When everything runs through one tired person, growth starts to feel risky. We help growing schools, small businesses and nonprofits build the systems and team habits that let them grow without breaking. Shahla leads every engagement as your fractional COO, and our Streamlining Specialists build the automations so they stick.
Who we help
| Schools | Small businesses, nonprofits & special districts |
|---|---|
| Online, micro and hybrid schools, small private schools and ESA providers. Enrollment, ESA paperwork, staffing and accreditation. | Offices of about 2 to 50 people juggling phones, email, spreadsheets and too many apps, including district offices where one clerk handles board packets, records requests and everything else. Missed calls, copy-paste work and tools nobody fully uses. |
| Start with: the Operations Audit or the free School Operations Check | Start with: a free 15-minute Tech Stack Check, or see how we help small teams |
Sound familiar?
- Every question still comes to you, even the ones someone else could answer.
- Key information lives in inboxes and spreadsheets only you understand.
- You’ve added students, clients or staff faster than you’ve added structure.
- Your team is capable, but nobody is sure who owns what.
That’s the point where a growing organization needs operations leadership, not more hours from the founder.
Ways to work together
| What it is | Investment | |
|---|---|---|
| Operations Audit (start here) | Two weeks. We interview your team, map how work really flows and give you a ranked plan of the five fixes that matter most. | $1,950 (founding price $1,500 for the first three audits booked by Jan 31) |
| Automation Quick Fix | One broken or manual workflow, fixed or built: phones, forms, scheduling, email or the handoffs between your apps. | $500–1,500 |
| Fractional COO | Shahla as your operations leader a few hours a week: leadership meetings, hiring and HR, contracts and vendors, compliance, AI policy. | $2,500–5,000 a month |
| 90-Day Systems Sprint | Shahla leads the changes and trains your team; our Specialists build the automations and written procedures so they stick. | $6,000–9,000 |
Why people work with us
Shahla Hockensmith, our founder, is the co-founder and COO of Strike School, a Cognia-accredited online K–12 school. She built its operations from the ground up: our own student information system and automated enrollment, approved-provider agreements and invoicing with ESA programs in more than a dozen states, and hiring and coaching for about 20 Learning Coaches. Strike School grew enrollment by more than 700% on those systems. She has also served on a public water district board and worked in technology since 1988, so she knows small offices and public agencies too. Our Streamlining Specialists are Google Certified and experienced in Microsoft 365. Meet the team.
Zapier Silver Solution Partner · Quo Certified Expert · Google Certified Educator · Harvard Certificate in School Management and Leadership (CSML) · Speaker at DLAC, USDLA, CSDA and WALA
Training for your team
Workshops and PD on using AI well, leading a small team and onboarding staff. See Training & PD
Not ready for a call?
Schools: take the five-minute School Operations Check and get the three areas to fix first, by email.
Any small office: use the Savings Finder to see which tools to cancel, combine or switch, and the partner discounts that go with them.
Growing faster than your systems?
Let’s find your biggest bottleneck in 20 minutes. We’ll suggest one fix you can make this month, whether or not we work together.