Helping founders and executive teams grow profit and people-focused impact with joy and ease at the center of the strategy. Renia (pronounced REE-nah) Carsillo is the founder of Realign Consulting. She believes her superpowers are pattern recognition and activating change. Since 2008, Renia and her team have helped more than 100 small and mid-sized companies build values-driven, people-first operating models, guided by two proprietary frameworks: Do Better Business™ and Values-Driven Marketing. Renia has worked side by side with impact-driven companies, multinational franchises, and B2B brands in some of the most traditional industries, from industrial manufacturing to government contracting. Her work sits at the intersection of people, systems, and habits. For a business to grow sustainably, these three must constantly realign, because alignment is an ongoing practice.
How to Make Your Business Work for Your Life [Two on Tuesdays]
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Happy Tuesday, Reader! I’m often asked if our Strategic Planning Retreats are truly worth it. It’s not just about the monetary cost. Our retreats require you to spend two whole days focusing on planning what’s next for your business.
I can give you testimonials from clients, such as these words from Lisa Council, founder of Mrs. Grout: “I've worked with Renia for over three years now. She started out as my web strategy person but has become much more. She is really more a coach, teacher, and cheerleader for us. I first went to Renia for copywriting, then for website help, but I think her biggest value is as a strategist. If you don’t know where to go from where you’re at or how to take the next step, Renia is the person you need on your team.” Or these from Julie Fogh and Casey Erin Clark, co-founders of Vital Voice Training: “Renia helped us evaluate our brand from the ground up and get clearer and more laser-focused on who we wanted to speak to and with…and the consequence of this alignment has not only been growth; it’s been that we attract more of our ideal clients. She’s also just a pure delight to work with: sunshine and steel.” Or these from Kathy Bresler, founder of ALTAR: “I had this deep sense of what our brand should feel like, but it lived in my head and heart, and I didn’t know how to share it in a way that helped others create the ALTAR experience. Renia and Team Realign gently drew it out and helped me put it into words and tools my whole team can use. For the first time, it feels like what I’ve been carrying inside is fully seen—and now everyone on our team can carry it with me.” But the proof point that matters most to me is a comment my son made several years ago: “Mom, I’ve noticed that life seems easier, and we’re all a lot kinder to each other than we used to be.”
We often think our kids don’t notice the stress and struggle. But my then-14-year-old confirmed what I already knew: Our children know what’s up, and it takes a toll on them. What made the difference? In a word: Planning. After my divorce and the closing of my first company over a decade ago, I vowed to find a way to stop allowing excuses to eat away at my time, money, and abilities. Planning is the container that has held every step of my journey.I’ve gone from busy, broke, and broken to the point where even my teenage boy notices our ease. Now, I take time to plan…
Yup, that’s a whole lot of purposeful breaks on the gas pedal of life. It’s the gift of time that I give myself, my family, and my company to make the ease possible. When you add up the hours, I spend nearly three weeks each year planning and strategizing for my company and my life. Using my hourly rate, that looks like a $25,000 investment in yearly staging time. That sum may give you pause, but you know as well as I do that we have to consider the RETURN on that investment. So, what’s the ROI on planning for you?It could be dollars in the bank. Those are nice, and I have more of those now, too (six figures more, actually). But those figures aren’t why I keep investing in planning. The ROI for my life is that I exchange those $25,000 worth of hours for an EASE my family can feel daily. The great news for your business is that a Strategic Planning Retreat with Realign Consulting is priced on a sliding scale based on the size of your company and is accessible to most small businesses. For me (and for many of my clients), the ROI on planning isn’t just a dollar amount. It’s a feeling of ease and joy that seeps into the lives of everyone we love.If your investment in planning involves bringing in a third-party facilitator who specializes in sustainable business strategy, this is for you. We have 4 spots left for our 2027 Planning Retreats, happening in late October and early November. To give us time to prepare, bookings will close on September 30, so don’t hesitate to schedule an info call as soon as possible. Wishing you perspective and clarity this week!
Until next time, Renia C. |
Renia Carsillo
Helping founders and executive teams grow profit and people-focused impact with joy and ease at the center of the strategy. Renia (pronounced REE-nah) Carsillo is the founder of Realign Consulting. She believes her superpowers are pattern recognition and activating change. Since 2008, Renia and her team have helped more than 100 small and mid-sized companies build values-driven, people-first operating models, guided by two proprietary frameworks: Do Better Business™ and Values-Driven Marketing. Renia has worked side by side with impact-driven companies, multinational franchises, and B2B brands in some of the most traditional industries, from industrial manufacturing to government contracting. Her work sits at the intersection of people, systems, and habits. For a business to grow sustainably, these three must constantly realign, because alignment is an ongoing practice.
E66: Values-Driven Marketing in Action with Mrs Grout Founder & CEO Lisa Council Lisa Council, founder of Mrs. Grout, is my longest-term client. We’ve been working together for more than a decade, and in this conversation we talk about how that trust was built, what we’ve learned from each other, and why her new website converts at 20%. Lisa walks through the review program her team runs, the low-cost touches that make customers feel appreciated, and her advice for women building businesses...
Happy Tuesday, Reader! I am writing you from the past. I pen every Two on Tuesdays email you receive from my heart, several weeks in advance of when you receive it. Which means I don't know exactly where things stand as you read this. But, writing from late September, the state of our world feels particularly perilous. So this week, I won’t be sharing any tips or strategies for building your business. Instead, I want to call each of you in. I am here today to ask you to do two very important...
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