"I had the privilege of working with LDC to upskill a group of Employee Resource Group Leaders. Our cohort consisted of DEI enthusiasts with varied experience and LDC was tasked with facilitating an upskilling series that established baseline DEI/ERG knowledge via a virtual modality. In working with the LDC team prior to our delivery, I found the team to be prompt, knowledgeable and above all, personable. Our work can be heavy, and Dr. Shaw’s facilitation left my team feeling empowered and inspired. The reference materials shared with our cohort were highly valuable, and our team was able to put the skills acquired into practice almost immediately. We received excellent feedback from our cohort on the learning experience from LDC and welcome the chance to have them back to upskill on future DEI topics. From a vendor relationship perspective, LDC was most accommodating when we had a work emergency come up, causing us to reschedule our initial session. They were empathetic and willing to meet us where we were. As an L&D professional who has worked with many vendors, this is the type of working relationship I value and seek out. For prospective clients of LDC, know that when you engage with this team you will find a level of service that is unparalleled, and with the saturation in our learning vendor market, a high level of detail and proactive customer service is what sets great vendors apart from the rest – and that is what you can expect from LDC."
- Carmel Ulbrick, Sr. ID&E Program Manager at PagerDuty
"As a new CDO, I needed a solutions partner that could help me deliver the business imperative to DEI to our leadership team. What I found in Lead Different Consulting was a compassionate, strategic and engaging team that was able to capture the essence of what we are building - an equitable organization - so in turn, our leadership team can make the personal investment to change how we do business. Erica and Julie understand the intrinsic value in building DEI into the foundation of any business."
- Roshan Kindred, Chief Diversity Officer at PagerDuty
"My team and I partnered closely with Lead Different to design, develop and execute a critical management development program at WarnerMedia. We had the challenge of needing to launch the program under a tight timeline and scale the program to over 5,000 managers within a year’s time. When we faced this business need, we knew we needed to seek out partners who were up to the challenge and had the right level of experience to provide valuable thought partnership and a dynamic and inclusive approach to engage our diverse and global manager population in a virtual environment. From the moment we met Erica Ferguson and Dr. Julie Shaw, we knew immediately that we found the right partner. They were transparent, flexible and fun to work with every step of the way. Lead Different borrows upon their wealth of experience in sports and management to make learning interesting, creating connection points for leaders that are easy to translate and apply on the job. It was such a pleasure to work alongside this dynamic duo and I am already looking forward to our next collaboration!"
- Rebecca Josephson, Former VP, People Growth & Leadership Development at Warner Bros. Discovery
"When you hire Lead Different, you can expect best-in-class instructional design, high-energy and effective facilitation, and a strategic partnership that will enable you to deliver the best and often award-winning results to your business. Our work together has been recognized by Brandon Hall (Silver Award in Leadership Development) and both Julie and Erica were recognized as 2021 HRO Superstars for their outstanding contributions to leadership development and learning. This is further testament to this amazing company. If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind learning experience, look no further than Lead Different Consulting."
- Trayonna Floyd Hales, Director of Talent & Performance at Warner Bros. Discovery
"I have participated in several Lead Different Consulting sessions in a variety of ways, whether in large group roundtable events, virtual Q&As and Conversations, icebreakers at networking receptions and within a board retreat structure. Everytime, I am so impressed how Julie is able to pinpoint exactly what the room needs at that moment; finding that perfect way of steering the conversation, listening & picking up on the emotional cues, and gently probing to bring out the best in everyone. It is truly a gift and I feel lucky to have been able to benefit from these experiences. Both Julie & Erica bring their warm, giving and cool personalities to each event/session they lead.
Most recently at a Board retreat, I found the exercises extremely helpful, especially the BHAG. I am in a very transitional place in my career and, again, it was exactly what I needed for this moment! I left wanting more!"
- Marisa Materna, Founder at Game Face Productions & WISE LA; Director at Executive Programming
"We partnered with Lead Different to help design, deliver and execute our Management Essentials program, offered to all managers (c5,000) globally at WarnerMedia. We had ambitious plans to create and execute this over a two year span, so had a very tight timeframe to create and deliver this from scratch. We appreciated Julie and Erica’s background in sports leadership which they infuse into their work and their style and approach to leading sessions really resonated with our audience. We had an extremely aggressive timeline and could not have been more impressed with the speed, clarity, innovation, thought leadership and quality of work we receive from Erica and Julie. They were both extremely consultative and empathetic, hands on with the work to ensure high quality of output and flexible with us as our needs changed. The program was a resounding success with feedback in the high 90’s across the board and numerous comments of praise for the work of Erica, Julie and their Conversation Catalysts' facilitation skills and ability to engage the audience as well as the unique approach to how we created the content. I highly recommend the work and talents of Lead Different."
- Tina Gupta, Former Head of VP Talent Management & Employee Experience at WarnerMedia
"Erica, Julie and the team bring their magic to every D&I learning opportunity, whether it’s for C Suite executives or for team members at every level. Their customized content and approach incorporates meaningful information and relevant data that makes the learning content impactful and engaging. The team is invested in making the customized content relevant and digestible and they ask all the right questions to get at the heart of the issues and the soul of the audience. I look forward to the next opportunity to work with Dr. Julie and Erica and to bring their unique style and compelling content to more team members."
- Bahareh Ramin, Communications and DE&I Executive at ActiVision
"Dr. Julie Shaw and Erica Ferguson with Lead Different Consulting are true leaders in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Both are a pleasure to work with, consistently demonstrating their passion for creating inclusive and equitable spaces. With their wealth of knowledge and experience they explain complex concepts and ideas in a way that is easily understood, making them an invaluable resource for anyone looking to improve their understanding of DEI. They have a genuine interest in understanding the experiences of people from a variety of backgrounds and infuse that curiosity into their trainings which are engaging, informative and transformational. Overall, I highly recommend Lead Different Consulting and look forward to seeing the positive impact they continue to make in the DEI space."
- Danielle D., Head of People & Community at NVE
"I worked with Dr. Julie Shaw and Erica Ferguson of Lead Different Consulting on a project for student-athletes, coaches and administrators during a very tense time socially in America. The topic of “Navigating Antiracism: For Our Student-Athletes and Ourselves” was met with great professionalism, passion and caring. They taught us to not only lead, but helped us to be comfortable being uncomfortable with our conversations. With a background in teaching, coaching, and leading Dr. Shaw and Erica are able to share guidance with first-hand experience to make the individual as well as the team improve."
- Aaron Woliczko, Senior Associate Commissioner at West Coast Conference
