--- title: Fractional COO & Chief of Staff Services | At The Helm description: Fractional COO (Chief Operating Officer) and Chief of Staff retainers, plus an Operations & AI Diagnostic and single missions, for founders and CEOs. --- [![ath-logo_scroll](https://atthehelm.ai/hubfs/ath-logo_scroll.svg)](https://atthehelm.ai/home) - [SERVICES](https://atthehelm.ai/services) - [ABOUT](https://atthehelm.ai/about) - [CHART MY COURSE](https://atthehelm.ai/chart-my-course) [BOOK A CONVERSATION](https://atthehelm.ai/discoverycall) # You don’t need more advice. ### You need someone who can see what isn’t working, decide what should change, and make it happen. Fractional COO (Chief Operating Officer), Chief of Staff, and AI-enabled operations for founders and executives navigating growth, transition, or operational complexity. ### Why CEOs and founders choose AT THE HELM: 1. **I find hidden capacity and trapped value.** Expense reviews, vendor terms, workflow redesign. Most operations carry costs and busywork nobody has questioned in years, and that is usually where the quickest wins live. 2. **I put AI where it creates measurable leverage.** I map every workflow and sort each one into three lanes: automate it with AI, run it by a person with AI assistance, or keep it fully human. Then I build it, so your team’s time goes to the work only people should do. 3. **Strategic thinking, hands-on execution.** I work the way an owner works: big picture in view, sleeves rolled up, moving fast on my own or alongside your team. 4. **Change that lasts.** New processes, tools, and habits get built into how your people actually work, so the gains keep compounding after the engagement ends. ## Engagements aligned to your growth goals Every engagement is led personally by Rachel Christenson, who has operated at every stage of the company lifecycle: building a pre-revenue startup to profitability, scaling an Inc. 5000 company through a major AI and digital transformation of operations and product, and helping stabilize a global technology company as Chief of Staff to the CEO during major executive-team turnover. 14 years as a founder/operator • Inc. 5000 growth • 10× recurring revenue • Chief of Staff to a global CEO • AI-led operating transformation ### ONGOING LEADERSHIP #### Fractional COO STARTING AT ### $12,000/month #### (retainer) Senior operating leadership without the full-time executive hire. I own the operating rhythm of the business: priorities, accountability, workflows, metrics, cross-functional execution, and AI-enabled operations. You set the direction; I build the operating system that gets the company there. --- #### Fractional Chief of Staff STARTING AT ### $8,000/month #### (retainer) Your right hand for the priorities that can’t afford to stall. I bring structure to executive priorities, drive cross-functional initiatives, shape the decisions coming to your desk, and make sure commitments turn into action. Your team still reports to you; I make it easier for you to lead them. --- Retainers are typically scoped around 8 to 12 hours of leadership capacity per week, with priorities, access, and boundaries agreed before the engagement begins. [BOOK A CONVERSATION](https://atthehelm.ai/discoverycall) ### COO, when the operation is the bottleneck **The promise:** operating ownership. I run how the company works so you can focus on where it is going. **What I own:** priorities, accountability, workflows, metrics, operating budget, cross-functional execution, and AI modernization. I map workflows and sort each one into three lanes: automate it with AI, run it with a person plus AI, or keep it high-touch and human. I surface cost and capacity opportunities, build the scorecard the team operates from, and lead implementation from roadmap through rollout. Everything gets documented as we go so the system keeps running when I’m not in the room. **What stays yours:** vision, culture, and final authority over major people and strategic decisions. I own the operating system and execution. **Best for:** a founder-led company that has outgrown its systems and needs an operator, not more advice. **I’ve held this seat:** co-founder and COO of an Inc. 5000 company for 14 years: recurring revenue grown tenfold, and an exit where the buyer kept me on to run the company for five more years. Most recently, Managing Director of a private membership organization for family office principals, where I built the operating system from the ground up and put every workflow through the same three-lane sort I bring to clients. ### Chief of Staff, when you’re the bottleneck **The promise:** more executive capacity. The priorities living in your head get structured, driven, and finished. **What I own:** the special projects and cross-functional priorities that have no obvious owner: board or investor prep, executive research and decision support, critical launches, and initiatives that cross multiple departments. I shape decisions before they reach you and drive execution after you make them. I also keep the weekly operating rhythm moving so commitments do not slip. **What stays yours:** final decisions, direct leadership of your team, and your authority. Everyone still reports to you. **Best for:** a CEO whose best ideas sit in a backlog because every capable person already has a full-time job. **I’ve held this seat:** former Chief of Staff to the CEO of a global technology company, brought in during a near-complete turnover of the executive team. **The short version: a COO owns how the company operates. A Chief of Staff makes you more effective.** Not sure where to start? The Diagnostic finds what needs to change. A Single Mission gets one critical outcome done. COO owns operating execution. Chief of Staff increases your executive capacity. Offsites align your leadership team around the decisions that matter. Run on EOS®? I work comfortably in the Integrator seat. EOS® is a registered trademark of EOS Worldwide, LLC. At The Helm is not affiliated with or endorsed by EOS Worldwide. ### FOCUSED ENGAGEMENTS Best place to start #### Operations & AI Diagnostic   ### $6,500 #### (one-time) A focused assessment of how your company actually operates. I identify friction across workflows, communication, accountability, technology, and AI readiness, then deliver a prioritized 90-day roadmap showing what to fix, automate, eliminate, or redesign first. You leave with clear priorities and immediate next steps. --- #### Single Mission STARTING AT ### $7,500 #### (project-based) One important outcome. Clear scope. Done. Bring me the initiative that needs an experienced owner: a critical launch, an AI implementation, a process redesign, an operating cadence reset, or a cross-functional initiative nobody has bandwidth to lead. I take it from ambiguity to execution. --- #### Executive Offsites & Leadership Sessions STARTING AT ### $7,500 #### (project-based) The offsite, the investor day, the leadership summit: designed and produced end to end. I build the agenda around the decisions you need to make, prepare the pre-work and materials, manage every vendor and detail, and capture decisions, owners, and next steps. You lead the room; everything around it is handled. --- **Not sure which engagement fits? Let’s talk about what’s getting in the way and whether At The Helm can help.** Best suited for established founder-led companies that have outgrown informal ways of working but are not ready for another full-time executive. [BOOK A CONVERSATION](https://atthehelm.ai/discoverycall) ## Popular Single Missions **One focused engagement. One high-impact result.** When a high-priority initiative needs focused attention and fast execution, I step in with targeted support to get it done right and done quickly. Every mission includes a polished deliverable plus a practical handoff plan your team can run. If the work should continue, I can stay on to execute the next phase. Need something not on this list? Every mission can be scoped custom in a conversation. #### Workflow Map & AI Plan I map how work actually flows through a function, or the whole company, and sort every workflow into three lanes: automate, human plus AI, or fully human. You get the map and a build-ready plan. #### Process Documentation Sprint How your business runs, captured and codified: the operating playbooks that let your team execute at a high standard without you in the room. #### Process Automation One high-value workflow or connected process, automated, tested, documented, and live by the end of the engagement. #### Priority Reset Competing goals get sorted into a focused 90-day roadmap with owners and dates. #### Hiring Sprint Define the role, build the scorecard and interview process, and create a 30/60/90-day onboarding plan for one key hire. #### Expense & Vendor Review A line-by-line review of operating spend, recurring expenses, and vendor terms to surface savings and put the money back to work. ![fulllogo](https://atthehelm.ai/hubfs/fulllogo.jpg "fulllogo") ## Ready when you are. Book a conversation and bring the thing that’s stuck. You’ll leave with at least one concrete next step, whether or not we work together. Prefer to start in writing? Tell me what you’re navigating and I’ll reply personally within one business day.   [BOOK A CONVERSATION](https://atthehelm.ai/discoverycall) [START IN WRITING](https://atthehelm.ai/chart-my-course) ![ath-logo_wht](https://atthehelm.ai/hubfs/ath-logo_wht.svg) At The Helm Corporation 455 Market St Ste 1940 PMB 627763 San Francisco, California 94105-2448 US © AT THE HELM CORPORATION 2026  |  [Privacy Policy](https://atthehelm.ai/privacy-policy)