Founding cohort · 2026Walk into Q4 with the plan already finished.
A facilitated planning intensive for founders building values-driven ecommerce brands preparing for their biggest selling season. Five live strategy sessions. Eight brands. One finished Q4 Operating Plan your team can execute.
What you leave withA completed Q4 Operating Plan.
Revenue plan
A month-by-month forecast built from your own traffic, conversion, and margin — using the same model we've built for other clients.
Promotion Strategy
Every offer, bundle, and discount decided live, in the room, with the margin floor you will not go past already set.
Marketing Calendar
Built from our proven template and filled in together, live — email, SMS, paid, and organic on one dated grid.
A Phased Roadmap
What needs to happen and when, mapped to Q4's key moments — recommendations your team executes, not a rigid schedule.
Plus paid media direction and email strategy and the tactics behind the plan, not just the plan itself.
What you leave withThe exact repeat purchase flow we use to get a second order out of first time holiday buyers. Most brands leave this money on the table entirely.
A toolkit you'll use beyond Q4
We won't leave you with a folder of templates and a list of ideas.
If you've done the work and your plan still isn't complete by the final session, we'll schedule an additional completion session at no cost.
Our GuaranteeWho’s Behind ThisEnterprise strategy, built for founders.
Before Saltwork Strategy, I spent years inside agencies and executive teams working with brands like Hallmark, Hyatt, Lee Jeans, Timberland, and AMC Theatres, watching how strong brands prioritize, align their teams, and make the tradeoffs that hold up over time.
Today I bring that same strategic discipline to founder-led and Christian-owned brands, right-sized for your team and your stage of growth. Recent work includes:
Leading annual strategic planning for a $50M nonprofit
Serving as Fractional head of growth for a seven-figure Christian ecommerce brand through a season of 23% revenue growth
Replatforming a handmade leather brand to Shopify and rebuilding their revenue system for 87% growth
The Intensive is a new way to bring that same caliber of work to brands that aren't ready for a one-on-one engagement yet.
— Pat Padley, Founder of Saltwork Strategy
FOUNDING COHORT PRICINGFive live strategy sessions, the working frameworks and facilitation, and your completed Q4 Operating Plan. Inaugural pricing for the first cohort only — future cohorts are expected to begin at $4,500.
Two private sessions between the group sessions, a review of your plan, and hands-on work on the parts your team can't finish alone.
Fill out the form and answer a few questions about your brand and your Q4 — takes about five minutes.
A short conversation to confirm this is the right room for you, less than 30 minutes.
If it's a good fit, you're invoiced and we'll work out the schedule with the cohort.
You walk in and the plan starts getting built.
Details & Investment
JOin the Q4 Strategy IntensiveApply for the founding cohort
No payment now. Accepted brands are invoiced before the first session.
Applications are read personally. Dates are announced to accepted brands, and the room closes at eight.
By applying you also agree to occasional emails from Saltwork Strategy, including insights on the industry and updates about our services. No spam, ever.
QUESTIONSFrequently Asked Questions
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No. It's a facilitated strategy engagement. You get five live working sessions where you make real decisions with your plan in hand.
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All sessions are recorded, but this is built around live participation, not passive viewing. If your schedule can't realistically accommodate most of the five sessions, this probably isn't the right time for you.
Session dates are set after the cohort is filled, based on what works for the brands in the room, so there's some flexibility in finding times that fit before we lock the calendar.
If it still doesn't line up, reach out. We're happy to talk through how Saltwork could help you outside the cohort format.
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The founder, CEO, or whoever owns final decisions on revenue, promotions, and marketing direction.
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You leave with a complete plan your existing team or agency partners can execute. This is planning and decision-making, not ongoing execution.
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A short right fit conversation, then acceptance and an invoice before onboarding. Our goal is to keep the room made up of founders at a similar stages of growth.
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This is the first run of the Intensive, so founding participants get founding pricing. Once the format's proven, future cohorts begin at $4,500+.
Walk into Q4 with the plan already finished.
Eight seats are open, is one of them yours?
