The Heston Group

What The Heston Group does

The Heston Group is a privately held, boutique management consulting and leadership advisory practice based in Urbandale, Iowa, founded by Steve Heston circa 2001 and operating with a headcount of 1–10. The firm provides B2B consulting services focused on leadership development, B2B sales effectiveness, and strategic execution, delivered through custom engagements led directly by the founder. Its core service IP is organized around branded frameworks — most notably the REELAX Leadership Model (Recruit/Retain, Environment, Expectations, Lead, Accountability, X-Ray) and the Stratecution strategic execution methodology — alongside a B2B selling methodology built around curiosity-driven engagement and a set of operating principles called The Five Rules.

The firm has no technology product, no disclosed recurring revenue base, and no external funding. Its commercial engine is content-led: Heston maintained 'The Daily Difference' as a daily blog for approximately 24 years, producing roughly 6,000 posts and amassing an audience of about 40,000 readers. In May 2025, the firm retired the daily blog and migrated its content distribution to a Substack newsletter called 'The Diff,' reducing publishing cadence. Distribution relies on organic channels — Substack, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Pinterest, and Reddit — and engagements are sourced through referrals, founder relationships, and inbound interest from thought leadership.

The Heston Group monetizes exclusively through professional services: quote-based, custom consulting engagements and related speaking/advisory work. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and there are no packaged products, subscriptions, or licensed deliverables. Customers are B2B organizations and executives, with testimonial evidence pointing to enterprise-level relationships, though no named institutional customer logos are publicly attached to engagements. The firm's competitive positioning is built almost entirely on Steve Heston's personal brand, network, and content track record, making the business a solo-practitioner consultancy with a substantial content archive rather than a scalable services platform.

Name

The Heston Group

Legal name

The Heston Group

Website

https://thehestongroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Heston Group is a privately held boutique management consulting firm in Urbandale, Iowa, that provides B2B leadership, sales-effectiveness, and strategic-execution advisory services led by founder Steve Heston using proprietary frameworks such as REELAX and Stratecution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

C-Suite & Senior Executive Coaching (EDABANAA)

Keywords

• Management consulting services
• Leadership development advisory
• B2B sales consulting
• Executive coaching services
• Strategic execution advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Urbandale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Management Consulting Services: The Heston Group generates revenue through custom consulting engagements with B2B clients. Steve Heston works directly with client organizations on leadership development, sales effectiveness, and organizational strategy. Engagement types include advisory services, speaking engagements, and potentially workshop facilitation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Heston Group is a boutique B2B consulting firm that provides custom advisory engagements focused on leadership development, B2B sales effectiveness, and strategic execution. Its work is delivered personally by founder Steve Heston using proprietary frameworks such as the REELAX Leadership Model and the Stratecution approach, supported by a long-running thought leadership publication (The Daily Difference / The Diff).

Product overview

The Heston Group is a leadership and B2B sales coaching/consulting firm founded by Steve Heston. The company offers a portfolio of thought leadership content (The Daily Difference blog), proprietary frameworks (REELAX Leadership Model, The Five Rules), and B2B selling methodologies. The offering is centered on professional development, sales training, and leadership consulting rather than a technology product or software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Management Consulting Engagements Custom B2B advisory engagements with executives and organizations, covering leadership development, sales effectiveness, strategic planning, team building, and executive coaching, delivered directly by founder Steve Heston.
• REELAX Leadership Model A six-point focus framework for workplace success comprising Recruit/Retain best talent, Environment creation, clear Expectations, Leadership, Accountability, and X-Ray analysis of outcomes and 'Why' questions, applied within consulting engagements.
• Stratecution Strategic Execution Advisory A methodology that combines strategy formulation with disciplined execution, emphasizing the discipline of choosing what not to do and ensuring implementation, used in consulting engagements with B2B clients.
• B2B Sales Advisory Professional B2B sales consulting services centered on 'passionate transfer of belief,' emphasizing curiosity, questions, listening, ideas as currency, and storytelling for belief transference.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40,000 readers engaged over 24 years of publishing

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Emerging players

• GiANT Worldwide: Leadership development and executive coaching firm that scales through certified partners and proprietary leadership content. Comparable to The Heston Group because both deliver executive coaching and leadership frameworks to B2B clients through a combination of content, training, and advisory.
• Sales Gravy (Jeb Blount): Founder-led sales training and consulting brand built on thought leadership content, books, and training programs. Comparable to The Heston Group because both monetize a founder's personal brand, content library, and B2B sales methodology through training and advisory.

Direct peers

• Wilson Learning: Provider of sales, leadership, and customer experience training solutions built around proprietary methodologies. Comparable to The Heston Group because both compete in the B2B sales training and leadership development space with codified frameworks and custom advisory engagements.
• Richardson Sales Performance: Sales training and sales effectiveness consulting firm serving B2B organizations. Directly comparable to The Heston Group's B2B Selling Methodology because both focus on consultative selling, curiosity-driven discovery, and sales differentiation as core engagement themes.
• The Ken Blanchard Companies: Leadership development and management training company built on Ken Blanchard's codified leadership models (e.g., Situational Leadership). The closest analogue to The Heston Group: both monetize a founder-driven proprietary leadership framework via training, coaching, and licensing to B2B clients.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Organizational consulting firm with a strong leadership development, executive coaching, and talent strategy practice. Comparable to The Heston Group because both serve C-level executives with leadership and organizational effectiveness advisory, though Korn Ferry operates at significantly larger scale.
• Dale Carnegie Training: Long-standing leadership, sales effectiveness, and interpersonal skills training franchise. Comparable to The Heston Group because both deliver B2B sales and leadership development content via workshops and advisory, anchored by a named personal brand and codified curriculum.
• FranklinCovey: Global leadership development and executive education firm offering codified frameworks (e.g., The 7 Habits). Comparable to The Heston Group because both monetize proprietary leadership methodologies through workshops, coaching, and advisory engagements with B2B executives.
• BTS: Strategy and sales performance consulting firm focused on helping large enterprises execute strategy and develop leaders. Comparable to The Heston Group because both deliver B2B consulting around sales effectiveness, strategy execution, and leadership development.

Others

• Verne Harnish (Gazelles / Scaling Up): Founder-led growth strategy and execution coaching business built on the Scaling Up methodology and adjacent to Stratecution-style strategic execution content. Comparable as a peer creator of proprietary strategic execution IP monetized through workshops and advisory with mid-market and enterprise B2B clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/intent/tweet
• Facebookfacebook.com/The-Heston-Group-LLC-441526335966841
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/uas/login

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Heston Group