Expanding Perception. Changing what becomes possible.

I advise founders and CEOs on business development, commercial strategy, and high-stakes negotiations. I also write and speak about work, ambition, perspective, and living well.

_______________

A white mug with steam rising from hot coffee or tea, placed on a table next to an open book in front of a window with sunlight.
ALIVENESS IS STRATEGY

Writer · Speaker · Strategic Advisor

Brian Jackson & Shai Littlejohn on Owl Have You Know Podcast
Audio Reflection
An Apple iMac desktop computer on a wooden table surrounded by lush green plants in an indoor space with a framed picture on the wall.

The future belongs to organizations that still feel human.

The most successful organizations don't choose between commercial performance and human flourishing. They understand that businesses exist to serve people, customers, employees, partners, and communities and that long-term success is built by creating value for all of them.

I've spent my career advising founders, CEOs, and executive teams on the decisions that matter most: growth, commercial strategy, negotiations, partnerships, corporate social responsibility, risk, reputation, and transformation. Now I help leaders make better decisions because I’ve learned to see those challenges through multiple business perspectives.

I'm Looking for Signs of Life

In businesses. In leaders. In careers.

The biggest opportunities often begin with a different perspective. I help founders, CEOs, and ambitious professionals uncover new possibilities through business strategy, commercial leadership, high-stakes negotiations, and thoughtful leadership.

  • I advise founders and executive teams on growth, commercial strategy, and high-stakes business decisions.

  • Build stronger leadership teams and healthier organizational cultures where people and performance thrive together.

  • Create more meaningful customer and employee experiences that strengthen trust, loyalty, and long-term value.

  • Provide one-on-one thought partnership for founders and senior leaders navigating growth, difficult decisions, leadership challenges, and organizational change.

  • Keynotes, fireside chats, executive retreats, panels & moderation.

How I Help Founders & Executive Teams:

How I Help Professionals:

  • I help professionals navigate career transitions with confidence and perspective.

  • Redefine success without sacrificing ambition.

  • Build a more meaningful life and career.

  • Discover practical ideas for living well through essays and video.

The Journal

When A Bull Enters A China Shop
Shai Littlejohn Shai Littlejohn

When A Bull Enters A China Shop

A bull entered the china shop, and things began to break. Delicate porcelain plates perched high against the walls. Dainty teacups rested in blue, velvet boxes. Everything had been carefully selected and arranged. But customers had stopped buying, and the shop had lost its way. So, the owners made a call that changed everything.

Read More
I’m Looking for Signs of Life
Shai Littlejohn Shai Littlejohn

I’m Looking for Signs of Life

I'm looking for signs of life in people and places that have stopped believing much can change. Sometimes those signs are buried beneath disappointment, fear, criticism, uncertainty, regret, or a lack of direction. Sometimes people mistake those experiences for the end of the story. But they're not.

Read More
Finding Your Own Rhythm
Shai Littlejohn Shai Littlejohn

Finding Your Own Rhythm

As we grow older, we can become more conscious of how the rhythm of our life makes us feel as the beats are being stitched together. The rhythm is how we feel when we’ve rushed through a full morning of meetings, glance at the clock and notice that we won’t have no time to stop for lunch or make a personal call. It’s that feeling around 7pm that we’re running out of time before today ends and another day begins.

Read More
When Your Values Collide
Shai Littlejohn Shai Littlejohn

When Your Values Collide

I relished being a business-minded, analytical, problem-solving professional, but I also longed to be a successful creative artist. It felt as if each side - my lawyer side and my artsy side - was preventing me from moving full speed ahead in either of those respective directions. Forging ahead with one side didn’t feel right when it would cause me to abandon the other. What was my career without the balancing effect of music and creativity?

Read More
The Conversation That Changed My Life
Featured Shai Littlejohn Featured Shai Littlejohn

The Conversation That Changed My Life

After my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer, I flew to visit her at least monthly. I was General Counsel of the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission during that time, so having a flexible leave policy and the ability to work remotely from Houston was the only way I made it through.

Read More
How to Make Sure Your Cup Is Full
Featured Shai Littlejohn Featured Shai Littlejohn

How to Make Sure Your Cup Is Full

The farmer who wants to produce a high quality harvest to sell to the market at premium prices must execute a strategy that fuels her intention to produce a quality bean. She must exercise patience, and craft, to allow the tree to time produce. It can take 3 to 4 years of cultivating a coffee tree before it ever produces fruit. There are routine steps that all farmers must take, but if she can tend to the trees under just the right conditions, the cherries will ripen right on time.

Read More
When Life Is Like A Fresh Fruit Salad
Shai Littlejohn Shai Littlejohn

When Life Is Like A Fresh Fruit Salad

Someone, somewhere right now, is prying open a watery can of fruit cocktail and about to take a bite. In between the toddler-sized chunks of pear cores, triangular bits of peaches, and olive colored, halved grapes, that sad someone is surveying the can for a single crushed piece of scarlet, red cherry.

Read More

First Time Here?

Sign up with your email address to join this community. You’ll be the first to know about latest blog posts, future podcasts, and live events!