Long Lasting Relationships Build Excellent Partnerships

Robert and Craig have known each other for over 30+ years. Team Mindshift is what they call the culmination of all of their experiences and the passion for driving change from within organizations. They come to you well educated, versed in many subjects, and well connected to bring additional resources together as needed. They support uplifting people from diverse backgrounds to find a passion for learning and transforming their own ability to imagine careers in the areas they serve.

Together they have worked with all size of organizations from start-ups to Fortune 1000 companies.

Meet Our Founders:

Photo of Robert Joseph, Ph. D.

Robert Joseph, Ph.D.

Robert has more than 10 years of experience as a University Professor teaching over 3K adult learners math and computer science. He holds a B.S. and M.S. from MIT in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University with a minor in AI. He is currently a practicing Data Scientist in IoT, previously working in Data Science in Supply Chain and Healthcare.  Robert has built several different Learning Management Systems and developed courses in subjects as diverse as Martial Arts Training to JavaScript Programming.

Photo of Craig Peterson

Craig Preston

Craig received a B. S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, attended graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley, and studied at La Sorbonne in Paris. Through his career spanning more than 35 years, he has managed and trained technology development teams in the US and Europe, at companies including AT&T Bell Laboratories, Pacific Bell, Verilog, Océ, and several start-up ventures.

Meet Our Connected Team:

Chelsea Spencer Smith, MBA, CPC

Chelsea Spencer Smith, MBA, CPC

St. James Xavier Group is a business development consulting firm founded in Atlanta, Georgia with experience spanning 20 years. Our firm is a trusted community for individuals, small and large business organizations, and novice or experienced entrepreneurs seeking solutions. St. James Xavier Group has a penchant for assisting clients in undertaking new ideas, exploring, and developing strategic plans, and launching initiatives. Specifically, we are a consultative firm specializing in robust individualized business development, young professional coaching, leadership, and executive coaching. Our services are grounded in innovative research-based strategies that yield a competitive business talent advantage.

Our consulting firm has made a strong commitment to professional development, providing an extensive step-by-step program to improve businesses, sales, and marketing operations. Because we are a consultative firm that believes in standing on the cutting edge of strong business principles and marketing strategies while continually preparing and developing our clients, incredible options have been created and sustained for individuals across a variety of businesses and organizations.

At St. James Xavier Group, we pride ourselves on understanding the unique and complex business/marketing, leadership, and executive coaching challenges, which is why we offer comprehensive plans tailored to our clients’ needs. Because our founder has two decades of experience in successfully gaining new clients and sales; the firm’s foundation is built upon relevant, results-driven implementation of solutions that result in a high return on investment.

St. James Xavier Group focuses on people first. We utilize sound methodologies that are aligned to our clients’ purpose while collaboratively embedding forward-thinking. Our business development consulting firm applies deep industry knowledge to create endless opportunities and practical solutions for all clients.

Apryl Syed

Apryl Syed

In her tenure at Sage, Apryl three product lines owning the P&L. Under her direction were sales, support, customer success, marketing, product direction, and development.

This gave her the purview into every aspect of a technology company and what was needed to thrive.

At her favorite time at Sage, she also developed a partner program to help take small channel partners in the Sage ecosystem, educate them on how to grow their business over a year-long period. Additionally, Apryl ran the Net Promoter Score (NPS) program for all of Sage North America.

After her time at Sage, Apryl went out to work in their channel. First, she helped a product open up an international presence and align with larger products (integrate) in order to win business. Then she joined Blytheco, Sage's largest partner in the U.S.

At Blytheco, Apryl ran Marketing, Customer Success and launched a Business Magazine (Bellwether). She created onboarding for teams and educated the entire organization on the sales process. She personally coached individuals to bring in Million Dollar Deals.
Blytheco worked with manufacturers and distributors selling enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, human resources, and marketing software and consulting.

After Blytheco, Apryl wanted to work with larger organizations and shifted to Bloomreach, an AI tool for product orientation to advance digital sales for some of the top retail brands. She worked with Brands like Staples, Neiman Marcus, Gap, Total Wine, Cost Plus World Market, William Sonoma, and more. Her team helped these organizations strategize on how to best utilize the Bloomreach technology to increase sales.