RocketAir · 2020–2025
Systems
Before Scale
RocketAir was growing faster than its infrastructure could support. Fragmented workflows, inconsistent handoffs, no shared way of working across five departments — the gaps that are tolerable at 10 people become critical at 30. As Managing Director, I didn't just grow the team. I built the operating system first: connecting growth, finance, ops, design, and strategy into a unified operating model before scale outpaced structure. The result: an agency that grew its output without growing its overhead.
Approach
01 — Plan
I went to the source, pulling employee surveys, focus groups, historical project data, and direct client feedback sessions. The picture was consistent: fragmented communication, inconsistent project workflows, and no shared system for tracking work were creating inefficiencies, delaying deliveries, and putting client retention at risk. The root cause: the infrastructure hadn't kept pace with the ambition.
02 — Build
Systems. Connected all five departments under one operating model with a unified project management platform and centralized dashboard. Automated key workflows to reduce manual overhead and give growth, finance, ops, design, and strategy real-time visibility into tasks, timelines, and delivery status.
Processes. Developed standardized procedures for how work moved across the agency — clear handoff protocols between departments, quality checks built into each phase, and defined ownership at every stage to eliminate the ambiguity causing delays.
People. Built the people infrastructure to support the operational model: cross-training across functions, skill mapping to identify gaps and growth paths, and role clarity so everyone understood what they owned and how their work connected to the broader system.
Metrics. Stood up unified reporting and real-time performance tracking so leadership had visibility into delivery, utilization, and client health on an ongoing basis — not just at end of quarter.
03 — Measure
I established an annual goal-setting cycle with leadership to align business priorities and define how we'd measure progress against them. Each quarter, I ran planning sessions to pressure-test priorities and resource allocation. Monthly reporting sessions with team leads across departments surfaced wins, challenges, and opportunities to iterate or pivot — mirrored by a parallel session with the leadership team to keep strategic decisions grounded in what was actually happening. Every initiative went through the same filter: grounded in data, clear owner, defined outcomes.
Impact
Named one of Adweek's Fastest Growing Agencies and Inc 5000's Fastest Growing Companies (2023).
Expertise