February 2024 - Carlisha M. Hartzog, MBA

Carlisha M. Hartzog, MBA   Hartzog Consulting   Member since March 2023

Joined in March 2023

Join MPI Georgia in welcoming new member, Carlisha M. Hartzog, MBA, President & Managing Member of Hartzog Consulting, who joined us in March 2023. She joined MPI to become more involved in the Atlanta community after relocating to the city and to become more intentionally connected with other industry professionals. Carlisha is the founder and lead project manager for Hartzog Consulting, a full-service project and event management firm that integrates logistics management, communications support, and creative design to support some of the world’s most respected foundations, Fortune 500 corporations, and multinational enterprises. The firm’s core focus of project management services aims to increase public visibility, create collaborative processes, and manage strategic communications initiatives effectively. Over the last 8 years, she has managed initiatives in 23 states for national and international companies.

Carlisha’s current project includes arranging Super Bowl experiences for the LVIII game in Las Vegas. “I have the honor of working with Pro Football Hall of Famers to create custom-built experiences to offer guests who want a memorable engagement.” The ongoing cool work that she gets to do is to use project management to develop and implement processes, or to tell the story of the work that is being done for the greater good: uplifting higher education institutions and making pivotal shifts in redefining what ‘student success’ looks like; managing implementations for health plans to reduce homelessness and to increase access to wraparound social services; and creating the logistics for large youth summits across the nation.

Carlisha’s first role in the meeting industry was as a consultant, providing wardrobe styling services for high-profile women attending various functions. It was a conduit to the visibility of a world that required acute attention to detail, curated experiences, and the intersection of how events and logistical planning were aligned. That led to marketing consulting, which led to a niche of offering project management services for events. And what piece of advice would she offer to help make her work run smoothly? “Always, always, connect with the chauffeur that is responsible for transporting your guests. I make it my business to speak with them directly, and to bring coffee (or tea!) if I’m on-site, especially for complex days with a lot of movement. It’s simple, but it makes an incredible difference logistically.”

What's your favorite movie/tv show/book? How would you recommend it to someone? The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. I would recommend it saying that it is a tool that makes you consider how people engage with each other, make decisions, command a presence, and make magic. It’s the book that I gift the most.

Who inspires you and why? My daughter, Gianni Amore, will always be one of my greatest inspirations. Personally, she has been a major catalyst as the reason I began my firm 11 years ago. For the world, she is a gift — since she was a younger child, she has always been empathetic, witty yet kind, and brilliantly focused on the ways that she can positively influence the world and how people treat each other.

Next Vacation Destination or Dream Vacation: I’m off to France and Switzerland in February with my daughter and my two favorites, my sisters! We make it a point to do an annual trip together, and it refreshes my soul every single time.

Advice you will never forget: “Never become anyone’s habit.” — My Godfather. How appropriate, both personally and professionally.