What is a Growth Operating Partner, and how is it different from a consultant, an agency, or a fractional CMO?

A consultant is engaged for a defined scope, delivers recommendations, and is paid whether or not the business improves. An agency executes tasks under someone else’s strategy and bills for activity. A fractional CMO is a part-time executive scoped to the marketing function. A Growth Operating Partner works differently: I work alongside the founder or CEO on the whole growth problem, not one department’s slice of it. I help find the constraint that is limiting growth, get leadership aligned on it, set the direction, and direct execution until the constraint moves. The recommendation is the easy part. Staying accountable for what happens after the recommendation is the job.

What kinds of companies do you work with?

Two kinds, with one shared problem. Founder-led companies where what got the business here is not getting it there — growth built on instinct, relationships, and hustle that now needs a system. And PE-backed companies where a value-creation plan exists on paper and has to become operating performance before the hold runs out. In both cases the real issue is that strategy has to become execution. I have deep sector experience in regulated, recurring-revenue service businesses — fire and life safety in particular — but the method is built around the constraint, not the industry.

Do you only do marketing?

No. Growth problems do not respect department lines, so neither does the work. Sometimes the constraint sits in marketing. Sometimes it is sales, positioning, operations, technology, AI, leadership alignment, or the gap between a clear strategy and coordinated execution. My background runs through all of it — more than 20 years building growth systems across the full revenue cycle. I do not start with a predetermined service. The diagnosis determines where we work.

What is Ask Hank™?

A paid 30-minute working session for $100. You bring one business, growth, or execution problem — a decision you are weighing, a constraint you cannot name, a plan that is not converting into results — and we work the problem together. Bring the problem. We’ll work the problem. It is the fastest way to get my thinking, and it is the right door if you are not evaluating a larger engagement.

What do I leave an Ask Hank™ session with?

Three things. A clearer view of the real problem, which is often not the one you booked with. My perspective on what I would do next in your seat. And specific actions or decisions to move forward. If the problem requires deeper work than 30 minutes can hold, I will tell you what I recommend. There is no obligation beyond the session.

Is Ask Hank™ a sales call?

No, and that is the point of charging for it. A free consultation is a pitch with a calendar link. Ask Hank™ is a working session — the session itself is the product, and it is priced so that both of us treat the 30 minutes like work. Some sessions end with a recommendation to go deeper. Most end with the problem worked and nothing else to buy.

What are the payment, rescheduling, and cancellation terms for Ask Hank™?

Payment of $100 is required to confirm the booking. You may reschedule or cancel with at least 24 hours notice. Cancellations within 24 hours of the session and no-shows are non-refundable. If I need to cancel, you choose between rescheduling and a full refund.

How does an engagement start?

With a conversation about the mandate, not a contract. You submit the engagement form — what is happening, what you are trying to accomplish, and why you are considering a Growth Operating Partner — and I review it personally. If there is a potential fit, we talk. If we proceed, the engagement opens with the Value-Creation Diagnostic: a paid, structured diagnosis of the business that finds the constraint, produces a written report with a live debrief, and ends in a clear gating decision — continue into a full engagement, or part ways with the analysis as a standalone deliverable you can use with anyone. It is not a sales call. It is the first piece of real work.

What does an engagement cost?

The only price I publish is Ask Hank™ at $100, by design. Everything larger is scoped after diagnosis, because the investment is an output of understanding the business — the constraint, the mandate, and the depth of the seat. A budget-constrained company moves to a shallower scope of work, never a discounted version of the same seat. The number follows the diagnosis, because the scope does.

Do you require a long-term contract?

Each engagement carries a defined term, set by scoping and matched to the work it covers. The reason is structural, not contractual: the foundations that compound do not pay off inside a 30-day window, and pretending otherwise sells you a result the calendar cannot deliver. The Value-Creation Diagnostic is the checkpoint before any term begins — both sides enter with eyes open, and the term runs long enough for the work to do what it is scoped to do.

Is it just you, or is there execution behind you?

Both, and the line of accountability stays with me. I set the direction and hold the growth mandate — strategy, decision rights, and accountability for the result. Execution runs through whatever the company has or needs built: the existing team, directed by me; a team I recruit and stand up; or the outside agencies and vendors I manage to perform. Where a specific capability needs to be stood up fast, my execution arm, Digital Strategy Group, can bridge it. What you get is a senior operator with one line of accountability — not a strategist who hands over a plan and leaves, and not a vendor you have to manage.

What is your track record?

Different industries, different constraints, measurable outcomes. At Teladoc, the constraint was category visibility ahead of the IPO: my agency architected the organic growth infrastructure — keyword and intent architecture, messaging governance, technical foundations, analytics — and today the company ranks for 98,000-plus organic keywords with roughly $1.21 million per month in organic traffic value, a position that has held for a decade. At Manufactured Housing Consultants, the constraint was unit economics: restructuring the account architecture, intent layer, and conversion path cut cost per call by 92 percent, from $209.45 to $16.26, while the business expanded from a single market to multi-market dominance. I do not promise a number, and any operator who does is selling you something. I show you the constraint, the intervention, and what changed.

Where does the Special Operations background come in?

It explains how I work, not whether the method works. I served in Special Operations, 75th Ranger Regiment, with direct action against high-value targets in Afghanistan and Iraq. That community runs on doctrine — assessment before commitment, clear intent, disciplined execution under incomplete information, honest review after action — and I was trained inside it, not borrowing it as metaphor. Business is not combat, and I do not pretend otherwise. What transfers is the discipline. The proof that the method works is in the business outcomes.

Do you sign NDAs?

Yes. If your compliance requires your own NDA in place before you share specifics, send it and I will review and sign within one business day. And every engagement I run begins with a mutual NDA once we have decided to move forward — the proprietary method and your company-specific detail are protected on both sides. Standard, no friction.

Where are you based, and do you work remotely?

Phoenix, Arizona. I work with companies across the United States, mostly remote, with on-site time when it earns its place — a diagnostic week, an integration, a leadership offsite. I operate as part of the team, not a vendor on a delivery schedule, so time zones rarely become the friction.