About

I am an experienced independent consultant with expertise in business strategy, investment due diligence, economic development, performance improvement, and cost optimization. I'm passionate about solving tough business challenges! I have over a decade of consulting experience in the U.S. and abroad, and was previously a Case Team Leader at Bain & Company.

My interest in consulting during a college internship at a small accounting firm in my hometown of Shreveport, LA. One of the firm’s clients owned a lumberyard, and was considering buying a $1M piece of equipment to streamline his production processes. After visiting the lumberyard and observing their operations, I built an Excel model to quantify the time and cost savings to determine whether the investment would pay for itself. My analysis showed that it would take many years for the machine to pay for itself, and we recommended not moving forward with the investment. Despite this recommendation, the client bought the machine anyway. Welcome to consulting - I was hooked!

After graduating from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania I began a full-time career in consulting, first with Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, D.C. and later with Bain & Company in Dubai, U.A.E. and San Francisco. Over nearly a decade in large consulting firms, I advised clients in industries including technology, consumer goods, energy, industrial goods and services, as well as in the public sector.

In 2016 my wife and I decided to move to Santa Fe, NM. Shortly after arriving in Santa Fe I started Wander New Mexico, a food tourism startup where I continue to oversee all aspects strategy, growth, marketing and oversight of General Manager. Since 2016 Wander New Mexico has gone on to become one of the most respected local tourism brands in Santa Fe, with a 5.0 star average review on both TripAdvisor and Google. We were also featured on Starter Story twice, first in 2020 with a piece about our initial rapid growth years, and then again in 2023 with an update on how the business has evolved to adapt to the post-COVID tourism environment.

In 2017 I re-entered consulting, this time on an independent basis. Since then I’ve successfully completed over two dozen projects, both in an independent role as well as through contract work for other boutique consulting firms such as Highpoint Associates and Maven Associates.

I’m open to new projects and partnerships - you can reach me using the contact page or via email at joe@atalayainsights.com.

Joe Griffith

Partner, Atalaya Insights

joe@atalayainsights.com