"Engage your team by fostering an 'ownership mindset' and responsibility for their work."
Dennis Consorte sold his first ecommerce business in the early 2000s and began his decades-long career as a digital marketer. He launched Consorte Marketing in 2010 as a full stack digital marketing agency for start-ups and small businesses.
After acquiring numerous clients through lead generation and agency partnerships, he went through a period of burnout around 2015 and shut the company down before rebooting two years later.
Now he runs purpose-driven marketing companies including Brand Boba, a niche spinoff focused on publicity and branding, and Luminary Tiger, a book publishing company. He is also the author of the Amazon bestseller, “Back After Burnout.”
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company
Dennis Consorte: I sold my first ecommerce business in the early 2000s. During that time, Netflix had just broken a million subscribers and DVD rentals by mail looked like a great opportunity.
A friend and I bootstrapped a niche company based on that model and I learned digital marketing by reading online forums and through lots of trial and error. After our acquisition, I pivoted to a decades-long career as a digital marketer.
I began on the client side, working with vendors to deliver on my employers’ marketing requirements. I then shifted to the agency side of the business, and eventually launched Consorte Marketing in 2010 as a full stack digital marketing agency for start-ups and small businesses.
After acquiring numerous clients through lead generation and agency partnerships, I went through a period of burnout around 2015 and shut the company down before rebooting two years later. Now I run smaller, more focused, purpose-driven companies including Brand Boba, a niche spinoff focused on publicity and branding, and Luminary Tiger, a book publishing company.
I’ve helped many individuals and companies to develop their brands, and I’m the author of the Amazon bestseller, “Back After Burnout.”
In the past year, what is the greatest business achievement you’d like to celebrate with your team? Please share the details of that success.
Dennis Consorte: For over a year, I was the campaign manager for a minor party political campaign. It brings me joy to see small projects make a big impact. With the help of my team, I laid the groundwork for a successful outcome, and my candidate, Mike ter Maat became the Vice Presidential nominee for the Libertarian Party in 2024.
After I set my client up for success, I shifted into a contractor position helping the PAC behind RFK Jr.’s campaign, in part because the Libertarian Party doesn’t have ballot access in my state of New York.
I find that my values align with many independent voters, and having a small part in amplifying messages that often go unheard reminds me of why it’s so important to find purpose in the work that we do.
It would be a longshot for an independent candidate to defeat both Trump and Biden, but I’ve already seen success in the way that RFK has raised awareness about the systemic problem of ballot access that gives the two major parties in America an unfair advantage.
Quiet quitting, The Great Resignation, is an ongoing trend causing many businesses to struggle to keep talent engaged and motivated. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued, and misunderstood in the workplace. In your experience, what keeps employees happy? And how are you adapting to the current shift we see?
Dennis Consorte: There are many ways to keep your team happy and engaged. First, don’t think of them as employees, because you don’t want them to think of themselves as employees. Instead, instill an “ownership mindset” among your team. You want people to take responsibility for their own work and the outcomes—or lack thereof.
A good way to start is through your leadership style. It’s important to create an environment where people have the psychological safety of knowing that it’s okay if they make a mistake or underperform.
Those things happen, and when they do, work with your team to understand how you can improve results in the next iteration.
Think of learning as a goal, rather than strict performance metrics, and you’ll have the sort of company that’s nimble and innovative. This sort of environment will keep high performers engaged and eager to come back to work the next day, because they’re growing, and they feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves.
With that in mind, bring people on board who share your mission, vision, and values and you’ll be unstoppable.
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Dennis Consorte: Now that the hype surrounding ChatGPT has subsided, it’s time to get serious about generative AI, and its place as part of your day-to-day workflow.
This is a powerful tool that can help you move a lot faster, if you use it in the right way. At this stage of development, my recommendation is to think of generative AI as an ideation and organizing tool.
Use it as a sounding board for your ideas to brainstorm quickly when you don’t have a room full of talented people to help out. Ask it to build outlines around content ideas that you can then flesh out. And, get it to condense lengthy content that you don’t have time to read, so that you can quickly capitalize on new information as it becomes available.
As you integrate generative AI into your workflow, you’ll learn its strengths and weaknesses, and how it can best be used to improve your business.
Christopher Hitchens, an American journalist, is quoted as saying that “everyone has a book in them” Have you written a book? If so, please share details with us about it. If you haven’t, what book would you like to write and how would you like it to benefit the readers?
Dennis Consorte: I wrote the Amazon bestseller, “Back After Burnout.” I had to shut down my business for a long time, because my mental health was far more important than my next paycheck.
During that time, I was fortunate enough to find some great mentors and friends to help me through a tough time in my life while my wife patiently encouraged me to move forward.
I also discovered and used many tools to get me through that tough time and rediscover my purpose in life. I’ve included these tools in the book, because I know there are many entrepreneurs who aren’t as lucky as I was when things were tough. It’s a long read, but the book has lots of valuable frameworks and insights that can serve many people.
Eventually I’ll make a smaller companion book, based on my “MASHPLAY” framework for burnout recovery, for people who want something closer to a “quick fix.”
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?
Dennis Consorte: An important concept is that you’re only as strong as your weakest link. Followers of Jack Welch’s egregious leadership style would solve this problem by firing 10% of their team every year so that the cream rises to the top.
This can work, but it makes for a high-anxiety work environment, poor mental health, and a lack of cohesion among teams. You end up with a cut-throat culture where everyone is out for themselves. Contrast this with lifting up the people who need the most help. Build mentorship into your company culture and build goals around cooperation. Of course there are times when you have no choice but to let people go.
But if you have someone on your team who has the will, but not the skill to do their job, then teach them what they need to know and you’ll build loyalty like you’ve never imagined.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Dennis Consorte: I’d love to explore the business superpower of prioritizing fun over funds. If I didn’t have to worry about driving revenue, I could focus the bulk of my time (and my team’s) on innovation.
That’s part of my company culture now, and I try to make everything as fun as possible, but it’s not the focus.
Jerome Knyszewski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Dennis Consorte for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Dennis Consorte or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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