Kate and her mother Nancy haven’t always had the smoothest relationship but they find common ground in their shared passion for business. When Kate embarks on her lifelong dream of building a tech startup, Nancy is excited to offer advice and insights earned from her decades as a business owner. Although Kate is skeptical that a dentist has much to teach her about building a successful tech startup, both women soon find that their businesses face remarkably similar challenges and each has something to offer the other. As Kate’s business grows, the impact on her personal life begins to creep beyond conversations with Nancy and put increasing pressure on her relationship with her girlfriend, Jenny. Nancy is also beginning to think about whether she is ready to join her husband, Phil, in retirement. Business and family blend throughout this tale into an engaging story filled with time-tested business basics and critical insights for any business owner or founder.
Belle Walker is the Founder and Lead Consultant of Belleview Consulting. As the only Organizational Efficiency Engineer she knows, Belle takes her clients from Friction to Function™ by ensuring that their structures and processes are aligned with their strategic goals. She works with clients in Tech, nonprofits, professional services, cannabis, and other industries to recapture lost efficiency and engagement.
Belleview Consulting focuses primarily on Operating Models and Process Optimization, both of which are key to unlocking effective growth. Belle is a firm believer that with the right operating model and processes, organizations can be confident that they are ready for scale.
Prior to turning full time to consulting, Belle spent her career building and optimizing teams that were responsible for everything from complex operations balancing safety and efficiency to the cutting edge of AI and autonomous driving. Belle honed her skills at multi-billion dollar companies such as Google and HERE Technologies. At HERE, she built the team responsible for both the operational creation and resulting quality of the HD maps created for use by autonomous vehicles. Belle also received two patents for the Quality Index, a mechanism developed for HERE’s HD maps.
Belle has also built Product Management and Marketing teams for small, closely held organizations. With a Mechanical Engineering bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Systems Engineering master’s degree from the University of Southern California, Belle leverages the engineering problem solving process to design and build the most complex systems possible: those comprised of individuals.
Beyond business, Belle lives in Berkeley, CA with her husband, two cats, and son who was born after the first draft of the book was completed but about 2 years before the book was released. His age and the date of publication might be related…
Lisa Levesque is a Certified Business and Executive Master Coach. As a Coach, Lisa helps small business owners to identify their needs and achieve their goals. To this end, Lisa works with owners looking to grow, sell, improve productivity or just to achieve work / life balance. Lisa uses time-tested methods to help her clients to develop long-lasting skills that drive change in their organizations and in their lives.
Lisa works with clients in multiple industries while maintaining a niche focus in healthcare, particularly with Dentistry. Lisa’s interest in dentistry stems from being married to a Dentist and seeing first-hand the challenges that face professionally trained individuals who are also running a business.
Prior to coaching, Lisa worked in various corporate roles within a large Financial Services Company. During this time, she developed her passion for growing and developing teams and found it was an excellent fit with her background in finance and business operations. In addition to her corporate training, Lisa gained a strong business foundation through her Bachelor of Science in Accounting that she earned from Boston College and her MBA from Babson College, which included a focus in Entrepreneurship. This combination of technical training, team and leadership development skills and a strong understanding of core business concepts serve Lisa and her clients well.
Personally, Lisa lives in Foxborough, MA with her husband, two dogs and two daughters, one of whom splits her time between her apartment in Boston and her parents’ home.
Check back soon for additional tools and resources you can use for your own business to tackle the topics covered in Generation Innovation