Strategic operations for business owners

What if your business felt as good on the inside as it looks on the outside?

20+ years leading across tech startups and global brands, now bringing order to your chaos. The strategic clarity you've been missing. The operational backbone to support it. And a right-hand who makes sure it actually gets done.

Laura Cloherty, strategic operations partner for business owners

Twenty years building inside

Tumelo Booking.com Secfix BBC Worldwide Sony Pictures Television The Mind Gym

Trusted by

The Future Kind Collective Scout + Circle The BOLD Agency Provenance Clare E Kenny Juniper

You didn't start your business to feel exhausted, frantic, and in permanent get-shit-done mode.

You want a life as well as a business. Not a massive company, just a really profitable one.

But everything underneath it is a little slow, a little clunky, a little 'old you'. And that's costing you more than you realise.

You grew this one step at a time. Now you've never stopped to ask whether all of it is still fit for purpose.

Are the foundations strong enough? Are you heading where you actually want to go? Or does it feel like you've jumped on a train with no idea if it'll make it to the destination?

That's where I come in. I'm your co-pilot. I build the structure, the priorities, the offer architecture, the systems, whatever it is that's stuck and would make everything else easier.

I make you feel proud of your business. Not exhausted by it.

"You're a sense-maker, nervous system nurturer and get-shit-done wonder-woman. You hold me to account with a balance of human nurture and business sense. A strategic co-pilot who sees the big picture whilst also knowing the systems needed to deliver and uphold that big ambition."
Alicia Grimes The Future Kind

The same three things, every time we meet.

Most businesses at this stage don't need more ideas. They need someone who can see what's actually going on, make the call, and move things forward. A right-hand who holds the strategic view while keeping the day-to-day from falling apart.

That's the work. And every time we meet, it moves through the same three things.

1

Get it all out on the table

Everything that's swirling, stalling, or costing you more than you realise. No agenda required. Just bring where you are.

2

Find where the real pain lives

Because the problem you walk in with is almost never the one that's actually holding you back. This is the bit most people skip, and why things don't change.

3

Build the fix

Not a framework. Not a worksheet. The actual thing: a restructured offer, a pricing logic you can defend, a system that works without you holding it together with your bare hands.

"Laura is a genius at pulling ideas out of your head, pressure testing them to sort the diamonds from the duds, and building a practical action plan. Her ability to break things down from big noise into simple steps, even within a 90-minute session, is second to none."
Emilie Bastrup Customer Success Consultant

Real work. Real results. Right level of support.

Strategic business support for small business owners who want to grow without building a massive team. Every tier produces something tangible, the question is how much of the building you want to do yourself.

Start here
Detangle
£295
One session · no commitment

90 minutes to get to the real problem, not the one you walked in with.

For any business owner ready to stop going in circles.

  • 90 minutes to get to the real problem, not the one you walked in with
  • A diagnosis you can trust and a plan specific enough to start today
  • Everything captured in Notion so nothing gets lost
Book a Detangle →
Half day · online or in person
Strategy Day
Based on your requirements
One-off · standalone

Half a day together to map the whole picture, find the gaps, and start fixing them. Not a talking session. A working one.

Either a 1:1 intensive with a solo founder, or a facilitated strategy day with a small team.

  • Pre-work brief so we hit the ground running
  • Half day working session, online or in person
  • Gaps mapped, priorities set, most urgent things started on the day
  • A clear 90-day plan and full Notion output to take away
Book a Strategy Day →
3 months · done with you
Thinking Partner
£500/month
3-month minimum · then monthly rolling

Two sessions a month where you leave knowing exactly what to do next. You do the work. I keep the map.

For business owners who need a trusted thinking partner and business mentor, not just another coach.

  • Two sessions a month where you leave knowing exactly what to do next
  • A running Notion hub that tracks your thinking, your wins, and your next moves
  • One line to me between sessions when something comes up
Start a conversation →

Not sure which is right? Start with a free conversation and we'll figure it out.

Why this works

Not just strategy. Not just systems. Both.

Most people who can see what's broken can't build the fix. Most people who can build it don't stop to question if it's the right thing to do. That gap is where businesses stay stuck.

Twenty years inside scaling tech startups, including two early stage startups through a Series A and 4x headcount growth, and Booking.com through one of Europe's biggest tech mergers, means I've sat inside the chaos, made the decisions, and built things quickly under real pressure.

Not advised on it. Done it. Often with very little time and budget.

When I work with you, I'm not theorising. I'm drawing on rooms I've been in, problems I've untangled, and systems I've built from scratch. You get the operator's view, not the consultant's.

20+
Years inside scaling businesses
Both
Strategist and builder. Not one or the other.
£2k
Extra revenue in 7 days. From one pricing conversation a client had been dodging for months.
100%
Every client comes via referral. No ads. Ever.

What working together actually feels like.

In their own words.

"Laura possesses the magical combination of strategic thinking and practical application that business owners so often struggle to find. She doesn't just consult — she gets in the weeds, understands your vision, and builds the bridge between where you are and where you want to be."
Emilie Bastrup Customer Success Consultant
"Laura has changed my life. The week we started working together, it was genuinely the first time I had a calm nervous system since I started my business. Having Laura is like having a best friend and business partner in one. Truly life-changing stuff."
Amy Weidner Founder, The BOLD Agency
"Laura has made an enormous difference to both my business and my anxiety levels. She has a strong ability to bring order to the chaos, focus in on the key priorities, and help me find clarity in all the noise. I feel more focused, more motivated, and far less frazzled since working with her."
Clare Kenny Founder, CEK · TEDx Speaker
"Laura took everything I couldn't quite articulate about my business and turned it into something clear, structured, and usable. She listened to how I naturally operate and built around that, not from a generic playbook. The result feels like me."
Danielle Green Founder, Mondegreen Consulting
"What Laura brings to the table is clear and immediate value in impacting true leadership. She represents the interests of both the founders and her active clients — acting as almost a mediator to help us understand each other better."
Cara Hennessy Co-Founder, Independent Non-Executive Director
"Laura helped me optimise my systems in just 1 hour — something I'd been putting off for months. She has a brilliant framework and is skilled at turning all the systems, or lack thereof, that are keeping you away from your optimum. If you're a business owner you need Laura."
Alexandra Aileru Founder, Confident Career Switch
"Bringing Laura into my business has made my next year feel calm, stable and possible. If you're even thinking about bringing her on board, do it right now."
Lauren Paton Founder, Scout + Circle
"You called it before I even realised what was going on and helped me navigate the whole thing and turn it into gold. This is your zone of genius, the structural architecture of businesses like mine, and I trust you with it."
Jo Lean Content
"I know it takes a village to raise a start-up, but personally, I think meeting Laura has meant the difference between success and failure. Don't think twice about working with her."
Georgia Stewart Co-Founder & CEO, Tumelo
"I know it's a service I pay for but I am really actually personally grateful."
Anja Thomsen Customer Success Consultant
Laura Cloherty

I'm Laura.

Building the businesses behind brilliant people is my jam.

I'm a pattern-recogniser with a builder's twitch. I see the shape of what's broken before most people do, and I can't just diagnose it and leave. I need to stay and fix it.

My sweet spot is the middle. Founders who've built enough to feel the strain but aren't so big that nothing can move. Enough of a system to read, enough room to actually change it.

What I tend to spot that's harder to see from the inside: where the problem actually lives versus where it looks like it lives. The decision that's been circling for months, the team that just can't communicate, the thing that feels like a strategy issue but just needs the next step made concrete.

I'm also a people person in the most practical sense. I read rooms, make people feel genuinely heard, and turn that into teams that pull in the same direction.

In practice I'm the generalist you bring in before the specialist, the person who gets it before you finish the sentence, tells you the truth, and actually solves the problem.

I live in South Wales with my husband and two kids, usually trying to remember where I put my coffee.

A few highlights. Twenty years inside teams that scaled fast. Here are some of the moments that taught me the most.
2025
Launched my solo practice as an independent operating partner, evolving from leadership consultancy work for startups into the operational partnerships I run today.
2024
Joined cybersecurity startup Secfix as Head of People. Built the recruiting pipeline and people infrastructure from scratch, and boosted eNPS by +18 points within six months.
2021–24
Right-hand to the CEO through Series A at Tumelo, then Head of People through 4x headcount growth. Built the full operating system that made fast growth sustainable: values, feedback culture, career frameworks, salary benchmarking, comms rhythm, benefits. The whole thing.
2019–20
Senior leadership at Booking.com's 2,500-person Transport Unit. Directed a £1M+ annual budget across 50+ global engagement and strategy events, including executive leadership sessions in Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Bangkok.
2016–19
Led internal communications through the Rentalcars.com merger with Booking.com, taking comms strategy and engagement from 700 to 16,000 people. Delivered the flagship integration event with a 94% alignment score.
2010–14
C-suite operations support at BBC Worldwide and Sony Pictures Television. Where I learned how senior leadership actually works behind the curtain.

Less 'how to get a 10k month.' More 'how the hell to get through the day.'

Honest, practical thinking on running a business that actually works for you. No fluff. No hustle porn. Just the real stuff.

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On stage

I'm a ruddy good speaker.

From SXSW London panels to founder roundtables, I show up to talk about what I actually know: building solo businesses that don't crush you, scaling teams without breaking what makes them special, and the unglamorous middle of leadership and culture.

Spoken at

  • SXSW London, with Foras Ventures
  • EQT Ventures, Future Ready HR retreat
  • Juniper, culture & benefits webinar
  • Too Good To Go, Women in Leadership
Book me to speak
Laura on the Scaling at Altitude panel at SXSW London
Laura speaking on stage
Laura facilitating a roundtable
At SXSW London, Laura delivered some of the most high-signal, founder-relevant insights of the day. Bring her in early if you're serious about scaling without breaking what makes your company great.
Dec McLaughlin
Founding Partner, Foras Ventures

Ready to untangle?

If your business is growing and starting to feel the strain, the best next step is a Detangle. 90 minutes, £295. You bring whatever's on your mind. I'll find the thing underneath it. No prep needed. No pitch.

Or connect with me on LinkedIn first.