Photo Credit: Chrissy Jardine

Maureen Farmer, CEO, and Founder of Westgate Executive Branding and Career Consulting lead a successful career development and executive leadership optimization firm with a major emphasis on executive branding. Since 2011, she has proven her exceptional coaching skills, branding awareness, and consistent ability to innovate executive leadership optimization strategies through satisfied clients and fast expansion of their professional network.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I have served as a certified executive coach who has also worked as an employee of public companies in energy, legal, and financial service industries for more than 25 years.

In addition to coaching leaders of public companies, I also serve family-owned businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurs to help them communicate their value in their target markets. 

What inspired you to start your business?

After years of being abused by a bully boss, I slammed my office door and walked out! Shortly after that…cancer. Very likely brought on by job-related stress.

Months later I interviewed for the perfect opportunity. I had dinner with the CEO…an offer seemed imminent, but it never came. It turns out that my former boss saw to it. Deliberately.

I kept looking, but anything that interested me was rare or non-existent. I was discouraged and my self-esteem was becoming more ragged by the day. Then, out of the blue, a former executive I knew came to ask my advice about a career change. She hired me to write her resume and advise her on how to approach the job interview.

Despite it being a long shot, she took my advice and landed the job. That’s when I knew. So, with fire in my belly and a plan in my head, I created my own position by starting a business and became its first client. Many are now in the same position—with no one to guide them. So, I created the Career Navigator Program. Since then, I’ve served thousands of executives around the world providing them with the support, strategy and framework leading to high-level executive positions and board appointments. A 3-way win for all! My clients. Their new employers. And me.

Where is your business based?

We are based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. However, we have a small team that spans from the east coast of Canada to Toronto, California, and the Philippines. We consider ourselves a global firm and we have networks that span the globe.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

I started small and slow with an executive résumé writing business. I had amassed 25+ years of corporate experience working directly with executives. I knew what was critically important to them (safety, environmental, financials, investor relations, employee engagement) and I leveraged that knowledge to help other executives build their careers and their businesses. In fact, some of the executives I worked with used my resumes and marketing collateral to sell their businesses.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

In the early years, and it’s still true today, I invested in quality professional associations where I could learn about the industry while raising my profile. I completely immersed myself in the careers industry learning as much as I could about writing, coaching, and of course, marketing. I now belong to an international professional community with colleagues from San Francisco, to Toronto, New York City, Madrid, and beyond. It’s incredibly rewarding.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

That’s a tie between confidence and marketing. I knew I had a good product and skill, but I struggled with promoting the business and myself. In my original business plan from 2011 (I still have it close by), I indicated sales and marketing would be my biggest challenge. I overcame these challenges by investing in education and professional coaching. The professional business coaching, especially, was a game-changer (no pun intended) for my business as I began to add more services to the résumé writing product line with executive coaching, personal branding, psychometric assessments, consulting services, and now e-commerce.

How do you stay focused?

The fire in my belly came from feeling under-challenged in my corporate career. For nearly 25 years, I struggled to find work that was rewarding, although, until my last role, I worked for wonderful employers and delightful and supportive bosses. My focus comes from a drive to do meaningful work while helping corporations and private executive clients master their own career journeys.

As a fiercely independent person, being an entrepreneur gives me the freedom to make decisions that make sense for my business, my team, and my family. Family is a core value in my business and taking a holistic approach to career and business delivers work-life harmony.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

The differentiation at Westgate comes from focus. Knowing whom we serve and why we serve them gives clarity in the way we deliver services. Our services are deeply aligned with our client’s core values (as are ours) and we leverage their core values in a holistic way.

Uncovering and leveraging their core values helps our clients make decisions that give them control over their career or business while optimizing their performance and relationships with their boards of directors, owners, investors and or shareholders while supporting their workforce.

Our holistic approach means that we offer end-to-end services, which makes it convenient for our clients. In such a trust-based professional services business, trust is paramount. Relationships come first, which are steeped in trust. Our goal is to build lasting relationships that span generations.

Many career professional services firms do not offer full services. At Westgate, we offer assessments, career marketing collateral (we do 100% of the writing), job search strategies, strategic networking strategies, job and board interview coaching, exit strategies, salary negotiation strategies, job offer due diligence, and onboarding coaching. Companies hire us to help new CEOs onboard and support CEOs who are departing (and everything in between). The holistic approach means that the board or CEO engages one firm rather than hiring multiple firms to help with a succession planning or career transition strategy for key executives and board members. In the end, it’s convenient for the client which is a goal for our firm.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

The most effective marketing strategy for Westgate is quality content marketing across digital platforms, including our podcast, “Get Hired Up! The podcast for next-level executives and board nominees.” Additionally, we’ve invested deeply in e-mail marketing and social media marketing with three very specific platforms. We lean on our focused approach to marketing and because we have a very clear avatar, we don’t waste precious time on platforms that don’t produce a good return on investment.

I’ve also garnered certifications in executive résumé writing, career coaching, personality assessments, and executive coaching. I’ve earned national and international awards for my work in career consulting and business optimization strategies.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Know your market, have a quality product or service your customers need, and invest in quality marketing services. Have a crystal-clear vision of your ideal customer. Do demand sensing research in the beginning. Do you have an addressable market? Where is it? How will you gain access to that market?

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

My favorite app is Grammarly. We do so much writing at Westgate, our products need to be impeccable. Along with other proofreading tools, this one gets my highest vote. A close second is Spotify because I listen to classical music while I work (when I’m not speaking with clients). Classical music adds to my sense of harmony.

I also read a lot of blogs and The Bear Cave gets my vote for 2021 because the author does a deep dive into corporate performance to support public and private investors. We use the blog and its content to conduct due diligence on behalf of our executive clients as they vet job offers from employers in Canada and the United States.

I’ve read thousands of books and they’re all excellent resources. My absolute favorite is “Attracting Perfect Customers: The Power of Strategic Synchronicity” by Stacey Hall and Jan Brogniez. Every entrepreneur should read this book. I still have it on my desk after nearly 11 years. Here is my reason for loving the book: “Attracting Perfect Customers invites readers to move beyond the notions that "business is war" and winning market share means ‘beating’ the other guy. The authors outline a simple strategic process for making businesses so highly attractive that perfect customers and clients are naturally drawn right to them.” Most of our marketing and business planning is based on the principles outlined in this book. It’s a must-read!

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

My absolute favorite business tool is the world of podcasts. I can walk and learn at the same time while listening to knowledgeable experts across many disciplines. As a naturally curious person, I simply cannot learn enough. Although naturally curious about many things, business is my passion. These days my favorite podcasts include Capital Allocators, Private Equity Funcast, and the Marketing Book Podcast.

Who is your business role model? Why?

There are so many. In the early days, my boss who later became the CEO of a publicly traded multibillion-dollar company comes to mind. I learned a great deal from him. He was very well-rounded. As a classically trained electrical engineer, he was very creative. Above his creativity, intelligence, knowledge, and experience, I learned the importance of relationships in business. Many aspiring executives I’ve worked with and work with now believe it is technical competence and knowledge that will catapult them to the C-Suite. Not so. Honoring relationships every step of the way is critical to up-leveling in any organization. Technical competence, skill, and knowledge are table stakes for CEOs. Relationships, leadership, and visibility are critical to aspiring CEOs seeking the corner office.

How do you balance work and life?

At Westgate, we focus on work-life harmony rather than work-life balance. When you are doing meaningful work you enjoy, it becomes part of your DNA. For example, when I’m walking at my favorite sportsplex (where I listen to dozens of podcasts), I’m thinking about a client or a challenge I’m facing. It doesn’t feel unbalanced to me; it feels harmonious. I know that may sound Pollyanna, but that’s how I see it. I didn’t always feel this way, however.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

I love to swim and walk. I love the freedom of swimming underwater where it is deep, dark, and quiet. I walk several times per week and listen to dozens and dozens of business podcasts on topics ranging from private equity investing, public equity investing, marketing, SEO, and more.

What do you have planned for the next six months?

Our team has two new product launches scheduled for Q1 and Q2 of 2022. We are launching the “C-Suite Optimization Program – driving peak performance for CEOs and their boards” in early January and our new e-commerce store which will support executive résumé writers, executive coaches, and board advisors with career-related assets, training, and products they can use immediately in their businesses. The e-commerce store fills a gap I experienced as an early executive résumé writer. I couldn’t source the types of resources I needed to serve my clients, so I created them. We are offering the 10 years of products I invested more than 10 years creating. This will save new and experienced résumé writers and coaches valuable time. 

How can our readers connect with you?

I am active on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/maureenfarmer-executive-coach/ or at www.westgatecareercoaching.com