Anna Foli: Define Your Business Olympics

Feedback is what allows us to evaluate whether or not we’re on the right track. In sports, feedback is instant. If you shoot the ball, you either miss or it goes in the net. If you’re sprinting in a 100-metre race, you get your time instantly. If a quarterback throws a long pass, the receiver either catches it or he doesn’t. This instantaneous feedback allows teams and athletes to adjust if needed, and try again.

Unfortunately, in business, results take time. Strategies and execution in a project take a lot longer than a 3-hour game. If you’re wondering how you can start operating with more frequent feedback to allow you to make better decisions in your business or in your role, then this episode is for you.

Anna Foli


“Leadership is being able to show vulnerability while taking ownership and accountability.” – Anna Foli

Anna Foli is a Senior Director in the Power & Renewable Energy practice at FTI Consulting, a $4.8 billion global management consulting firm, where she leads business transformation initiatives focused on performance improvement and Mergers & Acquisitions. Ms. Foli has held various senior strategic and operational roles in private equity-held and publicly traded international companies, where she’s driven $40 million of revenue and profit growth through comprehensive business plans for countries, local markets and global product lines. Ms. Foli has completed over $100 million of M&A ventures across all phases of a deal cycle and built enterprise M&A programs.

Ms. Foli was recently the VP of M&A Integration at United Site Services, a $1 billion privately held US market leader in portable sanitation, as part of a private equity turnaround. Previously as VP of Customer Experience with the firm, Ms. Foli transformed the 250-employee customer service, inside sales and order support teams through a full organizational redesign. Prior to United Site Services, Ms. Foli spent 8 years at Aggreko, a global £2.2 billion public organization in the temporary power generation and temperature control rental space. She served as a strategic advisor to multiple Managing Directors for large business units and global product lines. Ms. Foli began her career as a Continuous Improvement Black Belt leading global operational excellence initiatives.

Ms. Foli holds an M.B.A. and a B.S.B.A from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. She is also part of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and an honorary member of the International Women’s Forum (IWF). Ms. Foli was born in Poland, grew up near Paris, France, speaks three languages and is an accomplished world traveller. She is a former elite international volleyball athlete, Team Captain of The Ohio State Women’s Volleyball Team and French National Team where she competed in 16 International Tournaments in 10 countries including the University Olympic Games in Bangkok.

Some of the things we discuss in this episode:

  • Anna’s journey to the French national volleyball team and Ohio State
  • How she handled captain duties at Ohio State while obtaining a dual degree including her MBA
  • How focusing on giving back and focusing on others will help you during your toughest moments
  • The importance of a strong support system
  • Why it’s all about getting better every day
  • Why feedback needs to be objective and immediate vs. in 6-month chunks
  • How can leaders increase accountability by owning up to mistakes

LISTEN HERE

To receive more insight on how you can use sports principles in business check out more blogs here.

Also, watch his Sports to Business podcast series to understand how you can apply sports principles to business. In this series, Tanvir sits down with former athletes from CFL/NFL football players to Olympians, and share their business transformation stories with you.