Christie Lindor, Big 4 Management Consultant, Speaker & Author

December 7, 2019

“… [INROADS] changed the trajectory of my life”

Christie (Jean-Baptiste) Lindor has done it all. Regardless of how much she’s achieved in her life, she traces the success she has seen throughout her career back to her early foundation at INROADS. 

Starting out from humble beginnings in the inner city of Boston, Massachusetts, her mom always saw her true potential. As a student and daughter of immigrants, Christie attended A.C.C. (Another Course for College), a preparatory high school program where she took college curriculum classes at UMASS-Boston in high school. Looking back, it’s hard to imagine that, at one point, she never even saw higher education as an option. However, her mom was the driving force in her daughter’s decision to attend college. Christie is a Bentley University graduate and earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing and computer science. She also has a master’s degree in organizational leadership. 

Christie became a part of the INROADS family her sophomore year of college. That summer, she was sponsored by Shawmut Bank, now known as Citizens Bank. After Christie’s experience with Shawmut Bank, she went on to intern with Lucent Technologies for the following two summers, where she was first exposed to management consulting. “I didn’t know what management consultants were. If it wasn’t for INROADS, I would not have been exposed to that career path at all,” she said. “It changed the trajectory of my life because I knew then that I wanted to become a consultant.” 

Not only did INROADS significantly influence Christie’s career path, she also attributes the program to being the turning point of her life. “INROADS provided professional grooming and coaching for the business world, which I definitely needed as a firstgeneration college graduate and corporate professional … I learned many basic things that people take for granted.” 

Upon graduation, Christie had her heart set on becoming a management consultant, but knowing most firms only recruited from Ivy League schools, she was strategic by first landing a job at IBM (International Business Machines Corp.) as an IT Consultant. As a consultant, Christie travels all over the world advising and helping clients solve complex business problems. 

Being a Consultant is just one of Christie’s many titles. She is also a published award-winning author, Forbes contributor, keynote speaker and podcast host. Christie recently gave a TEDx Talk in Zaragoza, Spain, and is publishing her second book in the fall of 2018. Regardless of what Christie achieves, she’ll always remember the importance of service that INROADS taught her. “[INROADS taught us that] when we do make it, to make sure we look back and bring others along with us.” Christie continues to apply this lesson by being a mentor to younger professionals. Her service to others is what led her to write her best-selling book, “The MECE Muse: 100+ selected practices, unwritten rules, and habits of great consultants,” a culmination of the advice she’s given. 

As Christie continues her career, her hope for future INROADers is that they recognize the sacrifices and hard work behind successful businessmen and women. In this day, it is easy to forget that success isn’t accomplished without commitment, discipline and dedication. 

Although Christie has had a successful career, she has also faced numerous instances of adversity in her life and the corporate world. By overcoming each obstacle, she hopes to be an example of perseverance and hard work to all. “It’s not about where you started, it’s about knowing you deserve more, having the courage to unapologetically go after what you want, and putting in the work to persevere and make things happen through it all.”