#358: From Intern to CEO: Camille Nicita's Human-Centric Journey Buying, Growing and Selling Gongos, Inc.

Camille is the former president and CEO of Gongos, Inc., a company focused on empowering organizations through human insights. Today, Camille will be sharing her insights on 'Navigating the Complex World of Succession Planning with a Human-centric Approach.' We’re going to be diving into how Camille managed to transition her leadership into the CEO role - while buying the company - after the sudden demise of the company’s co-founder, John Gongos, and how she ensured the company not only survived but thrived in the ever-changing business landscape.

Further, Camille Nicita and host Ryan Tansom dissect the complexities and challenges of succession planning in professional services companies, drawing contrasts with product-based firms. She details the meticulous process of entertaining acquisition offers, ensuring alignment of values, and the ultimate decision of selling to Insights Consulting. Camille’s insights into regular company valuations, and her focus on relationships and the human aspect during negotiations, are valuable takeaways for entrepreneurs and business leaders. If you’re looking to gain a deeper understanding of leadership, business transformation, and the nuanced art of succession planning with a human touch, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

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What You Will Learn

1. Human-Centric Approach: Gongos, Inc., under Camille Nicita's lead, adopted a human-centric business model that promoted organizational changes, product innovations, and effective communication strategies based on deep customer understanding.
2. Resilient Leadership: After co-founder John Ganges' sudden demise, Nicita's purpose-driven leadership, focusing on passion for the business, team, and clients, played a critical role in stabilizing the company during a pivotal transition.
3. Embracing Diversification: Nicita initiated several transformations within Gongos, such as expanding into data analytics and strategic consulting, to create a diverse service portfolio while emphasizing employee upskilling and talent recruitment.
4. Complexities of Succession Planning: Nicita highlighted the importance of distinguishing between ownership and positional leadership in succession planning, aligning the leadership team's interests with company growth via tools like a phantom stock plan.
5. Navigating Acquisition with Intention: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Nicita to strategically plan Gongos' sale, where she prioritized values and vision alignment when selecting the right buyer, leading to Insights Consulting's successful acquisition.

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Interview Quotes:

08:12  - “Human understanding translated into really meaningful, positive impact for the businesses we work for.” - Camille Nicita

10:43  - “Do right by your people and you’ll feel good as a human too.” - Camille Nicita

10:39 - “The money will come if you do the right thing.” - Camille Nicita

24:07 - “Stabilizing the business, to me, means making sure everyone is good.” - Camille Nicita

31:13  - “Even if something didn’t work out, there was always a positive in that we experienced something, we experimented with something, and we learned stuff that we could add to either the core of our business or one of those other business units.” - Camille Nicita

34:03  - “You have to be in a certain mindset to be in the fuzzy front end.” - Camille Nicita

42:19 - “There’s not a job description for owning a company. Everybody owns a company differently. I know my way of owning a company.” - Camille Nicita

45:03 - “I knew I wanted to do something else at some point in time.” - Camille Nicita

56:42 - “Everyone was in my ear, saying to get an broker.” - Camille Nicita

01:11:35 - “We didn’t have to sell and I wanted to have the freedom to know I could’ve walked away.” - Camille Nicita

Links and Resources:

[email protected]

Connect with Camille on LinkedIn

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