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Jeff Goelz / Growth Strategy & Business Development Leader · Atlanta, GA

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Growth strategy that builds partnerships.

Jeff Goelz is a growth strategist and business development leader with 15+ years as founder and principal of Goelz+Co, the growth practice that creative and professional-services firms relied on for strategy and new business. He originated 106 relationships across 14 industries, 57% of them multi-year, and clients earned an average of $4.62 in new revenue for every $1 paid in fees. He is strongest at the front end of growth: reframing the problem and building trust fast with the people who decide.

Let's connectSee the work
  • Growth & Business Strategy
  • Brand Storytelling
  • Strategic Partnerships
  • Business Development

Proof

A record of disciplined growth

Cumulative ROI
362%
New revenue per $1 in fees
$4.62
Relationships originated
106
Industries served
14
Multi-year relationships
57%
Longest partnerships
15+ yrs

Clients earned an average of $4.62 in new revenue for every $1 paid in fees (362% ROI), built through research-driven, relationship-first business development. The longest partnerships, with The Design Channel and Fuszion, ran 15+ years.

Experience

Career

Founder of a growth practice for creative and professional-services firms, with earlier leadership roles inside the agencies he helped scale.

Goelz+Co, LLC

2005 to 2026

Founder & Principal, Growth Strategy & Business Development. Growth strategy and business development partner for creative and professional-services firms, including The Design Channel, Fuszion, The Botsford Group and What's Up Interactive: advised their principals on growth strategy, positioning, pricing and storytelling; led their business development from targeting through contract negotiation; and shaped delivery of brand strategy, research and integrated marketing communications.

  • Designed Goelz+Co's proprietary growth process: stakeholder interviews, market-perception research and service-offering reviews to set each firm's positioning and story and choose a targeted list of organizations, followed by direct outreach, discovery and relationship building with the buyers: CEOs, chief marketing, communications and mission officers, VPs of marketing and communications, and executive directors.
  • Led dozens of proposals and RFP responses a year for universities, independent schools (including The Hill School, Burgundy Farm Country Day School and Lowell School), associations and health systems; presented to C-suite leaders and boards nationwide, often as the sole representative; negotiated pricing, terms and scope.
  • Resolved client-agency conflicts and guided relationships through change, including four leadership transitions at Morehouse; credited by a higher-education client with winning cross-functional buy-in for its rebrand. Tracked every prospect in Daylite CRM and analyzed wins and losses to sharpen positioning.

Peak results and a pandemic rebuild

2018 to 2026
  • Highest client ROI in the firm's history: 444% (2018 to 2025). After a 56% revenue drop in 2020, rebuilt the practice from 2021, passed pre-pandemic revenue in 2023 and had the decade's best year in 2024.
  • Originated and won new clients for agency partners, including National Geographic Partners, the Smithsonian Institution, Morehouse School of Medicine, NCTM, Communities In Schools, the Society of Interventional Radiology and Marymount University.
Earlier roles (2)

Healthcare and higher-education growth

2011 to 2017
  • Client ROI 309%; opened the nine-year Morehouse relationship and grew the firm's work in academic medicine, higher education and associations.
  • New clients won included Morehouse Healthcare, Johns Hopkins Medicine (National Capital Region), Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, K12/Stride, CASE, AACN, SURA and United Way of the National Capital Area.

Founding and first wins

2005 to 2010
  • Founded the firm and built its service model and client-acquisition approach; client ROI 274%.
  • New clients won included Hasbro, The Weather Channel, HGTV, the International Spy Museum, World Wildlife Fund, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Emory's Woodruff Health Sciences Center and Capitol Technology University.
Earlier career: Hire Intellect, Axcess Marketing Group

Hire Intellect, Inc. (acquired 2005; now part of Aquent)

Director, Marketing & Business Development

  • Led the firm's competitive repositioning and client-experience overhaul: grew the client base from a handful of accounts to more than 30 in one year (650%), raised gross margin 53% and net margin 10%, and helped build the firm to acquisition.
  • Website redesign lifted traffic 61% and job-listing visits 73%; placed marketing talent with clients including Popeyes.

Axcess Marketing Group (KingMahon Design Partnership)

Manager, Corporate Business (promoted from Project Manager)

  • Ran agency operations with COO and CFO responsibilities and full P&L, reporting to the Executive Board; managed a $1.2M operating budget and five direct reports as the agency grew from 4 to 15+; mentored staff into larger roles.
  • Negotiated key-account contracts for BASF, Dow Chemical and Shaw Contract Group; raised profit margins 69%.

Case Studies

Selected work

Case 01

Morehouse Healthcare, a 9-year growth partnership

  • 9-year partnership
  • 5,110 new patients
  • $207K campaign
  • 8+ specialties

Morehouse Healthcare & Morehouse School of Medicine

Opened the relationship through cold outreach and grew it over nine years (2011 to 2020) and four leadership transitions, from a rebrand to multi-year integrated marketing plans across 8+ medical specialties and multi-million-dollar cumulative work. A $207K New Physician Expansion Campaign for 15 physicians produced 5,110 documented new patients in one fiscal year.

Case 02

NCTM, one pilot, multiplied revenue

  • 90-day → 3-year
  • +7.7% Yr 2
  • +12% Yr 3
  • ~$60K for Fuszion

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)

Turned a 90-day pilot into a three-year retainer for The Design Channel, with retainer value up 7.7% in year two and 12% in year three, then brought in Fuszion for five book-design projects (about $60K): one relationship producing concurrent revenue for two firms.

Case 03

Emory AIMS BioDesign, a 9:1 return

  • 9:1 ROI
  • 22 sponsors
  • 82% of event revenue
  • 154 qualified

Emory University

Learned an unfamiliar field (biotherapeutics and medical design) from scratch for a first-time summit with no track record; qualified 154 high-fit companies from a list of 296 and, in three months, secured 22 sponsors and exhibitors: 66% of all commitments and 82% of total event revenue, a 9:1 return on the client's investment.

Case 04

A value-based partnership model, 15+ years running

  • 15+ year partnerships
  • 34% and 47% win rates
  • Retainer + revenue share

Goelz+Co · The Design Channel & Fuszion

Designed Goelz+Co's partnership model: a strategic retainer plus a share of the new revenue generated, tying the firm's earnings to the growth it created for clients. The model sustained partnerships of 15+ years with The Design Channel and Fuszion, with proposal win rates of 34% and 47%, and helped them diversify into broadcast media, entertainment, toys, consumer goods, museums, advocacy and nonprofits.

Clients

Trusted by

Jeff's agency partners are creative and professional-services firms. The organizations below are relationships he originated, cultivated and developed into new business and new clients for them, spanning healthcare and academic medicine, higher education, associations and nonprofits, cultural institutions, media, and consumer products, nationwide.

Agency Partners (4)
  • The Design Channel
  • Fuszion
  • The Botsford Group
  • What's Up Interactive
Healthcare & Academic Medicine (6)
  • Morehouse Healthcare
  • Morehouse School of Medicine
  • Johns Hopkins Medicine · National Capital Region
  • Children's National Hospital
  • Emory University · Woodruff Health Sciences
  • University of Virginia Medical Center
Higher Education, Schools & Research (10)
  • Georgetown University · McDonough School of Business
  • Howard University
  • Marymount University
  • Capitol Technology University
  • The Hill School
  • Burgundy Farm Country Day School
  • Lowell School
  • K12 / Stride, Inc.
  • CASE · Council for the Advancement & Support of Education
  • SURA · Southeastern Universities Research Association
Associations & Nonprofits (7)
  • NCTM · National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
  • AACN · American Association of Colleges of Nursing
  • American College of Radiology
  • Society of Interventional Radiology
  • Communities In Schools
  • United Way of the National Capital Area
  • National Institutes of Health
Cultural Institutions & Conservation (6)
  • Smithsonian Institution · National Museum of American History
  • Smithsonian Institution · National Museum of African American History & Culture
  • International Spy Museum
  • The Jane Goodall Institute
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • International Fund for Animal Welfare
Media & Consumer (6)
  • National Geographic Partners
  • CNN
  • PBS
  • HGTV / Scripps Networks
  • The Weather Channel
  • Hasbro

Recommendations

What people say

New business development is about building relationships. … Jeff possesses an extremely rare talent of crafting a vision and then making it a tangible, impactful reality. What differentiates Jeff among others whom I have hired to assist in growing my business, is his strategic and creative thinking, skillfully growing strategic partnerships in areas where few existed previously … and working as a trusted, collaborative partner to not only help grow our creative portfolio and increase business, but ultimately to exceed expectations of clients every time.
Rick HeffnerOwner & Creative Director, Fuszion
Jeff Goelz always delivers smart strategic thinking, persuasive communications and flawless follow-through (his organizational skills are A+). Jeff is also a great leader, and can motivate everyone in the corporate hierarchy, from the CEO down [to] the administrative assistants.
David BotsfordPresident, The Botsford Group
More recommendations (3)
Since I started at Morehouse School of Medicine, Jeff has been more than a resource and more like a part of team. His strategic counsel and creative marketing expertise has been essential to the development of our brand and supporting materials. Count me as a Jeff Goelz super fan!
Ronna CharlesMarketing Communications Leader, Morehouse School of Medicine
He introduced his company to me and my organization, and was patient in finding the time that was right for us to make a big marketing and branding investment. The result was tremendous and appreciated at all levels of the organization. … Jeff is a rare breed among the marketing, sales and branding professionals you will find!
Greg KubiakFormer Chief Public Affairs Officer, SURA
Curious. Collaborative. Creative. Strategic. Partner. Fierce. Dedicated. Enterprising. I find those eight words sum up Jeff's finest attributes. … Jeff generated 82% of total revenue securing 66% of sponsors and exhibitors over three months … a very Impressive impact within a compressed timeline from ground zero (this was singular, one-time conference). … While I welcome the opportunity to work with Jeff again, I also highly recommend and endorse him to others that seek to elevate their businesses.
Melinda Ennis-RoughtonEmory AIMS on BioDesign · Principal, MelWorks

Credentials

Certifications & recognition

Credentials that keep the work current and rigorous (the Google AI badges are verifiable on Credly).

Google AI Professional Certificate

Seven courses · Fundamentals · Brainstorming & Planning · Research & Insights · Writing & Communicating · Content Creation · Data Analysis · App Building

Google · Coursera · 2026

Verified on Credly

Google People Management Essentials

Google · Coursera · 2026

Certified Agency Financial Manager

Agency P&L, pricing, and financial management.

The Second Wind Network · 2000

View all badges on Credly

Leadership & recognition

  • WICT Southeast Volunteer of the Year (2015)
  • Vice President of Programming, American Marketing Association, South Florida chapter
  • Featured, Atlanta Business Chronicle (2020)
  • Spokesperson, Delta Community Credit Union small-business campaign (2020 to 2021)
  • Quoted, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (2023)

About

Meet Jeff

Jeff Goelz, Growth Strategy & Business Development Leader
Download résumé (PDF)View portfolio

Jeff Goelz is a growth strategist and business development leader with 15+ years as founder and principal of Goelz+Co, the growth practice that creative and professional-services firms relied on for strategy and new business.

He is strongest at the front end of growth: reframing the problem and building trust fast with the CEOs, chief marketing, communications and mission officers, and executive directors who decide. He brings curiosity and creativity to unfamiliar territory and pairs strategy with storytelling to make a firm's value clear.

With an owner's mindset from building an entrepreneurial firm (pricing the work, carrying the P&L and tying earnings to clients' growth), he leads by developing people and convening teams across silos, and is trusted to resolve conflict and guide organizations through change.

Let's connect. Email or LinkedIn is the fastest way to reach Jeff.

B.S., Business Administration (Marketing & Mass Communications), Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Areas of expertise

  • Growth & Business Strategy
  • Brand Storytelling & Positioning
  • Creative Strategy
  • Business Development
  • Strategic Partnerships
  • C-Suite & Board Relationships
  • Entrepreneurial Leadership & P&L
  • Business Transformation
  • Change Management
  • Conflict Resolution
  • People Development & Coaching
  • Pricing & Contract Negotiation

Contact

Let's connect

I'd like to hear what you're working on. The fastest way to reach me is email or LinkedIn, and I'll get back to you quickly. My résumé and growth portfolio are a click away below.

Email JeffConnect on LinkedIn
Résumé (PDF) Growth portfolio (PDF)
LinkedIn
in/jeffgoelz
Location
Atlanta, Georgia