Agility, compassion, and integrity are our core strengths—and we're pretty fun to work with too.
Approach
After surveying your ongoing challenges to growth and productivity, a hybrid team of expert-level consultants is brought together to strategize a plan of action that moves you forward. We then complete the necessary work involved, together with your team, to accomplish your goals. Our process is organic and fluid, tailored specifically to position your team to evolve.
Attitude
Imagination and momentum, humor and logic, and years of real-world experience are the gateways to breaking through.
Access
Your team works directly with our CEO / managing director—never with an account manager. Our reputation is built on the personal nature of those relationships.
Adaptibility
We have shepherded 100+ entities that struggle with limitations in resources, foresight, and confidence—from restaurants and food businesses to professional services to CBOs, we adapt our processes and systems to your need.
Meet our founder
Sarah M Williams
- Certified Change Management Specialist
- Problem Solving & Critical Thinking
- Organizational & Cross-Functional Team Leadership
- Operations, Design & Systems Thinking
- Portfolio & Project Management, Development, Lifecycle
- Customer Relationship Management
- Mentoring, Onboarding, Training
- Strategic Planning & Forecasting
- Writing, Storytelling, Presentations
- Internal & External Communications Strategy
- UX, SEO, Accessibility, Web Design & Development
Identifying patterns and unforeseen opportunities is my greatest strength.
As a management consultant and brand strategist, I have devoted 20+ years to brand and communications strategy, customer and stakeholder engagement, and storytelling via data.
I engage and activate people. I am a certified Change Management Specialist. I streamline internal systems while guiding teams, develop retention and sales strategies, design brand strategies and outreach collateral, and much more.
I mentor within both for-profit and nonprofit sectors, and serve as leader and founding member of New York Women in Business for Good, a philanthropy group that donates to select NYC nonprofits annually.
Sarah Williams to speak to small business owners for Start Small Think Big
She will present four workshops on brand creation, website assessment and SEO, and digital marketing in August 2023.
Sarah Williams selected as co-lead of New York Women in Business for Good
The philanthropy group needed new leadership to facilitate and expand its fundraising, networking, and outreach initiatives.
Sarah Williams speaks at NYC SCORE Business Owners Roundtable
Ideas on how small business and nonprofit brands can simply and easily increase their visibility across various platforms.
Sarah Williams featured in 1000+ Stories Project from the Story Exchange
Management consultant & brand strategist Sarah Williams helps firms pinpoint problems and revitalize their teams.
Sarah Williams is an uber-talented, right-left brain dynamo. She's one of the smartest, most creative, most soulful people I know; I'm truly amazed that so much good stuff can fit into one person!
A curated group of senior-level professionals
Our brilliant strategic advisors have worked with organizations at the highest levels across the country. Most are entrepreneurs themselves, and they understand the cyclical challenges of growing and sustaining a small team.
Fred Gordon
- Restaurant organization and development
- Back of house: menu pricing, management development, food costs, labor, merchant services, permits, vendor setup / delivery
- Front of house: hospitality, restaurant setup / organization, dining room, marketing strategies, brand marketing, SEO / ROI programs
While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling at Southern University, Fred Gordon served as a waiter. Over the years he navigated through front of house management, kitchen management, and ultimately served as general manager for three of the Pappas Family restaurants. He learned countless systems, procedures, organization, and tools that help separate restaurants from their competition.
Gordon Restaurant Consulting helps restaurants to create systems, marketing strategies, management training, organization in both front and back of house, and much more. Fred, a general manager with over 18 years in the industry, has a limitless ability to bring management teams together and a keen eye for detail.
Tim Lemberger
- Nonprofit communications
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) communications
- Media relations
- Events
- Reputation management
- Crisis communications
- Digital and print publications
Robert Elliott
- Veterans / service members mentorship and entrepreneurship
- Sustainable production models
- Agtech and agricultural engineering
- Financial and expansion management
- Business development
- Nonprofit founding and structure
- Rural growth and development
Robert Elliott returned home in 2011 from serving five years of active duty in the Marine Corps and 10 years as a contractor for the Department of Defense working with Marines. He began to farm his family’s land after attempting an unsuccessful return into the civilian world. With almost nothing but his family’s blessing, he built a small farming operation producing meats to the general public.
Soon, media outlets pursued Robert. When the stories went public, veterans across the country began contacting him to learn how to do what he did.
The basic model of The Veteran’s Farm of NC, Inc. was born. VFNC would be a place where veterans come and learn about farming and take skills and ideas back to their operations. Today, VFNC has served hundreds of veterans from basic phone calls to assist vets find resources, to one-on-one in-person counseling, full lines of agricultural equipment being used by veterans daily, and business development.
Andrew Borner
- Sales strategy
- Leadership consulting
- Customer / client relations
- Problem-solving
- Corporate culture
- Financial balance
- Insurance
From July 2002 until April 2013, prior to the inception of his successful independent agency Olde Liberty Insurance, Andrew Borner held a book of business with Liberty Mutual Insurance totaling more than $2.9 million.
Today, after 10 years of independent agency ownership, Andrew is an insurance professional, landlord, lender, and seasoned entrepreneur in various sectors.
Andrew has a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Connecticut, Cum Laude, a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Quinnipiac University, Summa Cum Laude, and an LUTCF professional life insurance designation from The American College.
Andrew prides himself on being an animal-loving, pool- and chess-playing, Ju Jitsu– and Jiu Jitsu–practicing advocate of peace and coexistence.
Got team spirit?
816 New York welcomes experienced intelligence analysts, communications experts, and management consultants. Think you have what it takes to become a member of our team of advisors?
Jonah Baker
- Animated websites, explainers, and digital signage
- WordPress, Web Apps, and Squarespace sites
- Efficient, updatable systems where design meets coding
- Digital marketing and fundraising
- Cutting-edge performance and systems for organizations
Jonah Baker has worked in advertising and tech since the 1990s. Career highlights include work for: the United Nations Environmental, International Center for Journalists, and launch work for MSNBC. He brings game-changing systems, like the pioneering global sales tool he made for Nike, to nonprofits and educational institutions.
Katie Rosenhouse
- Food product development
- Food entrepreneurship
- Recipe development and editing
- Kitchen design and staffing
- Menu development
Katie Rosenhouse’s journey began at The French Culinary Institute in NY where she received a Grand Diploma in Pastry Arts. She became a member of the school’s Advisory Board from 2010-2012. Katie has worked in the Pastry kitchens of Le Cirque, The Russian Tea Room, Geoffrey Zakarian’s Country, Olana, and the David Burke restaurant group. She has also lent her expertise as a culinary consultant, helping start-ups and established businesses with recipe development, kitchen design, and staffing.
Katie won an episode of Food Network’s “Sweet Genius,” and served as culinary producer for Seasons 2 & 3. She has appeared on The Today Show, Chopped, The New York Chocolate Show, Ehow.com, MTV.com, Howcast.com, and Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius XM. Her recipes have been printed in Food & Wine, Woman’s World, New York Magazine, The Daily News, Brides, The Daily Meal, The Village Voice, Edible Manhattan, Serious Eats, Eater, and she has authored several cookbooks.
Ben Paletsky
- Senior-level business strategy
- Market visibility and commercialization
- Tech / industrial product development
- Crafting visions that inspire
- Strategic development
- Designing disruptive business models
Ben Paletsky is the business world’s utility player, with spanning market expertise ranging from emerging technology, to agriculture and tourism. His ability to define product value and simplify the complexity of markets enables him to successfully assist businesses develop their strategies and align their products and services to markets where they’ll thrive.
He has been awarded Connecticut Magazine’s 40-Under-40, Litchfield County’s 50 Most Influential individuals, the Connecticut Award of Merit for Historic Preservation, and the Governor’s Rising Star in Tourism award for launching a nationally top-ranked events venue, The White Barn @ South Farms.
Within his local community, he has served as the Chairman for the Economic Development Commission and has been a Board member for the Regional Council of Governments.
Got team spirit?
816 New York welcomes experienced development, communications, and entrepreneurial specialists to our roster. Think you have what it takes to become a member of our expert team of strategic advisors?