We help ambitious leaders get clear on what they uniquely do best — and build the focus, strategy, and support to lead from there.
What we hear
“I know I’m capable of more. I just haven’t had the space — or the right support — to figure out exactly where to direct it.”
The problem isn't ambition or effort. It's that most people have never gotten truly clear on where they create the most value.
You're busy. You're capable. But the work that actually matters — the thinking, the decisions, the direction only you can set — keeps getting crowded out. And somewhere beneath the motion, you know you're not operating at the level you're capable of.
Your best thinking keeps getting crowded out by work that others could — and should — be handling.
The direction exists in your head. Getting it out of your head and into motion is where things stall.
You're moving — but across too many things to make meaningful progress on any of them.
Effort and good intent are there. The focus that creates real momentum isn't.
You know what you're uniquely good at. You're just not spending enough time there.
The ambition is clear. What's missing is a thought partner who can help you get there.
Most people sense the gap long before they address it. Every month that passes is momentum you don't get back.
Every person has a zone where their instincts, energy, and capability converge into something only they can do. Most never fully find it — or build their work around it. That's what we're here to change.
We meet you where you are — and work at the pace you need.
Your instincts, capabilities, and energy - clarified and protected
Your competitive advantage, anchored in purpose and market need
Clear, differentiated, and tied to what you uniquely do well
Decision architecture, operating cadence, accountability - built to run without you in every room
"The strategy lived in leadership conversations - but not in the business. We changed that."
We didn't come to this work through consulting. Ali served as Chief Strategy Officer at Burton Snowboards for 18 years — holding strategy, sustainability, transformation & customer insights simultaneously. Kristy built and scaled a $300M business at eBay — leading P&L across multiple business lines and markets, driving revenue growth, and designing the operating systems that turn strategy into execution at scale. We've sat in the rooms where these decisions get made. Every leader left with clear line of sight from their daily work to what mattered most.
A founder we worked with was spending less than 20% of their time on the decisions only they could make. Within four months, that flipped — and the organization finally began to perform at the level it was always capable of.
Meet Ali & Kristy →Every engagement starts with a complimentary 45-minute discovery conversation. No pitch, no pressure. We listen first - and we'll tell you honestly if we're the right fit.
We work with a small number of clients at a time - by design.
Our work starts by finding where you create disproportionate value — and where your organization uniquely wins. Then we build the strategy and systems that hold.
Most organizations have never examined both at the same time. When they align — and both are rooted in purpose — strategy becomes clear, teams move with conviction, and impact accelerates.
Your instincts, energy, and highest-leverage work — made explicit
Competitive advantage anchored in purpose, capability & market need
Clear, differentiated strategy that's unmistakably yours
Everything aligned. Everyone moving. Results that compound.
Most clients begin with the Diagnostic and move through at their own pace. Each phase stands alone — and the journey compounds.
A focused assessment of where your leadership energy is being spent versus where it creates the most value. We surface what leaders rarely have the space to examine — then hand you a clear narrative of what we see and a concrete path forward.
The heart of our work. A Leadership Genius Deep Dive reveals where you create outsized results — and where you're leaking leverage. An Organizational Genius Assessment finds your true competitive advantage. Together, they produce a strategy that's unmistakably yours.
Most strategies fail not because they're wrong — but because the organization has no system to run them. We build the operating infrastructure that makes your strategy executable: decision architecture, strategic cadence, accountability structures, and AI-enabled tools built for how you actually lead.
Your behind-the-scenes strategic partner, customized to how you lead. Two tracks — determined by what the Genius Assessment reveals. Track A (Strategic Thought Partner) for visionary, externally-focused leaders. Track B (Execution Architect) for leaders whose genius is building from the inside out.
We meet leaders where they are. Tell us which of these sounds most like you — and we'll show you exactly where to begin.
Strategic clarity challenge
You have too many priorities and no clear sense of where you can truly win. The market is moving, the team is busy, but the strategy feels diffuse. Ali's superpower is exactly this — surfacing the real strategic choices and trade-offs that create focus and competitive advantage.
→ Usually begins with the Strategic Genius Diagnostic, often leads to Phase 2.
Organizational alignment challenge
Good people working hard, but in different directions. Leaders agree in meetings but don't move together afterward. Kristy has built alignment systems inside some of the most complex organizations in tech — she knows exactly what's breaking down and how to fix it.
→ Usually begins with the Diagnostic, leads to Phase 3 (Operating System).
Leadership effectiveness challenge
You're over-functioning. Time spread across too many things. Your best thinking is going to the wrong things. This is the most common entry point for our work — and it's the one where we can create the most immediate relief and the most lasting change.
→ Usually begins with the Diagnostic. Often leads to the Advisory Partnership.
Purpose & sustainability challenge
You're building something that matters. But your sustainability and impact work feels disconnected from your business strategy. Ali spent 18 years proving that purpose and performance reinforce each other — when they're designed to. We help you build that integration intentionally.
→ Usually part of Phase 2 (Genius Assessment), can stand alone as a focused engagement.
45 minutes. No pitch. We listen first — then tell you honestly whether this is the right fit for where you are right now.
Book a Discovery Call →Design for Impact was built by two leaders who have spent their careers inside the organizations our clients lead - making high-stakes decisions at the top of complex, fast-moving businesses. We don't advise from theory. We advise from experience.
Ali spent 18 years at Burton Snowboards, rising to become the company's first Chief Strategy Officer. She built Burton's sustainability program from a single proposal to Donna Carpenter into a core pillar of one of the world's most iconic brands - earning B Corporation certification, Fair Labor Association accreditation, and global recognition.
As CSO, Ali led global strategy, customer insights, environmental and social impact, and JEDI - building each team from scratch. She has led every part of a complex, mission-driven consumer business simultaneously: brand, product, culture, operations, and purpose.
Ali's superpower is seeing what leaders can't see from the inside. She holds the whole picture at once - and surfaces the strategic insight that changes how a leader thinks about everything.
Kristy built her career at the intersection of strategy and execution - leading teams, driving revenue growth, and building operating systems inside some of the most complex, fast-moving organizations in tech and commerce.
As GM of Promoted Listings at eBay, she led a $300M business - an environment where misalignment shows up immediately in the numbers, and where clarity and accountability were the difference between momentum and stall.
Kristy's superpower is translating strategic clarity into organizational reality - building the systems, rhythms, and accountability structures that make strategy executable without heroics.
We tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. Real trust is built on honesty. We will name what we see, even when it's uncomfortable.
We stay behind the scenes. Our clients look brilliant. We stay invisible. That's the point.
We build things that hold without us. We never create dependency. Everything we build is designed to run on its own.
We work with a small number of clients at a time. So we can show up fully for each one. This is not a volume business.
We believe business can be a force for good. Impact and performance reinforce each other - when they're designed to.
We're rooted in San Francisco and Burlington. We work with leaders across North America.
Every engagement starts with a conversation. Complimentary, 45 minutes, no pitch. Just listening.
Start a Conversation →We work with a small number of clients at a time - by design. Every engagement starts with a complimentary 45-minute discovery conversation.
No intake team. No automated responses. When you reach out, you're reaching Ali and Kristy directly. We keep all conversations confidential.