Today we’d like to introduce you to Tina Van Der Ven.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My path here was anything but traditional. Becoming a pediatrician was always the vision I had since childhood. I took all the required pre-med classes as an undergrad at the University of Miami, and then took time off after graduating to do clinical research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and prepare for the MCAT.
It was during those research years that everything shifted. I realized I was more drawn to healthcare management than clinical medicine, so I pursued my master’s in public health instead. While I was in grad school, I was offered a job at Ernst & Young (EY) in Washington, DC, as a healthcare consultant, writing white papers for biotech and pharmaceutical companies.
Then my trajectory changed again, by sheer luck. The Global Health Sciences Director at the time was on maternity leave, and the team needed help with a marketing project, so they asked me to step in. I said yes, and within a few short weeks of pivoting to marketing, everything clicked. I worked up the courage to ask my boss if I could move from analyst to marketing consultant. She gave me the green light. When the Director returned from leave, she graciously took me under her wing and mentored me through the fundamentals of marketing and communications. I’m still grateful to her today (shout out to Margie Ross Decter!). EY is really where my career in marketing and PR began and took off.
Miami came next, for a very different reason: my husband matched into an orthopedic surgery residency program there, and I transferred to EY’s Miami office to make the move with him. Not long after, I decided to pivot into BigLaw, joining Greenberg Traurig as a marketing manager. Over the years there, I worked my way up to Director of Marketing, leading regional marketing, business development, strategy, and communications. It was there that I learned how sophisticated professional services firms actually think and operate, and how much value gets lost when outside agencies don’t take the time to understand their clients and the true substance of the business.
That experience is what eventually gave me the conviction to start vdV Consulting. I had seen firsthand the gap in this market: Miami’s professional services and mission-driven organizations needed a communications partner who could think as strategically as they do, and then execute at that same level.
Taking the leap to start my own business is still one of the defining moments of my career. I’ve built it with the best team I could ask for. There’s a lot of intention and passion behind everything we do, and that’s not something I take for granted.
We genuinely love the work itself and seeing our clients succeed. I’ve never been focused on growing as fast or as big as possible. I’d rather intentionally take on clients we truly believe in than chase volume. That’s a fundamental choice, not a limitation.
Outside of work, I currently serve on the Board of Trustees of St. Thomas Episcopal Parish School and the Board of Directors of Lotus House, and serve on the Al and Jane Nahmad Women’s Cancer Center Committee and Miami Homes For All Engagement Committee.
Beyond community involvement, there has always been a deep calling in me to mentor others. I’ve had the honor of mentoring dozens of young professionals over the years, and there’s nothing more rewarding than watching them grow, rise through the ranks, and become directors, CEOs, CMOs, business owners, and even professors in their own right. Margie did that for me early in my career, and I’ve never forgotten it. I believe we all need mentors in life. Paying it forward through mentorship is a professional accomplishment I’m extremely proud of.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Launching vdV Consulting in 2023 meant building a firm around a lifetime of relationships and trust, earned not just within the industry, but also through being raised in South Florida and building a career and life here. Still, expanding beyond that meant building out the firm’s infrastructure from the ground up, with no shortcuts. It was nonstop hustle and sweat equity, earning new client relationships one at a time, and being extremely deliberate about who I brought onto the team. I specifically envisioned a different business model. I wanted a senior team that did the work the way I believe it should be done, which meant being patient and selective rather than growing fast for the sake of growing fast.
None of that changes the harder truth about entrepreneurship: it never really turns off. You’re the strategist, the accountant, the HR department, the coach, and sometimes the psychologist, and often the person a client calls in a crisis at 11pm because their entire reputation is on the line. You’re up at night making sure you’re doing right by the people who trust you. And layered on top of building a business is building a life. Balancing that with motherhood and family, and making sure I don’t lose myself in the process, is an ongoing struggle, and not one I’ve solved.
I think most entrepreneurs, especially women running their own businesses, and frankly, all working mothers and caretakers, carry some version of that same tension: showing up fully for everyone around you while learning how to also show up for yourself. That part is real, and I don’t think it ever fully goes away. But it exists because the stakes are real – you are building something you truly believe in and are proud of. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
vdV Consulting is a Miami-based boutique marketing and communications firm serving professional services and mission-driven organizations, including legal, healthcare, nonprofit, real estate, technology, and design.
We offer a full range of marketing, communications, PR, and business development support, including strategy and planning, public relations and media relations, crisis management, content and thought leadership development, executive communications, and stakeholder, donor, and community engagement.
What sets us apart is a senior-led, white-glove approach from strategy through execution. There are no handoffs, no layers, and no disconnect between planning and results. In an industry where accountability, responsiveness, and attention to detail aren’t always the norm, that matters. Every client works directly with experienced professionals who understand the industries we serve, thinks strategically, and translates that thinking into results.
But the real differentiator is how we think about the work itself. We take the time to genuinely grasp the nuances of each client’s business: not just their messaging needs, but their goals, their obstacles, and what success actually looks like for them. We treat every engagement like it’s our own, with the same care and the same results-driven mindset. That’s not a service we offer; it’s simply how we operate.
Clients also know exactly who they’re working with. There is no gap between the strategist who presents the plan and the person executing it, and that transparency is what earns trust and drives real results over time.
I’m proud of the firm we’ve built, and grateful every day for the clients who put their trust in us, and for the incredible team members whose talent, passion, creativity, and dedication make that work possible.
Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years? Any big shifts, changes, trends, etc?
AI has to be a key part of the conversation. But the interesting question isn’t whether it’s taking over. It’s where it actually helps, and where it can’t replace judgment.
Here’s the part I don’t think enough people are talking about: AI is making PR more important than ever. Tools like Claude and ChatGPT rely on authoritative published content, real earned media coverage, bylines, and press features to decide who to surface. So when someone asks AI “who’s the best law firm in Miami for X” or “who should I hire for Y,” what shows up is built on third-party validation: earned media. That press release, profile piece, or feature story isn’t just landing in front of a reporter’s readers anymore. It’s becoming part of the raw data that AI systems use to vet who’s credible.
The PR skill set is also more important. It is still storytelling, media relationships, and knowing how to read a situation and make the right call. Relationships and the “soft skills” carry even more weight today. Clients hire us for the work: the strategy, the placements, and the results. But our network and know-how is a real advantage once we’re in the door. It’s how business comes in, how relationships are retained, and it gives clients access to a Rolodex we’ve spent decades building. AI can summarize an article, but it cannot pick up the phone, make an introduction, navigate the nuances, or call in a favor built on years of trust. Firms that treat AI as a shortcut for strategy are going to get commoditized fast. Firms that use it to move faster while still investing in real relationships are the ones that will pull further ahead.
That’s exactly where I see vdV headed. Clients don’t want a big team of generalists leaning on AI to fill in the gaps. They want direct access to the people they trust making the strategic calls: senior involvement from the first conversation through execution, with AI used to move faster, not to replace judgment. That’s been our approach from day one, and I don’t see that changing as AI evolves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vdvconsulting.org
- Instagram: @vdvconsulting
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-van-der-ven-1521136/
