Executive Corner

Sledding my way Towards Consulting

by: Jesse Beckom III

“What did you do before you were at Caiman? Did you play a sport?” This is the

facial expression I see on everyone’s face when I first meet them. Well don’t

worry - your assumptions are correct. I was, indeed, a USA Figure skater during

my youth.

I joke—it was not figure skating. The truth of the matter is that for 12 years, God

blessed me with the ability and opportunity to represent America as a member of

the USA Bobsled Team, which I am very thankful for. It began in 2002 when my

former linebacker coach met someone on the USA Bobsled Team. After hearing

about me, he invited me to a Bobsled Testing Camp in Lake Placid, NY, where

following a great performance, I was invited to join the team. Over my career, I

have had some of the top start times in the world and have been selected to

eleven National Teams and five World Championship Teams. I have raced in

Germany, Austria, Italy, and Russia. I have had many great experiences but two of

the best included meeting Barack Obama and being selected as one of the Ralph

Lauren Models.

Although I am no longer sliding down an icy hill, I leverage many of the skillsets

like teamwork, communication, tenacity, and perseverance that I learned in

sports and apply them in my professional life. My master’s degree in Community

and Planning at Iowa State led me to a variety of roles ranging from city planning

in North Carolina, to Marketing Ops and Customer Insights and Analytics at eBay,

to Marketing and Revenue Project Manager at Teespring. Since starting with

Caiman in 2016, I am working at eBay as a Project Manager on the Social

Content Marketing team working to implement eBay’s new Content Marketing

Strategy and various other projects.

Caiman Company Updates Caiman Happenings

Consultant Spotlight

Caiman Summer Events

We have not one, but two

Summer Picnics this year—

hooray for the first Bay Area

picnic! Get ready to bring your

family and clients on July 14th in

Seattle and July 21st in the Bay.

More details to come in our next

Quarterly Newsletter.

Consultant Spotlight

CQ Volume 5 | Issue 1 Thurs, April 6, 2017

Caiman Quarterly

CaimanCares at VA Hospitals

by: Christina Vijayan

Thank you to all Caimanites who participated in our first CaimanCares events at

the Palo Alto & Puget Sound VA hospitals! In Palo Alto, 10 Caimanites served

food to 60 veterans and their loved ones who were staying in the Defenders

Lodge, a short-term residence for veterans undergoing outpatient procedures. In

Seattle, 20 Caimanites prepared and served lunch, assisted with a St. Patrick’s

Day event in the Community Living space, spruced up the Fisher House where

veterans’ families stay overnight, and provided long-term residents with a

listening ear. Have comments or suggestions for what we can do better next

time? Email Christina Vijayan or Jeffrey Yen, co-owners of the CaimanCares

team. Stay tuned for the next set of events coming in June!

“This was an important and meaningful event because words can never truly be

enough thanks for all that our veterans have done in service to this country. This

was a great opportunity to connect and engage with these extraordinary

individuals and serve them for a change. Although it may not seem like a lot to

help prepare a meal or to smile and nod while a veteran shared their story with

you, these connections put a smile on their faces because they know they have not

been forgotten, as they never should be.” - Ryan Guzman

I Never have a New Year’s Resolution

By: Marco Rossi

When asked to write my personal brand statement for Caiman, I excitedly started

thinking about my previous fun experiences, jobs, and the amazingly influential people

I have met to find inspiration. Some incredible memories came to mind, all leading me

to make a list of attributes, characteristics, and life lessons.

Wanting to make sure I wrote a statement that was truthful, I called friends, family

members, and former colleagues. To them, the Marco brand is someone that’s

empathetic, polite, creative, driven, charming, intuitive, genuine, and compassionate. It

was interesting to see quite a variety of feedback, but one theme rang through the

clearest. What is my brand statement, you ask? “A personable and focused

professional whose natural interpersonal relationship mastery catapults his success.”

The process of writing my personal brand statement reminded me why I never make New Year’s resolutions. My

whole life has been centered around taking time to seek new experiences, self-reflect, evaluate goals, and course

correct. I enjoy experiences that involve travel, food, culture, music, art, language, and adventure. As someone who

seeks challenge, my most recent endeavor was learning how to ski at the ripe age of 35 in Breckenridge, CO. I am not

a fan of heights or extreme speed but I wanted to conquer those fears. I am no expert but I now enjoy getting up to

the mountains for some skiing after a couple of lessons and many weekend ski trips.

It was great to see, from the start, Caiman being the type of company that would always challenge me professionally

and personally while giving me an incredible support network. I look forward to many more great experiences and to

meeting many more influential people! #LoveWhereYouWork

Proposal Time in Seattle

by: Chad Fischer

For some it’s springtime, but for the Seattle team, it’s been proposal time. After a

number of recent wins at Microsoft and PSE in January and February, our

account teams have been chasing opportunities at both existing and new clients

and we are continuing to build momentum.

The biggest news is that we have been asked to contract for large scale effort at

F5 to support their Master Data Management program. The work spans our

three disciplines: strategy, engagement, and program implementation. We will

provide an integrated solution over the next 4-5 months. This was a competitive

bid that actually dates back to one year ago (talk about a long sales

cycle!). Barring contract issues, we expect to start this work in April and it will be

led by Marci, Dan Sears, and JP.

We have also recently landed a successful BI Consulting proposal that is slated to

start in the summertime. We look forward to sharing more details at the

upcoming Seattle All-Hands in April.

Happy Birthday

Caimanites!

Karen Dixon Apr 8

Dan Fine Apr 10

Kristina Gilman Apr 19

Elaine Bautista Apr 21

Laura Spalart Apr 27

Kristen Avdic May 4

Dan Harveland May 9

Marci Marra May 18

Hannah Smith May 20

Alicia Cappelli May 20

Tom Foege May 30

Phoenix Rudner June 11

Ross Cook June 15

Mike Kazarnovsky June 20

Chris Ware June 21

Vern Ameen June 26

Riddle me this

What has rivers but no water,

forest but no trees, and cities

but no people?

Taking the Growth High Road

By: Marci Marra

Career growth is often a topic of conversation during my 1:1s and something I feel very

passionate about. When I was asked to write about this topic, my mind immediately

went to dozens of sound bites I wanted to share, but before I started typing I took a

moment to think about my own career. This past year had a lot of ups and downs for

me and I learned a lot. Thus, I would like to share a few of the lessons I have learned

throughout the years - and had to re-learn in some cases.

First, life isn't fair. We lost work last year, and so did lots of other companies. Not

because we did a bad job, but because we were treated as numbers on a piece of paper. It reinforces my belief that

everyone deserves to be treated with basic respect, no matter how busy or stressed we are. I am always reminded that

I have to stop thinking that everything must be perfect. Sometime good is more than good enough. Being successful

does not mean that everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections and be happy

with what you have accomplished. One capability that is of paramount importance is the ability to make a decision and

stand by it. Do the best you can to evaluate a situation and make an educated choice. Every choice has ups and

downs, and there is no such thing as a flawless outcome.

When faced with a setback or roadblocks, always take the high road. I have seen and heard some awful things said.

Being malicious and toxic does not accomplish anything. It is certainly not going to win you friends or new

opportunities. Your reputation and the company you keep are valuable. Finally, be patient. In this world of instant

gratification, it is easy to get caught up in the “I want it now” mentality, but it is important to be realistic, take a deep

breath, and evaluate your options before rushing headlong into a situation. Do not force it, let it come to you.

Caiman Consulting is a great company and it is an even greater opportunity for all of us to be here. This could be the

opportunity that defines your career. Your time at Caiman is truly what you choose to make of it. The sky is the limit;

there is no glass ceiling. It just takes resilience. Continue to do your best work and persevere through the difficult

times.

2017 is shaping up to be a year filled with opportunity!

Grand Caiman

Congratulations, Jeffrey!

Recently nicknamed “Jif” for his

solid, speedy, and exceptional

project delivery, we are thrilled to

recognize Jeffrey for his outstand-

ing contributions to his Facebook

and Microsoft engagements, as

well as many Caiman internal

initiatives. Whether jumping into

an ambiguous Facebook project,

filling Microsoft FTE gaps, serving

as bartender for the Caiman

summer picnic, assisting with

Annual Trip planning, plan-

ning #CaimanCares events, or

styling us out in Caiman swag,

Jeffrey takes on every effort with

zest, style, and grace.

Initiative Updates

Get Ready to Get Caiman Ready

The career development team (otherwise known as "Caiman Ready") is excited to announce our pilot plans for 2017.

We are taking a few steps to enable our management team to develop and lead world class talent and to help our

consultants deepen and broaden the skills needed to deliver on work today and in the future. Our curriculum will offer

both external professional training experiences and internal Caiman expert-led webinars. External courses will focus

on deepening manager skills and boosting consultant confidence in communications and engagement. Internal

courses will focus on improving our knowledge of the services we offer and techniques for consultants such as Agile

methodology and strategic planning.

Over the coming weeks, we will build out the calendar and finalize the curriculum. If you are interested in joining this

mission-critical team, please reach out to Mohammed Ahmed in the Bay Area or Tom Holec in Puget Sound.

Shaping Our Digital Transformation Story

2017 will be a foundational year for our Practice Area initiative. The priority is to create content for each of the Practice

Areas and their related offerings, as well as the overarching Digital Transformation story that connects it all

together. This content will be used by the Client Acquisition team in sales campaigns. We will also leverage the

Communication team’s digital strategy to enhance the content and our business development gurus will use it as they

pitch Caiman to new and current accounts.

There remains a lot to be done to accomplish this grand effort. Thanks to Sheri Iverson, we will soon have Caiman’s

first sales campaign, set to launch in Q2. Dan Sears is continuing his work on shaping the overarching Digital

Transformation story. Work is also underway to build templates for the content for each of the Practice Areas and

related offerings (special thanks to Marco Rossi for the Success Story template he built). When the templates are

complete, we will launch a phased approach to build out the content. We will be asking for help in developing this

content, so please reach out to Tim Crockett, Dave Antley, or Karen Dixon if you would like to assist.

It’s Springtime in the Bay

by: Mary Gilbert

Happy Spring from the Bay. Thanks to the work our amazing team has recently

been doing, our business has a feeling of spring to it as well and we are starting

the feel the effects.

At eBay, our teams in social media, merchandising, and HR continue to deliver

outstanding work. They are rapidly identifying new opportunities within our

current engagement and across the organization including the innovation team.

We have hired several new team members and are in the process of filling five

new positions. We expect a strong Q2.

At Facebook, what started with a few projects to help the product marketing

team mature resulted in a much broader engagement of strategic planning,

insights development, and training. Thanks to the efforts of our team, we have

earned more than 45% of our projected revenue for the year and are in the

process of proposing new work in Q2 including a retainer for ongoing market

insights support and our first Social VR role.

At Capital One, the Digital Transformation of their Enterprise Services business

models continues and Caiman continues to play a key role in accelerating their

velocity. For the past year, we have been building and operating a large,

complex, cross-functional PMO that spans Technology, Product, and Marketing,

enabling effective innovation. Additionally, we recently finished a successful

market opportunity analysis to inform recommendations for a portfolio of Digital

Trust products (as APIs) against competitors like AWS, DropBox, and Google.

This is a completely new space for Capital One. And we just finished developing

the business strategy, business model, operating model, and resourcing plan for

a brand new functional area: Professional Services. Our current focus is helping

them staff this area with an Engagement Manager and an Integration Solution

Engineer/Architect.

We will soon have a Bay Area walking deck to showcase these capabilities and

fuel the conversations we are starting with prospective and current clients.

Women’s Initiative

Inclusion Now: Caiman attends PBWC 2017

by: Lauren Gallo

Equality, diversity, and inclusion are a huge part of Caiman's identity, and one

of the ways we exhibit these tenets is through our Women's Initiative. This

year we took that initiative to a new level by connecting with our peers across

the business community!

We sent a delegation of twenty of our own female leaders and rising stars to this year's Professional Businesswomen of

California Conference (PBWC) in San Francisco on March 28th. This was a fantastic opportunity to further the initiative's

goals of empowerment, equality, community, mentoring, and networking. The conference featured a full day of

impressive keynote speakers from different backgrounds such as politics, business, activism, and the non-profit sector.

The speakers included former Secretary of State and Presidential Nominee Hilary Clinton, Academy Award nominated

actress Taraji Henson, and Bank Of The West CEO Nandita Bakhshi, as well as a moving keynote from Malawian civil

and women’s rights advocate Memory Banda. In addition to the keynote speakers, we attended two sessions of

seminars and a networking lunch. Seminars ranged from topics such as gender partnership, the science behind work/

life blend, how to transform your inner critic, and more.

There were several amazing takeaways from this conference, and one

came early on in the morning keynote session from Chevron IT executive

Alysia Green that resonated with nearly everyone in the room. Her words

were simple yet powerful, "Inclusion is a practice, equity is the goal." It is

a message that Caiman is well under way at striving for and should

continue as we embrace the amazing values that make up this company.

For more information on PBWC, contact Nathalie Gummerson. To get

involved with the Women of Caiman internal initiative, contact Hannah

Smith. Also, special thanks to Mary Gilbert, Sheri Iverson, Marci Marra,

Elaine Bautista, Nicky Shane, Annie Phan, and Alicia Cappelli for your

help with PBWC planning and support.

Caiman New Joiner

When Caiman Became Family

By: Sierra Eberly

I work with Caiman’s Talent Acquisition Team, and just celebrated my six-month

anniversary. Having the opportunity to join Caiman was a dream come true.

Throughout my interview process, what struck me so powerfully was the

consistency and authenticity of every person I spoke with. Everyone here has a

unique and different personality, but we all have the same goals, values, and

mission. The Caiman Culture resonates across the company and even with

retired Caimanites. When you join Caiman, you are welcomed into a family and

treated as such from day one.

My most memorable moment with Caiman was when Raazi called me up in

front of the company at the annual meeting. He said, “Sierra, the newest

member of our Talent Acquisition team… I really don’t know you that well, but

Shari (Sparling) has said good things, and I like Shari, so thank you for all of your

support and we are happy you have you here!” I was completely caught off

guard. This, once again, gave confirmation that everyone is recognized by

leadership at Caiman. We also have a great sense of humor!

Our virtual environment embraces teamwork and comradery more so than any

company I have worked at. All-hands meetings, happy hour socials, holiday

parties, and newsletters (not to mention that annual meeting in a tropical

location) are just a few of the events that

allow us to get to know each other. The

virtual and coffee shop culture makes for a

fun environment that isn’t boring or

repetitious. I’ve even had meetings on the

run, literally.

To be successful at Caiman, all you need is

the ambition and confidence to reach out

and ask for support. You are given autonomy

here but know that independence does not

mean you are alone. Pick up the phone, ping

someone on Skype, or ask where someone’s

favorite happy hour is and set up a meeting.

Everyone here is your peer. There are always

people to connect with that will support you

in your role, goals, or just share knowledge

with.

Tiny Caimanites Abound in 2017

By: Hannah Smith

It’s shaping up to be a fast-growing year for the Caiman family (and not just because of Shari and team’s recruiting prowess!). 2017 has already seen three new babies come to Caimanites in Seattle and the Bay:

Garrus: Born Sunday, January 1, 2017 to Jennifer Kremer and husband, Shane.

Rylan: Born Thursday, January 19, 2017 to Tisan Ahmad and wife, Aimee.

Arhav: Born Friday, March 10, 2017 to Ashish Oberoi and wife, Rachiyta.

Kylen: Born Wednesday, April 5, 2017 to Mark Churchill and wife, Jen.

A heartfelt congratulations to all the new parents, and we can’t wait to meet the other new additions coming to Raazi Imam and Shaunna, and Kristen Avdic and Mirza over the next few months (keep an eye on the Caiman Flash for announcements!). It truly appears that there’s something in the Caiman water this year!

Caiman Attends the

NewCo Shift Forum

In February, Raazi Imam and

Mary Gilbert had the privilege of

being delegates to the NewCo

Shift Forum in the Bay Area. This

three-day interactive event was

designed to bring leaders from

business, government, and NGOs

together to explore the important

shifts happening in business and

society today, known as the 4th

Wave of the Industrial Revolution.

For more information check out

Mary’s blog.

Bringing Swag to the Summer Picnic

The Client Retention initiative will have some wine tasting to choose the right wines and must sample the food before

we order for the summer picnics! There is still time as trips out to Woodinville and Napa/Sonoma are planned for the

tasting so you don’t want to miss out.

Do you have swagger? If so, you can help us choose what swag we’ll be giving to our clients this holiday season. It’s

another opportunity to sample the wares! Contact Mark Laurance for more information. For the Bay Area, contact

Ashish Oberoi.