This is a new adventure for me. Let’s start at the beginning.

My career path has not taken the normal trajectory. In the 6th grade I knew I was going to law school after college and becoming a prosecutor. While I did go to law school and get a license to practice law (which I still have!), I did not become a prosecutor. In fact, I only practiced law for about 4 years. I don’t regret going to law school, but I figured out pretty quickly it wasn’t for me. (That’s a story for another day.) Maybe now is a good time to go back to the beginning of my career path and get you caught up.

I graduated from college with a BS in Criminal Justice. I was recruited to join a private company conducting undercover investigations all over the US. Any company could hire us to come in and pose as an employee to investigate drug activity, sexual harassment, theft of company resources, theft of company time, etc. Most people think this sounds like a cool job. While I had fun, I wouldn’t call it a good job. I was paid to party and be, at best, a so-so employee. A lot of funny (and some scary) stories for another day. My last assignment brought me to Tennessee. I was supposed to be here 6 months. It’s been 24 years. Buying drugs on your own is illegal…doing it in conjunction with law enforcement is not. My partnership with local law enforcement is how I was introduced to the man who has been my husband for 21 years. It seems he and Tennessee grew on me. When I left that job, I was unemployed for a few months. I eventually ended up at Center of Hope (then Hope House), working with victims of domestic violence as the Court Advocate. I loved working with victims in the justice system. It reinforced my desire to attend law school, so I started at Nashville School of Law in 2003. By the end of my first-year things took an unexpected turn. The Executive Director was fired for stealing from the organization. I was scared the center would close and I would lose my job. My husband and close friend (who also worked there) encouraged me to apply for the Executive Director position. After all they said, I was bossy and had a lot of good ideas. I had no expectation the board of directors would hire me for the role, but I applied anyway. In another surprising turn of events, they did hire me! I spent the next 10 years as the Executive Director, rebuilding, maintaining, and expanding the center. (That sounds like I did it all by myself. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I was surrounded by quite a few phenomenal people who made it successful.) During that time, I also completed law school (moving to part-time) and after taking the Bar Exam 2 times, got my license to practice. I primarily worked with victims in matters such as divorce, child custody, and orders of protection. All of this was happening as I became increasingly burned out. An opportunity presented itself to join the Office of Criminal Justice Programs at the State of Tennessee, so I jumped at it. There I was able to impact victim service programs state-wide. While I loved that work, I didn’t love some of the upper leadership. This is where my career took a sharp left turn. Thanks to a friend taking a chance on me, I entered the corporate world at Optum. One of my primary responsibilities at Optum was to manage the vendor relationships for our IT staffing firms. In getting to know these firms there was one that looked like it would be a lot of fun to work at – York Solutions. After growing out of my role at Optum, I left and joined York. I started off supporting one business unit, but eventually was promoted to lead a shared services team supporting all of the business units. I really loved working at York. Unfortunately, after 5 1/2 years they eliminated my role. I still have great relationships with everyone there and left on good terms, but this has SUCKED! But before we get to the ‘what’s next’, let’s take a minute to reflect on this wild career trajectory.

No matter the role or industry, I have always taken a step back to look at the bigger picture, figure out what needs to be fixed, what we are doing well and can maximize, and improve the process and define the strategy. All of this while doing my best to take care of people. For those into this sort of thing (and for the record I LOVE these assessments), I am an iD on the DiSC profile, an 8 on the Enneagram, and an Integrator on the Crystallizer Assessment through EOS. What does this mean? I am persuasive, charismatic, and high-energy. I value action and enthusiasm which comes through in a bold and passionate personality. I tend to move at a fast pace and feel comfortable improvising. I’m also assertive, goal-oriented, and hardworking. I am a natural-born leader with a tenacity and endurance to take on large endeavors. Finally, I am the voice of reason, a leader that gets stuff done and the steady force behind business execution. I excel at leading, managing, and holding people accountable.

So…What’s Next?! I can’t help but think this is a blessing in disguise. I can take all of the lessons I’ve learned on my crazy career path, combined with my natural abilities, and help small and medium sized companies. Howe exciting is that?! If you’ve read to here, THANK YOU! Any tips, tricks, and introductions are greatly appreciated.

Welcome to Angela Slack Consulting!

Could your business benefit from an analysis of your strategy, process, and operation? Are you effectively using your data to inform decisions? Do you see areas for improvement but don’t have the time or experience to devote? Or are your greatest resources, your people, lacking engagement and excitement? I can help uncover the areas of opportunity, create a plan for achieving Operational Excellence, improve people engagement, and move your data from numbers on a page to actionable insights. Let’s connect and see how I can best serve your company.