Erica Thomas
Erica Thomas is president and CEO of Transitional Solutions, Inc., a management consulting firm with focus on finding transitional solutions for organizations in both the public and private sectors. As a seasoned management consultant with 16 years of experience, she is the driving force behind a company that has doubled in size consistently over the past five years, both in the size of her team and in gross sales, and a champion of the untapped workforce of stay-at-home-moms and retirees. “I am such a strong believer in these educated women and professionals who have so much expertise and education, many of whom had to choose between their careers and their family. Our company provides a place for these amazing experts to excel, with the flexibility where they do not have to choose. These people are the lifeblood of our organization,” she explains.
Founded 13 years ago, Transitional Solutions provides expertise that runs the gamut within municipal administration and governance. From organizational reviews to strategic planning, from emergency management reviews and plans to recruitment, they help municipalities work with each other. While many other consultants provide generic templates as solutions, Erica and her consultants start from scratch with every client. They find solutions for the client with the client, and work on ensuring that solution is implementable, with an aim to provide strategies to help their clients move forward.
Erica took over the helm of Transitional Solutions in 2015, where her husband serves as vice president. Founded by her father eight years earlier, she brought with her a wealth of expertise gained over an 11-year career and valuable insight gained from her own experience as a professional woman and mother faced with her own decision between career and family. She used this powerful combination to grow the company nearly tenfold, despite a personal crisis that threatened to derail it. In May 2019, when her five-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer, their team of consultants came to the rescue. “They rallied around us and carried the company forward through another banner year, which allowed us to focus on our son. They all worked as a team and a family, which was amazing,” she shares.
Erica began her career in economic development, and then moved into oil and gas, focusing on public engagement for different, large energy developments in Canada while pursuing an MBA from the University of Calgary. When she had her second child, she took maternity leave from her employer to test out the world of consulting—and she never went back. She took the wheel of TSI and lit a fire under the marketing scheme, attracting some of the best consultants and experts with great reputations.
Transitional Solutions is unique in that it is formed of a team of consultants rather than employees—and the bulk of them are retirees and stay-at-home moms and dads. “Our best consultants have retired from a long, successful career, so they have some flexibility when working with our company, and the quality of the work is better because our people do it because they enjoy it and they’re passionate about it.”
Erica holds a BComm in international marketing, an MBA in global energy management and sustainable development and an Economic Developers Certificate. She and her husband volunteer and contribute to the Kids with Cancer Society and the Childrens Wish Foundation—where her son was granted a wish. They also have a nine-year-old daughter and four-year-old twins, and their son is in remission and is now six years old.
Erica Thomas
President and CEO — Transitional Solutions, Inc.
LinkedIn: Erica Thomas
Facebook: Erica Thomas .com/erica.thomas.77736
Instagram: Erica_D_Thomas
Twitter: @EricaTsi
Download the Top 100 Canadian Professionals magazine and check out Erica's feature on page 46.