What questions do you have about running a business? What issues are hampering growth? Send us your questions in the form below and I’ll turn them over to Doug and Polly. They’ll answer a few questions each week.
To submit a question, e-mail it to jgeiger@workitrichmond.com; please put “Ask Doug and Polly” in the subject line.
Polly’s focus is on human resources, people management and human systems. Doug’s areas of expertise are business strategy, operations and finance. They jokingly say that between the two of them you almost get a full executive. Together they own Whitestone Partners, Inc. a management-consulting firm that specializes in helping small businesses.
They are also the authors of Let Go to GROW, why some businesses thrive and others fail to reach their potential. Let Go to GROW was named a best business book for 2011 by NFIB, the National Federation of Independent Business.
Polly began her career leading HR for three companies in Richmond ranging in size from 125 to 650 employees. She also owned her own HR consulting firm and taught management and business skills to thousands of employees in small, midsize and Fortune 500 companies. She holds a BA in Business from Averett University and a MA in HRD from The George Washington University.
Doug served as a consultant with McKinsey & Company for seven years and as a vice president at Capital One for five years. He was CEO or COO of five small businesses over a 15-year period. Doug holds a BS in Physics from Randolph-Macon College, a BSME and MSME from Georgia Tech and a MBA from Harvard.
