Good work deserves to get done.

I’m Laney. I help people & teams get unstuck and get work across the finish line.

I’ve spent most of my career in marketing and operations. I love building the systems and structures that let good work actually move forward, because I’ve seen how often it gets stalled.

Sometimes it’s a founder who’s still holding every process in her head. Sometimes it’s a team that’s grown faster than its systems, and things are beginning to break. Sometimes it’s competing priorities across different parts of the organization, and no common language between groups.

This is where I step in, and help your team build the operations underneath the mission.

WHERE I COME IN

  • You’ve got a clear goal, but no clear path to execution

  • You have lots of priorities, but nothing getting across the finish line

  • Your team needs structure, but can’t afford to slow down

  • You’re too close to the work to see what’s missing

  • You just need help getting good work across the finish line

HOW I WORK

I won’t just hand you a binder full of pretty charts and best practices and disappear. I roll up my sleeves and get in there alongside your team to understand what systems have been outgrown. From there, I help build the operations, workflows, and structures to remove bottlenecks and keep the work moving.

Good intentions aren’t the problem. Follow-through is.

MY EXPERIENCE

I’ve led operations, strategy, and execution for 15+ years across agencies, media companies, and nonprofits. Here’s some of what that’s looked like:

  • Got sales, creative, technical, and client-facing teams speaking the same language instead of working against each other

  • Built and mentored teams at every level, from interns to senior account managers, across more than one organization

  • Built the systems behind the scenes, the ones that streamline fulfillment and let an organization grow without just getting busier

  • Worked comfortably with executives and donors one day, community partners and frontline staff the next, and translated between all of them

  • Co-founded Mountain Strong, raising over $950K (and counting) for long-term Hurricane Helene recovery in Yancey and Mitchell County

I’m especially drawn to working with small and mid-sized teams, particularly nonprofits, where the work matters and getting it right matters even more. If this resonates, find me on LinkedIn.

ABOUT LANEY

I’ve spent my career helping teams bring order to complexity, whether that meant building operational systems, leading client work, or turning big ideas into executable plans.

I’m naturally curious and love learning new things, which has shaped nearly every step of my career. That curiosity first led me to UNC-Chapel Hill, where I earned a degree in Journalism, and later to complete my MBA while continuing to grow across marketing, operations, strategy, and business leadership roles.

Today, I serve as Senior Manager of Sales Enablement at Relay, building the systems and tools that help teams operate at their best.

The thread running through all of it: I’m most at home when there’s a problem to solve and a structure to build.

When Hurricane Helene devastated my hometown in 2024, I co-founded Mountain Strong to support the community that raised me. Today, I help lead fundraising efforts and build the operational infrastructure behind the organization’s work.

That same instinct is what Vienna Waits is built on. I’m especially passionate about supporting small businesses and mission-driven teams in Western North Carolina with the systems, strategy, and execution needed to keep good work moving forward.

WHY VIENNA WAITS | BEHIND THE NAME

Two years ago, a coworker died unexpectedly. He was the director of IT at the time, a former military man, and one of those people you just feel lucky to know. He was one year from retirement, living on his farm with his wife and their granddaughter. He could tell you precisely how many days until his retirement. One night, he went to sleep and didn’t wake up.

It hit me hard. Not just the grief of losing someone I genuinely liked, but watching someone get so close to the life they’d worked toward and dreamed of, but never quite get to live it.

Around the same time, I rediscovered Vienna by Billy Joel on a random TikTok - a song I’d heard plenty of times growing up, but suddenly resonated with. After having two kids and helping my hometown recover from a natural disaster, I found myself needing to make a change, but not quite letting myself do it. That song felt like it was written for exactly where I was.

And then I kept getting little nudges from the universe.

After my coworker passed, his family asked for donations in lieu of flowers. In his honor, I gave to the US Army Museum. Because of that donation, I started getting mail from them.

And I started hearing Vienna everywhere. In coffee shops, in grocery stores, in the background of TV shows and blaring through windows of a car next to me at a red light. And almost without fail, I would get home after hearing it, and there would be a piece of mail from the US Army Museum waiting for me.

It felt like the universe was reminding me, maybe, that the life I wanted wasn’t going to wait forever. That there’s a cost to putting things off.

So I stopped waiting and started creating. And I named it after the song that wouldn’t leave me alone.

Vienna waits for you ✨