Get your team on the same page.
Quarterly Strategy Sessions for small teams who want clear direction for their business and the accountability to make steady progress towards it.
Part facilitation, part consulting, part coaching—I lead strategic conversations between you and your co-founders so that you get on the same page and leave with clear next steps.
Let someone else lead the meeting for a change.
WHAT MY CLIENTS ARE SAYING
“Kate has been instrumental in helping us lay better foundations for our sales, marketing, and business design.
Kate has this uncanny ability to take in a lot of information (both said and unsaid) and distill it into clear and digestible next steps. It's hard to imagine how we would have sifted through the many-layered mess we were in last year without Kate's keen eye and thoughtful support. It is no wonder some of her clients see her as their business therapist."
— Nathan Clarke, Director of Craft & Production Coolican & Company + Co-Founder Toronto Woodturning
“The primary task of being a leader is to make sure that the organization knows itself.”
— Margaget J Wheatley
When you’ve been in something for a while—understandably caught up in keeping the day-to-day moving—it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture.
Maybe you feel disconnected from why you started the business in the first place, or enough has changed that the original ‘why’ no longer fits. Either way, it’s time to address those big directional questions:
Who are we?
Where are we going?
What’s worth saying yes to—and no to—in order to get there?
You can’t read the label while you’re inside the jar.
If you’re a group of co-founders running a business, this is the problem with trying to lead and participate in these visioning and reflection sessions at the same time—you can’t see the label while you’re inside the jar.
Having an experienced, thoughtful outsider serves a few important functions:
You can only lead yourself where you know to go. A new person, structure, and questions changes the dynamic and surfaces what repetition has made invisible to you
An outsider sees the business as it is now, not how it used to be. I’m not limited by the history and story you’re carrying, which makes it easier to spots gaps and opportunities. I can take things seriously while holding it lightly.
Together, we figure out what’s worth doing.
Here’s what I care about when I work with a team:
Clear direction—is your ladder against the right building? There’s no use getting into tactics and action planning until the strategy is right and the obstacles have been named.
Prioritization and pacing! Figuring out the actual capacity and pace of the business, and setting stretchy yet doable goals so you see progress. It’s incredibly demoralizing to keep setting targets you don’t hit
Learning from what’s happened. Slowing down to reflect is the best way to save time and money, and to improve your relationships between founders
How we can work together:
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Vision, Obstacle, Strategy, Plan.
Typically where I like to start my work with someone.
Spiral?
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Thoughtfully designed sessions for discovery, alignment, and focus. We’ll create the conditions required for you to get to the heart of what matters and surface collective insight.
Examples:
Team Strategy Sessions such as team goal setting, quarterly alignment meetings, project debriefs, partnership exploration, etc.
Market Research or Client/Student Feedback. I’m the just-neutral-enough third party that can gather the strategic insight you need.
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I create and facilitate custom learning series for organizations, equipping participants with the skills to build strong, sustainable businesses on their own terms.
Examples:
Marketing for Makers: Selling work you love to people who love it back
Scrappy to Sustainable: Foundational principles & practices for business owners committed to the long haul
New Ways Workshop Series: Refresh and strengthen your relationship to all part of your business for increased growth and fulfilment
Sessions start at $1000 CAD
If nothing changes, nothing changes.
Here are some signs your team may benefit from a session with me:
You keep setting targets you don’t hit
Big-picture conversations you’ve been meaning to have keep getting put off. Even if you made the time for the meeting itself, someone has to do the prep work to lead it, so it likely won’t happen
Founders are starting to want different things from the business, and low-grade tension is building
You keep saying “we need to do marketing,” but you don’t have the specifics of what that means
You want accountability from someone who isn't one of your co-founders
You’re aware that the status quo is holding you back.
What would change if you finally had the conversation? All you need to do is carve out the time and show up. I'll prepare and lead the rest.
Interested in trying a session with your team?
Please fill out the form below, and I’ll be in touch shortly to set up an introductory conversation to see if we’re a fit.
I'm based in Hamilton, Ontario, and work with clients across Canada and beyond. Sessions can be held remotely or in person.