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North Fulton Business Radio

Leadership Across Generations, with Andy Kalajian, Founder and President, Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting

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North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 702)

Andy Kalajian, Founder and President of Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting, joined host John Ray on North Fulton Business Radio to share his work in leadership and character development. Andy discussed leadership and workforce challenges businesses face today, the proportion of the workforce millennials comprise, what that proportion suggests about successful leadership, developing a personal and professional development curriculum, and much more.

North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting

Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting, LLC is a professional education & training company that helps high commission sales professionals, small business owners, and entrepreneurs get the most out of their teams through character development, leadership training, and practical application.

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Andy Kalajian, Founder and President, Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting

Andy Kalajian is the Founder and President of Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting based in Alpharetta, GA. Andy founded Fort Leadership in 2019 after a 33-year career in Medical Device Sales and Marketing Leadership; 25 of those years were with Zimmer (NYSE ZBH) formerly a division of Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE BMY).

Andy’s journey began at 9 years old when he started in Cub Scouts with his dad and his younger brother. His parents constantly reinforced the Scout lessons of Character and Integrity. Andy continued in Scouting and at the age of 16 he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. At 17 his mom handed him the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Andy credits that book with igniting his passion for learning how to get along with people. From Hill, to Covey, from Peale to Ziglar and Maxwell, Andy became a voracious reader of books about Leadership, Character, Communication and Teamwork.

After 5 years working as a golf caddie, Andy was the recipient of the prestigious Evans Scholarship Award (www.wgaesf.org). This full academic and housing college scholarship is awarded in recognition of a strong work ethic as a golf caddie, and strength of character, integrity, and leadership. Andy used his scholarship to earn a B.S. in Medical Technology from Michigan State University.

In 1985, Andy loaded up his car with nothing more than his resume, a sport coat and tie, $2500, a big dream and faith that God was going to fill in the gaps. He moved to Atlanta GA in pursuit of a medical sales career where he could leverage his passion for medicine to serve people. Andy grew his medical sales business well into 7 figures by applying the leadership, character, communication, and teamwork lessons he learned from reading books and listening to thought leaders. As Andy continued to advance in his career, he was invited to speak to organizations and train teams on those lessons learned throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

Andy founded Fort Leadership to continue speaking, training, and coaching individuals and teams in leadership and character development. These skills foster growth in corporate leadership, communication, and teamwork. His corporate experience and insights train leaders to develop healthy corporate cultures with team members who are motivated, engaged, and purpose-driven, resulting in increased employee retention, team performance, and revenue growth!

Andy and his wife, Sherrie, live in Alpharetta, GA and have four adult children. They are members of Pastor Andy Stanley’s North Point Community Church (www.northpoint.org) where Andy is a small group leader in the North Point Men’s Ministry. Andy serves on the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors at Avalon (www.gnfcc.com) where he started the successful Member 2 Member Business Roundtable.

Questions and Topics in this Interview:

What is your background and how did you come around to starting Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting?
How does Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting help businesses out there today?
What challenges are you hearing about in the business community?
What’s causing these business challenges?
Why is it so important for business owners today to understand the Millennials?
Can you tell us why it’s so important for Millennials to enroll in a personal and professional development curriculum?
What is the experience like to work with you and Fort Leadership?

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

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North Fulton Business Radio

Andy Kalajian, Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting

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Andy Kalajian, Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 365)

Andy Kalajian of Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting joined host John Ray to discuss his leadership and sales consulting practice, the one common character trait of all effective leaders, the biggest challenges leaders face today, and much more. North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting, LLC

Through Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting, Andy Kalajian offers Mastermind Teaching, Speaking and Executive, Individual and Team Coaching.

There is a synergy of energy, commitment, and excitement that participants bring to a mastermind group. Andy’s facilitated John C. Maxwell book study groups offer a combination of masterminding, peer brainstorming, education, accountability, and support in a group setting to sharpen business and personal skills. By bringing fresh ideas and a different perspective, Andy’s masterminds help participants achieve increased success.

As a Certified John Maxwell Coach, Trainer and Speaker, Andy offers customized presentations to fit individual or team needs and budget such as:

10-minute briefing
“Lunch and Learn”
Keynote speech for your company sponsored event
Half-day and full-day workshop/seminar
In-house corporate training
Executive and personal retreat
Partnership Summit

In individual, executive or team coaching, Andy can see what clients are going through now and what is up ahead. Coaching is foreseeing, paving the way, coming alongside a client while helping them achieve goals and overcome limiting paradigms.

Company website

Andy Kalajian, Founder and President, Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting, LLC

Andy Kalajian has been a highly sought-after public speaker for more than 25 years. He has received public acclaim for his brand, EnTheos, Latin for Spirit Within and origin to the word Enthusiasm. Andy enthusiastically delivers powerful talks and lessons steeped in the wisdom literature and their practical application into busy lifestyles. His tagline, transformational thought in action, serves as a reminder to the participant that one can, indeed, permanently change the destiny of their life by changing the nature of their thoughts and actions.

Andy was born and raised in Detroit Michigan. As a young boy he discovered his passion for serving others in medicine and his gift for public speaking. At the age of 12, Andy, at the urging of his father, began to earn his own way as a Golf Caddy. His sense of adventure also led him, along with his father, to the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. In High School, Andy’s mother introduced him to the books Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

While a golf caddy, Andy was awarded the prestigious Evans Scholarship, a full academic and leadership scholarship, to study at Michigan State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology. In 1985, he coupled his lifelong passion for medicine and serving people with his gift of enthusiastic speaking and moved to Atlanta to begin his career in Medical Sales. As a young professional, Andy’s mom continued to fuel his desire for wisdom literature from authors/speakers Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightingale, Les Brown, Stephen Covey, and John Maxwell. Andy applied the character traits instilled in him from the Boy Scouts and the leadership skills taught to him by John Maxwell, Stephen Covey, and others to enjoy over 30 years in an award-winning medical sales career. It was during this time that Andy was asked to speak to groups as small as 4 or 5 and as large as 500+ all over the US and Puerto Rico.

Andy and his wife, Sherrie, have four adult children and are active members of Pastor Andy Stanley’s congregation at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. Andy enjoys time invested with his wife Sherrie, his family, and friends.

Questions and Topics in This Interview

What is Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting?
Your tagline is Transformational Thought in Action. What does that mean?
What distinguishes you from many of the other business curriculums out there in the marketplace?
What makes a good leader?
Character development is an “Inside Out” process.
How does character development manifest itself in a business or professional environment?

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray, and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.