Sarah Tenisi
(CEO & Founder, TenisiTech)

Entrepreneur Success Story

After 14 plus years in corporate IT, Sarah Tenisi was ready for a change. She had worked her way up to Director of IT, yet she was feeling like something was missing. Small businesses were asking her to help them with their IT challenges on the side, but she had not really considered starting her own technology consulting company until she started working with Kristi Royse.

The New Entrepreneur

Kristi spotted Sarah's entrepreneurial potential right away. The two met in a personal context, and Sarah mentioned that she was ready to move on, so Kristi offered to check with her network for opportunities.

"She was so supportive," says Sarah, "Right from the start. She saw the possibilities, and encouraged me to make the leap to consulting."

Sarah was tentative, but Kristi brought Sarah her first client, and the company now called TenisiTech was born.

Making Decisions, Learning to Lead

"I was able to bounce ideas off of Kristi, and get neutral, unbiased feedback. Kristi's only ‘bias' was for my success." Kristi also helped Sarah to improve her decision-making process in general. "She taught me to write everything down and review it so that I was looking at all possibilities and not being impulsive."

Although Sarah had been in corporate leadership roles, leading her own company and team was different. "Personalities didn't, and don't, always mesh, and with my own company I'm the only one who can fix it; the buck stops with me." Sarah took the DiSC assessment and Kristi helped her interpret it and understand the implications for working with her team.

"This made it so much easier to work with my team, to communicate effectively and to really get things done."

Strategy – Personal & Professional

Right from the start of her new consultancy Sarah had plenty of business. To lead effectively, she needed a plan for the future, including who TenisiTech would serve, how and when it would grow, and what her vision was for the company as a whole.

"I get all excited about things, and then I jump around and lose focus. Kristi helped me to slow down and think, identify the important elements of the business right now, and write down some goals." Kristi took Sarah through KLR's 7-step strategic planning process, for TenisiTech as a company and for Sarah as a leader.

Presentation Skills Training

As TenisiTech continued to grow, Sarah found herself getting requests to speak to various groups. She says, "I have some experience with public speaking, but not in a context where it could have such a great impact on the way people perceive me and my company."

Kristi and Sarah worked on Sarah's presentation messaging, her understanding of her audience and her ability to engage. "Kristi showed me the importance of stepping back and building my talk with the end, and the audience, in mind." Sarah's subject matter - technology and security - required careful preparation: Her material could easily get bogged down in details and go over the audience's heads, but she also needed to be detailed enough to bring real value.

"Kristi really helped me understand the value of practice and preparation."

Kristi observed Sarah presenting in live practice sessions, and provided feedback she could use to improve her stage presence and delivery. "She videotaped my practice sessions as well, so that we could review various different elements, from my body language to my vocal tone to the effect of my stories and jokes."

In addition, Kristi was with Sarah every step of the way. "She even came to the presentation, gave me a pep talk before I went on, and was in the audience where I could see her. That was incredibly anchoring and reassuring!"

The end result was a success. Says Sarah, "I felt confident going into the talk because I knew my material really, really well, thanks to all the rehearsing, but I didn't fully realize what an enormous difference it would make for the presentation in general." Sarah's talk was hugely successful, with audience members thanking her afterwards and new requests to speak coming in.

Entrepreneurial Success

"Working with Kristi may be one of the best decisions I ever made!"

Sarah says that she has grown more as a leader, an entrepreneur, and as a person in the time she has worked with Kristi than at any other point in her career. "I think of Kristi as an ‘Executive Strategist.' She is like the ultimate team member whose only goal is your success."