Kendell Bryant
Director
GREAT TEAMS START WITH GREAT PEOPLE.
Meet Kendell Bryant
How would your friends and colleagues describe you?
If you polled my closest friends and colleagues, you would see words such as amicable, determined, persistent, meticulous, observant, personable, passionate, committed, autonomous, consistent, funny, and driven show up a few times in their descriptions.
For me, it has always been about balance — knowing the appropriate and inappropriate times to showcase these characteristics. I am a people person, so my natural instinct is to smile and give off an inviting personality.
What is your role at MorganFranklin, and what do you do?
At MorganFranklin, I lead the delivery of several of our NetSuite Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementations. In summary, I support our clients in transitioning all of their finance, accounting, technology, and operational footprints from one historical ERP system to NetSuite, capturing the unique attributes, processes, and procedures that make their company different from the rest. It is really a rewarding experience.
Please tell us about your personal and professional background. What led you to pursue a career at MorganFranklin?
Prior to MorganFranklin, I worked at a much larger strategy consulting firm, where I focused on implementing enterprise business applications and performing financial cost assessments.
For me, the decision to jump to commercial consulting at MorganFranklin was driven by the firm’s entrepreneurial culture. I knew that within this culture, my skills would shine and I would be acknowledged by my name and not my employee number. I saw potential and opportunity for me to push and be pushed while expanding my overall capabilities.
What inspires you in the work you do at MorganFranklin?
My clients — point, blank, period. If I had boring, dull, or unpassionate clients, I would not be a consultant. I am inspired in my work because I see directly how my efforts contribute to the overall success of my clients’ operations. When your clients send you Christmas gifts year after year to show their appreciation and thanks for your services, you are doing something right!
How have you taken ownership of advancing in your leadership at MorganFranklin?
When I manage teams of individuals, I take so much joy in seeing their development and success. In my mind, you have not become a true leader until there are people who WILLINGLY WANT to follow you and learn from you. With my personal growth and development, I have always reached back to bring along the individuals I influence, directly or indirectly, because of a sincere desire for everyone I work with to grow and succeed as I have.
What three things do you need to be successful in your role at MorganFranklin?
You need to take joy in solving problems. Our clients bring to us their most critical problems because they know we have the brainpower, creativity, resourcefulness, and industry expertise to provide solutions.
You have to be a go-getter. Opportunity will not come to you all the time; you will need to seek it out, find it yourself, and turn that opportunity into real action.
You have to SMILE! So many consultants are stern, rigid, and by the book, but to be honest, that is not what our clients want. We are in the professional services industry, which means we are in the people industry. Being personable will go a long way to building new relationships and exposing you to new clients looking for trusted advisors.
What advice would you give to someone hoping to pursue a career at MorganFranklin?
Smile during the interview!
All jokes aside, I would recommend for anyone considering MorganFranklin as a career transition, understand that the size of the firm enables you to really be in control of your career. Do not expect someone to dictate your career trajectory – by joining the MorganFranklin brand, you are signing on to bring in all of your creativity, solutions, industry knowledge, technical expertise, and energy to continue MorganFranklin’s mission of delivery excellence. Focus on what you can control (attitude, work ethic, responsiveness), and the rest will be a piece of cake!
What has been your favorite project that you have worked on at MorganFranklin and why?
Three years ago I worked on a project based in San Francisco. Originally I found it challenging because of the frequent cross-country travel (despite racking up literally thousands of frequent flyer points), but I really liked the client, their mission, and how much my work would impact their team. The client embraced me as a part of their team and even threw me a party on my last day of the project. Those types of experiences are rare, so I was glad to have had such a positive impact on that client, and vice versa.
What movie character would best represent you?
Marvel’s Black Panther! He is a king, intelligent, wealthy, smooth, suave, has his own superhero outfit, is respectful of his culture, honors his parents, and is in charge of leading the most technologically advanced nation, Wakanda, in the entire Marvel universe. Not to brag, but that sounds fairly close to yours truly!
Jokes aside, he has been a fictional character I have always liked and appreciated as a kid, and I am extremely glad to see the diversity and representation of superheroes like him becoming more popular and influential in the daily lives of the younger generations.