Make It Plain Consulting

What Make It Plain Consulting does

Make It Plain Consulting is a Cincinnati, Ohio-based professional services firm founded in 1996 by Tommie Lewis, specializing in human resource consulting, workforce training, performance coaching, and economic inclusion services. The firm operates without proprietary technology products, instead delivering customized advisory and training engagements to corporate, government, educational, and nonprofit clients. Its service portfolio spans four pillars: outsourced HR management (strategic planning, talent management, succession planning, culture assessments); workforce training covering 50+ programs in leadership, emotional intelligence, change management, and inclusive excellence; personalized coaching (executive, career, legacy, life, and cross-cultural); and economic inclusion strategies for construction and infrastructure projects. Revenue is generated through quote-based, customized consulting engagements sold via direct sales and referrals, with no disclosed pricing, retainers, or productized offerings.

The firm is led by founder/CEO Tommie Lewis alongside COO Nicole Keith and roughly 15 senior consultants holding differentiated credentials from UCLA's EID Institute, IDI, VIA Character Strengths, SHRM, and other specialized programs. The team operates from a single Cincinnati headquarters at 311 Elm Street with no documented regional offices. Customer evidence skews toward Midwestern regional organizations — universities, school districts, nonprofits, and a few enterprises — suggesting a regional rather than national delivery footprint, despite a website available in 30+ languages. The firm has remained deliberately small and founder-led for nearly three decades, with no external funding, no parent company, and no M&A activity documented.

Competitive positioning rests on the founder's three decades of experience, the credential density of the consultant bench, and established regional relationships — rather than on technology, scale economics, or productized IP. The absence of external funding, acquisitions, geographic expansion, or material headcount growth indicates a stable, lifestyle-oriented consultancy rather than a venture-scalable business.

Name

Make It Plain Consulting

Legal name

Make It Plain Consulting

Website

https://mipcllc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Make It Plain Consulting is a Cincinnati-based, founder-led professional services firm founded in 1996 that delivers HR consulting, workforce training, performance coaching, and economic inclusion services to corporate, government, educational, and nonprofit clients across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting

NAICS

Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Learning, Training & Corporate Education Consulting (BPAHAGAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Performance Management & Productivity Consulting (BPAHAGAL), Organization Design & Operating Model Consulting (BPAHAGAB)

Keywords

• HR consulting services
• Workforce training
• Performance coaching
• Leadership development
• Economic inclusion

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. HR Consulting Services: Outsourced HR management solutions including strategic planning, policies and procedures, talent management, employee engagement, culture assessments, and succession planning. Revenue is generated through consulting engagements with organizations.
2. Workforce Training Services: Professional development and training services including leadership skills, emotional intelligence, change management, inclusive excellence, culture transformation, and communication training. The company offers 50+ different training programs for individual employees, teams, and company-wide learning.
3. Performance Coaching Services: Executive coaching, career coaching, legacy coaching, life coaching, and coaching across cultures. Coaching services are offered as personalized partnerships for leaders and individuals.
4. Economic Inclusion Services: Business participation, workforce engagement, community outreach, contract compliance, and contractor development services primarily for construction and infrastructure projects to expand opportunities for disadvantaged businesses.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Make It Plain Consulting is a business management firm that delivers outsourced HR consulting, professional workforce training, executive and performance coaching, and economic inclusion advisory services. The firm partners with corporate, government, educational, and nonprofit clients to align talent strategy, strengthen people systems, accelerate process implementation, and support culture transformation. Established in 1996, the firm sells customized consulting engagements rather than packaged software or products.

Product overview

Make It Plain Consulting is a Business Management Firm offering professional consulting services organized into four core service areas: HR Consulting (outsourced HR management, strategic planning, talent management, culture assessments, succession planning), Workforce Training (professional development and skills-building training including 50+ courses on leadership, emotional intelligence, and diversity), Performance Coaching (executive, career, legacy, and life coaching services), and Economic Inclusion (strategies for contractor and workforce development on construction projects). The company was founded in 1996 and serves corporate, government, education, and nonprofit clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HR Consulting

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Development Dimensions International (DDI): Global leadership development and talent assessment firm with training programs, executive coaching, and selection solutions—overlaps directly with Make It Plain's workforce training and leadership development catalog.
• Cook Ross: DEI and inclusion consultancy offering leadership development, coaching, and culture transformation services to corporate clients across multiple verticals—directly comparable to Make It Plain's core HR, DEI, and coaching offerings.
• Eagle Hill Consulting: Mid-sized management and HR consulting firm serving corporate, government, and nonprofit clients with talent and organizational services—similar client segments and service portfolio to Make It Plain at slightly larger scale.
• Paradigm Strategy: DEI and inclusion consulting firm providing advisory, training, and culture assessments to corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations—peer in the same niche as Make It Plain.
• The Kaleidoscope Group: Diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm providing assessments, training, and strategic advisory to organizations—closely mirrors Make It Plain's DEI assessment and inclusive excellence training services.
• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): Leadership development education and research organization offering executive coaching, training programs, and culture transformation—comparable in leadership development and coaching offerings, though operating at much larger scale.

Broad incumbents

• Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH): Talent development and career transition consulting provider offering leadership coaching, HR advisory, and workforce transformation—directly comparable service mix but at substantially larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with practices spanning executive search, leadership development, talent consulting, and HR advisory—overlaps broadly with Make It Plain's HR/talent/coaching portfolio as a much larger incumbent.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MIPConsulting
• Facebookfacebook.com/MakeItPlainConsulting

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

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 Make It Plain Consulting