About

Arvo Advisory

Arvo Advisory is a boutique consulting firm that helps leaders craft and communicate their strategy. We uniquely combine strategy consultants with executive communication leaders and public relations experts to create value for our clients.

With estimates showing that 25% of a company valuation is dependent upon its reputation, we’ve found that companies need both a winning strategy and a compelling story to inspire confidence from investors, employees, partners, and customers.

"There is no compelling strategy without effective communication. There is no valuable brand without inspired storytelling."

Muhtar Kent

Former Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company

Our Story

We created the firm we wished had existed. Our firm has a non-traditional background and this is our story.

Executive Summary

In leading corporate strategy, I (Stephen) quickly realized that the strategy was powerless unless employees got excited about, investors valued it, and board members understood how you were executing it. We changed our approach and the company’s stock price more than quadrupled despite flat financials. I feel like I stumbled upon a hidden gem of a tool to help CEOs create real value from their strategy. Studies show that about 25% of a company’s value is driven by its strategy. We created a firm to help companies maximize that value through strategy, executive communication, and investor and public relations support.

Longer version

I (Stephen) was leading Corporate Strategy for MoneyGram and working with the leadership team to craft a turnaround strategy anchored by a digital transformation as the company faced rapidly changing industry dynamics and investor concerns. One day, my boss forwarded me the draft of the upcoming earnings call transcript to get my thoughts. The document was very well-written, but it wasn’t written in the context of the competitive landscape, the company strategy, and how the strategy was driving results. I rewrote it, and from there on out the CEO gave me ‘the pen’ to own the transcript and the accompanying slides. Shortly thereafter, the leadership team took a pioneering approach to combine Strategy and Communication under one function that I was honored to lead.

To ensure I was the best possible steward of the responsibilities MoneyGram had given me, I knew I needed a mentor, and I read an article from my business school by an executive communications leader and strategic communication professor, Steve Soltis. He graciously responded to a cold email and that’s what spurred our relationship and now our partnership!

In the new role, I needed to hire a PR firm, and I quickly learned that PR firms had incredibly talented professionals, but they largely didn’t understand competitive dynamics and the importance of EBITDA. I became frustrated with the lack of relevant ideas and the amount of rewriting that occurred. That’s when this initial idea came to be: what if we created a firm that combined the poets (traditional PR professionals) with the quants (strategy consultants): combining those two skillsets can create the magic needed to create real value.

In his work advising CEOs, CFOs, and CCOs, Steve noticed this need as well: traditional approaches to communication no longer met the needs of today’s leaders. Executives increasingly needed talent with hard and soft skills, yet this was incredibly hard to find – firms like this didn’t exist.

When MoneyGram’s stock price quadrupled despite flat financials due in part to the work we’d led to craft the strategy and then uniquely communicate it across diverse stakeholders, I decided to take the brave move to start Arvo (meaning value / valuation in Finnish) to help other companies craft and communicate their strategy to drive value though a business strategy-driven approach to executive communication and public relations.

After a year of launching Arvo and collaborating on various projects, Stephen and Steve decided to merge to best leverage each other’s strengths with our vision of changing the world by bridging the gap between strategy and communication.

Values

It’s our hope that these values help us to cultivate a compelling company culture where Arvo becomes the best place anyone has ever worked. Our values inform who we hire, how we make decisions, and how we serve our clients.

Gratitude

Gratitude has been scientifically proven to help people feel more positive, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity and build strong relationships – all things we want to be famous for at Arvo.‍

Community

In a world facing a loneliness epidemic, we value being on a winning team surrounded by a community of colleagues and friends who collaboratively leverage each other’s strengths and support each other.

Bravery

To be frank, starting Arvo has taken a lot of bravery to step-out into the unknown, and our desire is that Arvo team members are known for being brave – brave in proactively coming up with new ideas, brave in making recommendations, and brave in dreaming big.

Positivity & Proactivity

Too often work can feel stressful and busy, and we want to foster an environment where optimism thrives and positivity fuels action. Arvo team members are naturally curious, and are self-motivated to proactively come up with new ideas and ways to serve clients.