We were lucky to catch up with Jacqueline Erickson Russell recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jacqueline, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risk taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
Sometimes I feel that anything worth doing has the potential to go wrong. Life without a little risk would be too bland. So it is not to say that I don’t experience fear when I speak in public or take on a new clients or go hiking on paths a little too close to a cliff for my comfort. But rather, if I can listen to my fear and still push past it, I find the experience to be so meaningful.
This sentiment is also true for when I launched my business. For months I sought advice and insight into my next career move until I cultivated the concept of using my previous professional experience in Teach For America and leading grantmaking efforts at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. When push came to shove, I launched my company 12 weeks after my second child was born. I had zero clients. That felt like a risk.
Turns out that my belief that something with the potential to flop can be one of the most beautiful ideas to pursue, is true. Since launching my business in November of 2021, I have been able to work with more than 12 clients on interesting and complex projects in the non-profit, foundation, and entrepreneurship spheres. And, I got to experience the love, generosity, and support of my personal and professional community when I took this risk to start my own philanthropic consulting firm.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Social Impact Advising Group provides custom-designed solutions and consulting services that help businesses, philanthropic organizations, and nonprofits align their purpose, community investments, stakeholders, and strategy.
My vision is to create lasting community change by helping family foundations develop strategy and systems that are increasing the impact in their giving efforts. Sometimes that means I help with succession planning so different generations can incorporate their voice into the foundation’s giving philosophy. Sometimes I act as fractional program officer, carrying out their organization’s efforts into the community.
With non-profits, I love coming alongside executive directors and boards to help with strategic planning and be a thought-partner to move their meaningful work forward.
Every client and project looks different, which I love.
My experience working at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation was untraditional, in that I didn’t just grant money to existing organizations, I often incubated and launched non-profits, initiatives, and community efforts. Mobilizing external stakeholders to accomplish a common goal is absolutely (exhausting and) lifechanging.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Authenticity is what I believe to be integral to company growth. In this case, I believe that every individual has value and that influences how I interact with people. Everyone has met the CEO who thinks they are better than others due to their position. We have all met the salesperson who is transactional and only wants to interact with people if they bring perceived value.
People can sense if you authentically care about others and that matters. It leads to authentic relationships and growth. Authenticity and being people-centered is not a company growth strategy, it is a value, that when put into action, can be very powerful.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
There is not one right way of doing things.
My early career was formative in many ways. I learned so many skills and walked hand-in-hand with extremely brilliant and talented leaders. But you don’t have to do everything you see. I worked with a few leaders who believed so strongly in their one method that they isolated themselves and stopped learning. When I removed myself from the culture of “one right way”, I noticed there were other leaders in the field trying different strategies, with varied success rates, but with different benefits. It took some rewiring to realize how arrogant it is to think there is only one “right” way to accomplish a goal.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/social-impact-advising-group
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/social-impact-advising-group
Image Credits
Estuardo Garcia