The 2017 Women Leaders on Consulting: Jantzen Bridges

Jantzen Bridges would describe her entry into the consulting profession as "accidentally by design." She was recruited by a Big 4 firm at an on-campus recruiting event and was immediately attracted to the described pace of consulting, the dynamic nature of ever-changing clients and business challenges, working with different teams of people, and being close to technology and innovation, she says.

"I am most motivated by the interactions I get to have with our Slalom consultants, our clients, and our partners. I really enjoy fostering those connections, making the solving of transformational business challenges with teams fun, and figuring out a way to take care of everyone through the work that we do," she says.

Jantzen Bridges is a Managing Director at Slalom, where she has spent the last nine years of her career driving growth and innovation by building high-performing sales, marketing, customer engagement, product, and technology teams. She's based in Slalom's Denver office. Bridges has P&L accountability of $20 to $25 million, including Slalom's financial services client portfolio; strategic sales in Slalom's cloud technology capabilities; strategic alliances; managing key partnerships such as Salesforce.com and Amazon Web Services; and leading market integration with Slalom's delivery network.

Bridges leads Slalom Denver's Diversity and Inclusion Council, which is focused on driving awareness of diversity and creating a culture of inclusivity. Groups represented in the Council include the Women's Leadership Network, Slalom Parents, Gay Lesbian Alliances Succeeding at Slalom, and Slalom Veterans.

"My greatest professional achievement to date is finding Slalom, a company that is sincerely focused on developing great leaders while driving impactful transformation for our clients and communities," she says. "I'm encouraged to be my authentic self every day while doing great work, and I get to help our consultants do the same."

Meanwhile, her greatest personal achievement, she says, is finding an incredible partner who is her partner in all aspects of life. "One of the most important decisions women can make in life is picking the right partner, especially if you're wanting to balance career and family, and I'm incredibly grateful and proud that I was able to find him," she says.

As far as being named a Women Leader, Bridges says it is an incredibly humbling honor. "I've spent a large part of my career focused on how we can make a consulting career path really work for women," she says. In the past couple of years, we've implemented new programming that has tried to address what we're hearing—the needs, fears, motivations, and critical support intersections—and it seems to finally be making a difference."

Consulting: What's the best advice you've ever received?

Bridges: "One of the best pieces of advice/guidance that I've received is something my mother instilled in me at a very young age, which was that I could do and change anything I put my mind to—no limits. This is something that guides me every day in how I show up, how I support the initiatives I care about, and how I advocate for others in pursuing their passions."