Carolina Employee Ownership Center in early 2019, and helping lead it to where it is today was incredibly meaningful. I’m super proud to leave NCEOC in very capable hands and to turn all my attention back to my consulting business.
Refocusing Efforts at Broughton Consulting
As I dive back into full-time consulting, I’m more energized than ever. Just as a reminder, our three areas of practice are helping small to medium sized businesses with succession planning (with a focus on employee ownership), building engaged ownership cultures (for both employee-owned and privately held firms) through Great Game of Business open book management, and writing case studies of innovative company practices that align the interests of the business and the employees so both can prosper.
Most of my time is spent with my fantastic open book management clients across the US and sometimes abroad. Some are employee owned and want to boost their teams’ understanding of business and how they impact it. Others are privately held and aim to engage team members at every level for business success. When employees understand how their company makes money and generates cash, see how their work impacts the bottom line, and share in the rewards – that’s when businesses become unstoppable. I also love to see employees applying their new-found business and financial literacy to their personal finances – paying off debts and saving for goals like vacations or owning their first home.
Some people ask, “Why doesn’t everyone play the Great Game of Business since it works so well?” Well, not everyone knows about it. One way Broughton Consulting is helping to get out the word is by working closely with the National Fund for Workforce Solutions to bring open book management to the workforce world and to closely quantify the results. We’re excited to share some upcoming success stories from this collaboration.
Broughton Consulting is also proud to be part of the global movement to use business for good. We have been a certified B Corporation since 2017 and this community pushes us to stretch and increase our impact every year. As the B Corp standards become ever more rigorous, we’ll be part of an emerging cohort of solopreneurs navigating the new requirements. I’ll share more about this process as we go.
I plan to spend some time this year reflecting on what I’ve learned over the past 12 years at Broughton Consulting, lifting up the work of many amazing clients and colleagues, and sharing what seems the most useful. Stay tuned for more!