from Paula Barton, sweden
WHY VCG was founded
Voyage Consulting Group (VCG) was founded in 2016 to make high-end consulting and leadership development accessible to small and mid-sized, purpose-driven companies.
Our founder, Kelly Byrnes, had worked with some of the big consulting firms as a client throughout her career, and she saw the waste and disruption those firms caused with minimal results. She also saw the effect when profit and management bonuses were their only priority and knew there had to be another way.
Voyage Consulting Group is the other way.
We are different from the big firms…
⬛ We don’t instigate scope creep.
⬛ We intentionally minimize client disruption.
⬛ Clients receive independent, objective insight without fear of improper influence.
⬛ Clients gain customized solutions for immediate execution—not canned reports.
⬛ Clients do not have to pay for three things the big boys have: layers of management that cause roadblocks, salaried consultants on-deck, or ostentatious office space.
Clients have told us how we differ from smaller firms too. They recognize the importance of a seasoned leader at the helm of VCG. They see value in Kelly’s experience as a member of Senior Leadership Teams—she’s been there personally and knows the pressure you face. Our engagements reflect that experience, which makes solutions more realistic and responsible.
Additional feedback shared by clients is they see a difference in our solutions being deeper and truly relevant to business today.
Our clients appreciate that their solutions are not founded on a few models from academia, copied from a book, or focused on an MLM-like sale of tools but are based on real understanding of business, leadership, and the challenges of today.
WHO we are…
Our Founder
The Founder and CEO of Voyage Consulting Group is Kelly Byrnes.
Kelly is a wife, stepmom, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, friend, volunteer, learner, teacher, writer, reader, teammate, advocate, amateur yogi, connector, cheerleader, Kansas City gal, Yinzer (IYKYK), Catholic, dog BFF, Wordle’er, and more.
She has been a corporate executive and served on the corporate governance board, most recently as the Chief Talent Officer for a global science and tech company. She ed teams in operations, marketing, strategic planning before leading in Human Resources.
Her extensive experience as a senior leader gives Kelly insight beyond what she learns through research, training, and certifications.
In addition to serving our clients, Kelly also serves as an adjunct MBA professor, writer about culture and leadership, bestselling author, and award-winning national speaker.
Kelly has been published in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and more.
She holds an MBA, BA, Harvard Business School’s Certification for Strategic Disruption, and HR-related SHRM-SCP and SPHR designations. She also is certified as an executive coach through EMCC Global.
Kelly’s volunteer activities center around her parish, education, women, children, and dogs. She is honored be the past president of NAWBO KC and one of the leaders of the AI community in Kansas City.
WHO we are…
Our Crew
Our network of carefully selected practice leaders have held top HR, OD, or Operations roles and have been part of executive management teams. One was even a priest! Our practice leaders also have been entrepreneurs and intra-preneurs who know how to collaborate, get results, and grow and lead companies.
Our crew inspires Voyage Consulting Group to play by our own rules (e.g., guarantee, no canned programs, simple contracts). Our proprietary processes and frameworks are used in conjunction with other tools to ensure our clients get the insights and solutions impossible to get elsewhere or on their own.
WHO we are…
Our Why and How
Mission
We help leaders navigate their leadership journey for a prosperous, fulfilling voyage.
Leaders of companies rely on us to help them understand and address people issues that can jeopardize revenue, retention, and reputation.
We are kind of like the rudder on the ship—helping the captain steer the ship through rough waters and smooth sailing toward their chosen destination.
Values: Ethics and Goodness
We live and serve in alignment with strong morals and ethics. We believe in the inherent goodness of people. We operate our business, work with each other, and serve our clients and community accordingly.
Service Philosophy:
Honor + Honesty + Heart
We honor your company and ours as we work together toward your goals. That means work disruption and scope creep are minimized.
Clients trust us to be honest, even when it stings a little. If you’re looking for “yes” people, we’re not them. We never manufacture issues to manipulate longer engagements either.
We bring our hearts to every engagement. Our brains come too, but they don’t come alone.
5 Things you may not know about Kelly…
◼ Business has been in my blood since childhood. As a little kid, my Barbies ran the store, planned the weddings, and worked the swim club for the other Barbies in the neighborhood. After college, I got to help my entrepreneur Dad and his VC friends with some pretty cool ventures.
◼ Being a loser helped me grow. I joined the track team in college but had never done any track events. Knowing I would lose took the pressure off everyone—even the opponents. Players on opposing teams shared techniques to help me improve. It was a fantastic learning experience and sportsmanship at its finest!
◼ Aunt’ing and building companies kept me pretty busy in my 20s and 30s. I married my husband—one and only—at age 46. Some would call that late in life, but it was perfect timing for me. Life sure is a wild ride, isn’t it?!
◼ I can perform weddings. If you want a spiritual ceremony but not one by a priest, give me a call! (I am re-learning the guitar too, so maybe I’ll even sing! Okay, not really on the singing.)
◼ Our daughter lives near Yellowstone National Park. Her love of YNP made me fall in love with it too. The big photo at the top of this page and on the Home page were taken by me in 2021.
We hope you enjoyed those five things! What would your 5 Things be?
“Define success in your own terms, achieve it by your own rules,
and build a life you are proud to live.”Anne Sweeney
Former Co-chair of Disney Media