Consulting Magazine - March 2014

35UNDER THE RISING STARS OF THE
PROFESSION

Even though
she’s only

32 year old,
Maria Steingoltz could be consid-
ered an industry veteran. She’s
certainly an L.E.K. Consulting
veteran, having two stints with
the firm first in 2003 and then re-
turning after her MBA in 2007.

In her current role, she led an eight-member team to develop strategy and support the integration efforts of an international baked goods company.

“I’m proud of my successful
cases, particularly in the food &
beverage sector, or any of the other
clients who are relying on the strat-
egy I helped developed to propel
them towards success and growth,”
she says. “I’m excited to be able to
help our clients solve some of their
toughest problems, and the relation-
ships I have that underpin my abil-
ity to do that.”
She also mentors four junior con-
sultants as a career development
coach and is a Chicago leader with-
in the L.E.K. Women’s Network.
She is also a key to the firm’s re-
cruiting efforts.

“I’m also incredibly proud of the
mentorship aspect of progressing
at LEK—that I am now a sounding
board to our associates and consul-
tants is extremely fulfilling,” Stein-
goltz says.

That aspect of her career has come full circle, as she credits the mentors she’s had along the way as key to her success.

“The incredible mentors I’ve been lucky to have at LEK, starting from when I was an associate and learning from the consultants I worked with all the way to now and the partner group,” Steingoltz says.

“I’m just incredibly honored [to be named a Rising Star of the Pro-fession] not only for myself, but for the entire firm.” ★

MARIA
STEINGOLTZ

L.E.K. CONSULTING

TITLE:
Senior Engagement Manager
AWARD CATEGORY:
Retail
AGE
32

Tyler Smith
is an expert
at assembling highly effective
teams across practices to get
clients what they need. And he
isn’t shy about letting clients know
when another provider might be
better suited to the work. It’s this
honesty and transparency that
makes clients notice and praise
Smith, and part of what vaulted
him to a position on the firm’s
exclusive Senior Leadership Team
so early in his career.

Smith says that distinction is one of
his proudest moments in his 10- year
consulting career, in addition to build-
ing a portfolio of business in the Tech-
nology and Financial Services indus-
tries and growing a team around him
that share his passion for the business.

In his time at the firm, Smith has built up a portfolio of business that has him managing more than $12 million in revenue, all of which was generated under his direct leadership.

For his success, Smith says the
thanks goes to his mentors and coach-
es for supporting and challenging
him. “I love the challenge of tackling
something new on my own, but I cer-
tainly have not made it to this point in
my career without the help of others.”
As part of a generation so often
bored with the same-old, same-old,
Smith says it’s the variety of chal-
lenges in the profession that keeps
him coming back for more.

“My excitement comes from waking up every day to a new challenge. It is the variety of this work and the opportunity that comes along with it that fuels my passion,” he says.