Vetted Operations Management Professionals

“Former high-level hockey player (national championship MVP) turned exercise-science-trained performance coach who built a Detroit-area off-season training pipeline for dozens of pro, collegiate, and youth players (including NHL/AHL clients). Known for biomechanics-based development and rehab programming, with notable client outcomes including Kirk Maltby’s post-injury return during a Stanley Cup season and goalie Andrew Hammond’s record-setting NHL rookie run.”

“HR leader with ~20 years of experience focused on raising talent and performance standards through structured hiring (Bar Raiser veto panel), output-linked incentives, and rigorous operating cadences. Reports quantified impact including +21% revenue per head and 93% top-performer retention, and has built recruiting-to-revenue pipelines plus performance-gated onboarding/certification boot camps aligned with Finance and Sales.”

“Talent/Recruiting Operations leader with experience scaling ops across healthcare and veterinary staffing, including managing 27 direct reports and 9 departments. Known for building KPI dashboards and bill-rate analytics to drive territory-level profitability, and for leading major systems changes (Salesforce to Jobvite) that cut time-to-hire from 30 days to 2 weeks while improving onboarding/orientation throughput and revenue capture.”

“Founder/partner of two staffing companies and former Chief Strategy Officer who led executive-level strategy including acquiring a locums staffing firm and scaling it from $4M to $14M revenue in one year. Experienced recruiting leader managing up to 15 recruiters (and recruiting leaders), known for building repeatable processes, coaching managers, and improving recruiting workflows while preventing burnout.”

“NYC-based Head of Operations with 12 years at Banyan, LLC supporting a CEO across a complex umbrella (hedge fund/broker-dealer, fundraising initiatives, recruiting, and even personal assets like four apple orchards). Known for high-discretion executive support, rigorous inbox/action-item systems, and building lightweight tools (trackers/visuals and a temporary web splash page) to accelerate alignment and fundraising outcomes.”

august hurtado

Screened

Junior outside sales professional specializing in logistics and transportation

New York, NY2y exp

“Founder of Storage Scholars who generated and closed 75+ leads in just 6 weeks while entering a new market solo, combining cold outreach with grassroots campus and Facebook-group marketing. Also brings SMB and mid-market outbound experience, using Apollo, trigger-based personalization, and ROI-led messaging to engage decision-makers and improve close rates.”

“Women’s apparel merchandising/category leader who owned end-to-end seasonal strategy across DTC e-commerce and a broad wholesale footprint (6–7 platforms plus trade shows). Delivered outsized wholesale growth (e.g., FAIRE from $40K to $370K/month in 6 months) and strong trade show revenue ($650K–$1.3M per show) by combining rigorous sell-through/returns analysis, SKU rationalization, and margin-protecting factory negotiations with tight production/QC execution.”

“Sales/business development professional with experience in high-value client account expansion and partner acquisition (including real estate sales/property management) who also self-taught Python and built a Selenium-based automation system to eliminate manual booking work. Demonstrated measurable impact across both revenue/relationship outcomes (profit margin lift, high CSAT) and operations (70% faster bookings, 95% fewer errors, 25%+ efficiency gains).”

Mike Costa-Merle

Screened

Executive Fractional GM & Advisor specializing in venture studios, SaaS, and live events

New York, NY21y exp

“Fractional executive (CEO/COO/CRO) who specializes in taking startups from concept to market across entertainment, tech/SaaS, hospitality, and healthcare. Reports scaling an entertainment marketing venture to $15M ARR within two years, using data-driven market analysis, customer discovery, and rapid team buildout, and leverages AI tools to accelerate GTM and investor readiness.”

Marshawn Denny

Screened

Director of Operations specializing in nonprofit/startup operations and sports program leadership

Detroit, MI18y exp

“Detroit-raised AAU/travel-ball alum who later coached youth (including girls) and helped run showcases, clinics, summer leagues, and tournaments—combining on-court talent evaluation with event logistics and family/player guidance. Also produces recruiting-style basketball media (highlights/spotlights/recaps) and has created onboarding/training videos for startups supporting distributed teams.”

“Former student-athlete and collegiate assistant soccer coach with hands-on experience supporting 20+ athletes across skill development, academic monitoring, travel, and expense handling. Has also worked at the Mountain West Conference on NIL-related tasks and conference realignment, and brings a recruiting-first mindset including player evaluation, relationship-building with coaches, and creating highlight/bio content using Canva.”

“Former varsity basketball player (recruited by multiple D2 and some D1 programs; all-tournament at a University of Minnesota camp in 1978) who later coached his three sons through Chicago Bulls Academy and Midwest tournaments. For the past ~25 years he has worked as a baseball pitching instructor, leveraging measurable-based talent evaluation and relationships with 100+ colleges to help athletes navigate recruiting; comfortable scouting in person and online and willing to create on-camera social content for families.”

“Operations-focused startup scaler (since 2021) with cross-industry exposure in hospitals/healthcare, NBFC, and IT. Describes building businesses from scratch to profitability by combining long-range planning (5-year projections), structured hiring (KRAs/manpower matrices), departmental policy/checklist setup, and continuous-improvement practices (Kaizen, SGAs).”

Gregory Harton

Screened

Senior K-12 Student Support & Special Education Professional specializing in attendance and autism support

Las Vegas, NV25y exp

“Basketball program leader with experience as Assistant Director of the Annual Alaska Basketball Development Program and as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Treasure Valley Community College. Strong in modern scouting infrastructure—transitioning film exchange to digital, managing video/film databases, coordinating opponent scouting, and supporting athlete development through film analysis and individualized training plans.”

Brandon Spaulding

Screened

Mid-level Warehouse Team Leader specializing in print production operations

Chicopee, MA6y exp

“NCAA hockey player with rare end-to-end experience across U.S. prep, Canadian juniors (AJHL), U.S. juniors (NAHL), and college recruiting—personally navigated being decommitted and traded, giving him strong empathy and realism about the process. Proven leader (multi-year captain; first captain in NAHL program history) who mentors younger athletes and creates educational recruiting/development content for hockey families.”

DIANA ROMERO

Screened

Director-level business development and sales leader in hospitality, marketing, and events

Albany, CA14y exp

“Sales professional with experience selling streaming, white-label software, and broader SaaS solutions into media, communications, and marketing/revenue-facing teams. Stands out for building pipeline in early-stage environments, leveraging industry relationships and budget-cycle timing to win deals, including a $120K contract and a $30K deal later expanded by $15K.”

Stan Caramalac

Screened

Executive CEO specializing in transportation, operations, and growth strategy

San Diego, CA19y exp

“Founder building a multimodal AI startup to clone top-performing sales personas from text, audio, and video into adaptive AI sales agents. They appear to be in the product development stage, with a disciplined focus on algorithm performance, proof of concept, repeatable output quality, ICP definition, and clear market differentiation before raising capital.”

“Operations-focused problem solver with hands-on experience improving cash flow and throughput in small businesses: built a collections and insurance follow-up framework for an auto body shop that recovered $10K quickly and exceeded $100K collected, and implemented a speech-recognition workflow at a car dealership that cut 2–3 hours from each vehicle financing process. Also introduced spreadsheet-based applicant screening and background-check processes for an apartment complex to standardize leasing decisions and improve safety.”

“Founder/operator of an AI services firm that has not raised outside capital; exploring executive technology leadership roles due to a major partner stepping down. Familiar with the VC/accelerator landscape through research and direct experience working in and with venture-backed startups, and is motivated by shaping market forces and driving business outcomes.”