If you want to know who is behind MckinleyFieldman then check out this page.
Two questions I often get is where the name came from and who the man in front of the McKinleyFieldman sign is. Let’s start with the latter as that is the best story out of the two.
I lay before you the remarkable tale of how the painting came into my possession. One of my hobbies is visiting curiosity shops, and I have become friends with many of their owners. During one of those visits, I spotted a blackened and dirty cardboard tube stuck between a cupboard and the wall. I was actually not able to reach it, so I asked the storekeeper what was in the tube.
He then told me that he had bought an old hotel in Poland with the intention of selling all its contents for a profit, remodeling the hotel, and selling it again. He bought it at an online Polish auction, sight unseen, based on a couple of photos only, and since the price was really cheap, he thought it was worth a gamble. Sadly, the old saying “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is” still holds its value. When he arrived in Poland with his truck ready to inspect his new treasures, he was presented with a surprise that wasn’t mentioned in the auction listing. The hotel was burned down.
The only thing that wasn’t completely burned to a crisp was the tube he found underneath the rubble. To his excitement, it contained a painting of which he hoped it was of some value, but that hope was also quickly dashed by an expert who told him that the picture isn’t even worth restoring.
After he returned home from his devastating trip, he had thrown the tube towards the cupboard where it subsequently rolled behind, and it has been there ever since.
Since I love a good story, I offered to take the picture off his hands in exchange for a bottle of whisky, and he agreed.
For some reason, the fact that this fragile painting, against all odds, survived the blaze inspired me, and I have used the image as a logo ever since.
The second question about the name is less romantic, I’m afraid. I wanted a name that sounded vaguely familiar enough for secretaries and receptionists to connect me straight through with their bosses without asking any questions. So, I generated a list of all large consultancy companies and randomized them in Excel. In the end, the combination McKinley Fieldman stood out. McKinley, because, well, you know the slightly bigger consultancy McKinsey, right? And a Fieldman is somebody who works in the field rather than at the office.
The domain was free, and it has worked for me ever since.
