Friends for more than 20 years, Jim Lientz and Pepper Bullock are back together in the workplace as the two principals of Safe Harbor Consulting.

In 2002, they created a new leadership paradigm at The TriVeritas Group, the North Georgia office of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. Together with partner Rod Knowles, Jim and Pepper replaced the classic single-leader agency model with a team-led group to more effectively drive organizational change and achieve peak performance. That year, the TriVeritas team was recognized by Atlanta Catalyst magazine as the team Built to Last.

In 2003, Jim Lientz was called by Governor Sonny Perdue to become Georgia’s chief operating officer. It was a revolutionary concept for a government, and one that has been tremendously successful for the state. As COO, Jim oversaw a budget that in 2007 was more than $21 billion dollars with more than 120,000 employees.

"In 2007, after 34 years with NML, Pepper Bullock enrolled in Georgetown University and began his new career as a certified executive coach. He enrolled in Georgetown University and became a certified executive coach. This led to the formation of Safe Harbor Consulting.

With his service to the State of Georgia now fulfilled, Jim Lientz is joining Safe Harbor Consulting as a strategic consultant to executives, boards and high-potential leaders. Pepper’s executive coaching practice, which specializes in change management and outcome-based results, is an excellent complement to Jim’s strategic consulting. Uniquely grounded by his experience as the former president of Bank of America Midsouth division, and as the COO of the State of Georgia, Jim offers clients an unprecedented perspective.

Together, Jim and Pepper offer clients more than 75 years of experience and wisdom in business.