Tracy: Today I’m interviewing Cynthia Rando from Sophic Synergistics. Welcome Cynthia, thank you for being here today. Before we get into Sophic Synergistics, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to be an entrepreneur?
Cynthia: My family is entrepreneurial in nature, and I grew up in this environment. My father dreamed of owning his own bus company back in the 70’s and finally opened his bus company in 1979. I was born that year, and my very first words were “North Shore Tours”, because that is what I would hear my parents saying all day long answering phones for the business. I then started working for my dad as soon as I was able to do odd chores such as fold flyers to be mailed. My sister and I both washed and cleaned the buses when they would come back from trips, and I also worked in my father’s office booking travel with customers. It was a family affair, and my parents worked very hard while also holding down a full-time teaching jobs. I think it was always the path I was on because that’s what I knew and I owe my parents a great deal. I had spent 12 years at NASA working in various capacities that ultimately led to the development of a broad skill set well suited for consulting. I began to feel that it was time to disrupt my career and take a chance to reach my potential, as with any job you tend to reach a point where growth stalls and it is up to you to recognize opportunities to change course.
Tracy: So you transitioned from NASA to creating your own company. I made a similar transition from a military career to creating my own business so that I can relate; that’s a big change. How did you prepare to go from something as structured as NASA to being a green entrepreneur?
Cynthia: I think I am not as green as some entrepreneurs because of my family situation, and I have worked with quite a few entrepreneurial and ground-breaking activities for NASA. I also made it a point to go back to school to earn an MBA because I knew one day I would have my own business, it was only a matter of when. However, I do believe I am quite new to developing a brand that is recognized and sought after and am still growing as an entrepreneur in my space.
I had been working behind the scenes for two years to establish the consulting firm legally in the preparation of following this path full time. I have always wanted to own my own business; it was just a matter of spending the time acquiring the right suite of skills and having the right mechanisms in place to give it a go.
Tracy: Tell us about Sophic Synergistics and what you do now.
Cynthia: My unique space combines traditional business strategy approaches leveraging the science behind human-centered design because the human is at the core of everything we do in business. This specialization does not currently exist in the marketplace, you either hire a consultant that specializes in strategy or a consultant that specializes in human-centered design.
The human variable in any equation is the limiting factor when you maximize this variable you maximize business potential through many ways including; how the organization performs, innovative cultures, user-friendly product designs, better business strategies, and partnerships. I realized this was a missing link based on my unique background and experience in two seemingly unrelated specialty areas. Specifically, experience in business strategy and human factors engineering or human-centered design (designing to maximize human efficiency, productivity, and safety). What is always missing and problematic for businesses relates to the challenges that stem from what it means to be human and how to deliver effective approaches to dealing with these issues. Most of the time organizations don’t recognize the true root cause and don’t effectively solve their problems because they are too focused on the symptoms. This is why I formed Sophic Synergistics, to bring the business, technological and human world together and maximize potential.”
Tracy: That sounds very complicated. What do you do to keep your energy level up, what fuels you?
Cynthia: I am very much into health and fitness, which I think mirrors some of my vocation. However, I really value exercise as a component of optimum health and performance and believe lifting for women is a big field that needs to be encouraged more.
Tracy: That’s great. Back to Sophic Synergistics for a moment, how would a business owner know when to call you? Is there a way to identify the kind of problem you solve?
Cynthia: I think modeling the undercover boss approach and spending time within different ranks of the organization listening and working with the line employees, this will bring to the surface many human need areas that are failing within the organization and where trends in the industry might be developing to capitalize on. I have experience working successfully in both areas and understand how to maximize human capacity through human-centered design and business strategies.
