Rising Stars of the Profession: Rory Farquharson

Having joined Elixirr as a Consultant in 2015, early in the firm's growth story, Rory has evolved to become one of our global leaders.  He has lived and worked in 4 major cities, starting out in Johannesburg, before moving to San Francisco to help open our US practice; then, as the West Coast business scaled, to New York to do the same. Five years on, and with Rory's leadership, it is now 50x the size than when he first moved to the US.  During his time at the firm, Rory has worked on a range of projects across a global client base. This has included work on product development, customer strategy and operational improvements. His clients have been in leisure & retail, financial services and consumer goods across the UK, the US, Europe and South Africa. Most recently he has been working with a number of large US logistics companies looking to transform their IT functions and services. Prior to joining Elixirr, Rory worked for Deloitte where he gained his CPA.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

Being part of Elixirr's growth story. When I joined in 2015, very few people had heard of the firm. Colleagues, friends and family questioned the decision I was making to leave a company like Deloitte, that would offer a steady path to success. When I started at Elixirr there were around 40 of us, based out of a single office in London. Since then, a still relatively small number of us have taken the firm to nearly every continent. We've delivered incredible value to our clients, through innovative techniques, and in the process of doing so, transformed Elixirr into a publicly listed, market-performance-busting organization. I am hugely proud of what we have achieved and the role I have played in that growth – no more so than with our US business.

I moved to the US as a consultant; the only full-time member of staff, alongside two contractors, on a challenging project. All of the new joiners from that project have since left the firm, but I stood by our challenger vision and our leader's commitment. Since that first year, we have pretty much doubled every year. Now, over 5 years on, we have 50x the number of people – nearly every one of whom I interviewed. One of the reasons I am so proud of this is not just what we achieved, but the challenges we went through to reach this; the risks and rewards involved with building a new business.

What advice would you give a professional just beginning a career in consulting?

Simply to find the firm that is right for you. The beginning of your career can vary a lot based on this decision – so spend the time looking at the culture, the ways of working, the approach. Consider how you want to learn, how fast you want to grow and how much you truly want to be out your comfort zone. Do you want a longer structured training program or do you learn better 'on the job'? How much do you like working in a clearly defined role vs dealing with ambiguity? There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but knowing which environment you'll best thrive in will help you get the most early on in the industry.

What have you loved most about your consulting career?

The travel and the variety of work. When I refer to travel I do not mean the Monday to Thursday commute to countries – I mean the opportunity to actually live in other destinations. Being able to relocate to a different city or county, immersing yourself in the culture and understanding the social and economic environment your clients work in; it grows you as a person and a consultant. Consulting truly does offer you a huge variety of experiences. It is cliché to say "every day is different" but it's true that every few months I face new routines and challenges. Something I've loved about working at Elixirr is the ability to work across industries: financial services, retail, medical, travel, energy, gaming…it enables you to bring outside-in perspectives for your clients whilst constantly expanding your knowledge.

What's the best advice—personal or professional—you've ever received?

There are two pieces of advice that have served me really well, one from our US leader and one from our CEO.

The first: don't get distracted by the perception of others' performance, stay focused on your own path and the benefits will follow. This was given to me by the Head of our North America business very early on in my career. At a time when technology and data provide huge transparency, it is easy to get distracted by what others are doing; their job titles, their pay, their promotions. All of that is noise. If you let it, it will cloud your own judgment of what matters to you and your path, and it will distract you from your longer-term ambitions and opportunities. Practicing this relies on you to trust, not only your own abilities but also trust those around you.

The second: be long-term greedy. In a one-on-one discussion with our CEO about my personal and professional achievements, I explained that I felt I needed to scale back my ambitions to hit them. He shared that instead of scaling back ambitions, I should scale out my timeline. We are all striving for success and outcomes. Whilst the desired manifestation of success changes from person to person, whether that is financial security, fame, or betterment of society, all of these goals take time to achieve. Don't scale back your expectations, just make sure that you are prepared that it will take time and sacrifice…be long-term greedy.

What does being honored as a Rising Star mean to you?

For me, this recognition shows support for entrepreneurialism – a trait that I would not be a nominee without. Elixirr prides itself on being a firm not just of employees, but entrepreneurs – each of us building and scaling the business together, and my career path proves this to be true. I took the risk to join Elixirr because I wanted to shape the growth of a firm that places these kinds of traits at it's center – a firm that goes against the grain and never plays it safe. This approach has helped me to get to where I am today – to take the business to America and build it from the ground up, as a start-up within a start-up. So, this reward is recognition of the role I've played in establishing a truly innovative kind of consultancy – a Challenger brand.