Meet Ahli Moore | Executive Coach & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ahli Moore and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ahli, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Starting my own business was always in the back of my mind but certainly wasn’t a clear plan. It was more of a feeling or a calling than a thought process. For me, the burning desire to be my own boss would eventually outweigh the safety of working within someone else’s structure. And the truth is, when you NEED the flexibility, freedom, and autonomy of being your own boss, anything less than that will reflect in your on-the-job performance. There’s no way to hide it, and you owe yourself the right to be happy and successful at work. So, starting my own business was a combination of self-preservation, mixed with the search for fulfillment, and the courage to take a risk. Throughout my youth, I always found myself enamored with those who were able to master their own destiny, run their own businesses, essentially call their own shots, but I always felt constrained by societal norms. We were taught that you go to school, work for some company or someone who had “made it”, dedicate yourself to that entity/person/company, and eventually retire with whatever you were able to save over the years. Seemed plausible. During my formative years, I worked the same jobs as most kids (grocery bag boy, fast-food register, mowing lawns throughout the neighborhood). But even as a junior high school student, I was always tinkering with my version of a business plan. I was drawing pictures of everything from beachwear to skateboards, from rental cabin floorplans to auto-repair instructional manuals. I had the entrepreneurial spirit but had no idea how to hone it or bring it to reality. And so I followed what I considered to be life’s prescribed plan… I got educated. I got a good job. And I conceded that I would work for others, possibly make Partner at a big firm, and just work hard until retirement. But that’s not what happened. I worked really hard for others but still found a calling to come back to my entrepreneurial pursuits. I needed the flexibility and freedom to explore diverse clients and opportunities, to have fun while working, to do work for organizations who were making a difference in the world… and I couldn’t do that working (and making money) for someone else. So, eventually, I embraced what I had always known: I needed to run my own company. I needed the freedom and flexibility to both learn and give to opportunities across a spectrum of industries, clients, and geographies.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Generally, my profession/industry is known as “management consulting”, which is a general term to say that I help organizations improve their performance. I use my experiences, having worked across multiple organizations and industries, to develop client solutions that may include a customized mix of Strategic Planning, Leadership Development, Organizational Change Management, Team Building/Alignment/Optimization, and Coaching. Its a continuous knowledge-building cycle. Each client for whom I work adds to my consulting toolkit, which in turn, increases my ability to serve future clients! I started my company, X-Factor Solutions, in 2009 after spending over a decade as a Change Management consultant/executive with Accenture and over 3 years as the Chief Operating Officer of Giant Leap Consulting. Our company’s name “X-Factor” represents more than just the often (overused) cliche of identifying the one component that leads to success. On the contrary, the letter “X” is a symbolic conversion of multiple complementary and critical elements to both organizational and personal success. Working with our clients to identify all of these variables and incorporating them back into customized solutions is what sets us apart from many other solution providers. Having a small consulting company with little overhead allows us to be both flexible and discerning in the clients with whom we work. We love serving clients who are making a difference in the world. We don’t have to pass over small companies and nonprofits that don’t have the same budget as the Fortune 500 clients… and that’s personally fulfilling! I have learned that passion and fulfillment are two of the most powerful elements in sustaining my desire to put in the work required to be successful. You can’t fake or replace either of those.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The metro Atlanta area is full of so many interesting neighborhoods, historic sites, and places of interest. Some are well-known, some are off the beaten path. We’re currently in the middle of the Coronavirus global pandemic, and unfortunately, I’ve lost people. So, my recommendations are all based on pre-Covid hangouts. I always encourage people to visit the King Historic District, including both the MLK National Historic Park and the original MLK National Urban Park. Go see the historic churches in the area and MLK’s birthplace. While on that side of town, take a stroll on the beltline through Old Fourth Ward until you get to Piedmont Park. Walk through the entire park, not just around it and you will find all sorts of interesting sites. I absolutely love doing the monthly Castleberry Hill art stroll, starting at my favorite gallery, the Zucot Gallery, and then checking out the dozens of other galleries in the area. Of course, you shouldn’t visit Atlanta without doing the combo tour of the Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca Cola, College Football Hall of Fame, and CNN Center. Each of those locations is within walking distance of each other, encircling Centennial Olympic Park

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are way too many people to list here. I am a firm believer that no one gets “there” on their own. Even when I am feeling like I am alone in my endeavors, I am encouraged by so many people (both directly and indirectly), that I couldn’t possibly name them all! I marvel at how my wife manages her underfunded non-profit, churning out programming that would rival organizations 10 times their size, and think “that’s passion”! I’m in awe of how my kids, forced to stay home from college and high school due to the Coronavirus, pivoted to online learning, and think to myself “that’s resilience”. I have so many friends and colleagues that have turned life’s proverbial lemons into lemonade, that I could never have a negative disposition about what is possible if you embrace your circumstances with a little courage and creativity.

Website: www.x-factorsolutions.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xfactorsolutions1/ and https://www.instagram.com/ahlimoore/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/x-factor-solutions and https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahlimoore/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/XFactorSolution and https://twitter.com/ahlimoore
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XFactorSolutions and https://www.facebook.com/ahli.moore/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJm69SdmrxBGU7l0JNj7YRg?view_as=subscriber