Grow your business without losing what makes it yours.

I'm Tara Watson. I help founders remove operational friction and build the rhythm, structure and systems a growing business needs, while protecting the identity that made it worth growing in the first place.

Start a conversation See how I work

About

I've worked in every seat: the clinic floor, the planning table and the boardroom.

I started in patient care and grew up with the businesses I worked in, from single practices to multi-state organizations. I've run clinical operations, built teams and departments from scratch, led a healthcare software business line, and served as COO with full P&L ownership. Along the way I earned my MBA, which gave a formal shape to what the work had already taught me.

The work I enjoy most is building the operating backbone: the calendar, the planning cycle, the structure and the systems. Done well, it takes friction off people's plates and gives a business room to be more of what it already is.

I started Practice to Platform Advisory to help founders do exactly that.

See my full career history on LinkedIn ↗

Approach

Your differentiators are the strategy. Operations should protect them.

Growing businesses rarely stall for lack of ambition. They stall in friction: roles that blur, meetings that don't decide anything, systems that don't talk to each other, and a founder who has become the bottleneck.

The common fix is to standardize until the business looks like everyone else's. I start somewhere else. First I find what makes your business distinct, such as the client experience, the culture and the way your best people work. Then I build the operations around it.

01
Listen for what's distinct

Time with you, your team and your locations to name the differentiators worth protecting, in plain words everyone recognizes.
02
Find the friction

Where work gets stuck, duplicated or routed through you. Where the numbers disagree. Where good ideas fail to spread.
03
Build the operating system

The calendar, planning cycle, structure and tools your business needs, designed to fit how it already works at its best.
04
Hand it over

Your team runs it without me. You get your time back for the work only you can do.

What I build

The operating backbone of a business that thrives.

Operating calendar & business rhythm

A weekly, monthly and quarterly cadence where every meeting has a purpose, the right people and a decision at the end. Everyone knows what happens when, and the business stops relying on the founder's memory.

Annual planning cycle

A repeatable planning process that turns your goals into priorities, bottom-up budgets and targets each location and leader owns, with check-ins through the year so the plan stays in use.

Organization structure & design

Clear roles, decision rights and a management layer that lets the business grow beyond you. Structure built around your strongest people and your culture, rather than a generic org chart.

Tech stack & reporting

Systems chosen and connected so they support the work instead of creating it, with one set of numbers that leaders, locations and partners all trust.

And the growth it makes possible

With the backbone in place, I help businesses grow on their own and through acquisition, keeping the identity of everyone involved intact.

Organic growth

Membership & recurring revenue: Programs designed around what your best clients already value, so they come back more often and stay longer.
Provider & executive recruitment: Finding, hiring and keeping people who fit your culture, from clinicians to senior leaders.
Succession planning: Preparing the next generation of leaders so the business, and the founder, are never stuck.

Growth through acquisition

Commercial diligence: An operator's view of a target, drawn from diligence on dozens of healthcare practices: how it really runs, what makes it special, and what it will take to bring it in well.
Integration: Bringing acquired businesses of every size onto shared systems and rhythms without erasing what made them worth acquiring.

Who I help

For founders and the leaders growing alongside them.

I've held full ownership of a $170 million P&L. Within it, I've operated individual businesses ranging from under $1 million to more than $50 million in revenue, so the work fits the size you are today and the size you're growing toward.

Founders & owners

You built something good, and growth is now taking more of you than it gives back. I help you build a business that runs well without losing its character.

Leadership teams

You're adding locations, people or services faster than your systems can keep up. I help you build the rhythm and structure to scale what already works.

Companies with investor partners

Growth is expected and the pace is fast. I help make sure the business keeps its identity, and its people, as it scales.

Companies usually call when…

Everything still runs through the founder.
Meetings fill the week but don't decide much.
Each location does things its own way, and good ideas don't spread.
Systems don't talk to each other, and nobody fully trusts the numbers.
Growth is diluting the culture that made the business different.
Annual planning is a spreadsheet nobody opens again until next year.

Industries

Built in healthcare. Useful in any business growing across teams and locations.

My career has been in dermatology, plastic surgery, medical aesthetics and wellness, in both traditional medicine and retail healthcare. That means I've built operations for insurance-based clinical care and for cash-pay, consumer-driven experiences, and for businesses that do both under one roof.

The challenges I help with come up in any people-driven business that's growing: keeping what makes it special, clearing friction out of the way, and building a rhythm that lets good people do their best work.

Where I've worked

Dermatology Traditional & retail
Plastic surgery Traditional & retail
Medical aesthetics Retail healthcare
Wellness Retail healthcare

Where the work applies

Dental, veterinary & physical therapy
Specialty physician & behavioral health groups
Membership and consumer service businesses
Multi-location service businesses

Ways to work together

Start small, or bring me in to build.

4 to 6 weeks · fixed fee

Operations review

A close look at how the business runs today, what makes it distinct and where the friction is. It ends with a prioritized plan you can act on, with or without me.

Typically 3 to 6 months

Build projects

Focused work with a clear finish line, such as:

Designing your operating calendar and meeting rhythm
Setting up an annual planning and budgeting cycle
Redesigning your organization structure and roles
Selecting, connecting or replacing core systems
Launching a membership or recurring revenue program
Diligence and integration for an acquisition
Recruitment and succession plans for key roles

Ongoing · monthly

Fractional COO

Senior operating leadership a few days a week, for founders who need a partner to build and run the operating system while they lead the business.

Every engagement starts with a 30-minute conversation and a written scope with a fixed fee.

FAQ

Common questions

What is an operating rhythm, and why does a growing business need one?

An operating rhythm is the set of recurring meetings, reviews and planning cycles that keeps a business aligned: weekly huddles, monthly business reviews, quarterly priorities and an annual plan. Without one, decisions pile up on the founder and teams drift apart as the business grows. A good rhythm gives everyone a predictable place to raise issues, make decisions and see results.

How do you add structure without losing what makes a business unique?

I start by naming the differentiators worth protecting, such as the client experience, the culture or a way of working that sets the business apart. Every calendar, role and system I build is then tested against them. Structure should remove friction so those strengths can grow, not flatten the business into something generic.

What does a fractional COO do for a founder-led business?

A fractional COO provides senior operating leadership part-time, usually a few days a week. For a founder, that means a partner who builds and runs the operating rhythm, the planning cycle, the organization structure and the systems, so the founder can spend their time on the work only they can do. It adds executive capacity without a full-time hire.

What size businesses do you work with?

I've held full ownership of a $170 million P&L, and within it operated businesses ranging from under $1 million to more than $50 million in revenue. Smaller, founder-led businesses usually need a first operating rhythm, clear roles and systems that remove the founder as the bottleneck. Larger businesses usually need those same foundations rebuilt to work across more people, locations and leaders. The approach scales to where you are.

Do you only work with healthcare companies?

No. My experience is in dermatology, plastic surgery, medical aesthetics and wellness, across traditional medicine and retail healthcare, and that is where I can contribute fastest. The work applies to any people-driven business that's growing across teams or locations. If your business depends on great people delivering a distinct experience, the challenges will look familiar.

Do you help with acquisitions?

Yes. I've performed commercial diligence on dozens of healthcare practices and integrated businesses of all sizes, from the first look at a target through the months after close. My focus is the operating side: understanding how the business really runs, what makes it special, and how to bring it onto shared systems and rhythms without losing the people and qualities that made it worth acquiring.

How are engagements structured and priced?

Most engagements start with a 30-minute conversation, then an operations review or a defined build project. Reviews and projects are fixed fee and scoped in writing before work begins. Fractional COO roles are billed monthly. I don't bill hourly, so you know the cost up front.

Do you work with companies nationwide, and on-site?

Yes. I work with companies across the United States. Most engagements combine remote work with on-site time with your team and at your locations, because in operations work the answers are usually found where the work happens.

Contact

Start with a 30-minute conversation.

Tell me about your business, what makes it different and what's getting in the way. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so and point you to someone who is.

Send an inquiry [email protected] LinkedIn ↗