Leading Through the Complexities of a PE-Backed Turnaround 

PE-CXO’s Success Stories feature private equity-backed experts and operators sharing the tools, tactics, and perspectives they use to create real value. In each entry, an experienced leader explores a practical approach to a critical business challenge. To be featured, contact mallory.stokker@pe-cxo.com. 

Executive: Travis Jones is the CEO of Travis Jones Consulting and is a strategic consultant to PE firms and operators worldwide, with decades of turnaround leadership in both PE and non PE-backed companies. He is also the CEO of Blue Ocean Brokerage, a turnkey company delivering ~25 – 50% reductions in total utility expenses with zero upfront costs.   

Challenge: PE-backed leadership is uniquely complex even under stable conditions. During a turnaround, executives must balance operational recovery with the added demands, expectations, and intensity that private equity-backed operations entail. 

Leading a turnaround is never simple. When a private equity sponsor is involved, the complexity increases tenfold. Beyond fixing the business itself, leaders must navigate an added layer of reporting, communication, and stakeholder expectations, all while executing under intense time pressure. The result is often tension: between speed and understanding, independence and partnership, and transparency and control.  

Discover what truly differentiates PE-backed transformations, what effective leadership lo...