Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ryan Gonzalez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ryan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

In today’s nonprofit landscape, implementation consultants are a dying breed. Post covid, we have observed a decline in talent and applications for those wanting to find a job in the development departments of nonprofit causes. In fact, in Tampa, we see an average of 40-50 postings a month for development professionals that are needed for essential roles that manage fundraising, plan events, apply for grants, and develop the strategic plans for how nonprofit organizations will raise money so they can implement their mission. At The Touchstone Collective, we are serving a niche market of nonprofit and for-profit clients as implementation consultants- understanding the client’s business processes, goals, and challenges, and translating them into strategic business plans and metrics. As implementation consultants, we provide a unique selling proposition that includes training, support, and troubleshooting to the client’s staff, and monitors the performance and outcomes of the solution. Unlike other nonprofit consultants, we are also not afraid to get into the weeds on client projects. Whether its taking over as the interim Development Director leading the team or raising money for the organization, we ensure that development programs keep building relationships and stewardship with its donors in lieu of missing staff. We also believe in the power of partnerships. As a one woman show, we believe in garnering a network of talented professionals who we subcontract with who can provide other services to supplement our business with more wraparound services such as marketing/social media, web design and video, human resources, and finance. This allows us to customize our packages to meet client demands while internally building business referrals through subcontractors with our service. We are huge advocates of women supporting women and we have build a powerhouse tribe of women who kick ass in what they do.

Ryan, 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?

I consider myself to be an untraditional leader with a distinct value to deliver pioneering relationships.
But, I did not get to where I am overnight. I come from the school of the hard knocks. Although I have a bachelors from Florida International University in Marketing and a Master’s Degree from the University of Phoenix in Entreprenuership, I feel my most relevant experience comes from working in the industry for the last 22 years under some amazing leaders who have me the opportunity at a young age to dive right in, take chances, and make mistakes along the way.

Most nonprofit professionals display themselves as outwardly extroverted but inwardly we do enjoy introverting. I find that true of myself as I learned who I was along the way. I started my career wanting to pursue a career in marketing and advertising wanting to develop commercials for top brands but quickly realized during my first college job recruiting volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters in Miami, that my true passion was development. Cheyenne Palma, now Dominguez, gave me my first shot as a Development and Marketing Coordinator and the rest was history.

After years of being put to the test, I lead and rebuilt teams at Academy Prep Center of Tampa and the Glazer Children’s Museum while also welcoming three beautiful babies into my life. The demands of motherhood, bad nonprofit leadership, and driving into an office everyday led to a lack of sleep and self-care. At some point, you need to take your power back especially when you have the skills and drive to get there. Back to the school of the hard knocks, when you are good at what you do, you should never be afraid to take yourself to the next level. I had a big choice to make and some great mentors in my corner who motivated me to kick my butt in gear and start my own company.

The Touchstone Collective was created over five years ago and was born and named for its ability to bring together people and collectively create solutions that are pivotal to that clients needs moving forward. As professionals in pioneering relationships and tailoring strategic fundraising approaches and cultivation, we have helped small to midsize corporations as a business strategist and social impact storyteller to craft and activate programs and plans to help them strengthen their businesses and increase impact in the community. We have helped businesses create the strategy, framework, and messaging to pull together their perfect custom plan.

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

My pivot from employee to business owner took me years of contemplating until I was able to pull the trigger. I had a number of bad bosses, low salaries, and unhappiness due to the fact that I knew I had more to offer people. And that regret was keeping me up at night. As a young person building a family while also having career goals, I struggled with how to do both. I would spend 2-3 hours a day commuting to an office, my kids entered the daycare realm way to early, and I felt myself not meeting expectations for myself. And a person can take that real hard on themselves. I remember an event I did; I put my 110% in, I took a visionary approach to notify leadership of the challenges and potential solutions and I was not listened to. As a result, it led to some negative outcomes on event day. I did not have the power in this situation and felt like the fall girl from the outcome. At that moment, a lightbulb went off. I had to take my power back and do what so many told me to do- help more missions, provide my expertise, and be a leader. That’s when I took the jump and as Nike says, Just did it!

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

One of the hardest parts of jumping into your new business is getting the clients. When making the switch, I recommend that you do your current job really, really well. Build the respect with everyone in the company, build up the relationships internal and external, and give some thoughts on how the relationships you have can help you to get you to where you need moving forward. For me, my expertise was respected at my job before moving into consulting, so my exit strategy included asking that employer to hire me as a consultant. My old company was actually my first client, allowing for some income to still come in while I was in search of clients. In that first year, it was tough, and Covid hit and I thought that it was the end. But you don’t give up and hide behind a computer. You get out there, even if it requires a Zoom call. I would meet with as many as I could for coffee, if that person couldn’t help me, I’d ask them to connect with people who could. It was also important to continue telling the story on social- what you do, what you can do, reviews and quotes from happy clients, ways you can work and partner together. Stay out there. That’s the best way!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thetouchstonecollective.co
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/thetouchstonecollective
• Linkedin: The Touchstone Collective, Inc.