We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kuntal Warwick. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kuntal below.

Hi Kuntal, thanks for joining us today. Looking back at the decisions you made early in your career, particularly whether to join a firm or start your own, do you feel you made the right choice for that stage of your career?

I started KSW Consulting in 2009, which is quite a long time ago now. The decision to do this really coincided with my own personal needs and professional desires. I was motivated by wanting to combine parts of my work experience into a unique combination that I did not see in the market. I was also recovering from some health issues, and so I wanted flexibility in how I was working.

I was not sure what to expect — I initially thought of it as a bridge between jobs, but did not realize that I would end up spending 14 years learning, creating, building and developing. In some ways it did end up becoming a bridge because I have now chosen to take a role within a state organization that is quite entrepreneurial. But, when I started consulting and shared with my colleagues that I was going out on my own, I think they didn’t necessarily understand what I was looking to do — was it global business, traditional marketing, education, training?? I don’t think even I knew at the time. My first project came within a month with the International House of Philadelphia, whose building I was working in with the University of Pennsylvania. I was friendly with the Director and when he heard I was leaving Penn to consult, he asked if I could provide international communication and cross-cultural training for their incoming resident assistants. I had gone through this training myself in my Master’s program and was practicing this every day in the job I had recently left — as an Int’l Foreign Student Advisor — and so I accepted the project, which was relatively small.

I then started working with more traditional marketing projects, including developing eCommerce websites and strategies at a time when eCommerce was still relatively new. After 6 years, I moved to SoCal where I really started to make the connections I was seeking and bridging the world of global and marketing. I began to get more involved in the trade and global market entry world, using my marketing and international education skills to help businesses explore and position themselves for new global markets. This is what I have been focused on for nearly a decade.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I think my previous response probably answers these questions, but KSW Consulting (which is currently a 2nd hat to my current role) is focused on bringing creative and data-driven marketing strategies to companies and organizations that want to succeed in global markets. I have dedicated my professional life to international expansion and understanding, but this is underscored by providing creative ideas and solutions to making that happen more effectively.

I am proud that I’ve been able to work with (both as an employee and as a consultant) large institutions and small businesses. It’s been a symbiotic relationship of absorbing and learning, and then giving back. I put our global insights and the creative process at the heart of everything I do and that is our value-add. Our brand is really about providing accurate, meaningful and targeted support for our clients.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I think my business has gone through many pivots. While I always wanted to focus only on traditional marketing, something inside me wanted to explore beyond that. I feel I’ve found an interesting niche to be able to apply these marketing skillsets to a bigger and broader world — to those that are expanding globally. This has forced me to understand global business, the issues involved in expanding to new markets, exporting, etc, and to really pivot my understanding of marketing to complement these activities. For instance, not all social media channels are as widely used in some areas of the world — or there are others that are more popular. It’s important to know these kinds of details and to guide clients to adjusting their approach accordingly.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As previously mentioned, I have had a few moves in the last 10 years — from PA to CA to VA. With each move, I’ve had to build new networks and adapt to the needs of the businesses in these regions, especially their global needs. While my business is secondary at the moment, my journey of learning has continued in working with Virginia businesses that are expanding all over the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kswconsult.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuntalswarwick/
• Other: While I have Insta, FB and Twitter accounts, they are not updated at the moment.