LISA DIGGS:
 
LISA DIGGS




 
 
 
 
 
Owner of The Catalyst Company LLC in Livonia and founder of the Buy Michigan Now campaign. Catalyst is an eight-year-old performance consulting business that specializes in helping organizations become more productive and profitable. In 2007, Diggs launched Buy Michigan Now to ignite a revitalization of Michigan’s economy. The focus of this advocacy program is to create awareness of the importance of supporting Michigan-based businesses and speaking positively about what the state has to offer. Since its inception, Buy Michigan Now has grown to feature more than 1,600 businesses on www.BuyMichiganNow.com. Additionally, nearly 4,000 people have added their names in support of the campaign’s pledge to buy locally and be an ambassador for Michigan. Countless businesses have connected through the campaign’s website, social networking, and personal introductions from Diggs to create commercial partnerships and strengthen the local economy. The campaign also seeks to aggressively highlight the state’s most promising, emerging sectors, such as technology, renewable energy, film and television production, and medicine. Diggs oversees the campaign’s website and other social media, recruits participants and sponsors, writes articles, and speaks at events. Prior to launching her company, Diggs served as a regional training manager for Sprint PCS responsible for overseeing needs assessment and training for a 12-state region. In the mid-1990s, she was a professional development manager for Olympia Entertainment, where she led the collaborative team that developed the company’s mission, vision, and values, and created its first formal training curriculum. The Greater Detroit Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners honored Diggs as their 2008 Innovator and Crain’s Detroit Business named her as one of the Women to Watch for 2009. She also received the President’s Call to Service Award for contributing more than 4,000 hours to the betterment of her community. Diggs received a bachelor’s degree in communications from Michigan State University and a master’s in adult learning and performance technology from the University of Michigan.


WHERE BORN: "Detroit."

MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS: "Mike Ilitch. I used to work for Olympia Entertainment and what amazed me about him was that with the level of success they achieved, he still took an interest in each individual and the everyday things going on in the business. It’s an amazing thing to try and emulate."

LAST BOOK READ: "Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas Friedman.”

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME: "Optimistic, energetic, and shy."

WHERE MY FIELD/INDUSTRY IS HEADED: "We’re headed toward taking a much stronger interest in small business and the ability of small businesses to grow the American economy. It’s certainly true for the industry as a whole and for my business."

FAVORITE TECHNOLOGICAL GADGET: "I never thought I’d say it, but I’m getting to the point where I can’t live without my BlackBerry."

FAVORITE PLACE: "It’s a toss-up between Detroit and Mackinac Island."

FAVORITE HOBBIES: "Traveling."

FAVORITE FOOD: "A Better Made potato chip."

MY HIDDEN TALENT: "I get teased a lot because I seem to have very good animal-spotting skills. We were in Alaska on a tour and through a ton of gravel, I saw a wolf that the guide did not see until we were much closer."

HOW I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED: "Somehow making the world a better place than when I got here."


Grant Thornton Website At the annual awards reception in April 2014, one Leader & Innovator from the previous 12 months will be selected as the Grant Thornton Leader & Innovator of the Year.