When a key executive leaves without warning, the risk isn't just the empty seat - it's the operational memory and momentum that walk out the door with them. I step in fast, stabilize what's in motion, and give the team someone accountable while the organization figures out its next move. I did exactly this at Cast & Crew, serving as a core bridge leader alongside the CEO and General Counsel during a high-turnover executive transition, keeping operations continuous while the leadership team was rebuilt around them.

Executive searches take months, and the gap doesn't pause the business. I fill that gap as a working leader, not a placeholder - running the function, making real decisions, and keeping strategic initiatives moving. Because I'm not a candidate for the permanent role, I can also give the search an honest, unbiased read on what the seat actually needs — informed by having sat in it, not just observed it from the outside.

Underperformance is rarely one problem - it's usually a stack of small operational failures that compound until the business can't outrun them. I go in, diagnose what's actually broken versus what just looks broken, and execute a plan to fix it. I did this at Mattel, standing up the company's first Organizational Change Management function from zero to support a corporate turnaround - including leading the global COVID-19 response for 13,000 employees without a break in business continuity.

Acquisitions succeed or fail on integration, not deal terms. I've led this directly: when a major entertainment company acquired a 35-person boutique studio, the acquired team was ready to walk - some cried, many threatened to quit outright rather than "become corporate." I built individualized retention plans for every person, coached the founders through honest communication instead of corporate talking points, and stayed embedded for a full year managing the cultural integration in real time. Result: 84% retention on a deal where most acquihires lose the majority of their talent within months, and a repeatable playbook the company used for future acquisitions.

Splitting a business apart means building, sometimes from scratch, the functions a newly independent entity needs to survive on day one: HR, finance, operations, the policies and people behind them. I design and stand up that infrastructure so the new entity is operational, not just legally separate, from the moment it launches.