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An operator in your corner, without the full-time hire.

I build the operations layer underneath early companies — the systems, the go-to-market, and the reporting that let you grow without the chaos. Fifteen years across critical care, marketing, and venture, applied to whatever is currently breaking.

Start here — where are you right now?

What I get called for

Usually it starts as one symptom.

Founders rarely call and say "my operating system is broken." They call because something visible stopped working. Underneath, it's almost always the same handful of missing systems.

The symptom

"My accountant asked what our margin is by service line and I could not answer without a week of digging."

The symptom

"We are busy every single day and I still cannot tell you which of it is profitable."

The symptom

"Every new hire takes three months to become useful and I am the one training all of them."

The symptom

"We rebranded last year but the messaging still does not match what we actually sell."

Three ways in

Pick the shape that fits the problem.

Every engagement starts with the same call and ends with things you own — documents, dashboards, and processes that keep running after I step out.

Recommended Fixed scope, around 30 days

Systems Intensive

A focused build. We pick the two or three systems that are actually holding the business back, and I stand them up with you inside a month.

  • A full audit of how the business runs today
  • Two or three systems built, not just recommended
  • Dashboards, trackers, and written procedures handed over
  • A plain summary of what still needs attention
Best when: There is a deadline. A busy season, a big hire, a bank, a buyer. Scope an intensive
Recommended Ongoing, monthly

Fractional COO / CMO

I sit inside the business as your operations or marketing lead, running the weekly rhythm, owning the numbers, and building habits the team keeps after I go.

  • A weekly leadership meeting that actually decides things
  • Marketing planned and run, not guessed at
  • Hiring and onboarding that does not route through you
  • Monthly reporting you can hand to a bank or a buyer
Best when: You need an executive's judgment without an executive's salary. Talk it through
Recommended Retained, light touch

Advisory

Standing time for owners who have a capable team and mostly need a second opinion on the decision they keep going back and forth on.

  • Regular working sessions on live decisions
  • Honest feedback on pricing, positioning, and offers
  • Introductions where they are genuinely useful
  • An outside read on whether a plan holds up
Best when: The team is solid and the questions are strategic. Ask about advisory
Capabilities

What actually gets built.

These are the working parts. Which ones we use depends on what's broken — most engagements touch three or four, not all six.

01

Go-to-market strategy

Market analysis, target audience definition, value proposition, and the tactics to launch a product or revive one that stalled.

02

Rebranding & recognition

A distinctive brand identity that matches what you actually sell, carried consistently through messaging and visual system.

03

Storytelling & campaigns

Narratives that connect, and end-to-end campaign management from concept through execution and analysis.

04

Funnels & conversion

Sales funnels mapped to the real buying journey, with conversion tightened at each stage instead of guessed at.

05

Process & SOPs

Standardized processes and written SOPs so the sales and marketing motion runs the same way without you in the room.

06

Value engine

Automated systems for customer acquisition — the technology and mechanisms that keep attracting buyers while you sleep.

How it works

Four steps, no long discovery phase.

Step 01

Call

Thirty minutes. You describe what's breaking; I tell you whether I'm the right person for it. Sometimes the answer is no.

Step 02

Audit

I look at how the business actually runs today, the tools, the numbers, the weekly rhythm, and name the gaps in priority order.

Step 03

Build

We stand up the systems together, so your team knows how they work rather than inheriting a document they never open.

Step 04

Hand over

You keep everything: dashboards, SOPs, templates, decision logs. The goal is that you don't need me indefinitely.

Tess Robinson
Who you're working with

Tess Robinson

I spent my early career as a bedside intensive care provider, where the job was to read a system quickly, find what was failing, and fix it before it cascaded. That instinct never left. It's the same work now — the patients are just companies.

Since then: over a decade in operations, integration, and business strategy, including full company rebrands and go-to-market builds. Today I'm also Managing Partner at FTB Capital Group, backing founders at the intersection of health, longevity, and AI.

I've sat on both sides of the table. I know what makes a partner lean in, and I know what it costs the founder to get there.

Read the longer version →

Start free

Not ready to talk? Audit yourself first.

The Pre-Raise Systems Checklist walks you through the same seven systems I audit in a paid engagement. Score yourself in ten minutes and see which gap to close first. No cost, no call required.

Get the checklist
Questions

The ones I get asked first.

What does an engagement cost?

It depends on shape and scope, and I'd rather quote honestly than post a number that fits nobody. Intensives are a fixed fee against a fixed scope. Fractional is monthly. Advisory is a smaller retainer. You'll have a number and a written scope before you commit to anything.

What kind of businesses do you work with?

Owner-operated companies with real revenue, usually somewhere between five and fifty people. Services, trades, clinics, agencies, local chains, ecommerce. The systems that make a business run well are largely the same across industries. What matters more is that the owner is still close enough to the work to change how it runs.

Is this you personally, or a team?

Me, personally, on every engagement. I bring in specialists when a build genuinely needs one, and I'll tell you when that's happening. You're not being handed to a junior after the sales call.

Do I need to be planning an exit for this to be worth it?

No. The systems that make a business sellable are the same ones that let you take a holiday, promote someone, or open a second location. Selling is just the version where somebody audits it. Most of my clients have no intention of selling and want their evenings back.

How quickly can we start?

Intensives usually begin within two weeks of the scoping call. Fractional depends on current capacity — I hold a small number of these at once, deliberately.

Next step

Tell me what's breaking.

Thirty minutes, no deck required. If I'm not the right fit I'll say so on the call, and usually point you at who is.

Book a consultation tess@herconnections.ai