Business Bigwigs had the chance to interview Nicki Morris, founder of the Neoteric Group. The Neoteric Group is a startup boutique, business consulting and coaching company focused on working with business leaders and owners to help them optimize their leadership and business results. If you are interested in learning more outside of this interview, you can check out her blog. Check out what she had to say below:
1. Where did you attend school?
Nicki Morris, founder of the Neoteric Group
My formal academic schooling includes the following:
- University of Waterloo – Bachelor of Science (Honours, Kinesiology)
- McMaster University – Bachelor of Health Science (Physiotherapy)
- University of Toronto – Master of Health Science (Health Administration)
- Royal Roads University – MBA Executive Management & Leadership
2. Tell us about your previous work experience.
My work experience has combined leadership and management in the health and seniors care sectors in Canada.
- Vice President, Operations Revera Home Health – in this role I led over 5000 employees to provide home healthcare services to over 25,000 seniors in Canada and a budget of $100 million+.
- Regional Director, Operations, Revera – in this role I was accountable for the operations of 15 retirement residences in Ontario, leading the team of Executive Directors to ensure a high level of resident satisfaction and that occupancy targets were met.
- Director, Staffing Solutions and Health Services Consulting, MedEmerg International Inc. – in this role was I was accountable for the leadership of 2 divisions. One was focused on the recruitment of physicians for emergency departments and the other was on leading our team of consultants and researchers on consulting projects.
- Executive Director, Bridgepoint Hospital, Bridgepoint Community Rehab – in this role I was responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of the hospital’s home rehab division. We provided in home physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech language and social work services to clients of all ages in the Toronto area.
- Director, Operations – CanCare Health Services Inc. – CanCare was a family owned and managed business that was started in 1973 by my Mom who was committed to providing in home health care services so seniors could remain in their own home and to providing employment for women who were often single parents or new immigrants to Canada. I worked in this business for 7 years until we sold it in 2004 – it was from my experiences here and the growth of this business over 30 years that I developed a passion for health care, seniors care, helping others and entrepreneurship.
3. How long has The Neoteric Group been around? What have been some of its greatest accomplishments during that time?
The Neoteric Group is a startup boutique, business consulting and coaching company focused on working with business leaders and owners to help them optimize their leadership and business results. The Neoteric Group launched in January 2014 and although it is a new company the accomplishments to date have been:
- Consulting: secured consulting contracts with 4 organizations (3 national health care companies and 1 local government funded organization) to help them improve their business and to excel in their marketplace.
- Business coaching: secured 3 business coaching agreements, 1 with a local regional municipality – helped 3 business leaders progress their career and leadership development in the first 4 months of business.
- High profit margins and revenues of $80K+ in the first 3 months of business.
4. Why did you start The Neoteric Group?
The Neoteric Group was started based on my passion for supporting the success of others. The intent of the business is to allow me to combine my academic experience with my 17 years of leadership experience to help business leaders and owners to become successful with their own career and business ventures.
My inspiration comes from my Mom who was an entrepreneur and started her own seniors care business in 1973. She grew this to be a highly successful and reputable business with over 400 employees and successfully sold it in 2004 so she could retire happily and comfortably. I had the opportunity to work in this business from 1997 to 2004 and I am grateful to have been able to learn from my Mom’s values and leadership. She was and still is a great, respected leader in seniors care.
6. Tell us a little bit about your business.
The Neoteric Group is a start up boutique, business consulting and coaching company focused on working with business leaders and owners to help them optimize their leadership and business results. Full details on the suite of services offered can be found at www.theneotericgroup.com
6. What differentiates your business from other similar organizations?
The meaning of Neoteric is one of our differentiators as it defines my approach to business and to working with clients (see the definition to the right).
A key differentiators between The Neoteric Group and similar organizations is that I am a small consulting and business coaching company focused on working with leaders, owners and entrepreneurs in small and medium sized organizations. A unique aspect to my approach and service offering is that all programs are fully customizable to meet the leadership and business development needs of each company regardless of size.
My philosophy is that organizations will reap more rewards by building internal coaching capacity through teaching managers how to be better coaches rather than hiring external coaches. My recent white paper “Chain of Impact – Building Internal Coaching Capacity” articulates the benefits of teaching managers how to improve their coaching skills in the workplace.
7. What are The Neoteric Group’s goals over the next five or ten years, and how does it plan on achieving those goals? What challenges do you expect to come up against
- With steady and progressive growth the goals of The Neoteric Group is to become an organization that offers a suite (group) of leadership development services to business leaders, owners and entrepreneurs.
- Online coaching membership site where business leaders and owners can access great resources (e.g. articles, webinars, videos) on how to improve their leadership and their business results. The membership site will also have resources for those looking to transition their career from the corporate sector to being self-employed (webinars on marketing yourself, personal branding, starting and managing your own business, etc.)
- Publish 2-3 business coaching books in the next 3-5 years.
- Successfully provide 4-5 keynote speeches per year.
- Support business leaders and owners in achieving a synergistic work life harmony.
- My goal is to become the online preferred ‘go to’ site for owners and leaders in small and medium sized businesses with direct access to certified business coaches for support and online tools and resources to support their success.
This image shows the key components of the Neoteric Success Formula, which provides the foundation for all consulting & coaching services they provide.
- All services are focused on achieving excellence and showing gratitude.
- The primary challenge is expected to be building awareness of the services and skills that I offer to business leaders and owners – therefore publishing, marketing and building media awareness are key priorities.
8. Do you have any anecdotes, quotes, pictures, upcoming events, etc. that you’d like us to share?
- Professional success is when your work becomes your passion and your passion is your work
- Work life balance is elusive and may not achievable for most leaders and therefore seeking a “synergistic work & personal life harmony” is a new focus when working with my clients
- I am in the early stages of writing a book on “moving from leadership traits to leadership actions” – the goal is to publish it in 2015.
