Allow me to introduce you to Ken Hernandez
Monday: MicroBusiness and Marketing Marvels
Every Monday, I highlight the inspirational experiences of outstanding independent professionals with hopes that you might be inspired by their success stories.
One thing I’ve observed from my colleagues in the independent career is this: While they vary in beliefs and principles, they all follow the same pattern of business success―to fulfill their clients’ needs and build genuine assets at the same time.
Today, I’m excited to share with you a motivational note from one of my friends and colleagues, Ken Hernandez. Ken is a seasoned Global Supply Chain leader who founded the “Titan Business Group” 13 years ago. Together with his team of experienced consultants, he focuses on optimization and strategic sourcing.
As a results-oriented and bottom-line driven leader, Ken is making an impact in the business process of independent consultant solutions and savings initiatives.
To learn more about how Ken is becoming a leader in the future of the Supply Chain industry, I encourage you to read his own statement of purpose below.
Miles Everson
CEO, MBO Partners
Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute
Ken Hernandez: Titan Business Group
I am Ken Hernandez and I am a Supply Chain Consultant and Managing Partner at the Titan Business Group, a business solutions firm that I established in 2007.
As part of a business solutions consultancy firm, we provide our clients with various Supply Chain functions such as:
- Private Equity Support
- CPO Advisory
- International Outsourcing
- Indirect Services
- Strategic Sourcing
- Training and Development
- Program Management M/A Support
I’ve been working as a full-time independent for 13 years now. I also did 2 years partial-time just to understand if this is something I wanted to do, like if this could be a career change or just some side gigs at night after work. But when I started doing it and getting the same amount of money, I made the decision to go full-time.
Before becoming an independent consultant, I was managing a department as Principal Sourcing Vice President at BB&T, a financial services company that offers a wide range of services such as asset management, insurance, mortgage, specialized lending and wealth management.
Then, when I ventured into an independent career, I transitioned from being an individual consultant to an adviser who helps in thought leadership and organization transformations.
As an independent consultant, I’ve met people who are equally talented or even better than me. My advice for them is to believe in themselves, that they can do their work well. The ability to market themselves as independent consultants is important.
If not, they're not going to come across any interviews because some "gigs" start with a conversation, or a video, and then they would be asked to demonstrate how they can solve problems.
For me, one advantage of being an independent is that there are 168 hours in a week and you get to choose how to spend that number of hours. The outcome is you have a different lifestyle and sometimes, you have more freedom.
If you need to take some time off, then take some time off or if you’re going to do a lot of mailings for your client, whether you do it at home or at the beach, it doesn’t matter. As an independent, it’s really about the project outcome as opposed to the number of hours.
One misconception I’ve heard about being in an independent career is you have to be an extrovert. I disagree with that. You don’t always have to be extroverted. I think people have their own journey on how they want to become independent professionals. You just need to understand how to market yourself and learn to “hunt” for those opportunities.
One of my proudest moments as an independent consultant was coming in to see a group of individuals whose leader left. I stepped in and showed them that they can still succeed, and taught them the basic fundamentals of Supply Chain and Procurement.
Now, I see them move on, grow, and even get promoted in their own careers.
Hope you’ve found this week’s insights interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Monday’s MicroBusiness Marvels!
