Client Service Award
Joni Swedlund
Principal
Deloitte Consulting
When Joni Swedlund was contemplating a consulting career, a mentor advised her to think twice. "He told me that the consulting profession would suck the life blood out of me," Swedlund says. Turns out, "this couldn't be further from the truth. As a woman in consulting, this profession has challenged me and provided me with more opportunities for personal growth, development and advancement that only enhanced my life journey."
That journey has taken her from Tokyo to Washington D.C., where she helped launch Deloitte's Federal Financial Services practice. "The firm asked me to focus on the federal marketplace back in 2003 to see if our commercial financial services expertise would be of value and if this might be a new area of focus for us.
This was an opportunity to build a green-field area for the firm starting with understanding of the art of the possible, building a vision, attracting others to join me on the journey, and making something special happen." She did.
Since then, the practice has achieved 128 percent compounded growth. "I love building things and the entrepreneurial spirit inherent to this profession," she says. "Understanding the art of the possible, sharing a vision and getting others on board, developing a strategy and executing the strategy keeps me motivated."
Swedlund says this work has been the most meaningful of her career. "The ability to serve our Federal clients and support their mission—whether their mission is helping to protect the American public from identity theft or helping with the financial crisis, it has been very rewarding," she says. "There is a strong sense of mission," Swedlund says.
That mission also extends to what she calls her greatest personal achievement: being mom to her two daughters. "They keep me grounded and are a constant reminder of what is really important in life," she says. "They are always introducing me to new challenges; they inspire me to grow and be a better person."
—J.K.
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