The 2017 Women Leaders on Consulting: Tiffany Hickerson

A.T. Kearney's Tiffany Hickerson, like a lot of consultants, ended up in the profession by accident. During business school, her graduate assistantship was in Career Services. She was determined to return to Financial Services after graduation, and spent the majority of her time working with those companies.

"However, one evening I filled in for a colleague and volunteered to work the A.T. Kearney information session and that's where I met one of my mentors, Marc Hochman," she says. "That was ten years ago." The rest, as they often say, is history.

Today, Hickerson is a Director with A.T. Kearney's Procurement & Analytic Solutions practice. She has 20 years of industry and consulting experience with numerous Fortune 500 clients spanning multiple industries. Her areas of expertise include Procurement Transformation, Strategic Sourcing and Procurement Organization Design. She has led numerous engagements to engaged business and procurement stakeholders achieving best-in-class outcomes.

"It's rewarding to help clients achieve tangible results that impact their bottom line," she says. "I get to work with friends who inspire and teach me every day."

One of her first engagements, she says, she worked with a client who was not only resistant to working with consultants but also one who he felt she was younger than the years he's been working in this space. "By the end of that engagement, that client looked to me as a trusted advisor," Hickerson says. "That experience taught me to value my contribution even when it seems overwhelming."

Hickerson co-leads A.T. Kearney's African American Network, Student Lab at Howard University and is currently directing the Student Lab program at Morehouse College.  She also leads case competitions for the Institute of Supply Management's Diversity Conference and is a member of ISM's Women's Diversity Board. In 2016, Tiffany was honored as one of Diversity MBA Magazine's Top 100 Under 50 Emerging Leaders.

Prior to joining A.T. Kearney, Tiffany worked for Ogilvy & Mather and Morgan Stanley based in New York City. She earned her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and her MBA from Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.

"Don't be afraid to ask for what you want! As female consultants, I think we feel we must be 110 percent qualified to ask for what we want, whereas, our male co-workers may only be 80 percent to 90 percent there."

As far as being a Woman Leader. Hickerson says she's honored. "I have been mentored and inspired by so many females in my career," she says. "This award motivates me to continue my efforts to pay it forward."

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

Hickerson: "If you have been invited to the meeting, you have a seat at the table, and a duty to use your voice. Speak up."