Case Studies
Every firm I work with is different. The founders are different, the teams are different, the pressures are different. What stays the same is the work: building the structure that lets talented people do their best, and letting the business grow the way it was always capable of growing. The engagements below are kept confidential by design. What matters is not the name on the door, but what changed inside it.
Building a Studio from the Ground Up
THE SITUATION
A talented design team had opened their own studio. One year in, the work was beautiful, but the business was not grounded. No processes, inconsistent compensation, a capable team of eight with no real direction. The founders were spending energy managing friction instead of designing.
They knew they needed someone who had done this before. They hired an industry veteran and extended full operational authority. That trust made everything possible.
THE WORK
Operations and Process
Protocols and workflows were built from scratch — how projects opened and closed, how vendors were managed, how information moved through the studio. For the first time, the team had a playbook.
Team Structure and Compensation
A compensation structure with performance incentives replaced a patchwork of informal arrangements. Roles were defined, expectations documented, and hiring became deliberate. The team grew from 8 to 28 — and stayed.
Vendor Relationships and Merchandising
Trade vendor relationships were negotiated and structured to benefit the studio. Merchandising strategies were developed that served both the client experience and the firm's margins.
Brand and Marketing
Marketing and brand positioning were developed alongside operations, building external presence in parallel with internal structure.
THE RESULTS
$600K → $12M
Revenue growth over 12 years
8 → 28
Team members at peak
10 consecutive years
Double-digit revenue growth that was not a spike. It was compounding and consistent. Double-digit revenue increases for ten straight years reflect what happens when talent finally has the infrastructure to perform.
From Overwhelm to Operational Clarity
A bicoastal interior design firm. Six months. A team transformed.
THE SITUATION
A well-regarded firm with offices on both coasts had no shortage of extraordinary work. The projects were high-profile, the design talent was exceptional, and demand was strong. The problem was everything surrounding the work.
A team of four with one part-time employee stretched well beyond her hours was operating without structure, without clear roles, and without the processes needed to support the volume of projects they were carrying. The result was a team that was frustrated and overwhelmed, not because they lacked ability, but because no one had built the infrastructure around them.
The founder extended full authority and full trust. That made all the difference.
THE WORK
Immediate Assessment
The first priority was understanding what was actually happening — who was doing what, where the breakdowns were, and what the team needed most. That assessment drove every decision that followed.
Procurement Structure
Procurement had no owner and no process. A dedicated Procurement department was developed, beginning by recruiting and hiring its lead. The process was built alongside that hire, giving the team a clear, repeatable system for the vendor relationships and purchasing flow that are central to how a design firm operates.
Project Management Capacity
An additional Project Manager was recruited and brought on, allowing the design team to focus on the work rather than managing execution details that had been pulling them in too many directions.
Staffing and Benefits
The part-time team member was moved to full-time. Benefits were restructured and clarified. Staff roles were reorganized around projects rather than around informal habits that had accumulated over time.
A Playbook was written that the team can actually use.
THE RESULTS
4.5 → 7
Team members, including 2 strategic hires
0 → 1
Fully functioning procurement process, and operations playbook built from scratch
Under 6 months
From assessment to a structured, focused, and more confident team
The design work was always there. What the team needed was the structure to support it -and the comfort that comes from knowing someone capable is handling everything outside the studio. This engagement is ongoing.