Meet Lian
Sound like you?
Four sentences I hear a lot.
Most people arrive here saying a version of one of these. Whichever one is yours, there's a door for it.
"I'm the constraint. The business can't grow past my own hours."
The expert whose name brings the work in. You want to extend what you do without diluting what makes it yours.
"When the person who's been here thirty years retires, all of it walks out the door."
The established operator with a team. The knowledge that runs the place lives in people's heads, and the quoting eats your evenings.
"I've outgrown the platform I'm on, and nothing off the shelf does what I need."
The owner with a proven thing in the wrong container. You don't need convincing about tech. You need it built properly, so it's yours.
"Where do I even start?"
The owner who's already dabbling and wants a real first step, with the fear taken out of it.
What's next
You're not behind. You're fragmented.
A tool here, a subscription there, a dozen good intentions all pulling in different directions. The people I work with aren't struggling. They're excellent at what they do. Most have already dabbled, tried a few things, seen what others are doing, and hit the same wall: I know I should do something, I just don't know what.
That's what the groundwork is for. We work out where your business is heading and what's actually worth doing, so your next move is the right one, before you spend a dollar building it.
That's the work. Not fixing what's broken. Taking something good and making it sharper.
Ways in
A few ways in. Same direction.
However you arrive, the work runs the same way. Understand the business first, work out what genuinely helps, then decide what to do about it.
Start with the ground work
$4,500The proper look under the hood. Where your business is now, where it's going, and what's actually worth doing about AI and tech. You leave with a clear, sequenced plan you can act on in your own order.
Your next move is the right one, before you spend a dollar building it.
Your thinking partner, on retainer
$3,000/monthThe way an established business already keeps a fractional CFO on call, but for the tech and direction side. I stay across the landscape so you don't have to, and we walk the plan together, month to month.
You never make a tech call blind, and you stop worrying you're missing something.
Get it built
From $10kWhen the answer is to build something, I build it with you, not just for you, so it's yours to run when we're done. Bespoke to your business, in a way that doesn't make you lose who you are.
A system that fits exactly how you work, gives your clients a better experience, and scales past your own hours.
Build your own capability
When you'd rather build this yourself than have me build it for you, this is the way in. Hands on the keyboard, on your own business, one-to-one or in a workshop alongside other owners, so the skill is genuinely yours.
You walk out able to run and build this yourself, not dependent on anyone.
The first conversation is always free: a 30-minute call to figure out if we're a good fit. And the free Community Hour holds one spot a month for not-for-profits and community organisations.
Results
Proof, not promises.
Coach Emma, for Scaled Ambition.
A voice-first coaching companion that sounds like Emma, thinks like Emma, and shows up for her clients at 11pm on a Tuesday when they're spiralling. Sixteen of sixteen people active within 48 hours of launch.
"It's the ultimate bridge between sessions. My clients now have a confidential space to practise my frameworks the moment they need it."
Emma Kirkman
Founder, Scaled Ambition
Voice changes everything.
In my research, the same people answering the same questions gave an average of 7 seconds on text and 14 to 18 minutes on voice.
If you're building anything your customers talk to, that gap is the whole game.
Builds that actually move people.
After the Ray pilot, 80 percent of reviewers reported a real-world change in behaviour, and over 85 percent said they'd use it again.
The thing I build doesn't just get used. It changes what people do.
The full research behind these builds lives at Project Rise.
The honest bit
I'll tell you when not to build.
Most people in this work are one or the other. The strategist who sees how it all connects but can't build the thing, or the builder who moves fast but never stopped to think about the actual humans on the other end. I'm both. I work out where you're going first, then I can actually build the answer if that's what's needed.
Which means I can say the thing nobody else selling you AI will say out loud. Sometimes you shouldn't.
If the smart move is a tool off the shelf, I'll point you at it. If the smart move is nothing yet, I'll say that too. Then the day you do need something built properly, you'll know I told you straight the first time.
And when we do build, your data stays yours and the thing gets built to last, not to lock you in. With you, not just for you, so it's yours to run long after I'm gone.
A few questions, answered straight
The honest answers.
Do you only do AI?
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No. AI is one tool I reach for when it earns its place. Some of what I build has no AI in it at all. I start with what your business needs, not with the tech.
Do you do the implementation?
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No. I'll architect and build a custom system with you, and I'll oversee implementation if I'm your strategist on retainer, but I don't do the hands-on rollout myself. When that's what you need, I'll connect you with brilliant people who do it well. I'd rather send you to the right person than take your money for something someone else is better at.
Do you do training?
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I build capability, which is the better version of training. You work on your own business and walk out able to do it again without me. It's one-to-one, or a workshop alongside owners from other businesses, not me coming in to train your team in-house. There's more on that on the capability page.
How much does it cost?
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The groundwork is $4,500. The retainer seat is $3,000 a month. Builds start around $10k, quoted on scope, with a care package from $149 a month for hosting and maintenance. Workshops and capability run from $600 a person, and the Community Hour is free. All prices NZD, GST exclusive.
Where are you based?
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Whangārei, Te Tai Tokerau. Working with clients across Aotearoa and, a few times a year, further afield.
How do we start?
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Send me a message. A few sentences is plenty. I read everything and reply within two business days. Not sure which way in fits? Book the free 30-minute call and we'll figure out together whether we're a good fit. I'd rather point you in the right direction than sell you something you don't need.
More questions? Get in touch.
If this sounds like the kind of help you've been after, let's talk.
The first conversation is a free 30-minute call. We'll figure out together whether we're a good fit, and if I'm not the right person, I'll tell you who is. I'd rather point you in the right direction than sell you something you don't need.
Book a free 30-minute callRather write it down? Send me a message. A few sentences is plenty, and I'll reply within two business days.
Let's storm the ordinary together.