Our Team
50+ Years
Growth Sherpa has over 50 years of combined experience specifically in behavioral healthcare.
$1.5BIL
Our business development and marketing leaders have overseen over $1.5 billion of revenue generation.
90,000 Admissions
Growth Sherpa has seen the successful conversion of over 90,000 admissions for our clients & partners.
100+ Sales Executives
The sales and marketing team at Growth Sherpa Consulting have trained and/or consulted over 100+ executives.
Steve Donai, founder of Growth Sherpa Consulting, is a business development executive with more than two decades of successful sales and leadership experience. His career working in behavioral healthcare fulfilled a passion for using his sales knowledge to make a positive impact on the patients and families trusting the company he served.
With more than a decade of behavioral healthcare-focused experience, generation of over $250 million of revenue, oversight to 14,000+ admissions, and the development of dozens of leaders within the behavioral health space Steve decide to create Growth Sherpa to offer his unique coaching and professional development methods to assist business development leaders.
Growth Sherpa is different because of the understanding and purpose-driven approach to the challenges programs face. We will partner alongside your leaders to find solutions so programs can focus on what is most important — providing excellent patient care.
With this purpose, Steve has put together a team of behavioral healthcare professionals at each level of your patient acquisition operations. So whether you need a staff level employee to put together a prospect list in a new market, a sales director to oversee your outreach team, or an executive leader to work directly with leadership to ensure all parts of the revenue generation ecosystem are working in harmony Growth Sherpa will have the bespoke plan created for your organization.
Christopher J. Foust is a seasoned marketing and branding leader with over 15 years of experience driving significant growth and innovation in the behavioral healthcare industry. As a leading marketing strategy and branding executive, he has built multiple internal lead-generation teams from the ground up, directly managing PPC and SEO campaigns, social media, and content creation.
Prior to his current work with Growth Sherpa, Christopher served as Vice President of Recruiting & Branding, where he managed a 14-person recruiting team, developed new lead-generation mechanisms, and built a new employer brand. His tenure saw him exceed hiring goals and implement digital marketing techniques that significantly boosted recruitment efficiency. At a previous organization, he led an internal marketing team, rebranding the organization and leveraging podcasting, PPC, SEO, social media, and video strategies to increase lead generation and revenue by 97%.
Christopher’s earlier roles include Senior Director of Marketing, where he managed a team focused on design, content production, and customer engagement, leading to a 58% increase in marketing leads and a 129% rise in digital web leads. As Director of Marketing, he oversaw B2C digital marketing strategies, significantly boosting web conversions and reducing acquisition costs. His career began with roles in web design and branding, where he rebranded multiple departments, redesigned numerous websites, and enhanced email marketing campaigns. His expertise and entrepreneurial spirit make him a dynamic leader in the marketing and branding space.
In the field of admissions, I found a true purpose in helping people struggling with substance use disorder and mental health issues receive the help they need in order to thrive. By building rapport through empathy, sharing my personal experiences, and carefully guided conversations, I was able to place hundreds of people into treatment centers, often personally selected to work with those most resistant to do so. My call to admit ratio was consistently among the highest and the connections I made with patients allowed for open communication during times when they found themselves needing to re-enter treatment. I was awarded the Heart of Service award multiple times during my time with Foundations Recovery Network. After admissions, I was promoted to Referral Account Manager, where I worked directly to strengthen existing referral sources to drive client growth, as well as developing and managing new relationships within the behavioral health and recovery space. I worked closely with treatment centers to understand their admissions processes and identify opportunities for collaboration. During this time I gained valuable insight into how treatment centers connect with patients and their families, which now helps shape the way I approach admissions optimization.
Currently, I am Director of Admissions Services at Growth Sherpa Consulting, where I help substance abuse and behavioral health treatment centers strengthen the way they connect compassionately and effectively with people seeking care. My focus is on admissions performance and conversion optimization, utilizing a mix of personalized call scripting, call tracking integration and tech stack alignment to make sure every call, every conversation, and every system works together to support those in need, while driving sustainable growth for treatment providers.
