From Wall Street to Workflow Wizard: Makena Zannini on Scaling with Systems, Strategy, and Soul
In this episode of Pivot to Profit, Pam Jordan sits down with powerhouse strategist and operations expert Makena Zannini, founder of The Boutique COO. With experience from Wall Street to Wharton to fractional COO services for growing businesses, Makena shares how she’s helping entrepreneurs scale sustainably — without burning out or blowing their budget.
From her own experience bootstrapping her way through college to helping founders hit 7 figures, Makena’s mission is simple: empower business owners with the infrastructure, insight, and implementation support they need to grow profitably and peacefully.
From Counting Pennies to Crunching Millions
Makena’s earliest financial memories are rooted in scarcity. She grew up working-class, watching her parents argue over bills at the grocery store. That upbringing shaped her relationship with money — and instilled both a frugal mindset and a powerful drive.
After earning her degree at Wharton (without fully realizing what a big deal it was), she landed on Wall Street, grinding through spreadsheets and absorbing lessons in performance, structure, and scale. But she quickly realized: corporate life wasn't sustainable — especially as one of the few women in the room.
With no safety net and thousands in student debt, Makena began freelancing on the side. Supporting small businesses — often founded by passionate experts with no business training — became her calling. That side hustle evolved into The Boutique COO, a firm designed to bridge the gap for growing companies that need more support but aren’t ready for full-time hires.
The Boutique COO: Strategic Support Without the Overhead
Makena’s firm offers fractional operations, marketing, and systems support — everything from CRM setup and project management to SOPs and marketing infrastructure. Her sweet spot? Catching businesses at the tipping point — where systems are breaking, inboxes are exploding, and leads are falling through the cracks.
“We’re like business doctors. We stop the bleeding first, then we build sustainably.”
Makena and her team don’t just hand clients a plan — they implement it. It’s this tactical execution, not just strategy, that sets her apart from traditional consultants.
Mistakes She Sees Most Often
No SOPs or backend systems
Many clients grow faster than expected, with no backend to support the momentum. Makena helps businesses chip away at better processes before chaos becomes unmanageable.Inconsistent Marketing
Entrepreneurs often market in fits and starts — and wonder why leads dry up. Makena emphasizes realistic consistency over perfection. Even posting twice a week is better than silence.Overspending on Strategy Without Execution
She warns against paying thousands for “pretty” marketing audits when you don’t yet have foundational systems in place to act on them.
“Start small. Do less, better. You don’t need to eat the whole elephant in one bite.”
Brick by Brick: Taking Her Model into New Industries
Makena recently co-launched Brick by Brick Collective, an industry-specific version of her COO model tailored to real estate professionals. Real estate’s boom-bust cycles make full-time hiring risky, so her team offers fractional support tailored to agents, investors, and service providers.
And that’s just the beginning. A construction-specific version is already in the works — with more to come. All are powered by her proprietary backend tech and strategic IP.
“We proved the model works. Now we’re customizing it across industries.”
Her Vision: Profits with Purpose
Makena isn’t building an empire to flaunt — she’s building an ecosystem. Her dream?
To become the go-to trusted source for honest, hands-on business support.
To invest in small business incubation for under-resourced founders.
And to support her growing family (she and her husband are beginning the surrogacy journey!) with peace, security, and maybe a few winter weekends at a ski house.
Quickfire Takeaways from the Rapid Round
Profit or Growth? → Profit
Expense she’ll never cut? → Executive assistant
Best money advice? → ROI, always
If she started over? → Hold a higher bar for herself
Weirdest spreadsheet tracked? → Workout routine data, naturally.
Want more from Makena? Find her here: https://www.instagram.com/makenafingerzannini/?hl=en and https://www.instagram.com/theboutiquecoo/?hl=en