DBH - Behavioral Flashcards
Tell Me About Yourself
I am orginally from Louisiana and went Southern University. I have an MBA and MPA and a CBI. I’ve been in the the finance industry for 10 years, primarily working in financial operations and M&A. Currently, I am a M&A Management Consultant.
Before that, I was the, Sr. M&A Analyst/Project Manager, Head of M&A at Dragonflip and a founding member of the financial operations team at BBSI.
My background includes working with private equity clients, leading cross-functional teams, and developing strategies that maximize deal value.
I am so excited about the position at Allaint because I can apply my M&A and finance experience to the company’s in-house corporate development team.
Why Do You Want This Job?
a. I like that Allaint is committed to helping clients navigate complex challenges in insurance and employee benefits.. It would be exciting to learn more about Integris’ service offerings and operations and facilitate smooth integrations of acquired companies to both enhance customer experience and align with the company’s long term strategy.
b. What really stands out to me about this role is the blend of strategic analysis and hands-on execution. I enjoy diving deep into due diligence, identifying risks and synergies, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive successful transactions.
The emphasis on working directly with private equity clients and internal stakeholders makes this a dynamic, high-impact role—one that aligns with both my skills and my career aspirations.
The chance to apply my experience in a firm like Alliant, with a strong M&A practice, is highly appealing to me
What’s Your Experience in M&A?
My first full-time role in M&A was at Flippa. Its basically a M&A marketplace for digital assets. I worked as analyst on the sell-side to manage transactions for businesses in the $100k - $2M range. This included finding new sell-side clients, analyzing the businesses, creating marketing packages, finding buyers, managing due diligence, and closing the deal.
In 2016 I moved to Dealflow Brokerage and performed similar tasks for businesses in the $750k - $4M dollar range. I had increased responsibilities and also contributed to strategic direction.
In 2021, I was hired as the Head of M&A at Dragonflip. A boutique M&A firm for ecommerce businesses. I was hired to grow Dragonflip’s presence in the US/UK and build the M&A team. In addition to managing a range of M&A activities, I spoke at conferences and on podcasts about ecommerce M&A and I led cross functional teams within the company.
Currently, I am an M&A Analyst/Project Manager at Johnson Consulting Group and an M&A Management Consultant. I manage the entire M&A due diligence and integration process. The extent varies by client. Some clients just want tools to help them manage the integration internally while other ceede the entire responsibility.
Why should we hire you?
I have extensive education and experience in the business, legal, and finance sectors. I have also built a financial analysis structure and M&A practice from the ground up. Through these 10 years I have gathered all the practical knowledge about the field and through several ups and downs, I learned adaptability and negotiating skills.
I am interested in the company’s mission and am eager to find and integrate promising acquisition targets that align with the long-term strategy.
I have experience working independently and with a diverse group of clients and I would be excited to assist with other initiatives as well.
My financial operations experience will help me contribute to post-acquisition operations/analysis as well.
What Are Your Greatest Professional Strengths?
Diligent/Hardworking- Happy to work as long as necessary to get the job done.
Time Management- I worked full-time throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies. With the limited time available I had to make every minute count. Somehow I managed to have a social life as well.
Problem Solving- M&A is an exercise in problem solving and crisis management.
Cool Under Pressure
Ambition
Curiosity
Describe to me your communication style and why you think your style will be a fit here.
When it comes to communication, I am typically open and direct. At work, I am usually communicating for a reason (usually to obtain information), I like to get the information I need and get back to work.
I prefer to communicate via email because it creates a record for me to refer to.
I believe this will fit well with Alliant because I will be working remotely and email/slack will be the primary communication method. Everyone is busy, so my direct communication style will hopefully make conversations more efficient.
Tell me about your ideal workplace culture.
My ideal work environment is one that is centered around working as a team and allows for the use and growth of employee skills.
I like to be given a task/goal and then have leeway to go about achieving it. I also like working on cross-functional teams so I can get experience in a number of disciplines and learn from my coworkers.
If there is an option to work remotely or travel, that would be great too.
When have you been asked to perform a function or complete a task in which you had little or no experience in doing?
A Dragonflip, a PE client asked us to create an employee benefit/compensation analysis for a German company they were acquiring. I didnt have much experience with German benefits/compensation.
I was responsible for evaluating payroll structures, retirement plans, and health benefits to determine potential liabilities and cost-saving opportunities for the acquiring company.
I took a structured approach:
Leveraged External Resources: German HR/Benefits experts and third party experts to better understand the benefits provided by the government vs the company
Created a Benefits Analysis Template to compare the buyer’s benefits plan vs what the acquired company/german government provided
Identified risks and gaps in the current benefit plan
Communicated cost implications, integration recommendations, and areas that needed additional legal/compliance review.
I successfully delivered a comprehensive benefits analysis that helped the client smoothly integrate its acquired personnel. I also gained expertise in employee benefits due diligence, which has since become a key part of my M&A skillset
Tell me about a time when you took the initiative to improve work related procedures.
As a M&A Project Manager at JCG, one of my major tasks is to oversee the smooth facilitation of due diligence and enusure that the acquring company is setup for a successful integration.
After analyzing the process in place, I realized that a number of acquisitions were stalling during the due diligence phase because various tasks were not being completed in a timely manner.
To rectify this, I instituted bi-weekly meetings with the relevant parties. This gave us an opportunity to provide status updates, assign ownership over tasks, and address any issues.
The meetings also introduced a sense of urgency/accountability to the process.
How do you manage multiple M&A projects simultaneously?
In my role at Johnson Consulting Group, I managed 12–16 projects concurrently. I prioritize based on deal timelines, complexity, and stakeholder needs.
I use project management tools like Asana and Excel dashboards to track progress, flag risks early, and ensure seamless communication across teams. I also use tools like the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize tasks throughout the day.
Regular status updates and clear delegation are key to maintaining quality while meeting deadlines
What are your goals for the next 5- 10 years?
I’m excited about this position because in five years, Id like to be someone with expertise in strategic M&A, transaction advisory and acquisition integration, and I know Ill have an opportunity to gain that expertise here.
Eventually, I would like to be Head of Corporate Development or Strategy, so I am also really excited to take on more managerial responsibilities in the next few years and potentially build a high-performing M&A team.
Describe a time when you had to work exceptionally hard to provide great service to a customer or client. What did you do and what was the outcome?
Hoffman Example
Daily meetings
Constant follow up/communication
Deal closed
Tell me about a time when you’ve had to work with difficult stakeholders, and how you handled it.
When I worked as a business development analyst, I had a supervisor that was very hands on and one could describe him as a micromanager. He insisted on having daily meetings and wanted progress reports every Wednesday and Friday.
My coworkers and I grew frustrated because nothing really got accomplished in the meetings and they along with the reports took up valuable time (time was literally money in this case)
During a one on one meeting, I brought up these issues in a non-confrontational manner and asked why we needed to have daily meeting AND file a report. Turns out he had a report that he needed to file with the COO every Friday.
I suggested that we have a meeting every Tuesday and file a report every Thursday. The team would spend more time on business development and he would still get the necessary information in time. He agreed to implement the new strategy for a trial period two weeks later.
What are your salary expectations?
I’m open to discussing what you believe to be a fair salary for the position.
However, based on my previous salary, my knowledge of the industry, and my understanding of this geographic area, I’d expect a salary in the general range of $135k to $145k. Again, I’m open to discussing these numbers with you.
