Getting to know… Consultant Brett Morris

1) I have yet to meet a consultant who started their career as one. What other paths did you go down before landing at Momentum?I was a landscaper for 15 plus years and short stints in other fields, including finance manager at an international corporation and an English teacher in Istanbul.2) Momentum is all about transparency, so let’s apply that here. You recently moved away from Austin to Iowa. What took you there? Are you still accepting Austin clients?Primarily my family and I moved to Iowa to take over my wife’s family’s business and to be closer to my in-laws. And the great thing about being a coach and consultant with Momentum, is there are no physical boundaries. Most of our work is done via teleconference and coaching our clients through the day-to-day happenings in their businesses. Momentum has clients all over the world – North America, Africa, Europe — so the distance between Austin and Iowa doesn’t seem that far. I also fly to Texas at least every couple of months. I am still very much a part of Momentum Consulting and always open to more Austin clients.3) So, Texas boy, how well did you survive your first midwest winter?Oh, it was fine. And by “fine” I mean it was cold and snowy all the time. A month in Austin helped me survive. Of course now that it’s over, it all seems very tolerable. It definitely heightens my appreciation of the other seasons.4) You have a toddler at home. How has parenthood changed the way you consult?I used to use a lot of sports analogies, now I use a lot of parent analogies. In coaching sessions with my clients, now we talk about how they hold their commitments in all aspects of their lives – not just at work.5) What do you miss most about Austin?It’s not what I “miss” but what I notice that I took for granted. Being born and raised in a great place like Austin I never noticed the value of community until it was gone. Like a fish wouldn’t notice the value of water until it was on dry land. Creating a new community from scratch has been a worthy challenge though.6) What have you learned about human nature in your work as a consultant and coach?The universal unwillingness to do what we know is good for us. Over and over and over and over… And on the brighter side … when a client takes an opportunity to demonstrate courage beyond what I thought they would actually do, I get inspired to follow their lead in my own life.