The strategic plan you built deserves to actually run the business.
Evolution is the ongoing engagement I lead with leadership teams to keep strategy moving, accountable, and adapting to what the market and the business need next.
Most strategic plans get built with real intention and then quietly stop running the business within a year. Priorities drift, leadership returns to firefighting, and the field goes back to last year's playbook. Evolution is built to keep that from happening, through quarterly worksessions with leadership, monthly touchpoints to course-correct, and executive accountability reporting that keeps strategic ownership visible across the year.
- 15 years in business
- Former GE & Newell Rubbermaid
- HBS Disruptive Strategy
- NAW Large Company CEO Roundtable speaker
Who Evolution is built for.
Some clients come to Evolution after completing R.E.A.L. Evolution with me, ready to keep the work moving. Others come directly because they already have a strategic plan they believe in and need someone embedded with the leadership team to make it hold. Both paths land in the same work.
It's the right engagement if:
- You have a strategic plan you believe in and you can feel it slipping
- Your leadership team needs a regular outside voice in the room to keep priorities sharp and accountability honest
- You want a strategist embedded with you long enough to see the plan land in the field and adapt as conditions change
- Continuity matters: growth, leadership transition, family handoff, next-generation readiness
It's probably not the best fit if:
- You don't have a strategic plan yet (we'd start with R.E.A.L. Evolution)
- You're looking for periodic check-ins rather than a working relationship
- Your leadership team isn't ready for the strategic discipline of an outside voice in the room
A working relationship that keeps strategy relevant.
Evolution operates on a quarterly rhythm with monthly touchpoints in between. The quarterly worksessions are where the leadership team takes stock of what's holding, what's drifting, what's changed in the market, and what the plan needs to do next. The monthly touchpoints keep momentum between worksessions, surface what needs attention, and give leadership regular outside perspective in the strategic conversations that come up.
The rhythm:
- Quarterly leadership worksessions to course-correct the strategy, track progress against priorities, and decide what changes
- Monthly touchpoints with leadership to surface what's drifting, what's working, and what needs to shift before the next quarter
- Executive accountability reporting that keeps strategic ownership visible across the year
- Real-time advisory when something happens that needs strategic input, like a competitor move, a leadership change, a market shift, or an opportunity that wasn't on the plan
- Annual strategy review to step back, take stock, and refresh priorities for the year ahead
Why this rhythm: The quarterly worksession aligns priorities, and the monthly touchpoints catch drift early enough to fix it, keeping the plan alive in how the business actually runs.
Four years embedded
Before Adriana, we were a mess: a new acquisition with hardly any structure, obsolete inventory, worn-out equipment, and a chaotic P&L. She came in with a wealth of experience and a knack for breaking down big problems, helping us tackle things one bite at a time and turn them into real processes and profit opportunities. Even after four years, she's still with us, keeping us focused on our strategic priorities and our top five long-term goals.
Tom Waymouth
General Manager, Apple Outdoor Supply
Strategic discipline compounds over time.
Most of my strategy clients stay with me well beyond the original engagement, 3+ years. Tom and the Apple Outdoor Supply team are in year four. Jeff and the Blevins team have been with me since 2020. The work compounds when it's ongoing.
A plan signed at the end of a planning engagement is a plan at its strongest. From there, three things start working against it: the market moves, leadership attention gets pulled to operational pressure, and the team drifts back to what's familiar. Evolution exists to push back on all three. The quarterly cadence keeps strategy in front of the leadership team, the monthly touchpoints catch drift before it costs you a quarter, and the embedded relationship means I'm in the conversations that matter, not waiting for the next scheduled review.
Year over year, the plan gets sharper, the leadership team gets stronger at strategic decision-making, and the business stops losing ground to its own inertia.
Embedded in the business, working at every level
Adriana brings a balance of creativity and organization to strategic planning. She has become integral to our company and is a great advocate for addressing the needs of all levels.
Jeff Daniel
President, Blevins, Inc.
Continuing partnership since 2020.
Questions I hear before we start.
What does ongoing strategic advisory look like for a distributor?
The anchor is the quarterly worksession, a deep dive with the leadership team using a method I call RISE. We Review the prior quarter: what worked, what didn't, the lessons learned, and the progress on our strategic initiatives. We Illuminate, zooming out to what's happening in the market and the industry and whether anything out there needs to change our strategy. We Spotlight, zooming in on what the business, our customers, and our employees need right now. Then we move to Execution: the next 90 days, the priorities, and what it takes to get the team aligned and make them happen.
Between quarters, monthly touchpoints catch drift early, executive accountability reporting keeps ownership visible across the year, and an annual review refreshes priorities. I'm also available in real time when something happens that needs strategic input, like a competitor move or an opportunity that wasn't on the plan.
We already have a strategic plan. Why would it need outside help to hold?
Because three things start working against a plan the day it's signed: the market moves, leadership attention gets pulled to operational pressure, and teams drift back to what's familiar. None of that means anyone did anything wrong. It's what running a business does to a plan, and a regular outside voice in the room is what keeps priorities sharp and accountability honest against that pull.
How is Evolution different from a consultant on retainer?
A retainer usually means hours you can call on. Evolution is a working relationship with a structure: I'm in the quarterly worksessions with your leadership team, I'm tracking what's holding and what's drifting month to month, and I own keeping the strategy in front of the team. That's why Apple Outdoor Supply is in year four and Blevins has been with me since 2020.
Do we need to have done R.E.A.L. Evolution first?
No. Some clients come to Evolution straight from R.E.A.L. Evolution, ready to keep the work moving. Others come directly because they already have a plan they believe in and need someone embedded to make it hold. If you don't have a plan you believe in yet, R.E.A.L. Evolution is the right starting point.
What's the commitment?
Evolution works because it's ongoing. Most clients work with me on an annual basis with the expectation that the relationship continues year over year, and most stay three years or more. The work compounds, and so does the value.
What does my leadership team actually have to show up for?
The quarterly worksessions are the anchor, full leadership team in the room. In between, the monthly touchpoints are shorter working conversations, and I carry the preparation and the accountability reporting. The rhythm is built to strengthen strategic discipline without adding another layer of meetings for your team to run.
Ready to talk?
A Strategy Discussion is a 30-minute conversation about where your business is, where the strategy is, and whether Evolution is the right fit for what you're working on. A real conversation to see if we should keep talking.
Schedule a Strategy DiscussionWork well,
Adriana
If you don't have a strategic plan yet, start with R.E.A.L. Evolution.
Evolution works when you already have a plan you believe in. If you're earlier than that, R.E.A.L. Evolution is the right place to start. It's the engagement that builds the plan, then transitions into Evolution.