The 2017 Global Leaders in Consulting: Phil Fretwell

When it comes to his consulting career, Phil Fretwell says he loves the constant challenge of meeting new people in new cultures, and helping them solve problems for their businesses and clients. "In this situation, you have to build trust very quickly through authenticity and generosity, and putting their needs ahead of your own," he says.

Fretwell grew up in a very small city in Florida, and went on his first plane flight when he was in third grade. "It was to Colombia with my father where I spent three months while he was on an internship," he says. "My family is actually very international and diverse. I'm married to a Brazilian, and two of my five children are Chinese by birth. So, I'm living and experiencing cultural diversity every day at home, and love it."

Fretwell is the Managing Director responsible for Protiviti's global network of member firms, delivering services to clients throughout the world. He has led the development and support of the network for 11 years, growing the number of countries included from one in 2006 to 15 throughout Latin America, the Middle East, India and South Africa.

"We opened a new office in Bogota, Colombia, which provided another way for our Venezuela member firm consultants to serve clients, since the political and economic situation in that country has become challenging," Fretwell says. "Watching our new offices outside the U.S. embrace the Protiviti culture and learn to trust the people I've trusted for many years."

Based in Orlando, he has 34 years of accounting, auditing and consulting experience, including 19 years in public accounting and eight years as an audit partner. Fretwell is experienced in enterprise risk management, internal auditing, due diligence and managing the risks of international expansion. He has provided internal audit services to more than 50 companies, many with global operations.

Fretwell was instrumental in launching Protiviti 15 years ago with no international operations—just a lot of contacts. "We have now successfully expanded into over 25 countries and 75 offices," he says. "I've been personally involved in the expansions into the Middle East, India, South Africa and Latin America, and the relationships I have built have been invaluable and very rewarding."

As far as being recognized as a Global Leader in Consulting, Fretwell says it "continues to build credibility that our firm has what it takes to succeed, and that you can trust us with your most challenging business issues."

Q&A: What's been the biggest factor to your success?

Fretwell: "Relationships with people have been the biggest factor in my success, and the ability to quickly understand and adapt to many different cultures."