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

Alright, Margery thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

Starting a consulting business as a woman in 1984 was an innovation by itself! At that time, there were very few women who were consulting in the advisory or advocacy space and to succeed, innovation became a way of life. Building a business globally with high performance in each local market (I called this glocal) and one bottom line was highly unusual. Once the business got started, I started to believe in moon shots, bringing new services to the markets around the world that were not widely available. The idea of developing these moon shots kept APCO ahead of the market until these services became more widely available and then it was time for a new moon shot.
Some of these moon shots were as simple as starting with the integration of services like public affairs with communications so that clients had solutions that blended the things they needed. Until that time, lobbying, public relations and advertising were all offered by separate entities, denying clients the benefit of the leverage of these services. Integrating these services created a more powerful and cost-effective solution that others soon copied.

Other moon shots followed: opening in Moscow in 1988 during the height of Perestroika; bringing the Internet into our offer in 1995; and setting up in China in 1997. Newer moon shots included setting up a new company, Trilligent, in the Metaverse; building an AI five years ago in Dubai; and many more.

Most recently, in late 2023, we’ve embarked on our latest moon shot: the launch of Margy, an AI support system named after myself. Margy isn’t just any AI; it’s a game-changing member of our team, designed to provide our clients with real-time insights, advanced trend forecasting, and content generation, among other capabilities. its blend of adaptive intelligence with the deep experience and knowledge of the APCO team, ensuring our clients receive unparalleled support and guidance.

It is these kind of things that propelled APCO’s growth and reputation. Today, that has taken us from a single office in Washington, D.C., to a global presence in over 30 locations and conducting business in more than 80 markets worldwide. This expansion would not have been possible without embracing innovation and adapting it to the changing global landscape. I am proud that we have built this reputation of innovation and just hard work.

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 founded APCO in 1984, and since then, I’ve had the good fortune to hire smart people who have helped me transform one office into the world’s largest independent, majority woman-owned global advisory and advocacy consultancy while raising three children and nine grandchildren. As of today, APCO boasts over $225 million in revenue, more than 1,200 employees and a global presence with operations in over 30 locations across more than 80 markets.
My career journey began as a high school civics teacher, fresh out of college. I soon realized that civics does not come alive in books alone. That experience in the classroom led me to help start the Close Up Foundation, which since 1971 has brought more than one million high school students and teachers to Washington, D.C. to learn the ins and outs of the U.S. system of government. This experience deeply ingrained in me the significance of personal exploration and curiosity, both for myself and for the many students who benefitted from Close Up over the years. These early lessons became the cornerstone of APCO’s core values—boldness, inclusivity, curiosity and empathy—values that have guided our approach from the very beginning.

Over the past 40 years, APCO has risen to become a premier provider in global advisory and advocacy, renowned for our innovative solutions and exceptional client service. We’ve always challenged conventional thinking and proactively explored new trends and movements, enabling our clients to thrive in a constantly evolving world. We have done this mostly through organic growth which has enabled us to get to know markets across the world and build a truly global workforce and get to know some wonderful people.

Throughout our four-decade journey, APCO has consistently emphasized the importance of insight, research and rigorous thinking in everything we do. But most of all, we have been built upon passion. People who care about the work they do and the results they deliver. We continue to use these skills and energy to help our clients navigate the complexities of today’s global landscape.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

APCO’s growth was a step-by-step process, growing from “hand to mouth” as we affiliated with various groups to build capacity without lots of capital. We started as an affiliate of a law firm—Arnold & Porter. As an affiliate, we sought to partner with the lawyers to provide services to their clients and ours. It was a novel concept at the time and was slow going. Seven years after founding APCO, it was a significant milestone when we spun off from Arnold & Porter, becoming part of Grey Global Group, a large publicly traded advertising firm. At that time, APCO was a modest $3 million business. A decade later, when we parted ways with Grey, we had grown to a $50 million enterprise. This remarkable growth was largely driven by our reinvestment and the momentum gained from building scale, affiliated with a global company. We managed to achieve this impressive expansion somewhat under the radar, by strategically reinvesting our profits back into the company.
The year 2004 marked a crucial turning point. I led the initiative to repurchase Grey’s shares, with the support of private equity. The following decade was arguably the most challenging period in our history, a time I often refer to as “the scariest time.” We were completely independent, yet we didn’t have the unconditional support of our backers. They had their own operational methods and even attempted to take over the firm, believing they knew better.

The situation improved dramatically with the help of several private finance firms and Citibank. Their support was instrumental in allowing me to buy out our backers, thus transforming APCO into one of the largest privately-owned, and majority women-owned, businesses in the industry. This marked a notable moment for us, a tipping point where we felt a newfound sense of security. We finally had financial partners who not only understood our history but also recognized our resilience. They appreciated that when times were tough, we took decisive steps to weather the storm, and when conditions improved, strategically invested to foster growth. And the result was remarkable growth.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Growing up, I didn’t have a burning ambition to be a career woman, but I’ve always been dedicated to working hard and aiming high. As the daughter of Polish immigrants, I completed high school a year early and was accepted into college to study political science without a high school diploma.
My life took a swift turn when I got married before finishing college, and soon after, we welcomed our first child. To keep my mind sharp during this new chapter, I enrolled in graduate school for evening classes. It was then that a remarkable opportunity came my way: the chance to help establish the Close Up Foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing young people to Washington, D.C., to learn about and engage in civic affairs and government. So now I had a more than full-time job, toddlers and graduate school. It was an unexpected change to my life for sure.

So when the opportunity to establish APCO arose, I couldn’t resist, despite my deep involvement with Close Up. It was a tough decision to make, as Close Up was very much my creation. However, by that point, I had gained considerable experience in my career and was curious to see if I could apply my knowledge and skills in a completely different environment. Although I left Close Up to build APCO, I continue to serve on the Close Up board to this day.

I juggled the responsibilities of building both Close Up and APCO while raising three children. I’ve found that many principles from my personal life have seamlessly transitioned into my professional world. For instance, when my children were growing up, I kept a sign in their bedroom that read: “There are only two lasting things of value you can give your children. One is roots, and the other is wings.” This philosophy has been a guiding principle in both my personal and professional life. When people started asking how I could have a company with more than 30 offices and one culture, I realized that, subconsciously, it was roots and wings as well. It was about the freedom, the wings, in the framework of a set of values, the roots. Subsequently, I wrote a book called Roots and Wings to talk about things I learned from motherhood that helped me build and scale my business. It summarizes the importance of work/life integration and pays homage to the things we women learn from parenting!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://apcoworldwide.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apcoworldwide/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margerykraus/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MargeryKraus
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/apcoworldwide