CASE STUDIES

Real problems.
Real results.

A look at the challenges I've helped organizations solve and the measurable outcomes we built together on the other side.

SOFTWARE SERVICES FIRM · COMPLIANCE & PEOPLE OPERATIONS

Converting 13 Contractors to Employees Under AB5

The Challenge

When California's AB5 took effect in 2020, a growing software services company had 13 people working as 1099 contractors whose roles no longer qualified as contract work. None of the basics of being an employer existed: no California employer setup, no benefits, no sick time policy, no handbook. And the team, all high earners, wanted to stay 1099.

The Approach

Set the company up as a California employer and built payroll, benefits, a paid sick leave policy, and its first employee handbook from scratch. Contractors had been paid on net 30 to net 60 terms, so I worked out how to bring everyone's pay current and move them onto regular payroll without anyone taking a hit. Then I led the change: walked each person through what was changing, showed them we had tried every option to keep them 1099, and made sure they knew we were going to be okay.

1099 → W-2
13 PEOPLE · 6 MONTHS · CALIFORNIA AB5
THE RESULT
13 of 13
All 13 contractors converted to W-2, and all 13 stayed
6 months
Start to finish, meeting the state deadline
$0
Zero penalties
Person using a computer mouse and keyboard on a desk with plants and a monitor in the background.
TECHNOLOGY FIRM · FRACTIONAL COO

Driving Operational Excellence & Revenue Growth

The Challenge

A small tech firm faced inconsistent invoicing, error-prone payroll, fragmented accounts tracking, and outdated vendor systems, all limiting growth and creating compliance risk.

The Approach

Built structured processes for invoicing, timekeeping, AP/AR, and payroll. Negotiated a new payroll provider and led a strategic renegotiation of the firm's largest client contract.

THE RESULT
75%
Reduced financial & payroll errors by 75%
100%
100% on-time payments
$1.5M → $7M
Client contract grew from $1.5M to $7M over five years
COMMUNITY BUSINESS ORGANIZATION · EXECUTIVE LEAD

Revitalizing a Community Organization: Brand, Membership & Funding

The Challenge

An established organization had stagnant membership, outdated branding, a fundraising event plateaued at $40K, and weakened community partnerships.

The Approach

Led a full-scale rebrand, modernized digital platforms, repositioned the membership value proposition, secured $65K in grants, and overhauled the annual fundraising event structure.

A laptop covered in stickers on a wooden surface, with a small potted plant in the foreground.
THE RESULT
20%
20% membership growth in year one
$65K
$65K in grants secured
600%
Annual event revenue increased 600%, from $40K to $280K
A group of people gathered outdoors under a pergola decorated with string lights, at sunset.
COMMUNITY EVENT · OPERATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Transforming a Local Festival into a Citywide Destination

The Challenge

A community festival held in a parking lot had plateaued at 10,000 attendees. Leadership wanted to transform it into a regional destination.

The Approach

Spearheaded a full rebrand, relocated to a closed city street, built four stages, coordinated 200+ volunteers and 280 vendors (including compliance with local/state health and safety regulations), and led multi-channel marketing campaigns.

THE RESULT
6.5x
Attendance grew from 10,000 to 65,000 over two days, a 6.5x increase
Record
Record vendor participation
Premier
Elevated to a premier regional cultural event
Want results like these? Let's talk
AI-DRIVEN OPERATIONS IN PRACTICE

Invoice Submission

Contractors used to email invoices. Some arrived on time, some didn’t, and every one of them needed me to check the hours, approve it, and forward it to accounting. Multiply that by five people a month and it’s a real chunk of a COO’s time spent on something that should run itself.

So I built a Slack bot that runs it. A contractor types one command, the bot pulls their hours straight from Harvest, turns them into a numbered PDF invoice, and sends it to me for review. One click from me and it lands in accounting’s channel, ready to pay on the usual cadence. No spreadsheets, no exports, no logins. Five people use it today and nobody chases anyone.

This is what AI-driven operations looks like in practice: a small tool that removes a recurring headache and leaves a clean audit trail behind. Click through the demo below to see the whole flow, or switch to the one-page summary.

Have a process like this eating your week? Let's talk.
AI PRODUCT · IN DEVELOPMENT

Lumi Study Coach

At an after-school tutoring program, one volunteer can be responsible for 20 to 30 kids. The hardest moment for a student isn't during a session. It's 7pm on a school night, stuck on homework, with no one to ask. Kids give up quietly, and tutors never find out who is slipping.

So I'm building Lumi, a study coach that gives hints, never answers. It meets each student where they are, and when one is truly stuck it quietly alerts a tutor with who it is, what topic, and what they've already tried. One click and a person takes over.

Lumi started as a Slack agent I built for a hackathon and is growing into its own app. Click through the demo below, or switch to the one-page summary.

Math Help · Maya & LumiLumi online
Tutor QueueMs. Ortiz online

Illustrative demo. Names are fictional and no real student data is shown.

Run a tutoring program? Let's talk about a pilot.