Better Strategy. Better Outcomes.
Time is the most precious resource a leadership team has.
These stories showcase what happens when strategy brings clarity. When leaders stop revisiting the same decisions, teams align faster, and growth accelerates.
Less friction. Better choices. Momentum that compounds.
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Menlo Innovations builds custom software solutions for private and public sector clients. Over 25 years, the firm grew slowly, steadily—more by default than design. Some years of growth stalled entirely.
Could Menlo now grow intentionally?
With Shepherd, leadership began envisioning how to intentionally double in 5 years. Voice of customer interviews uncovered critical new insights. Leadership zeroed in on their ideal customer. Through financial modeling, we boosted their confidence that they could scale. With our help, they solidified organizational roles, clarified responsibilities, and increased accountability.
It’s working. Recently, next-year sales commitments exceeded 60% of the prior year’s total revenue. Growth is no longer a question of if or when—only how far and how fast.
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"They helped us with our strategic plan and do a great job engaging your talent and pulling together succinct directions for companies. I really enjoyed working with Loch and Mick had a very good and calming way to engage my extended team to create our strategic plan that still remains the guiding theme for the growth we have had."
Mike Smith, President & CEO
VITALSpace
Synergize to Diversity
VITALSpace is a leader in steel-based, prefabricated modular products. Already a leader within one market, it was critical for sustainable long-term growth that the company finds and grows in new markets. After acquiring a modular products firm focused on a large new market …
Could leadership develop a single growth strategy to leverage its diverse strengths, combine operations, accelerate new market growth, and strengthen core market position?
We partnered with VITALSpace’s leadership team, guiding them methodically through key decisions—clarifying the current state, defining the future state, evaluating paths forward, with commitment to critical actions.
Together, we aligned on an integrated strategy that sharpened the markets-products-operations balance and is now driving growth, pushing VITALSpace into new space.
Royal Products has been a leader in the industrial lathe accessories market for many years. After bringing in a new PE partner, leadership sought to accelerate growth and 2x revenues over the next 3 years. Doing the math, it was clear that business as usual wouldn’t be enough.
The challenge? Lots of ideas but no coherent growth plan.
Through our growth strategy work together, leadership decided to restructure sales, invest more in online channels, and intentionally enter a much larger adjacent market. A real breakthrough came, however, when leadership realized the growth potency of its own innovation pipeline. What finally emerged wasn’t just a plan for growth, but a plan to reshape the market.
Royal Product’s team is on it. Stay tuned!
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From Market Player to Market Maker
As the country’s largest driller of wells for commercial geothermal projects, Midwest Geothermal grew steadily as its market did. Revenues have doubled over the past few years without a plan.
What was their plan to double again?
We worked with the team to prioritize specific niches and envision what it would take to accelerate growth. As we did this, leadership confidence grew that they could shape the market, not just follow it.
Today, Midwest Geothermal is executing with purpose and as a market leader. They’re focused on doubling in 4 years—and they’re getting it done.
From Turbulence to Turnaround
RoMan Manufacturing designs and builds specialty industrial transformers. After entering two high-growth markets, leadership wanted strategic planning to get ahead of very rapid growth that current market dynamics indicated was around the corner.
Then conditions changed for the worse. Two top customers unexpectedly reduced orders, and orders in another key market declined sharply.
Company expectations were for growth. Reality turned out to be different.
Anchored by a clear strategic plan, however, leadership adjusted quickly, keeping their “eye on the prize” and momentum positive. Revenue rebounded. New opportunities emerged.
Today, RoMan is leaner, more focused, growing, and better positioned than ever for what lies ahead.
"Shepherd Advisors led us through a journey of self-discovery and challenge. They helped us to think differently about our business and open our eyes helping us look at growth and scale in a different way. As result, we have sharpen our focus, accelerated decision making and given us confidence in where we are going."
NELSON SANCHEZ, CEO
Roman Manufacturing
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Shifting Allegiance from Family to Firm
Bush Brothers is a fifth-generation family business that provides premium meats to top chefs across Florida. When the family set out to accelerate growth, they partnered with a PE firm and chose to work with Shepherd to build a rigorous growth plan.
Key elements were straightforward: Double revenues. Enter new markets. Add new products. Expand capacity. Increase customer wallet share.
Much less clear was: How would the family-led management team change and evolve to achieve these growth goals more easily?
With leadership (mostly family members), we clarified positions and adjusted roles and responsibilities to improve focus, streamline accountability, reduce friction, and transition more easily to non-family members. Along the way, the team accelerated their shift from prioritizing the family to prioritizing the firm.
Today, growth is robust and on plan—anchored both in excellent strategy execution and in the pivotal shift of allegiance from the family to the firm.
The NativeSeed Group grew rapidly through acquisitions, leaving the new CEO and PE owners with a familiar challenge: strong businesses operating in silos. Shepherd worked with leadership to align quickly around a single strategic vision -- clarifying priorities, uniting teams, and reducing decision drag across the organization.
With a shared growth plan in place NativeSeed exceeded revenue targets and successfully integrated a subsequent major acquisition. The business shifted from fragmented execution to operating as one team, focused on the future instead of rehashing the past.
"Shepherd emboldnened us to challenge our long-standing operating assumptions, assess every strategic aspect of our business, and forge ahead with a new unified mission and plan. We are focused, lean, operating as one team, and totally committed to achieving that plan."
ROB WENDALL, CEO
NativeSeed Group
"Shepherd Advisors helped The Amlon Group undergo a remarkable transformation."
MARK WAYNE, CEO
The Amlon Group
The Amlon Group initially relied on a small number of waste streams, limiting growth and creating operational strain. Before scaling faster, Shepherd helped the team step back, rethink the business, and clarify where—and how—it could win.
With a stronger strategic foundation, Amlon shifted from reactive problem-solving to proactive execution. As growth accelerated, performance efficiency increased while stress levels declined. The team now tackles more complex opportunities with focus, confidence, and a pace well ahead of the plan.
After a PE acquistion, High Bar Brands (HBB)
needed to move beyond entrenched habits and align quickly around a new growth strategy. Shepherd helped the team break out of a “we’ve always done it this way” mindset and expand beyond its traditional distributor model to directly engage high-value end users.
Following a subsequent acquisition, Shepherd supported the integration of two very different organizations. With crystal-clear priorities and disciplined execution, HBB consistently exceeded revenue and EBITDA targets—culminating in a successful exit to a larger PE fund.
"Shepherd Advisors helped us align around one vision, one strategy, one team, and one execution. Our pace took off and we continue to accelerate."
CHRISTOPHER THORPE, CEO/CTO
High Bar Brands
STEVE MATTSON, CEO
Great Lake Sound & Vibration
"After Shepherd’s process asked our team to shift our thinking from incremental to strategic, and our focus to fundamental growth opportunities, the game changed around here and we’ve not looked back.”
At strategic crossroads, Great Lakes Sound & Vibration (GLSV) faced choices about where to invest time, talent, and capital. Shepherd facilitated customer insights, product prioritization, and go-to-market planning to help leadership focus on the opportunities that mattered most.
With a clearer strategic foundation, GLSV shifted into a higher growth gear. Revenues increased fivefold over five years as the company moved from incremental improvement to sustained, scalable growth.
Tasked with accelerating growth, Boll Filter Corp. knew it needed sharper priorities and a more proactive mindset. Shepherd worked with leadership to translate customer insights and market research into a focused growth strategy and clear action plan.
With a shared roadmap, the team adjusted resources, expanded regional presence, and developed new services. Today, U.S. sales are at an all-time high, and the organization is aligned around a clear direction for continued growth.
"With a clear growth picture, visualizing our goals for everybody to see on a daily basis, and having open-minded discussions – the team responded very positively. We became focused, made needed changes, and have elevated our performance to another level."
MICHELE LA TORRE, PRESIDENT
Boll Filter Corp.
"Though the going was rough, Shepherd prepared us for better days. Better days arrived and we were ready. Now we’re in a whole different league."
WALT ZIMMERMAN, CEO
Climate Technologies Corporation
During a difficult period, Climate Technologies Corporation needed to refocus on fundamentals. Shepherd helped leadership clarify vision, prioritize markets, strengthen sales discipline, and rebuild the organization around a clear strategic direction.
When new market opportunities emerged, CTC was ready. Revenues have since grown fivefold, and the company now serves dozens of Fortune 1000 clients with advanced temperature and humidity control solutions.
As a leading automated tarp-system manufacturer, Roll-Rite used used Shepherd’s market analysis and voice-of-customer insights to reposition its go-to-market strategy in agriculture—quickly turning it into a major growth engine.
Over two strategic planning cycles, the team developed and executed a national growth plan that doubled the company’s growth over five years. Clear choices replaced hesitation, enabling bold moves that delivered results.
"This project gave us confidence to take some bold moves, which we had talked about but never acted upon."
BRAD TEMPLEMEN, FORMER CEO
Roll-Rite
"The Shepherd team helped us strategize, secure resources, and find new customers."
TIM COLONNESSE, CEO
KTM Industries
After years of flat growth, KTM Industries
needed to stop spending time on enthusiastic non-buyers. Shepherd’s research and positioning work helped the company pivot from a broad materials play to a focused, integrated green packaging business.
By zeroing in on the high-end organic food and wine market, KTM unlocked sustained growth. Revenues increased more than fivefold, and the company expanded with a second production facility on the West Coast.
Right Opportunity
Stewart Industries provided sub-assembly and quality control services for the automotive industry and wanted to diversify into adjacent markets to increase revenues and to better leverage the core business. Shepherd’s market research and go-to-market business plan launched STEWART Industries into its next phase of growth.
It had orders immediately and the business has grown steadily. Just as importantly, the new offering added new value to the core business, and helped to create a more dynamic and entrepreneurial culture.
Shortly thereafter, STEWART Industries was successfully acquired by a strategic investor.
"Stewart Industries has come to utilize Shepherd Advisors as a resource to be a catalyst for strategic growth cycles."
ERICK STEWART, FORMER PRESIDENT
Stewart Industries
"It is the kind of roadmap that we needed in going forward."
JIM FREY, CEO
Resource Reycling Systems
Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) aimed to double revenue by improving how it identified, pursued, and converted new opportunities. Shepherd helped the firm analyze its seller-doer model and redesign how it targeted and engaged clients.
With clearer priorities and improved sales processes, RRS is now doubling revenue ahead of projections—spending less time chasing opportunities and more time closing the right ones.
A specialty anodizer of anodized aluminum coils and sheet, Lorin Industries sells into a variety of industries. Constantly looking for new market opportunities to diversify and grow, Lorin has leveraged Shepherd’s strategy, voice of customer and market research offerings to become much clearer about market opportunities that do - and that do not – make sense.
In the process, Lorin doubled down on the architectural/building sector, built up share in other industries, and shifted its overall market focus from distribution centric to end market centric. As a result, Lorin is more profitable, more resilient, and enjoys strong customer engagement and loyalty.
“Shepherd Advisors does a very thorough job understanding the organization they are working with to enable the right focus. I was very pleased with Shepherd’s flexibility and willingness to listen and adjust.”
Park Kershman, CEO
Lorin Industries
“The Shepherd team makes a real difference in enabling us to define and optimize our marketing strategy and programs. They deliver key insights and critical thinking essential to driving sales and marketing efficacy.”
Director, Corporate Marketing
Right Moves
A publicly traded international environmental services firm that provides a wide range of hazardous waste disposal, management and reduction services has utilized our full spectrum of strategy, voice of customer and market research services to accelerate growth of key service lines.
As we examined multiple opportunities, the company chose to drop some and invest more in others. The resulting go-to-market strategies improved competitive positioning, marketing, and sales success, and reinforced leaderships' strategic acumen.