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Sarah A. Scala Consulting logo
Sarah A. Scala Consulting

Sarah A. Scala Consulting, Sarah A. Scala

Title / Role: President & Principal Consultant
www.sarahscala.com
SHARE THIS SUCCESS STORY
My successes.

My biggest successes with SCORE have been:

  • marketing planning
  • coming out as an LGBTQ+-owned business
  • business leadership
What do you do?

Sarah Scala Consulting, a certified woman-owned and LGBT Business Enterprise® provides organization and leadership development, executive coaching, LGBTQ+ leadership coaching, succession planning, change management, public speaking facilitation, and team development solutions. Serving as consultant, coach, and educator, our work increases client revenue, reduces turnover, creates business value, and transforms the performance of executives, leaders, and teams, helping them reach their highest potential. We support US-based and global clients across cultures, generations, geographies, and diverse industries.

I am a high-energy senior talent management leader focused on increasing client revenue, reducing turnover, and creating business value through executive coaching, organization development, learning strategy, LGBTQ+ leadership coaching, and change management. These accomplishments are based on over 20 years as a successful consultant, manager, certified executive coach, and leader in talent management and leadership development.

Services include:

  • Executive and leadership Coaching
  • LGBTQ+ Leadership Coaching
  • Speaking & Facilitation
  • Assessment
  • Organization Development
  • Learning Design
  • Team Building
What inspired you to start your business?

I started my business 10 years ago to add value to organizations and their leaders through providing education, speaking, and coaching.

In 2021, Sarah Scala Consulting came out as an LGBTQ+ business. Although I have been out to friends and family for a number of years, many people in the business world do not know that I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Why Now?

Many people have asked me why now. I often answer that question by feeling safer today publicly and also wanting to provide services to support LGBTQ+ leaders for my clients. As a business owner, I know that in order to grow income streams or parts of my company, I need to market, promote, and share about these services so that people will be aware that these are offered.

I started out in January contacting clients and friends in leadership positions who are also LGBTQ+ or allies. I got a lot of feedback that they never knew of anyone who did LGBTQ+-specific leadership coaching. I know many people who support this coaching niche, however, they either are not public about it or do not focus their marketing on it. What that means for LGBTQ+ employees is that it is difficult to find a coach, speaker, or facilitator that fits their unique needs at work.

Coming out as a business has had some similarities to coming out as a person. There continues to be a feeling of nervousness or uncertainty every time I add to my LGBTQ+ service marketing through social media posts, blogs, and newsletters. At first, it was simple emails to people I knew. As I became more comfortable, I felt a web page specific to LGBTQ+ coaching was important to add. For a few months, I didn't even publicly share this webpage nor could people really find it unless I simply emailed them a link to it. As I became more comfortable and felt more supported, I started writing LGBTQ+-specific blogs, and I also built an entire section of my website to specifically focus on these services.

Pride Month Contributions

During June (Pride month) I added a link to my LGBTQ+ Solutions page to the header of all of my web pages and I also added a rainbow flag next to my name on my LinkedIn profile. These may seem like tiny little changes to many, but it took time for me to feel confident and comfortable with being so vulnerable publicly.

A large part of my business now provides LGBTQ+-specific services. Had I not come out as a business, I don't think this would be the case.

What’s Next?

I am excited to share that I have been selected to speak at the 2021 Out & Equal Workplace Summit on the topic of Sustaining LGBTQ+ Success with Optimism, Resilience, and Grit in October! I am also working on certifying Sarah Scala Consulting as an LGBTQ+-certified business through the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Each month I challenged myself to do something additional to promote or put out there that I provide LGBTQ+ services. It has not been easy. However, I feel confident about this choice as I am supported by peers, mentors, clients, and my network. I am pleased to bring my full self to work now -even as the President of Sarah Scala Consulting

What's special about your business?

My business is unique because I support clients in over 20+ industries, in over 30 US states, and 7 countries. My business is both a certified woman-owned and LGBT Business Enterprise®. My solutions and services provided are unique to each client's specific needs, schedule, budget, and timeline.

What influenced you to seek help from SCORE?

I have had SCORE mentors since the start of my business 10 years ago. Initially, SCORE provided support for forming my business and legal advice on my contract design. Every time I relocated (3 times in 10 years) I would seek out local SCORE mentors. Currently, I have 4 SCORE mentors in the Boston area: one for business leadership, one for marketing, one for sales, and one for legal.

How SCORE helped.

Here is a blog I wrote about SCORE: https://www.sarahscala.com/blog/score

What's great about my mentor?

Each of my SCORE mentors has been exceptional in providing advice, support, and a sounding ear. I am grateful to have my team of SCORE mentors when questions come up.

My mentors
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712 H St NE PMB 98848
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Washington, DC 20002
(617) 565-5591

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Funded, in part, through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.

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