Elixirr's expansion into US boosted by high-level hires

22 May 2018 Consulting.us

London-based Elixirr, one of Europe’s fastest-growing consultancies, has continued its US expansion with the hiring of two new Principals. Katherine Johnson and Mary Carol Gilreath, both seasoned consultants with more than 40 years of advisory experience between them, will join the firm’s Dallas, Texas office.

Elixirr bills itself as the ‘challenger consultancy.’ A relative newcomer to the consulting game, the firm was founded in London as Elix IRR Ltd in 2009. After rebranding as Elixirr in 2015, the consulting firm became a key player in startup ecosystems in Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv, opening its first stateside office in 2016. The firm now has a presence in 25 countries and counts more than 100 clients on its expanding books. Elixirr was named the third fastest-growing consultancy in Europe by the Financial Times in late 2017.

In the US, the business management consultancy has attracted top talent to its Dallas office. The most recent additions are Principals Katherine Johnson and Mary Carol Gilreath. Both are highly experienced consultants who have occupied senior leadership positions at numerous top-flight firms across a range of industries.

Katherine Johnson was formerly Vice President of Research & VC Relations at Trace 3 – an Irvine, California-based IT consultancy. She has 15 years’ experience advising clients on emerging trends and initiatives in the quickly evolving deep tech space.

Mary Carol Gilreath comes from a more classical consulting background, holding senior positions at BCG, A.T. Kearney, and Infosys. She has 25 years’ industry experience and joins Elixirr from Texas-headquartered software solutions giant Solera.

Katherine Johnson and Mary Carol Gilreath - Elixirr

“Having worked in professional services for the majority of my career, I am thrilled to join a firm which challenges the norm, yet still continues to raise the bar,” said Gilreath. “Such a high quality team combined with a unique entrepreneurial culture is what inspired me to join Elixirr.”

On her own appointment, Johnson remarked: “Elixirr’s dynamic mentality towards innovation and really making things happen was clear to me as soon as I met them. In my experience, it’s rare to find a firm with such ambition that can actually ‘walk the talk.’ I’m delighted to join the team and am excited to see what we can deliver together for our clients – both in the States and across the world.”

Eric Rich, who was selected to lead Elixirr’s US expansion in 2016, said that the knowledge and experience Johnson and Gilreath bring to the team highlights the level of talent the firm is now able to attract. Rich was himself a founding partner of Infosys Consulting and has previously occupied senior positions at PwC and IBM.