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Hulsey Helps Businesses Swim–Not Just Tread Water

More and more, we at AGPR find ourselves acting not just in the capacity of a public relations, social media, and marketing agency, but also as a general business consultancy. Whether it’s PR strategy or researching the parameters of a building permit, we are here to help. That’s one reason we’re excited and proud to announce a new member of the AGPR team. Mike Hulsey will head up our general business consulting operation and our new satellite office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Mike and I go way back to the days when he was CFO and I was VP of Marketing for a health management firm–for years we’ve hoped to find a way to work together again and here it is! Read on to learn more about Mike.–Alex Greenwood

Mike Hulsey works as a “swimming coach”. Not in the traditional sense, but one that involves coaching businesses to stop treading water. For 25 years, Mike has worked with hundreds of small businesses in an effort to identify weakness, build strength, and create systems to maintain stability.

With degrees in Public Relations and Political Science, along with post-degree education in accounting and marketing, Mike brings to the table a wealth of knowledge and skill in the art of correcting the myriad maladies of business. He simply lives to help the dysfunctional small business move in a positive direction, setting out a plan to achieve greatness for every client.

Mike Hulsey

Mike Hulsey

Fresh out of The University of Oklahoma, Mike’s career began with promoting public transit ridership, creating successful safety programs, and then setting a national standard for public/private agreements for operations of public parking services. Along the way, he analyzed and instituted programs to increase revenues for the parking programs by more than four times the original income in less than two years.

Operating his own accounting firm, Mike set up hundreds of new corporations, including setting up their accounting systems and creating business plans featuring marketing, budgeting, and financing strategies.

For established businesses, Mike works tirelessly to find new markets, tighten money management, improve cash flow, and correct collection failures. He has worked extensively in community development, health care and energy industries.

Mike embraces participation in professional groups as a tool to learn and network. He has past and current memberships in many local Chambers of Commerce, The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Association of Professional Landmen, the Kansas Hospital Association and the International Downtown Association.

When Mike is able to stray away from business consulting for a few moments, he enjoys family, friends, making new friends and the sharing of great American wines.

We took a few minutes to talk with Mike about his career, work and what he likes best about what he does.

Alex: Mike, you have a wide variety of professional certifications and experience–is that part of what drew you to management consulting? In other words, did your exposure to business owners and teams lead you to this profession?

Mike: I’ve always been fascinated by the confluence of business, government, and people and how they inter-relate. From as far back as I can remember, I was playing with mini-economic systems, (towns, if you will) in my neighborhood and engaging the neighborhood kids to participate with stores, stock exchanges, local governments and what not. We even printed up play money and contracts for transactions and sales. I suppose I just kept on with that and have been drawn to any type of business operation I could experience. 

I’m hopelessly drawn to people who constantly evolve with new ideas. I may shoot most of them down, as my friends will tell you, but if I think it’s good, I’m instantly fascinated to help it come to fruition.  

Alex: You seem very comfortable working with the government, whereas many business people find the government annoying at best and terrifying at worst. Could you talk about your past interactions on behalf of clients/employers working with the government?

Mike: My first degree being Political Science, I was directed at the dream of someday becoming the White House Chief of Staff, or at least the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. But after only a month of working on a political campaign, I just got a queasy feeling about politics. I have a huge respect for government and its challenges and feel the U.S. Constitution to be the most important document to ever be conceived by man. Conversely, this drives me to also be suspicious of government and its power.

History tells us that governments methodically seek more and more power. I have worked on behalf of many clients in moving through the immense field of regulations to acquire licenses for new businesses or fight tax issues. I generally find a way to find a common ground for both my client and the administrative agency we are dealing with to come to a win-win solution. I don’t like to burn bridges, just build them.

Alex: What prompted you to leave CPA practice?

Mike: An opportunity popped up at a time when I was facing some tough family issues. Also, I had promised myself in 1982–when the oil industry collapsed–that the next energy boom would include me, and since I was tiring of late nights and weekends at the office to get accounting reports completed, I jumped into the oil business. I have not regretted that move.

Alex: It’s interesting when you look at your experience in the health, energy, municipal and financial sectors. ls there a common thread that runs through every sector?

Mike: Alex, that’s a great question! And one I’ve never really pondered. In each of these sectors I’ve seen it happen: both good news and bad news have the same effect to make the organization better or make it fail. It gets down to how it gets spun.

Alex: Who or what is your ideal client?

Mike: The simple answer is: the one that finds me their ideal advisor.  But I must say that I seek a client that really does need some help in a certain aspect, or even better–has just become lost and feels as if they are drowning–but at the same time is still passionate enough to want to make the business “rock”.

Alex: Walk us through what you do for your clients.

Mike: I abhor long meetings, so I will sit down with a client and conduct very quick interviews, initially away from the business, and then at the business, to get a feel for the issues they want to correct or improve upon. Then I’ll run through a checklist developed over many, many years of experience by several very smart folks and from there, begin working up the methods that will make their business thrive.

AG: What’s your favorite aspect of your work?

Mike: Getting the stress off the owner or manager and seeing the client smile.

AG: You have a degree in public relations. Will you be offering PR advice as part of your consulting services?

Mike: Let’s face it–business is all about public relations. I look at the business from the outside. And from the outside, I mean at two very different levels: first from the customer viewpoint, and then from the universe’s standpoint. I think this way, it allows an analysis to see a long terms. But the real beauty here, is that with AGPR, a team approach will be involved in developing the public relations piece to the puzzle.

Alex: What should clients expect when working with you?

Mike: Value.

Alex: How did you come to work with AGPR?

Mike: An inevitable evolution. You (Alex) and I have been longtime friends and I think we knew that at some point, both of us would have to work together again, but this time, on our own terms to afford us the opportunity to unite in making the world a better place.

Alex: Amen, Mike.

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