BLAXLAND CONSULTING LIMITED

𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗰𝗼𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗖𝗣 – 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗶𝗱-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 

Diane is a senior adviser to private equity portfolio companies.  She helps investors and portcos to deliver robust growth against value creation plans - including via post-merger integration.  She has a sweet spot in Tech-enabled B2B Services including Professional Services in the UK and EMEA.

Her experience includes:

- pre-deal MDD and post-deal operating reviews of portcos - eg for Blackstone, Mercia, Silverfleet, LDC, Rockpool, Foresight
- rapid recovery of post-merger integration and transformation, ahead of an IPO (backed by TPG)
- commercial risk analysis for a PE portco, triggering an exit via secondary buyout (backed by ICG)
- recovery of an off-shore proposition, re-positioning for growth ahead of a merger
- design and global rollout of a post-merger data integration model.

Her skills include P&L management, business strategy, sales, operations, business transformation, and change management – drawing on her experience in startups, scaleups and global business.

Founder

Career Coaching by Diane Blaxland

🚩 How will you know if my Career Coaching is right for you? Five quick signs: 

•	there is a gap emerging between your career and your satisfaction level 
•	addressing the gap is increasingly important to you 
•	there are risks if you do something, and risks if you do nothing 
•	you have some advice, but you want to take a wider, longer term view 
•	talking it through with an experienced executive feels like a good place to start 

#ExpertLeaders #Careers #PersonalDevelopment

Catalysis Advisory Ltd

𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗘 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗰𝗼 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝘀:
🔺 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 - 𝗕𝟮𝗕𝟮𝗖 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 (𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲)
🔺 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗶𝗱-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 - 𝗕𝟮𝗕 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀
🔺 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝟮𝗕 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵, 𝗕𝟮𝗚𝟮𝗖 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵, 𝗕𝟮𝗕𝟮𝗖 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵, 𝗕𝟮𝗕𝟮𝗖 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗕𝟮𝗚 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵

Business Advisor

Johnson Controls Inc

$5b EMEA region of $20b Business Services division of $40b Fortune100 listed company

Director Change Management, EMEA

Blaxland Consulting

Advising clients on operational and commercial change.

CPA Global

£100m global Business Services company, backed by Private Equity

Director Strategy

Williams Lea

£20m Division of this £1b global Business Services company, part of DAX30 company DeutschePost

Managing Director 

Clifford Chance LLP

£100m+ M&A practice of this £1bn global Professional Services firm

Head Business Development Operations

Blake Dawson Waldron

A$350m international Professional Services firm (now part of £1b Ashurst LLP)

Business Development, Sales & Marketing management

CEO & Founder Expert Leaders™ | Career Direction & CV Coaching | £1B PSF | $40B Fortune100 | PE scaleups | London Business School

I help professionals step into clarity, confidence, and growth - especially when navigating complex career transitions in challenging or unfamiliar markets.

My clients are technically brilliant, ambitious … and many are internationally experienced. They’re often MBAs, engineers, M&A/finance experts, consultants, lawyers, or technology & data/AI specialists. 

They're ready to step into senior leadership, but something isn’t landing. Their pitch isn’t quite resonating. The growth opportunities they seek feel just out of reach.

That’s where I come in.

With more than 10 years in senior leadership - including as Managing Director responsible for 550 people - I’ve led growth, transformation, and turnaround across organisations from under £10m to over $5Bn. 

I’ve advised private equity investors and portfolio companies on operations, building robust solutions to complex problems. 

And I bring that same level of focus, clarity, and strategic thinking into my coaching practice.

My sweet spot lies in tech-enabled B2B services - including engineering, data/AI, finance, legal, and consulting. 

Highlights of my work include: 

▪️Steering post-merger integration for a $6Bn PE-backed global professional services firm, resolving operational failures, client complaints, and transformation across 15 countries.
▪️Leading the recovery of a £1bn NHS Trust’s lab project post-dispute, bringing together investors, clinicians, scientists, suppliers, and engineers to co-create a viable solution.
▪️Delivering commercial risk analysis that identified a -70% risk to a target exit valuation for a PE-backed £100m B2B services firm, unlocking a £1Bn exit in under three months.
▪️Repositioning a struggling new BPO offshore (India) proposition for profitable growth, delivering 50% savings to the client in a new £3m contract while also tripling profit margins.
▪️Rolling out a post-merger Sales/Marketing/Finance integration model for a £1Bn global professional services firm across 30 offices in 20 countries, deployed to 4,000+ staff.

All of that senior experience now feeds directly into my career coaching.

Many of my clients are mid-career or post-MBA, and sense a need to reframe their narrative, sharpen their presence, and navigate a system that may not easily understand their value. 

We don’t just talk. We rehearse. We edit. We test. We build influence from the inside out.

Whether you're preparing for interview, pitching for promotion, or making a full pivot, I’ll help you to tailor your story, build trust, and move forward with strategic clarity.

🎯 Diane Blaxland

AdventureWomen 

AdventureWomen is a women-owned company offering exceptional adventure travel for women to international and domestic destinations for over 40 years. Our loyal travelers are active women with open and curious minds who love to challenge themselves, make new friends, and most importantly, have fun.

Director of Marketing

Exit Five

The leading community for 3,500+ B2B marketing professionals.

Member

Future of Higher Ed (FOHE)

A global community for founders, educators, operators, investors, and advocates working to build the future of higher education, workforce development, and corporate learning.

Alchemy Vision

Alchemy Vision, a leading digital platform that specializes in workforce training within the eye care industry is on a mission to bridge the skills gap and revolutionize healthcare education.

Our comprehensive solution is designed to efficiently train employees while alleviating the workload of senior staff. With a scalable and cost-effective approach, we empower teams to positively impact practice growth, elevate patient satisfaction, and cultivate professionalism and confidence among staff members.

Fractional CMO

Abilitie

Abilitie delivers skills-based SaaS solutions and interactive leadership development programs to Fortune 500 brands and fast-growth start-ups. I led strategic development, annual planning, and the execution of B2B and B2C marketing driving 40% YOY revenue growth each year. 
•	Drove 195% site traffic increase and 240% increase in inbound B2B sales leads through a series of high-value thought leadership strategies including webinars, Case Studies, and podcasts.
•	Increased B2C website traffic by 395%, leads by 89%, and applications by 345% through segmented email marketing, expanded social media, updated messaging, and a targeted digital presence.
•	Directed creative development for Invited MBA by Abilitie brand identity including positioning, strategic messaging, logo, and website redesign.
•	Launched influencer programming resulting in a 10x increase in product enrollment. Partners included Teach for America, Springboard, African Leadership Institute, and Project Management Institute.
•	Introduced a full-service marketing CRM and data management system.
•	Led marketing analytics and ROI analysis for all campaigns and channels while executing optimization and A/B testing programs.
•	Collaborated closely with sales, customer delivery, and product teams.
•	Hire, lead, and manage a diverse global team with a focus on curiosity and collaboration.

Vice President of Marketing 

Impact Global Education

Impact Global Education is a business incubator for global workplace skills growth brands including Winterline, Think Impact, Thinking Beyond Borders, Cross-Cultural Solutions, and Domain Skills, which combined academic, experiential, and career training in a hybrid online and hands-on curriculum. 

I was selected to lead sales and marketing across the IGE brands and to establish a clear vision, roadmap, and marketing strategy to deliver against key objectives which resulted in profitability after 3 months and $1 million increase in revenue. My initiatives included realigning business units to improve efficiency and quality, substantial and sustainable revenue growth, the implementation of a consistent results-driven digital marketing strategy, the introduction of best-practices in enrollment management, and building diverse, high-performing teams.

As a member of the executive team, I collaborated cross-functionally across the brands and departments to drive effective brand and revenue solutions and to develop opportunities for continued growth and forward momentum. I successfully managed a fully-remote A+ global team

Chief Sales & Marketing Officer 

Winterline Global Education

Winterline Global Education (acquired by Impact Global Education in 2019) was the leading provider of skills-based gap year programs and innovative curricular products, both designed to prepare young adults for success in life, college, and career.  

As a member of the founding team, I was responsible for the development and management of all aspects of the sales and marketing for this fast-paced start-up, including brand awareness, outreach marketing, and led gen programs with a focus on effective conversion tactics and revenue generation. I led social media and content marketing, customer engagement, strategic alliances, and website management, and optimization.

Highlights of my accomplishments include:
• Drove 100% increase in enrollment year over year through ongoing optimization of marketing channels, budget allocation, and messaging.
• Achieved a 20% increase in average tuition per student year over year and doubled number of qualified applications each year.
• Accelerated the sales cycle by 25% through reduction of friction throughout the sales funnel.
• Conceived of and built an automated SMS workflow solution for student prospects, resulting in closer and more immediate engagement with this target group.
• Introduced a social content strategy that positioned Winterline Global Education as the leader in the premium gap year program category.
• Launched product division (acquired) that introduced hands-on, financial literacy curriculum for high schools, community colleges, and independent school auxiliary programming. 
• Established strategic partnerships with top referral sources, including USA Gap Fairs, GoOverseas, GoAbroad, and the American Gap Association.
• Recruited and manage A+ sales, marketing and admissions team, and contract designers, videographers, writers, and public relations specialists.

Vice President of Sales & Marketing

Fullbridge

Fullbridge is a leader in the career accelerator segment. The organization addresses the global job skills gap for recent college graduates and early career professionals with a program and platform that delivers real-world experience, critical business skills, individualized career planning, and access to top professionals. 

While at Fullbridge I developed and managed the marketing strategy for this fast-growth company including branding, messaging and positioning across multiple B2B verticals, lead-gen programs and conversion tactics, corporate communications, social media and content marketing, customer engagement, partnerships and website design, management and optimization.

Vice President of Marketing

TeenLife Media, LLC

TeenLife.com connects college-bound teens, their parents and their schools to enrichment opportunities and life experiences beyond school--including community service, summer, and gap year programs, as well as college admission and job and internship resources. While there, my key accomplishments included:
•	Grew sales by 400% in first four months as acting VP Business Development.
•	Doubled site traffic each year.
•	Managed and assessed the effectiveness of SEO, SEM, SMO as well as site content, navigation and design.
•	Directed 2011 website redesign to improve engagement and increase customer acquisition.
•	Launched new award-winning consumer publication--directed content development, positioning, distribution and sales.
•	Conceptualized and launched blog that was quoted in New York Times after three months.
•	Established  and maintained strategic lead gen alliances with national brand partners including American Express, NACAC, and PTA National among others.
•	Produced signature TeenLife events; managed sponsorship sales strategy and event logistics.

Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Ivy League Magazine Network

•	Responsible for the overall direction of marketing and business development for the Ivy League Magazine Network, including communications, advertising, media relations, web marketing, alliances, sponsorships and traditional marketing, and events.
•	Established, developed and maintained strategic partnerships across Ivy universities including Princeton, Yale, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania, and with other prestigious national organizations.

Assoc. Publisher

I am a hands-on marketing strategist and doer with a history of driving efficiency and scale for early to mid-stage startups.

A versatile, people-first marketer, I am fluent in all marketing disciplines, from product development, market analysis, and strategic planning to building marketing infrastructure, demand generation, and engagement programs that drive key business objectives. I am adept at using a data-driven approach to inform decisions and deliver scalable growth, and know how to collaborate with sales teams to generate a quality pipeline, predictable funnels, and measurable ROI.

--> I translate ideas into action and create compelling omnichannel strategies that fuel growth. 
--> I understand how to reach and engage qualified customers and drive them to act. 
--> I have built an early-stage brand from the ground up, revived a traditional brand, and transformed an established brand to respond to evolving market needs. 
--> I thrive in fast-paced, growth environments, and am energized by the challenge of spearheading new initiatives. 
--> I am adept at using a data-driven approach to inform decisions and deliver measurable outcomes.

I am passionate about equity in education, addressing the workplace skills gap, college and career readiness, women's entrepreneurship, and motivating and leading high-performance teams; I’m an experienced manager who is always ready to roll up my sleeves and pitch in. I lead with kindness, empowerment, and clear communication.

I welcome opportunities to connect and collaborate.

CORE COMPETENCIES
Marketing strategy, digital marketing, performance marketing, demand generation, acquisition, growth, brand strategy, brand development, integrated marketing, analytics, paid media (SEM, SEO, PPC, paid social), CRM and email marketing leadership, social media and content strategy, affiliate and partnership, P&L management, building teams, strategic planning, EdTech and higher education marketing, enrollment marketing, global marketing, project management, go-to-market strategies, event management, community building, partnerships, and strategic alliances, business development, managing remote teams.

taplio

The Battle

🎯 Diane Blaxland

Cara Ferragamo Murray

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