PICA Member Spotlights

Q&A with independent consultants who successfully “made the leap” and created the consulting career of their dreams

 

Q: Please introduce yourself. Tell us about your business and how it has shifted since you started with PICA.

A: I'm Sylvia Atsalis and I am the founder of Professional Development for Good, a consulting practice committed to nurturing the talents of emerging conservation leadership in developing countries globally. When I first started consulting, I concentrated on mission-driven individuals including students, early career professionals, and even mid-career professionals looking to make a pivot in their careers. Now for more impact, I focus on NGO teams, enhancing talents, communication, and leadership. As a scientist and conservationist, my mission aligns with theirs, and I understand the specific demands of their careers.

Q: The two words that always make me think of you, Sylvia, are “mission driven”. Tell us a little bit about what mission driven means in terms of your business. 

A: Mission driven means to aspire to serve in some way through your career. It means to have a vision for a better world and then to find specific ways to implement that vision. That’s what we call the mission: who to serve, how to serve, and what is the outcome. It is possible to fulfill one’s mission and engage one’s skills and expertise through diverse channels, simultaneously or successively. My own purpose is to conserve nature. At the beginning of my career, I served my purpose through research and teaching. Now I serve it by supporting the next generation of conservation and environmentally oriented people, those working in NGOs who need customized support to do their jobs better.

 

Q: You've gone from a career as a scientist to now professional development. How did that happen? What made you decide that you wanted to take your career in a new direction?

A: I began my academic career as an educator and researcher, typical of someone with a PhD. I did innovative research on tiny nocturnal lemurs in Madagascar and then on the largest primates, gorillas, in U.S. zoos.  I was perfectly content immersed in research and writing books and papers, when out of the blue, I was offered an amazing opportunity. A fellow primatologist, whom I met while doing my field research in Madagascar, asked me to co-develop capacity-building workshops in Asia. We invited students and professionals to train in primate ecology. With a whopping 65% and more of primates threatened with extinction, we felt it was our responsibility as seasoned researchers to help create the next generation of conservation leaders in countries with primates. Engaging with young professionals in Asia was a transformative experience. I remember being at the University in Hanoi with young people who were new to this kind of training. We trained all day, and in the evening we sang karaoke!

The experience revealed in me a talent for training, coaching, and mentoring, and for generating partnerships. But a talent is not a strength. I had to sharpen these skills, and I had to go from being a project-oriented person to one focused on people development. It took some time, but I was fortunate to eventually hold positions at a state university and at a prestigious private university. I gained experience and knowledge on professional development and career planning. Eventually, my solo consulting business was what gave me the freedom to support conservation and the environment in the innovative ways I wanted. I still do research but mostly I focus on capacity building efforts internationally. In today's world, it is possible to have multiple professional lives. It’s called a career portfolio and it’s the new way of “having it all”!

 

Q: How have the two big parts of your career complimented each other?  

A: I was a primate ecologist, and then I discovered the importance of professional development and career planning for emerging conservation leaders.  Initially, I tried to blend the two. Now I accept that I am a professional development expert and a scientist, and their respective skills support one another and give me credibility in both arenas.  My training as a research scientist, primatologist, and anthropologist has equipped me for my current role! For example, as a behavioral ecologist, I developed a sharp eye for behavioral nuance observing primates. So, when I talk to people, I naturally apply a very discerning eye to detect and hone their inner talents. I also bring the analytical eye of a scientist.  I have a great eye for getting to the root cause of problems on the job. Young professionals come to me confused about choices they must make, or about conflicts they are having on the job, and I address them. As an educator, I am constantly upgrading my credentials including training in mindfulness and neuroscience for coaches. All entrepreneurs are creative to some extent, and my research experience gives me a forward-thinking, innovative, yet practical approach - a combination essential to solopreneurship. With Professional Development for Good, I figured out how to bring my skills together under one umbrella.

Q: What have been your challenges and lessons learned?

A: Initially I thought my biggest challenge was closing in on my niche and getting the branding down. With my complex career background, I couldn’t quite figure out what to leave in and what to leave out. Now I see it as an ongoing learning process. A regularly evolving TAG, LinkedIn profile, and website are normal. I’ve accepted that as I learn more, as the field evolves, as I add more techniques to my portfolio, as trends change, etc., my branding must be tweaked or even majorly adjusted. It’s a creative, ongoing process. I embrace it but it takes time. Actually, I’m now due for another adjustment!

Marketing, too, is another challenge. I learned that you market the business based on the outcomes that the client wants, not the ones you think (or secretly know) they need. Secondary to the marketing message is who you are and how you do it. So, my focus has shifted from what I do, to what outcomes the client needs - they call that the pain point, but I don’t like thinking of pain, so I call it aspiration. I focus on the client’s aspiration, and, once again, I am in the process of adjusting my marketing. Just as much time is invested in branding and marketing as in helping your clients - another lesson learned!

 

Q: What's next for you and your consulting business?

A: I’d like to increase my impact. That is how I empower mission-driven individuals and organizations to enhance their own impact. Increasing impact also means developing affiliations with more innovative and forward-thinking organizations. I’m always seeking organizations with forward-thinking leadership that aspire to improve well-being and efficiency in their workplace with customized attention to their staff.  I am also looking for new ways to do service work while still maintaining my business - I’m open to suggestions about that. Finally, it is so important to maintain a hybrid online presence, so I am exploring ideas in that direction.

 

Q:  Would you be open to conversations with people who are thinking of pivoting their careers?

A: I’m very open to sharing the wisdom of my experience. I am super easy to contact on LinkedIn, through my website, and direct email.  One lesson I’ve learned is that every connection is part of a valuable network of people with whom to share mutually beneficial insights. It's a mindset I acquired and which I try to pass on to young professionals; that experience matters, and that everyone has useful experiences and lessons learned, which we have a responsibility to share! Being a solopreneur is not easy if you don’t already come from the world of business. My husband is a natural, but he has been in business all his life! I’ve got a pioneering kind of mindset, but that’s not the same as knowing how to do business. Even after several years independent, I do a lot of service work because many would-be clients, including NGOs, do not have enough funds or their donors don’t earmark money for customized staff training. I have a mind for practical solutions and love to help, so I do. But there is a big difference between having the skills or even the intuitive ability to be a solopreneur, and then marketing yourself as such, the business of doing business, the business of making a living. It's been a learning curve for me. That's where PICA has played an important role.  I’ve met people who often come from a world of business, and I learned from them.

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