Business Consultant Matt Bucholz

Tell us what you do, and what you’re excited to be working on right now.

I consult with everyone whose work is showcased on projects to help elevate the expression of their work in the project environment. I’m currently modifying the nature of my consulting agreements, based on client feedback, to create more opportunities for deep work within my clients’ organizations through retainer-based services.

How has your business evolved over the years? What insights have you gained and used to level up?

My work is elementally about listening. As I get better at listening I am able to “hear” better. This has given me so many insights into what my clients feel most in need of, and I respond by developing the capacity to help them with what they are asking for. The specific insight that comes from this is to hold lightly my beliefs, even about my own service offerings, so that I’m not immune to the opportunities that are being presented to be of greater service.

What’s a favorite project you’ve worked on? Tell us about the role you played in it.

The best thing that I’ve ever been involved in building was a private residence in San Francisco. I was the Superintendent. The home is extraordinary. Perhaps more important than this home being so well designed and well built is how many people, myself included, performed beyond their own beliefs of what was possible in bringing the design to life. 

To what extent is collaboration and community important in your work?

My work is all about collaboration and community. I learned the importance of this by working in general contracting firms. It became so clear to me that collaboration and community were the most important focus of projects that I left general contracting to put all of my efforts into learning and exploring in this space.

Who are one or two of your favorite collaborators and why?

Karin Payson, or Karin Payson Architecture + Design, is one of my favorite collaborators. When Karin and I were collaborating on some very fast-paced, custom residential work she was the perfect design partner. We allowed the strength of the relationship that we were building to inform the blurring of the lines of “standard” process and often got together to do what would usually be sequenced work by combining each of our independent sequence responsibilities and doing our work together, shoulder to shoulder.

A private residential client is another of my favorite collaborators. This client was so clear that our purpose was to achieve the highest expression of the design, and they stood behind that in each and every moment. This client was kind, accountable, and mature in their approach. More than any other homeowner that I’ve worked with, they were on the team with me, and the resulting project may never be equaled.

What advice would you give to someone early in their career in the same industry discipline as yours?

I’d advise someone who wanted to enter the consulting sphere after a lot of successful work in their primary career to get very clear on why they want to step away from being a “doer” into consulting with the “doers.” Further, I’d suggest that they really invest time and effort into cultivating deep listening skills and that they jump at every opportunity to meet new people and to learn from them. Everyone has something special and poignant to share, but it requires being the right listener to receive those gifts.