Firms like Hirons, CVR, Engaging Solutions and Borshoff opened doors for me. They gave me opportunities to sit at tables I might not otherwise have reached. But the difference is that they didn't just give me a contract– they invested in me. 

They let me participate in business development. They exposed me to how larger firms built relationships, developed proposals and sustained client relationships. They weren't simply fulfilling a diversity requirement, they were showing me how business really worked. They were helping me build a business.

Herd Strategies is a product of that investment. And now, 15 years later, I have to ask: What happens to businesses like mine when the requirements disappear?