Communicator · Executive Partner · First Follower

Helping founders and leaders scale their vision — and untie knots along the way

My job is to make their vision real.

I'm a first follower by nature. Give me a leader who's thinking farther ahead than the organization can yet articulate — whose teams are telling different versions of the same story, where decisions are taking longer than they should — and I'll get underneath it, sort out the friction, and get everyone moving in the same direction. Sometimes that's through communications. Sometimes it's closer to chief of staff work. The instinct underneath is always the same.

I've done this before — through private ownership, PE, and IPO, alongside the CEOs and founders at The Container Store, The Motley Fool, and others. All very different companies, united by leaders who believed in business as a force for good.

20+

Years alongside founders & leaders

Private → PE → IPO

Full transition experience

Player-coach

Strategic and hands-on

The challenge

Companies don't struggle because they lack ideas.

They struggle when things stop lining up.

As companies grow, complexity builds

New capital, new expectations
A more active Board
Evolving leadership dynamics
Teams scaling quickly
Technology shifts

Inside the company, it often looks like this

You're saying one thing — people hear something else
Leadership isn't fully aligned, even if no one says it
Different teams are telling different versions of the story
Decisions take longer than they should
Momentum feels harder to maintain

Nothing is broken. But things are more complex — and harder than they should be. That's when communication becomes the lever.

What I do

Close to the work. Close to the leader.

Getting the Story Straight

Translating what a leader sees clearly into language that lands — with boards, teams, investors, and the outside world. The story, the messaging, and the infrastructure to carry it. CEO positioning, media preparation, and the content that carries a leader's voice into the world.

Untying Knots

When teams are telling different versions of the same story, decisions are taking longer than they should, or leadership isn't quite moving in the same direction — that's the work. Finding where the friction is hiding, getting everyone aligned, and getting things moving again.

Defining Moments

PE transitions, IPOs, leadership changes, restructuring, crisis — including a co-founder transition that could have fractured the organization and the brand. I've been through all of them — and I know where things could go sideways before they do.

Being in It With You

Sometimes the most valuable thing isn't a deliverable — it's having someone who knows the business, knows the leader, and can be the second brain in the room. The person who figures out not just what goes on the calendar, but whether it should. The embedded, ongoing work that builds the trust that makes everything else possible.

Building Something Bigger

Turning a strong point of view into a platform, a media presence, a community. I've helped build nationally beloved brands and scaled a movement around a business philosophy that resonated far beyond any single company.

Beyond the Business

For leaders thinking toward legacy. I help shape and communicate the work that extends impact over time. Purpose, legacy, and what matters most beyond the next quarter.

What others say

In their own words

Audrey spent nearly 20 years at The Container Store, and over time our partnership became one of the most trusted and consequential I've had in business. She was central to how we scaled the brand, the culture, and the business — helping bring our vision to life across every stakeholder: employees, customers, vendors, the community, and investors.

When we became a public company, she partnered with me on assembling our public Board — and then she managed it. I was Chairman, but Audrey kept us cohesive, aligned, and more productive than we would have been without her. It's a rare ability, and one that made us better. I trusted her to represent the essence of our business with our most sophisticated investors.

She made it her job to help build a business where everyone connected to it thrives. And if you get the chance to work with her, just know that the best is yet to come.

Kip Tindell

Co-Founder & Former CEO, The Container Store

I've observed Audrey's work across nearly two decades and through multiple lenses — when The Container Store earned multiple top spots on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For, when I sought her out to learn from her communications approach, and as a collaborator on a U.S. Secretary of Labor committee focused on organizations that don't see people and profits as mutually exclusive.

What I've watched her do, consistently, is build remarkable relationships at every level and use that trust to unlock potential and drive results. She leads with integrity and intentionality and makes every organization she's part of genuinely better.

Erin Moran

Former EVP, Great Place to Work Institute · Former Chief Culture Officer, Union Square Hospitality Group · Executive Director, Dr. Nancy Grasmick Leadership Institute, Towson University

Audrey brings a rare ability to bridge worlds. She connected our Foundation to The Motley Fool in ways that made both organizations stronger, while bringing a valuable private-sector perspective to our nonprofit work. She was also a terrific partner — someone who challenged our thinking, brought fresh perspectives, and helped turn big ideas into actionable strategies. She has a gift for taking complicated ideas and turning them into clear, compelling stories that reach a broader audience.

George Khalaf

Executive Director, Fool Community Foundation

Let's talk

If this feels familiar, I'd welcome the conversation.

I'm drawn to leaders with vision bigger than their current language for it — building something meaningful, who want a genuine partner to help bring it to life. If that's you, I'd love to talk. And if it sounds like someone you know — please share this with them.

How I work

Fractional · Project-based · Advisory

Send me a note — I'd love to find out if I can help. →

LinkedIn →

A few other things worth knowing about me

Guest lecturer, Wharton School of Business · Speaker, White House Worker Voice Summit · Board Member, National Retail Federation Foundation · Stakeholder Leadership & Governance Fellow · Shareholder Activist Fellow