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

Nicole Tiovanni, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

I’ve been able to build an entire business model based on what I saw Corporate America repeatedly get wrong. As a Business Consultant and Advisor on Tech projects, I noticed that there was a consistent issue that companies were facing. Almost all of these companies were relying on third-party, offshore contractors to complete their software development work. I noticed that there were virtually no processes to facilitate the language barriers, time differences, and even cultural differences of the contractors. Almost all of these companies were having major issues with proper communication with these teams, which was causing significant project delays and ultimately, budget issues.

The other problem was that some of these companies were hiring “Software Development Firms” which were ultimately just a revolving door of unqualified freelancers. This led to unrealistic expectations and a poor working relationship for all involved. After seeing these patterns for several years on various projects, I knew there had to be a better way. I’m a stickler for healthy communication and clear expectations, so I began to brainstorm on a solution.

The fact of the matter is, there are several popular freelance apps that lead people and companies to believe that they can easily hire a freelance developer, create the app or software of their dreams, and be off to the races. Unfortunately, this just isn’t the common reality.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started my career as a Business Consultant over 10 years ago. Six years later, I realized that more and more of my projects were Technology related and Technology became my consulting firm’s main discipline. I am the President of 1925 Consulting and the Founder of 725 Tech Inc. I’m a Corporate Strategist and Business Consultant who fell in love with the Technology space and decided to make history!

After many successful years as a Business Consultant, I decided to dive head-first into Technology. In 2021, I invested in building my own Software Development team and was determined to lead a charge to fix the issues that I’d seen on so many previous projects. No more random freelancers, no more mediocre communication, and no more unnecessary delays!

My passion to revolutionize this space wasn’t just fueled by my previously disappointed clients and colleagues, but also by the relationships that I’d created with great developers who were looking to learn and grow with outstanding enterprises and trustworthy people.

In 2023, I founded 725 Technology, a Software Development company focused on accelerating innovation through technology. We have an incredibly talented dedicated team. We have a stateside office as well as an operation in Surat, Gujarat, India. I became the first non-national woman in history to own a business in Surat, India!

The highlight of my career was hosting our company’s first on-site leadership training in Surat India in May of 2023. It was incredible to be able to fellowship and spend time with team members and their families after working together virtually for so long. I’m honored and excited to help marginalized people, especially women, have the proper representation in Technology and business in general.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

So… I literally fell backwards into the development side of tech. Now, I’m far from being a Developer or a Software Engineer, but I spent about a year investing in my own projects and learning the ins and outs of the app development process (outside of what I had seen on the business side). Regardless of what I had learned, or how much I thought I knew, my first official app project was completely BOMBED! Even though I’d built my own team, I decided to partner with a company that I thought had a little bit more experience and they botched the entire project. They hired the worst freelancers possible (after saying they had an in-house team) and my real in-house team had to end up rescuing the build. I seriously felt like this project was going to break me. I swore I was out of the app game and that I never wanted to see or much less build another app. I did learn, however, a valuable lesson in this situation; always bet on YOU! I also learned to run TOWARD your fears! Fast forward 2 years later and I’ve built and scaled my own full-service Software Development company. Not only do we successfully build from scratch, but we’ve also successfully rescued several other botched projects.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

My advice is to incentivize your team and help them to always feel truly engaged in the vision properly. I believe in getting in the mud with my team. My team knows that I respect their time, talent, and value. I’ve learned that no matter how tough a project gets, it’s important to remind your team that you have their backs and you’re willing to go the extra mile for them. I can guarantee you that if your team feels secure, they’ll always go the extra mile for you too!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.725Tech.com
• Instagram: @NicoleTiovanni @725Tech
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolethardy