Who's That Gal: Christie Lindor of the MECE Muse Podcast

Name: Christie Lindor
Occupation: Management Consultant and founder of the MECE Muse Podcast
Hometown: Boston, MA
Age: 40
Currently Reading:   Listen to Your Inner CEO by Lynn Robinson
Favorite fall activity:  Power Walks

Tell us a little bit about your job - what does a management consultant do on a day-to-day basis?

Management consultants help organizations solve a wide array of complex business problems.  There isn’t really a cookie cutter day; no day looks the same. Generally consultants usually work together in teams on a project designed to solve a business problem. Some days I am doing research, other days I’m working with my team to create recommendations or execute a project, while other days I’m traveling or presenting my findings with senior executives.
 

 What about your career trajectory, how did you land in consulting?

I learned about the profession by accident; I walked in on a team of consultants during an internship in college.  I was so intrigued that I spent the entire summer getting to know them as well as learning about consulting.  By the end of that summer, I knew that was what I wanted to do.  I landed my first consulting job straight out of undergrad and have been in the profession since.

Did you have a mentor that really inspired you?

I have a number of mentors that inspire me in different ways; I have some mentors that help me stay grounded in my work, others who I admire for their ability to manage being wives and executives, others that inspire me based on how they are able to stay calm under immense pressure.

 
For those of us that are new to consulting, what does MECE mean? Why did you start a podcast about it?

MECE stands for Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive.  It is a technique used in consulting that helps consultants get to the root cause of a business problem.  

I’ve been on a mission to be the mentor that I wish I had earlier in my career. Over the years, I have amassed a large following of mentees and realized that I needed to scale my efforts because I was repeatedly answering the questions and providing the same information to new or aspiring consultants. To scale my mentoring efforts, I wrote a book to share this information (publishing soon!) and started the podcast.   

 
We love podcasts! But there are so many out there right now, how do you make yours stand out?

Two things make my show stand out: my passion for the profession and my creativity.  MECE Muse Unplugged is a variety show created specifically for undergrad or graduate students interested in a career in consulting, newbie consultants in the first few years of a consulting career, and experienced professionals seeking to become a consultant at a firm or work independently for the first time.

My guests and I share “real deal” insights as an experienced management consultant that has worked in my field for over 15 years, working for some of the top consulting firms in the world (and I am still working there!). I leverage the concepts in my book as an underlying theme for the show.

Because I truly love the work that I do and enjoy mentoring, I’m constantly told that my passion comes across in my voice.

I coined the term “pop-up” podcast because I originally planned on ending the show at the end of this year, but the show took on a life of its own.  Since day 12 of launching, the show has been charting in iTunes as a top 200 podcast in the business & careers category.   It’s pretty surreal because before I launched my show, I had no production know-how about media or podcasting…less than 2 months later, I had a top podcast show.  It’s been an amazing journey.

You call yourself a reformed workaholic; what is your favorite way to unwind?

I am a spa experience junkie.  I am always trying to get some time to get a great massage or spend the day at an amazing spa.   
 

What’s next for you and your brand?

Every year I create a theme that helps me set the tone and encapsulates my efforts for that year.  

2017 was the Year of Momentum.  I wanted to focus externally on my brand instead of internally as I had been doing for many years.  Within 10 months I have a blog, a popular podcast show, budding social media presence, and will soon publish my first book

 2018 will be the Year of Expansion.  I plan on continuing to scale my brand by focusing on my consulting work while getting the word out about my new book, refining my podcast show, and doing speaking engagements.