Small Business Advisory

Build organizations by design —
not by default.

We help founders and CEOs align strategy, people, processes, structure, and culture — so growth stops feeling heavy and starts feeling intentional.

Book a Discovery Call
Free 30-minute call · No obligation
STRATEGY
PROCESSES
CULTURE
STRUCTURE
PEOPLE
BUSINESS
PERFORMANCE
The Congruence Model, in motion
Diagnostic Precision

Most business problems
aren't actually people problems.

  • Decisions take longer than they used to.
  • Communication breaks down between teams.
  • Great employees seem frustrated or disengaged.
  • Everyone is busy, but priorities compete.
  • You're constantly putting out fires instead of building.

These aren't signs your team isn't working hard.

They're signs your organization has outgrown its systems — and the misalignment sits in strategy, roles, process, structure, or culture, not in effort.

Our work starts by locating exactly where.

Directive Clarity

We evaluate your organization
against the Congruence Model.

Rooted in the Nadler–Tushman Organizational Congruence Model, our diagnostic approach maps how well five interdependent factors are actually working together inside your business right now.

Hover a node

Each factor influences the others. Misalignment anywhere in the system shows up everywhere — in turnover, missed deadlines, and slow execution.

STRATEGY
PROCESSES
CULTURE
STRUCTURE
PEOPLE
BUSINESS
PERFORMANCE
Free Resource

The Alignment Snapshot

A free diagnostic worksheet, built on the same Congruence Model above. Score all five factors and get one clear read on where your organization actually stands.

We'll email your free worksheet right away — no spam, ever.

Services + Outcomes

Four disciplines. One aligned organization.

Organizational Health Assessment
→
Understand what's holding your organization back.
Structure & Role Design
→
Build clear roles and accountability.
Leadership & Decision-Making Systems
→
Improve governance and decision-making.
Team Alignment & Collaboration
→
Help teams work together more effectively.
Growth & Scaling Design
→
Build an organization ready for growth.
Process & Workflow Optimization
→
Eliminate bottlenecks and streamline workflows.
SOP Development & Documentation
→
Build consistent, scalable systems that reduce operational risk.
Cross-Functional Process Alignment
→
Create seamless workflows across teams.
Operational Performance Assessment
→
Identify opportunities to increase productivity.
Growth & Scaling Design
→
Create systems that enable sustainable growth.
Workforce Planning & Capacity Strategy
→
Align your workforce with business goals and future growth.
Talent Acquisition Strategy
→
Build a hiring strategy that attracts and secures top talent.
Candidate & Employee Experience
→
Improve attraction, engagement, and retention.
Talent Processes & Recruiting Operations
→
Build scalable hiring systems that improve consistency.
Talent Development & Succession Planning
→
Develop future leaders and strengthen capability.
Leadership Team Alignment
→
Align leaders around shared priorities and strategic direction.
Executive Team Effectiveness
→
Strengthen collaboration, accountability, and decision-making.
Strategic Planning & Facilitation
→
Turn strategic goals into actionable plans that drive results.
Leadership Operating Systems
→
Build systems that improve execution and performance.
Leadership Development
→
Develop confident leaders who build high-performing teams.
Investment

Pricing built around your business.

Every organization's starting point — and path forward — is different, so pricing is tailored to the scope and services your business actually needs. After your free 30-minute discovery call, I'll put together a proposal based on what we uncover together, so you're only paying for what will actually move the needle. As an independent consultant, I also keep overhead low — so you get senior-level expertise without big-firm price tags.

The Clear Step Method

A practical approach. Meaningful results.

1

Discover

Where are we today?

2

Assess

What's helping, what's holding us back?

3

Align

Where do we want to go together?

4

Design

What should the organization look like?

5

Implement

How do we make change stick?

6

Sustain

How do we keep improving?

Partnership Over Prescription

Built for leaders ready to move beyond reactive problem-solving.

We work with businesses of every size — from solo founders just starting out to CEOs leading teams of up to 150 people.

The Solo Founder

Building the organization's foundations from day one, before instinct and hustle stop being enough.

The Scaling CEO

Leading a growing team through rapid growth, leadership transitions, or redesign.

The Executive Director

Navigating evolving strategic priorities without a playbook built for this stage.

Celia Grace Johnson, Founder of Clear Step Consulting
Foundational Belief
"Organizations thrive when every part of the system is intentionally designed to work together — not through isolated fixes, but through thoughtful alignment of strategy, people, processes, structure, and culture."

Celia brings 15+ years of experience building people, recruiting, and operational systems across a wide range of organizations — from Patagonia and Dartmouth College to healthcare tech and homebuilding — giving her a firsthand view of what breaks, and what holds, as organizations grow. For ten of those years, she also ran her own solo business, Wild Child in the Tree, so she hasn't just studied the founder's seat — she's sat in it. She holds a Master's in Organizational Development in Leadership for Sustainability from the University of Vermont and is certified in Organizational Design through Cornell University.

15+ Years in Talent & Organizational Development  ·  Patagonia  ·  Dartmouth College  ·  Founder, Wild Child in the Tree  ·  M.A., University of Vermont  ·  Cornell-Certified, Organizational Design
Celia Grace Johnson, Founder, Clear Step Consulting
Track Record

Proof in the work.

Consulting experience spans healthcare, outdoor/recreation, agriculture, and creative industries, with a focus on organizational structure, employee relations, and strategic hiring.

Selected Engagements

Healthcare — Chiropractic

Overhauled SOPs, resolved employee relations issues, and developed marketing strategy.

Agriculture — Industrial Gardening

Resolved employee relations challenges and optimized distribution operations.

Outdoor Industry — Trail Building

Framed organizational structure, defined roles, guided on strategic hiring, and coached the CEO on leadership mindset.

Creative Services — Photography

Developed branding and business growth and positioning strategy.

Healthcare — Podiatry

Coached transitioning into a CEO on mindset, goal-setting, and on strategic hiring practices.

Healthcare — Dental

Provided guidance on strategic hiring initiatives.

Technology

Organized complex scheduling and recruiting efforts to support fast-moving hiring needs.

Sales Coaching & Team Development

Coached a 20+ person sales team on solving peoples pain points, strategy, pipeline-building, and follow-through.

Additional Skillsets

Website coding and design, AI automation and software for increased capacity and efficiency, and marketing strategy.

Internal Organizational Leadership

Dartmouth College

Talent Acquisition & Recruiting Operations
700+ Hires  ·  14 Departments  ·  4 Years

Beyond core recruiting, partnered on marketing, internal and external communications, hiring and onboarding SOP development, and legal compliance — including rewriting job descriptions around each team's real needs, not generic templates.

Patagonia

Corporate Sales Supervisor
Multimillion-Dollar Department  ·  Targets Exceeded

Developed SOPs, managed complex scheduling, and trained sales teams while standardizing day-to-day operations — bolstering performance and surpassing financial targets.

Common Questions

Frequently asked questions.

What's the investment?

Every organization's starting point — and path forward — is different, so pricing is tailored to the scope and services your business actually needs. After your free 30-minute discovery call, I'll put together a proposal based on what we uncover together, so you're only paying for what will actually move the needle.

What happens on the discovery call?

It's a free 30-minute conversation where we get clear on your biggest pressure points, whether Clear Step is the right fit, what a partnership could look like, and what it would cost — no obligation, and no pressure to decide on the spot.

Who do you work with?

Businesses of every size — from solo founders building their foundations from day one, to scaling CEOs leading growing teams, to executive directors navigating evolving priorities without a playbook built for their stage.

What is the Congruence Model?

It's the Nadler–Tushman Organizational Congruence Model — the diagnostic approach we use to map how well five interdependent factors (strategy, people, processes, structure, and culture) are actually working together inside your business right now.

Misalignment between these factors is rarely just a "people problem" — it shows up as real cost: slower decisions, missed deadlines, turnover, and effort that doesn't convert into results. Closing those gaps protects your bottom line. It also frees you, as the founder or CEO, from constantly firefighting the same friction points, so you have the bandwidth to focus on what actually moves the business forward and can work toward your goals with far less drag.

How long does an engagement take?

It varies by service line — there's no one-size-fits-all timeline. We'll scope the right length for your organization together after the discovery call, based on what you actually need.

Do you work remotely or in person?

Both — generally a hybrid of the two, depending on your location and needs. We'll figure out the right mix together.

What size or type of business do you work with?

My sweet spot is organizations from solo founders up to about 150 people, where I can be closely involved and hands-on. That said, my background also includes hands-on organizational and talent work at much larger scale — including 850-person divisions within bigger companies — so that depth comes with me even on smaller engagements.

Validating Reframe

Your organization isn't broken.
It's ready to be designed.

Book a free 30-minute discovery call. Together we'll get clear on your biggest pressure points, whether Clear Step is the right fit, what a partnership could look like, and what it would cost.

Book a Discovery Call Take the Alignment Assessment