Getting to know Amy Merritt Campbell
This month we’re excited to introduce you to Elevate consultant and co-founder, Amy Merritt Campbell! Our firm came to be largely due to Amy’s driven and entrepreneurial spirit, and her ability to connect with people is a huge part of what sustains us even now. No one can box her in-- not even the Enneagram Personality Test. According to the creators of the tool, every person has a dominant score, but Amy does not conform to those standards as she considers herself to be equal part Helper (Enneagram 2) and Achiever (Enneagram 3). She is most well known by her colleagues as extremely relationship-focused, and by her family members as “bossy,” but across the board, she’s known for being just a few minutes late to a gathering.
As it relates to her work, Amy especially enjoys the synergy that comes with co-creating solutions not only with her team members, but also her clients. She finds her rhythm in guiding strategy and facilitating conversations, and lives for the moments when the lightbulb goes off and frameworks click with people. She sees evaluation as extremely meaningful work that can result in the world being a better place. Amy considers one of the more challenging parts of Elevate to be the external and internal barriers she often has to confront as a young, woman business owner. Remaining confident in her qualifications while navigating gender expectations in the consulting space can be difficult. She also struggles with making the case for good, systemic evaluation and data in organizations that typically don’t have a large budget for such endeavors but could benefit greatly from the support, such as nonprofit communities.
The biggest piece of advice Amy would offer clients concerning evaluation and data is to simplify it. It’s easy to get consumed with the details of a data set and be overwhelmed by the amount of information it yields. As a reminder and source of encouragement, she asserts that you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to use data to make decisions. Amy suggests breaking the question down to its simplest form and asking yourself “what do we want to learn and what do we need to know in order to answer that question?”
Before it permanently closed due to covid, Amy’s number 1 choice for brunch in Nashville used to be Marché Artisan Foods. Now she can be found enjoying the croissant french toast from Margot Cafe & Bar. While it’s not typically hard for Amy to smile, these days, she is especially gladdened by Lin Manuel Miranda, the creator of Hamilton. Calling him the human personification of sunshine, Amy states that “if [Miranda] tweets or talks or breathes, it just makes [her] happy.” Amy is obsessed with all things Harry Potter, and can even be spotted sporting a themed face mask. The movies provide a much-needed escape from reality when she simply does not want to think about the world, and she has read the entire series every year for the past several years.
A view from Amy’s childhood home.
When we asked Hannah what inspires her most about Amy, she shared that Amy’s gregarious attitude and ability to make connections across completely different ideas as some of her most admirable qualities. Hannah attributes much of Elevate’s success to Amy’s visionary capacity to identify needs and opportunities, and inspire confidence in people in a way that she cannot. In general, Amy is excited for the future of Elevate. She appreciates the unique position we hold as owners of a small company with the power to make it what we want it to be and adapt to what the community needs. She looks forward to supporting the nonprofit community in Nashville in ways extending beyond evaluation and data.
To connect more with Amy Merritt Campbell, you can find her on LinkedIn or send her an email at amy@consultelevate.com.
Blog post written by Damisi Fawole