Everyone operates on terms someone else set.Creating Separation™ rewrites them.
Keynotes and workshops for companies and conferences, Fractional Strategy for sports organizations, executive coaching for leaders.
I’ve been on every side of the deal — signing, operating, advising, buying. So I know what the other side sees.
Audiences and clients have included
01 · The question
One question, four rooms.
The number was set before you walked in the room. The work is knowing whether it’s any good — and what to ask for instead. I learned it in sports. I’ve made a living on it in business ever since — running clubs, advising clients, and now on the buying side.
For companies & conferences
Keynotes & Workshops
Every leader operates on terms someone else set: a reorg, a mandate, a market that moved. Keynotes and workshops that give a room the method to respond.
For sports organizations
Athlete Development
Athletes are offered equity, deals and advisors earlier than any generation before them. Programs that give them the judgment to evaluate what’s in front of them.
For department heads
Fractional Strategy
The job got bigger and the staff didn’t. A senior strategy seat beside a department head who can’t hire one, and a plan sized to real capacity.
For individual leaders
Executive Coaching
Athletes, founders and executives facing a decision they can’t easily reverse. A cross-functional thought partner who gives you the read you need to make the call.
02 · The vantage
Insight from experience, not proximity.
Consultants bring a framework they never had to use. Speakers bring a story. I’ve been on the other side of your table.
So the room gets specifics. Which of your costs are structural and which are habits nobody has questioned. What the other side is weighing before you sit down with them. And on the decision in front of you, the view of someone who has made that call and paid for it.
03 · Proof
The rooms that trust the work.
“With so much changing in the world of tech — from AI, shifting economies — this fireside chat was timely and engaging.”
— Juan Garzón, Innovate Charlotte
Most positively reviewed session in the organizer's post-event survey.
“He connected with college students and alumni of all ages… I have worked with Marques several times and hope to continue to do so.”
— Pam Kennett-Hensel, University of New Orleans
“Marques’s unique vision and thoughtful approach have allowed us to take an unstructured plan and turn it into a formalized business model… He made quick work of becoming a critical member of the center for innovation team.”
— Adam Glasofer, Chief Innovation Officer, Virtua Health System
NFL BizWeek · U.S. Bank · NFL Legends · Innovate Charlotte · World Sports Summit · University of New Orleans · SHRM · Hofstra University
04 · Start a conversation
Tell me the room, the decision, or the date.
I answer these myself. Engagements are limited and usually booked a quarter or more ahead.
05 · From the desk
From the Desk of Marques Colston
Long-form essays taking apart the deals, contracts and budgets that run the business of sports.
- Where the pressure lands when sports changes hands
Money is changing hands across sports. The pressure underneath lands on the player, the operator, the advisor and the investor.