After working in the organizational and HR field for most of her career, Louise Harris found herself out of job when a project came to its planned end.
"I was presented with a fabulous opportunity," she says. "I thought I'd take six weeks off to rejuvenate myself." That was 10 years ago, and she still hasn't gone back into a corporate position.
Instead, she began consulting and set up shop as
Praeeo (Latin for "to lead the way"), a firm that offers strategic development, organizational effectiveness, leader development, and change management.
Harris believes that she fits well into that specific niche because she brings a theoretical foundation together with practical experience. She marries psychology, sociology, training, and development in a way that allows her to balance experience with theory.
When she first started Praeeo, Harris considered growing the business into a mid-size consultancy at some point, but the more she worked as a solo entrepreneur, the more she liked the freedom of that structure. She says, "I think if I had a team, there would be a greater sense of responsibility to manage the business for their sake. Now, I just manage it for me."
In her free time, Harris is also an artist who
creates works made out of recycled furnace filters. She donates most of her proceeds from the art to charity, and has been in some art shows. "It's just fun to tap into my artistic side," she says. "Although business can be an art, too."
Source: Louise Harris, Praeeo
Writer: Elizabeth Millard