Washington, DC

Strategy that
gets unstuck.

I’ve spent 20 years inside the gap between what companies say they’re going to do and what actually happens. The industry has never changed that.

Nicole Wheeler McNamara
Founder, Catalyst Innovation
Former VP, Salesforce
Work that has included
Cummins PGA Tour Formula 1 Samsung Cengage CRH Hard Rock OpenAI Marriott Kaiser Permanente
About

Strategist.
Builder.
Catalyst.

Fortune · December 2016

“Salesforce has quietly assembled an elite team of strategists with pedigrees from the likes of Booz Allen, IBM, McKinsey, and Oracle. Its task: guide companies struggling to translate the promise of digital technologies into meaningful investment strategy.”

I’ve spent 20 years inside the gap between what companies say they’re going to do and what actually happens. The industry has never changed that. Hospitality, nonprofit, big tech, startup — the gap looks the same from the inside.

I’m a strategist and operator who has spent most of my career solving a specific problem: companies that know what they want to achieve but can’t get their people, technology, and go-to-market motion to move in the same direction at the same time.

At Salesforce I led a global team and built several methodologies around that problem. It worked. We ran $250M in engagements, 4x’d deal size, helped close some of the largest deals in the company’s history, and built a practice that customers kept asking for by name.

As the founder & CEO of Catalyst Innovation and as an Operating Partner to founders navigating scale, I advise leadership teams on the post-acquisition chaos, the growth stall, and the strategy that won’t convert. The problems are different. The work is the same.

Career

The arc that got
here.

Catalyst Innovation
2024 – Present
Founder & CEO
Strategy and transformation consultancy for growth-stage and PE-backed companies. Built to profitability in four months.
Noways
2024 – Present
Operating Partner
GTM strategy and category creation for a StratOps and digital twin platform. Working with founders on positioning, go-to-market architecture, and scale.
Salesforce
2015 – 2024 · Nine years
Vice President, Global Innovation Consulting (Ignite)
Led a 100+ person global presales and advisory practice across a $250M portfolio in AMER, LATAM, and EMEA. Built the operating model, team architecture, and methodologies that helped the most ambitious customers figure out what they wanted to achieve before anyone started talking about technology. Designed and launched Multipliers — a scale motion team that drove 55% of practice revenue. 4x’d deal size. 30% lift in $1M+ deal closures. 3x pipeline coverage.
Peak Performer Award (2×)  ·  MVP Award
United Way Worldwide
2010 – 2015 · Five years
Senior Director, Corporate Partner Strategy
Reimagined how the world’s largest privately funded nonprofit approached corporate partnerships and digital giving. Launched Club Connect, a first-of-its-kind donor engagement platform, from strategy through GTM.
Early career
Prior experience includes experiential marketing and CSR at Hard Rock and Williams/Gerard Productions.
In their words

What people who’ve
seen the work say.

Unsolicited, from colleagues, clients, and collaborators.

She can walk into a room where everyone disagrees, spend a day doing the kind of deep listening and co-creation most people skip, and leave with a plan that everyone believes in — from the C-suite to the skeptics.

Eric Berridge
CEO, Coastal · former Salesforce colleague

Nicole built Salesforce Ignite around a deceptively simple idea: figure out what you’re actually trying to achieve before you talk about technology. It’s harder than it sounds, and more valuable than almost anything else an organization can do at the start of a transformation.

Hollis North
Operating models & AI strategy · worked alongside Nicole

She balances the right amount of focus on customer needs, people development, and operations so that none of them suffer. Her executive presence is best in class. It’s good to have someone who can command the attention of senior executives. It’s great to have someone who can influence their decisions. Nicole does both.

David Warren
Senior Sales Leader · managed Nicole directly at Salesforce
Featured & Recognized
Customer Obsessed Podcast · Coastal
Resisting Shiny Objects
“Nicole is one of the few people I know who has spent her career solving that problem at its root.” — Eric Berridge, CEO Coastal
Listen →
Embassy of Ireland · Washington DC
Irish Women Leading in Tech, AI & Innovation in the USA
Named among three Irish women shaping the future of tech and AI in Washington DC.
Read feature →
CBS · Channel 9 News
AI and the Future of Work
Featured as a subject matter expert on how organizations and individuals navigate AI-driven workforce transformation.
TV appearance
Speaking

On stages.

Nicole speaks at leadership summits, corporate offsites, and industry forums on GTM transformation, AI adoption, and organizational change. The goal is never inspiration for its own sake — it’s clarity and movement.

Inquire about speaking
GTM Strategy
You’re Not Broken. You’re Stuck.
Why most revenue problems aren’t sales problems, and what to do about it.
AI & Transformation
The Human Side of the AI Advantage
The companies winning with AI aren’t the ones with the best models. They’re the ones who got their people on board first.
Leadership
Building Conditions for Yes
How to architect the trust, clarity, and momentum that let the right decisions actually get made.
Get in touch

Let’s
talk.

Whether it’s an executive engagement, a speaking opportunity, or you just want to think out loud about what’s stuck — I’m easy to reach.

Email
Nicole@catalyst-innovation.com
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/nwmcnamara
Podcast
Who Moved My Career?