Meet Our Team: Josh Manansala

Josh Manansala joined A/B earlier this summer, just in time to attend our offsite in Mexico. The timing was perfect -- as a remote consultant living in the Honolulu area, he had concerns about working remotely, especially since his previous job was as a high school teacher.?

"I'm very much an 'in-person' person," Josh said. "I get a lot of energy from people. I mean, I was a high school teacher and loved it, right? So one of my hesitations was whether the morale that comes with a remote job would be sustainable for me."?

But getting together with the team in Mexico helped seal the deal for him on A/B’s culture.?

"It's been incredible to see the culture and comfort that A/B has built, even though the vast majority of our work is fully remote. When we got together, you could really feel the culture. My cheeks were sore; I was smiling so much."?

Learn more about Josh in our latest profile:?

?Name: Josh Manansala?

Title: Consultant?

Education: Bachelor of Arts from UCLA, Master of Science from Johns Hopkins University School of Education?

Previous Experience: EY-Parthenon, Teach for America, High School Algebra Teacher?

How long have you been with A/B Consulting? I joined full-time in June 2024, after interning and consulting with A/B since 2022.?

What does your work as a consultant at A/B entail? I've only been staffed on a few projects so far, but I would say I'm a generalist, as my project mix has been in private equity, sports and entertainment, food and beverage, and crypto. I hope to get on some education cases as well, because that's an area I'm obviously very passionate about.?

Proudest professional moment: It occurred earlier this year when I was teaching. Every year, the school would send out a survey directly to the students to get feedback on the school and their teachers. Teaching is hard because you do so much work, and you don't always know how much is really getting to the students, not just academically, but also from a character or encouragement standpoint.?

My students scored me in the 80th to 99th percentile across all categories relative to the rest of the nation. And 100% of my students surveyed answered favorably that (1) I encourage them to do their best and (2) they have learned a lot from me about the subject. So I was very proud of that.?

Where do you see our company in five years? A/B is growing so rapidly. Its size has more than doubled over the past two years since I was an intern, and I think that trend is just going to continue. I don't know if we'll necessarily expand services, but we're definitely going to scale up—whether in team size, quantity of work, and/or the number of clients. A pro is that A/B is so small and nimble and can adjust to the needs of the market, so I think that'll work in our favor, too.?

Favorite A/B moment so far: During the offsite in Mexico, there was one night when we went to karaoke as a team, and we discovered some hidden talents. I did not go up, but I really enjoyed being a fan and cheering on the performers.?

Favorite hobbies: I picked up two hobbies over the last three years—surfing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Both are still relatively new to me, and I have so much room for growth—especially with surfing, which is a very slow-growth sport, at least for me. You can surf for two hours and be on your board for 10 seconds, so I really enjoy the growth opportunity there. And jiu-jitsu is like chess; I love chess, and jiu-jitsu is like chess with your body. ?

Your perfect weekend: On Friday, I would spend quality time with family or friends, doing something relaxing after the work week. On Saturday, I would sleep in, then go surfing in the morning or train in jiu-jitsu, and then spend more time with family and friends, maybe eating some good food. Then on Sunday, I’d go to church, followed by surfing again after church, and another good meal for dinner right before the work week. So, it'd be a mix of community, food, church and hobbies.?

Best perk of working at A/B: You get to work with incredible people on interesting projects from anywhere in the United States -- including Hawaii!?