Celia Myers Martin is the VP of Business Development at Turner International
Group. In simplest terms, Business Development is the creation of long-term value
for an organization from customers, markets, and relationships. That definition is
elegantly brief; however, at its heart, business development is highly nuanced and
demands, not only, unique insight but also highly strategic and creative thought
acting in unison – her superpower. She is not an analyst but it is through her that
the analysis and data are humanized to figure out how the interactions of those
forces combine to create opportunities and meet objectives.
Before joining TIG, at a time when profit and philanthropy were mutually
exclusive, Celia Co-Founded Canadian Cultural Enterprises. CCE represented a
significant shift in business practice for Celia. As opposed to advising on
Transactions or facilitating those of others’, the mandate was to structure unique
transactions to meet Clients’ objectives while also advancing Canada’s cultural
infrastructure. It was during this time that Celia’s belief that “the impossible only
seems so until it is done” was cemented. Facilitated by Client participation, her
innovative strategies directed over $500M towards the Arts and Cultural
Infrastructure in Canada.
Standing in front of a board room full of banking executives at age 27, Celia
realized that moment was the product of what had begun at age five — the year she
began competing as a young Equestrian. Riding was an endeavor that started at age
three when her grandpa bought her first pony. It became the thing that every
aspect of life revolved around and lasted another two decades occupying no less
than 300 days per year. The unhesitant manner with which she now stood in that
boardroom, at ease in unfamiliar territory, confident in her effort to deliver results,
was the product of that one center point. Riding, training, and competing was an
unending pursuit of excellence. It was a constant necessity to face challenges and
overcome fear. It was a requirement for sensitivity and negotiation for both rider
and horse to work as one. The mindset required to negotiate with another living
being, which outsizes you substantially, making high stakes decisions in real-time,
is what she believes underlies her well-proven talents to both lead and collaborate
interchangeably.
Years later, in Keith Turner, Celia found a like-minded collaborator with whom to
reframe efforts. The desire to focus on projects, not just, fiscally
robust, but also, possessing the value of positive social impact. Once again, she
feels like life and work are aligned —The opportunity to keep company
with people who uplift you, whose presence calls for your best. Her effort is to help
guide TIG to become a beacon for entities and investors who share that viewpoint
and share in the wealth that flows from the energy of ideas.