Thomas M. Phillips

I operate at the intersection of strategy, execution, and communication, helping organizations move decisively when complexity, growth, or transition creates friction.

Over the past 10+ years, I’ve built and scaled systems, teams, and operating models across education, EdTech, and media-adjacent businesses. My work typically begins where momentum exists but alignment does not: leadership has a vision, teams are capable, data is abundant... yet execution stalls. That’s where I’m most effective.

My background may look nonlinear at first glance, but the through-line is consistent: diagnosing the real constraint, translating strategy into shared understanding, and turning that clarity into sustained execution. Education and entertainment are often treated as separate worlds, but both are fundamentally driven by engagement, storytelling, and human behavior. I’ve spent my career building organizations where those forces scale responsibly.

Early in my career, I advanced quickly into leadership roles, managing large teams and complex programs while still in my twenties. I went on to co-found and operate a multi-site B2B education business serving both private institutions and public districts, where I owned operations, growth, hiring, and the systems that made scale possible. That experience shaped how I work today: close to the business, accountable for outcomes, and deeply aware of how decisions impact people, processes, and customers.

In subsequent roles, I’ve served as a senior operator and strategic partner to founders and executives, building go-to-market infrastructure, improving operating cadence, and helping leadership teams align around priorities that actually move the needle. Whether inside a growing organization or alongside executive leadership, my focus remains the same: make complexity legible, create momentum, and reduce the cost of misalignment.

By scope, this has included:

• Scaling early-stage and growth-phase organizations by 500%+ through disciplined operating systems

• Launching and validating B2B channels that stabilized revenue and improved margins

• Leading cross-functional teams across marketing, operations, and product with clear accountability

• Navigating regulated environments, licensing requirements, and multi-site operations

• Translating data into narratives leadership teams can act on with confidence

I’m most effective in environments where stakes are high, information is imperfect, and progress depends on shared clarity more than heroic effort. I don’t thrive in maintenance mode. I’m brought in when something needs to change, and when leadership is ready to move.

Today, I’m focused on senior operator, Chief of Staff–type, and business operations leadership roles within established organizations or well-capitalized growth companies, particularly where strategy needs to be translated into execution at scale. I value environments that reward judgment, trust, and direct communication, and I do my best work alongside leaders who care about building something durable.