About Us
People and Process. Working Better, Together.
All operational problems have a people component. We solve both.
Find your starting pointWhy two of us
Most operational problems get diagnosed from one angle. A consultant reads the org chart, the workflows, the metrics — and misses why the team stopped speaking up in meetings eighteen months ago. A coach reads the relationships and the trust dynamics — and misses why the reporting structure is quietly working against the culture they're trying to build.
We diagnose from both angles at once, because we're in the room together.
Karen reads what's happening between people — where trust has eroded, where conflict is being avoided, where the real conversation isn't happening. Brian reads what's happening in the structure — where decisions bottleneck, where roles blur, where the system itself is generating the friction.
Neither picture is complete alone. The overlap is where the actual breakthroughs happen — and it's why every long-term engagement we've run has drawn on both of us, without exception.
How we show up
We listen before we recommend.
Your people and your processes are understood before anything gets proposed.
We sit at the table with you.
Accountable and committed.
We look for both sides of every problem.
The operational and the human, because that's where the real solution lives.
We stay until the work holds.
You don't inherit a report. We deliver a result, together.
A few things we believe
We don't advise. We sit at the table.
Most consultants hand you a recommendation and leave you to implement it. We're in the room for the implementation, not just the diagnosis.
We teach human skills, not labels.
Personality frameworks and typing systems are easy to hand out and easy to forget. We build the actual behaviors — listening, direct feedback, navigating conflict — through practice, not theory.
The work is only done when it runs without us.
If your team still needs us in the room a year from now, we haven't finished the job. Durable means durable without us there.
Who we are
Karen Knab, Co-Founder
Executive Coach • Family Business Advisor • LMFT
Karen brings 20 years of experience as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and certified executive coach. She works with leaders and teams on the conversations, dynamics, and development that determine whether an organization actually functions the way it's supposed to. Her background in family systems gives her a rare ability to see the relational patterns inside an organization that most advisors never think to look for.
Connect with Karen on LinkedIn →
Brian Hanley, Co-Founder
Operations Executive • Strategic Advisor
Brian spent over 30 years running complex organizations before founding The Alignment Company. He has managed $100M+ budgets, led 500-person workforces, and delivered operational turnarounds across manufacturing and technology environments. He holds a Master's in Conflict Resolution, and has learned from experience that systems only hold when the people inside them are aligned.
Connect with Brian on LinkedIn →You've looked at your process. You've looked at your people. Still looking for answers?
Let's talk. One client did — 33% revenue growth in nine months followed.
Find your starting point