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Business Development with an Elevated Perspective

Mountaintop Walker Strategies offers Business Strategy and Development Services to small and mid-size businesses in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. We help organizations to leverage constrained budgets, develop key partnerships, connect the dots, and develop projects for a fraction of the cost of a full-time Business Development or CMO position.

Strategic Business Development Solutions

We help AEC businesses reach new heights

A firm’s success is driven by the ability to increase revenue while reducing operating costs. In the most challenging of climates, it’s critical that your business is adaptive, flexible, and creative in developing winning strategies to engage clients.

The biggest investment you can make in your firm is taking client service to the next level. MWS helps you to put the human touch an element of kindness back into your firm to win lifelong clientele.

We recognize that when running a business, you’re often in the weeds, making it difficult to view your organization and future pipeline from a bird’s-eye level. Our expertise enables us to look at your business from a different perspective to help guide winning strategies and keep you up-to-date on industry trends.

Sales & Marketing

Fractional CMO
Marketing Communications
Goal-setting & Strategy
Campaign Management
Lead Generation
Client Acquisition
User Experience
Consultant Management

Project Management

Bids & Proposals
Negotiations
Contracting
De-briefing & Analysis
Interview Development & Rehearsal
Team Building

Business Planning

Client Advocacy
Strategic Initiatives
Industry Trends & Modernization
Funding Stream Analysis
Community Outreach
Employee Engagement Plans
SWOT Analysis

Coaching

Interview
Business Development
Marketing, Proposal Writing & Management
Public Speaking
Accent Reduction

Our Approach

Partnerships with personality

MWS is dedicated to bringing the “us” back to business, focusing on building strong long-term partnerships with the people who run outstanding companies.

While we work hard to stay current with ever-changing technology platforms, we are most proud to bring a human touch to an otherwise technically-driven environment. We choose our clients carefully, aligning with those who embrace innovation and understand that a personal touch is invaluable.

Our Process

Flexible to accommodate your business needs

Because we understand that every business is unique, we customize our process to fit the individual needs of each of our valued clients.

We start by scheduling a complimentary meeting to discuss your goals, determine resources, and define the scope of our work together. Sometimes, a second meeting is required to align all the stakeholders. Once everyone is in alignment and your goals clearly defined, we’ll deliver a proposal and contract with costs and time frames, and then we’ll be off to the races!

You're off to Great Places! Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!

― DR. SEUSS, OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

Who We Are

About our founder

“Don’t sit around and wait for opportunities to occur – MAKE them happen!”

If you asked my Mother, she would tell you I was destined to be a marketer and connector. She loved to share the story of her taking me to Disneyland in the 60’s, meeting Walt Disney, chatting with him on Tom Sawyer’s Island and asking how he came to build this fabulous place. He told me “What you can imagine you can achieve!” I became so infatuated with the concept and marketing approach that I came back home and promptly turned our back yard into a rudimentary Disneyland (at least what passed for it in the suburbs of Sacramento) replete with an Adventure Land, Frontier Land and Main Street. All this was done in secret over many weeks and begging the community for pieces of lumber, paint, etc. to make my vision come to life. My Mother only knew that I was spending all my afternoons and evenings in the back yard and on a Saturday in May, all these neighbors and kids showed up because I had sold them tickets and talked them into attending my version of Disneyland. In hindsight I should have let my Mom in on this – but I had a passion and was on a quest!

So Fast Forward – – happy to say that I am still Imagineering success on behalf of our clients, and we are indeed collaborating with a firm that does high end landscape architecture for many Disney projects (though I’m sure they would not be impressed with my early efforts! ) While I may not have had Disney’s budget – the lesson I learned from Walt is that it is all about imagination and manifesting what you wish to achieve.

President and Founder J. Louise McGinnis Barber, CPSM, has worked in the Design- Build Arena industry for over 30 years. Prior to starting MWS, Louise served as Vice President and Western Region Business Development Director and Principal of Science & Technology for a national full-service A/E firm specializing in the planning and design of technologically advanced facilities all over the world. Additionally, Louise served as Strategy and BP Lead for several global architectural, engineering, and environmental firms.

A longtime resident of Sacramento, Louise moved to the Bay Area about 18 years ago and currently lives in Pacifica, CA. She was a former National Foundation President for SMPS, a former Sacramento President for SMPS, and is currently heavily involved in DBIA and CREW SF. Her passions are networking (Connecting the Dots), Thinking Outside the Box, public service, gender equality, education, and animals.

Who We Are

About our founder

“Don’t sit around and wait for opportunities to occur – MAKE them happen!”

If you asked my Mother, she would tell you I was destined to be a marketer and connector. She loved to share the story of her taking me to Disneyland in the 60’s, meeting Walt Disney, chatting with him on Tom Sawyer’s Island and asking how he came to build this fabulous place. He told me “What you can imagine you can achieve!” I became so infatuated with the concept and marketing approach that I came back home and promptly turned our back yard into a rudimentary Disneyland (at least what passed for it in the suburbs of Sacramento) replete with an Adventure Land, Frontier Land and Main Street. All this was done in secret over many weeks and begging the community for pieces of lumber, paint, etc. to make my vision come to life. My Mother only knew that I was spending all my afternoons and evenings in the back yard and on a Saturday in May, all these neighbors and kids showed up because I had sold them tickets and talked them into attending my version of Disneyland. In hindsight I should have let my Mom in on this – but I had a passion and was on a quest!

So Fast Forward – – happy to say that I am still Imagineering success on behalf of our clients, and we are indeed collaborating with a firm that does high end landscape architecture for many Disney projects (though I’m sure they would not be impressed with my early efforts! ) While I may not have had Disney’s budget – the lesson I learned from Walt is that it is all about imagination and manifesting what you wish to achieve.

President and Founder J. Louise McGinnis Barber, CPSM, has worked in the Design- Build Arena industry for over 30 years. Prior to starting MWS, Louise served as Vice President and Western Region Business Development Director and Principal of Science & Technology for a national full-service A/E firm specializing in the planning and design of technologically advanced facilities all over the world. Additionally, Louise served as Strategy and BP Lead for several global architectural, engineering, and environmental firms.

A longtime resident of Sacramento, Louise moved to the Bay Area about 18 years ago and currently lives in Pacifica, CA. She was a former National Foundation President for SMPS, a former Sacramento President for SMPS, and is currently heavily involved in DBIA and CREW SF. Her passions are networking (Connecting the Dots), Thinking Outside the Box, public service, gender equality, education, and animals.

Introducing the Team

It's a pleasure to meet you

We are only as good as our team members.  We are blessed to have four strong capable women, well established in their own fields of expertise to help lead MWS.

As with our core premise to carefully and deliberately choose which clients we engage with based on mutual ethics, culture  and vision, thus the genesis for the MWS core team was born.

Meet the team

Introducing the Team

It's a pleasure to meet you

We are only as good as our team members.  We are blessed to have four strong capable women, well established in their own fields of expertise to help lead MWS.

As with our core premise to carefully and deliberately choose which clients we engage with based on mutual ethics, culture  and vision, thus the genesis for the MWS core team was born.

Meet the team

Contact

Let's Connect

Your business has a lot of moving parts – we’ll help you connect the dots so your can reach new heights! Tell us what’s going on in your business right now, and we’ll reach out to schedule a consultation.

J. Louise McGinnis Barber, CPSM
(916) 390-5032
[email protected]

Veda N. Solomon 
(510) 320-2843
[email protected]

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