Meet Leigh Ann Schultz
Former Director Leigh Ann Schultz talks about her approach to completing an endurance event in Antarctica
It’s a slippery slope from the D.C. suburbs to a muddy, sleet-whipped island off the coast of Antarctica. Just ask Leigh Ann Schultz, formerly a Director with AlixPartners, an active AlixAlumni member, and a textbook high achiever who recently completed a half-marathon at an Antarctic outpost.
Leigh Ann, a financial executive, first worked with AlixPartners as a client on a Chapter 11 case in the early 2000s, then joined the team in 2004. In 2009, she transferred from AlixPartners’ Dallas office to the D.C. office and found herself in a “freakishly athletic neighborhood” where group runs were the favored social outing, a sport that lent itself quite nicely to the consultant life, always available when she was traveling.
Positive pressure to get active escalated from “Let's go run this race and then I'll host brunch at my house,” to “let's go run this 200-mile overnight relay in bourbon country,” says Leigh Ann.
As a relatively new leader, creating a strong culture of open communication and teamwork were top priorities for Atsushi. “Most of my time in this new role was spent on communication with the team and customers,” he said. “My focus was to ensure that everyone shares the same perspective for the future, and a mindset of end-to-end collaboration.”
Throughout his career working with organizations around the world, Atsushi has found that having a customer focus is essential to navigating a career across cultures and continents. “Having a core focus on the basics of business is the key. I believe that if you are obsessed with your customer and have a flexible and open-minded approach to communication and professional relationships then your business will be successful. This is, in fact, easier said than done, and competitive differentiation often comes from who can do things with a better and stronger customer focus.”
“Looking back, I can clearly see that my experience at AlixPartners was really impactful for my career, with a strong focus on making change happen even in challenging situations.” Atsushi reflected. He is grateful to AlixPartners for helping him to stay connected to fellow alumni and makes it a priority to attend the annual AlixAlumni event in Japan every year. His AlixAlumni network has continued to serve him even outside of the consulting industry, with many fellow alumni acting as valuable partners for him.