About
I help mid-market CEOs whose companies have outgrown the way they operate.
Jane Gentry
Jane Gentry helps CEOs fix the invisible failure point in growth: the moment revenue outpaces the way the company is built to operate. She’s spent 25+ years watching the same progression—companies built for $20M–$30M push toward $50M, $75M, $100M+, and suddenly the CEO becomes the approval layer for everything, the org chart stops matching the work, and the best people start quietly doing two jobs.
Jane knows that movie firsthand. Before advising executives, she ran two private-equity-owned companies, carried the P&L, and lived the reality of a board demanding growth while the operating model was already cracking. Today, she helps leadership teams rebuild the “how” of the business—roles that are clear, decisions that are fast, an operating rhythm that sticks, and ways of working people can actually absorb—so execution gets sharper without burning out the talent you can’t replace.
Unlike consultants who deliver decks and disappear (or fractional executives who become permanent overhead), Jane co-designs the solution and stays close through implementation—exiting when it works without her. Her clients include The Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, Philips, Stryker, and GSK, plus dozens of founder-led mid-market companies. She’s also a keynote speaker and frequent podcast guest on the operational realities of scaling.
The Team
Pat Alacqua
Pat co-founded Nth Degree and scaled it into a premier services company in the tradeshow industry — earning an industry Hall of Fame induction for the operating innovations he built along the way. He’s been through the full company lifecycle: startup, rapid growth, turnaround, and exit. His specialty is helping CEOs build operational blueprints that actually survive implementation — and preparing companies to be sale-ready so owners can exit on their terms, not someone else’s timeline.
Abhi Golhar
Founder and Managing Partner of Meridian 84, a private investment and operating advisory firm focused on lower middle market, tech-enabled businesses. Abhi has built and scaled multiple platforms himself — growing NPHub from $100K to $10M in revenue through standardized workflows and operational systems, and architecting the technology infrastructure that supported a specialty finance lender’s growth from $185M to $1B in originations. His focus at Meridian 84 is designing the operating systems, digital infrastructure, and KPI frameworks that prepare companies for scale and exit — increasing margins without adding headcount.
Bill Smith
Former third-generation President and CEO of Royal Cup Coffee & Tea. Bill didn’t just advise on multi-generational business challenges — he lived them. He brings hands-on experience in governance, internal alignment, strategic growth, and succession planning for family and privately held businesses. He currently serves on the boards of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and Royal Cup Coffee & Tea.
Randy Walton
25+ years helping mid-market CEOs build market strategies that actually drive profit — not just revenue. Randy’s core expertise is helping leadership teams think through second and third-order consequences before they commit resources. He’s worked extensively with senior executives across North America and Western Europe on operations, go-to-market strategy, and organizational leadership. He’s also a Certified Exit Planner — which means he understands what a business needs to look like on the other side of a transaction.
Speaking Page
Many of our advisory relationships begin after a keynote. A CEO hears the framework, recognizes their own company in the examples, and reaches out to go deeper. If your event includes CEOs who are actively scaling, preparing for exit, or navigating post-acquisition integration — these are the audiences Jane resonates with.
Most Requested Topics
01 The Growing Pains of Success Navigating the Road to a Sustainable, Scalable Business
Your business is growing — and it’s starting to break under the weight of that growth. Managers overwhelmed, roles fuzzy, EBITDA squeezed despite strong top-line. This keynote gives leaders a clear roadmap for what’s actually happening as they scale and what to do about it.
Takeaways: Why “communication problems” are really operating model problems. The invisible milestones where organizations hit turbulence. Practical plays to reduce chaos and protect margin.
Best For: CEO forums, executive offsites, PE portfolio gatherings.
01 Navigating Change Leading People Through the Messy Middle
Growth, restructuring, M&A — none of it works if your people don’t come through the change with you. This keynote focuses on the human side of structural change: the emotional load on teams when roles, structure, and expectations shift.
Takeaways: The three stages people move through after change is announced. How to communicate when you don’t have all the answers. The leadership behaviors that build trust and keep people moving.
Best For: Executives and managers leading teams through growth, reorgs, or integration.
01 Keeping the People You Can’t Afford to Lose Talent Retention in a Permanent Labor Crunch
Retention isn’t an HR initiative — it’s a leadership and operating model issue. This keynote covers the structural drivers of turnover that go beyond pay and perks: role design, decision load, manager span, and growth paths.
Takeaways: The few levers that actually move engagement in ops-heavy mid-market businesses. How unclear priorities and fuzzy roles quietly push great people out. Adjustments leaders can make immediately.
Best For: Executive teams and line managers in high-pressure environments where replacing key talent is expensive and slow.
Event Planner Resources
Once you book Jane, we make it easy to get everything you need for promotion and logistics.
Available resources:
- Speaker headshot (high-res)
- Short bio / introduction
- Session descriptions for all topics
- AV and logistics requirements sheet
