We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Marshaun Hymon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Marshaun, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

I grew up with a single mother, and she has done many things right. First, my mother parented with an iron fist. High expectations don’t begin to explain the level of excellence expected. As a child, I, of course, was not a fan of that parenting style. But, as an adult, I’m immensely thankful. She instilled in me a clear sense of discipline, a passion for education, and a commitment to my career. Further, she masterfully balanced that with the ability to pursue my passions. Specifically, when I said I wanted to attend college to major in Choral Music Education, she packed the car, and we were on the road to the winter auditions at Florida State University’s College of Music.
Second, my mother has been very transparent about her mistakes and reminded me of the importance of avoiding them. Whether financial, relational, or socioemotional, transparently sharing her mistakes and regrets has been a strong guide to my development as a young adult and even now as a small business owner.
Finally, my mother has been an inspiration, a muse. Her vision for what the future could hold has infected me as I’ve grown. During my junior year of undergraduate school, she mailed me a letter addressed to “Dr. Marshaun Hymon.” That small gesture, unbeknownst to me at the time, lit a fire that propelled me to the highest level of formal education in my field. And my education has unlocked doors I didn’t know existed and continues to propel my life and career today.
My mother has done many things right. In sum, she instilled discipline, shared her mistakes, and cultivated a strong vision for my family and me.

Dr. Marshaun, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Dr. Marshaun R. Hymon, and I am the Co-Founder & Managing Partner of True Change Alliance (TCA), a Talent Management Consulting Firm. I began my career as a public school music educator. I moved from public school to non-profit and higher education work. As part of a career pivot, I had the opportunity to lead the Learning Solutions team at a Talent Management consulting firm, where I honed my consulting chops. Beyond learning and talent development, I gained expertise in organizational development, executive coaching, and people strategy. After gaining extensive experience at an in-house firm serving both the private and public sectors, I went out on my own!

TCA offers services and products across three verticals: People Strategy, Executive & Leadership Coaching, & Talent Development.

Within the People Strategy vertical, we offer services in Employee Engagement, Skills-Based Talent Management, and Process Improvement.

Within the Executive & Leadership Coaching vertical, we have developed a research- and practice-based proprietary coaching framework called The DARING Approach. We apply this framework to coach leaders for individual growth and to enable leaders to drive organizational success.

Within the Talent Development vertical, we offer Talent Acquisition Enablement, Leadership Acceleration, and Manager Enablement programs. In addition to “off the shelf” products, TCA will also build custom solutions for our partners.

If organizations are struggling to recruit, develop, engage, and/or retain high-quality talent, TCA can help.

What sets TCA apart is that our partners have industry leadership experience across the non-profit, K-12, higher education, and corporate sectors. Additionally, our partners have experience across industries such as aviation, tech, advertising, and finance.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

TCA began as a “DEI” firm. This was quite popular prior to 2020 and for some time in the early 2020s. Once “DEI” became politicized and polarizing, TCA had to determine how best to move in the market. Do we “double down”? Do we pivot? Honestly, we decided to double down, and while some states, regions, and sectors continued to invest in the work, the work had changed significantly overall. So, we pivoted. We had to do a lot of work to identify the language used across industries to describe our work and tailor our approach to the new business landscape. As of now, we’re settling and beginning a new market strategy.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

For TCA, referral has been the most effective strategy. Building trust with current clients, delivering “a little more” than what we agreed to, really show value and impact, and then drafting case studies or demonstrating and/or proving impact. Past clients have been our best way to gain new clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.truechangealliance.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truechangealliance/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truechangealliance/