I've been the founder on the floor at midnight.
That's why this work exists
Christine Lavin is a growth partner for founders of service businesses who have built real traction, then found themselves overwhelmed by it. She works at the intersection of operations, strategy, and the leadership transitions that growth demands, bringing cross-industry diagnostic expertise that most specialists spend a career developing within a single lane.
The rarest thing this work offers: walking into a business and quickly seeing what is actually blocking momentum — not just what’s visible on the surface. That clarity is where the work begins.
I thought I was building my dream
It was close to midnight, my laptop balanced on the edge of the kitchen counter while half-folded laundry covered the table behind me. My three kids were finally asleep upstairs. I was exhausted, staring at sales numbers that refused to budge no matter how many hours I worked.
After a decade in corporate sales, I had poured my passion into launching a maternity activewear line while still working in fitness and raising a young family. For eight years I hustled: designing, manufacturing, marketing, fulfilling orders. I even celebrated wins like loyal customers and celebrity features.
But behind the scenes, I was drowning.
Revenue was stuck just shy of half my goal, the business wasn’t scalable, and I was running on fumes. What I didn’t have were the systems, strategy, or support to grow sustainably. And so I faced the hardest decision: to close it down. No big exit, no applause. Just me, at that kitchen counter, letting go of the dream I had built with everything I had.
That moment lit a fire.
I knew I wasn’t alone. Too many founders hit the same wall. Passion isn’t the problem. The problem is trying to grow without a clear strategy, repeatable systems, and authentic sales that don’t burn you out.
For the last four years, I’ve been partnering with small business owners to change that story. I’ve taken every lesson from that season—what worked, what didn’t, what I wish I had known—and poured it into helping other founders succeed where I once stumbled. More importantly, I’ve seen in recent years how the cacophony of promises delivered in daily monsoons on social media can create so much noise that founders lose touch with what they know to be true.
What I bring to this work that most advisors don’t is the ability to walk into a business and quickly see what is actually creating drag — not just what’s visible on the surface. That cross-industry diagnostic speed, combined with experience across operations, growth, and sales, is what makes this work different.
The goal is always the same: get the founder breathing room first, then build the foundation that makes real growth possible.
Breathing room first. Growth always.
what makes this work different
diagnostic depth
The ability to walk into a business and see the whole landscape — not just one corner of it. Cross-industry experience across corporate, startup, and founder-led environments creates pattern recognition that most specialists don’t have. The drag that’s been invisible for months tends to become visible quickly.
lived experience
This work is not theoretical. Christine built and operated a business from scratch — and made the hard decision to close it. The foundation of this work is knowing firsthand what it costs to grow without the right structure underneath. That experience is what referrals are built on.
founder fit approach
No generic playbooks. Systems and structure are designed around how this founder actually leads — not borrowed from another industry or another business model. The work is implementation alongside the founder, not handed off for someone else to figure out.
