Bruce Ballengee is first and foremost a teacher. He just doesn’t have a classroom.
No, he is not a teacher at an educational institution. Ballengee even claims he’s not using his BBA in Economics and Finance from Baylor Business or his MBA from the University of Chicago. But after a few minutes talking to him, it is apparent the man is a teacher—focused on spreading knowledge and helping people reach their full potential.
Although Ballengee claims he hasn’t used his degrees much, he has an undeniably successful résumé featuring various leadership positions at Booz Allen Hamilton, Accenture, Sprint and Hitachi Consulting. But after years in the business world, he became disillusioned with how most businesses operate—valuing the bottom line more than employee well being. He considered leaving it behind to earn his PhD and start teaching.
“I told myself, ‘Bruce, you love teaching. You love working with younger people. Always have. Always will. Just go have pure fun, enjoyment and be contributing back to society,’” Ballengee said.
But he was convinced to stay in consulting and start a new kind of consulting company, where educating and developing people is the mission. In 2003, he co-founded Pariveda, a consulting firm that, in his words, “help[s] businesses solve ambiguous problems, usually by employing technology.” He uses his company as a platform for fostering the personal and professional growth of his more than 500 employees scattered across Pariveda’s nine locations.
