Operating experience · Direct advisory · Real execution

Focus. Strong people. Real execution.

I help owners, founders and CEOs turn growth ambition into clear priorities, stronger people in critical roles, and an environment where performance can happen.

For companies with potential, but too much noise, unclear ownership, weak execution, or managers who are not yet carrying the next stage.

Let's talk Explore how I work

This work only makes sense when there is willingness to change what is not working.

Karmen Grabnar Vovk seated at her desk.
20+ years Senior operating and advisory experience
Real growth environments Outfit7 · Studio Moderna · Bugatti Rimac · founder-led and complex businesses
Core work Focus · People · Ownership · Performance · Execution

Named companies reflect senior operating experience, not client endorsements.

The problem

Growth does not fail only because of strategy.

It fails when focus is unclear, the wrong people sit in critical roles, or the leadership layer is not strong enough to carry the next stage. Most companies do not need more theory — they need sharper focus, better people decisions and real execution.

When companies involve me

  1. The owner has a clear vision, but the organization is not ready to deliver it.

  2. There are too many priorities and not enough movement.

  3. Critical roles are missing, unclear or filled with the wrong profile.

  4. Managers are busy but do not own outcomes.

  5. Strong people are blocked by weak standards, unclear structure or poor behavior around them.

  6. Growth, restructuring, succession or a new market is creating people and structure risk.

  7. The business needs someone external and direct to name what people inside may avoid saying clearly.

What I Do

I help companies focus, raise the people standard and execute better.

The Performance Scale Map

  1. 01

    Focus

    What matters now?

  2. 02

    Strong People

    Who can carry the next stage?

  3. 03

    Performance Environment

    Are roles, standards and ownership clear?

  4. 04

    Execution

    Are decisions turning into results?

Growth works when focus is clear, strong people are in critical roles, the environment supports performance, and execution is disciplined.

How I Help

Three ways I work with owners and CEOs.

01

Growth Focus & Structure Review

A practical review of where the company stands today and what may block the next stage of growth.

Focus areas
  • Business focus and priorities
  • Organizational logic
  • Leadership layer strength
  • People and structure gaps
  • Key role risks
  • Ownership and accountability gaps
  • Execution bottlenecks
Best for

Companies that are growing, changing, restructuring or becoming too complex.

Output

A clear view of what to focus on, who can carry it, what structure is needed and what to change first.

02

Leadership Layer & Manager Alignment

Support in building, strengthening or recalibrating the leadership and management layer.

Companies rarely fail because they have no managers — they fail because managers are not strong enough for the role they are sitting in.

Focus areas
  • What kind of leaders the company really needs
  • Assessing leadership and role fit
  • Executive and key-role hiring logic
  • Mid and senior management lift
  • Manager calibration and role clarity
  • Probation and performance logic
  • Succession and continuity
Best for

Owners and CEOs who know that the wrong people in key roles become expensive very quickly.

Output

Clearer roles, stronger managers, better people decisions and a leadership layer aligned with the next stage.

03

Organization & Execution Support

Ongoing support for owners, CEOs and leadership teams during growth, restructuring or change.

Focus areas
  • Organizational design
  • Leadership alignment
  • Performance discipline
  • Decision clarity and execution rhythm
  • New structures, markets or entities
  • Reducing unnecessary chaos
  • Keeping the business focused on what matters
Best for

Companies that need practical senior-level support without adding unnecessary corporate layers.

Output

Less noise, clearer ownership, stronger follow-through and better movement on the priorities that matter.

Scale Focus Check

Where is your company losing performance?

Answer five short questions and receive a brief diagnostic outcome with a suggested next step.

No email is required. Your answers are not stored or submitted.

01Are the top 3 priorities clear to the leadership team?
02Do critical roles have strong people in them?
03Do managers own outcomes, not only tasks?
04Is weak behavior or weak execution addressed early enough?
05Do strong people have the environment to perform?
Karmen Grabnar Vovk speaking with her hands in a working meeting.

How I Work

Direct, hands-on, practical.

I work directly with owners, founders, CEOs and selected leadership teams — focused on what needs to move.

01

Understand the owner's vision and business priorities.

02

Understand the current people, structure and execution reality.

03

Identify what is helping growth and what is blocking it.

04

Clarify the key roles, risks and decisions.

05

Support implementation, calibration and follow-through.

I do not create complexity.
I help simplify it.

Operating Experience

Operating experience, not theory.

Environments that had to grow, change, scale and perform under pressure — where focus, people, systems and execution had to work together.

01

Outfit7 — global digital scale

A global digital consumer business through major growth and change, where priorities multiply and the leadership layer becomes decisive.

Relevance: scale pressure, user-driven growth, and the strong people needed to carry speed without chaos.

02

Studio Moderna — commercial scale across markets

International commercial growth systems — direct marketing, sales logic, CRM, analytics and operations — built as a repeatable engine rather than managed activity.

Relevance: how growth is built through focus, data, sales discipline and above-average people.

03

B2B services and advisory sales

Selling expertise, trust and business solutions to other companies — a challenge that demands credibility and people who can sell more than a product.

Relevance: the difference between selling a product and selling value, trust and business impact.

04

Bugatti Rimac / Rimac — CEO-level execution

Close to CEO-level priorities in a high-growth automotive and technology environment — OKRs, PMO logic, execution discipline and management rhythm.

Relevance: how strategy becomes execution, and where it gets stuck — ownership, priorities, rhythm.

05

Complex and regulated environments

Operating and advising where growth depends on people, process, risk, structure and execution working together — with clear roles, strong managers, ownership and controls.

Relevance: growth must be supported by structure, control, trust and the right leadership layer.

Explore full operating experience

About Karmen

I am useful when the polite version is no longer enough.

I am not a traditional HR profile.

I am not a recruiter.

I am not a classic coach.

I connect business ambition with people decisions, leadership style, structure, ownership and hands-on execution. My background is operational, not theoretical — companies where growth, pressure, people and structure all had to meet.

I notice quickly where energy is going, who is carrying the room, who is avoiding ownership, and who is no longer right for the next stage — and help you decide earlier, before the business pays the price.

Based in Slovenia.

View LinkedIn profile
Portrait of Karmen Grabnar Vovk.

For selected advisory mandates, growth-stage projects and board-level conversations

If the business has potential, but the focus, people or execution are not yet strong enough — let's talk.

This is likely a fit when

  • The issue is commercially important.
  • The owner or CEO is directly involved.
  • Leadership is willing to make decisions.
  • Difficult people or structure questions cannot be postponed.
  • The company wants direct judgment rather than another corporate layer.

A first conversation is a focused discussion about the company's current stage, what is not moving, and whether my involvement would be useful.

Tell me what you are building, scaling or restructuring.

A short note about the situation and where you need sharper judgment is enough to start.

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