meet
THE POD

POD [n.]: a group of people who come together to collaborate without hierarchy to get a job done and have some fun along the way.

That’s our definition, anyway.

VALUES & PRINCIPLES

We are direct—we do what we say, we say what we mean, and we use data and experience to inform our recommendations. 

convicted

We have seen and done a lot. And yet, to bring our best, we ask questions to uncover and push forward consistently.

curious

We work hard to get to the bottom of it. We don’t stop until we feel like we are there. And we know our limits and check in with ourselves along the way.

driven

We care about collaboration and inclusiveness. We invite feedback and provide it as well, striving for fairness yet never losing sight of drive.

balanced

our MISSION

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again and again… we do great things with great people. And, we love it!

We work with leaders to unlock and unblock. We help you drive the joy of the mission via purposeful planning and culture focus.

There are stages of growth where companies are unsure of how to move forward. They may be experiencing success and need a strategy to sustain growth. Or, they may feel stuck.  It may be lack of data or not the right data, perhaps the company strategy is not landing or cascading into the team as intended. Execution feels rough. Leaders feel frustrated and sense frustration. Boiled down more so, the company that once felt amazing to work at has changed.

Our experience as operators and founders within the start-up landscape has helped us recognize many reasons why companies flourish and equally so, why companies flail. As such, we are harnessing our passion, curiosity, and drive to work with companies to propel forward.

Our approach is a combination of just-enough qualitative and quantitative assessments coupled with a plan that THE POD and your company can jointly execute. Our goal is not to stay with you and your team indefinitely but to create an end game that jointly feels like success.  

meet the TEAM

Our values, our experience, and our approach create a unique framework where your company will achieve a set of objectives that either did not previously feel possible or may not have been in the realm of awareness.  

We’re not mere fractional resources, we’re the people who will stick with you through the entire life cycle of our engagement so that you see results. 

CHRISTINA ZEIGLER
founding partner

  • Previously CEO, COO, CFO, VP, Board Member and Angel Investor

    Christina is a seasoned leader with experience building and scaling high-growth startups. She’s set and overseen brand strategy for direct-to-consumer and wholesale channels, led entire Operations departments, has two decades of experience in culture building and change management, and even has a successful track record leading teams that have turned digitally native brands into household names.

    • Vegamour

    • Harry’s

    • Eighteen B, formerly a Bolt Threads subsidiary

    • And more!

TAL HALPERN
founding partner

  • Previously Marketing Director, Head of Growth, and Advisor

    Tal is a seasoned marketer specializing in the direct-to-consumer industry and ad tech industries. She has a proven track record of delivering transformational company growth and leading teams across acquisition, retention, product marketing, and brand.

    • Ruggable

    • FANCY SPRINKLES

    • DataPop (Acquired by Criteo)

    • And more!

  • SAMANTHA BOLOSAN — POMteam, founder & managing partner

    After I fell into starting my own firm, I started to observe gaps that were inhibiting us from scaling at my desired rate. I hired Christina to help me strategize the second chapter of POM. After we started working with her, the company immediately began to form into my vision. She partnered, listened, stuck around for the many tumultuous turns… She is my go-to for strategic business advice. Not only because she is incredibly smart, experienced and talented. But because she is honest and will give me the right advice—not just what I want to hear. 

  • ELYSE HIGHSMITH — koala, director of retention; ruggable, director of retention

    Tal has been instrumental in my growth as both a leader and people manager. She continues to be a mentor to me and someone I look to for career and leadership advice.

  • MONICA SARACINO — coo, janessa leone

    Christina is one of the most valuable advisors Janessa Leone has ever come across. She has the unique ability to provide thought leadership across ALL parts of the business. We worked with Christina to reestablish the financial, operational and team strategy over the last 18 months and that work has already led to significant profitability improvements and has put the business on a path to drive continued meaningful growth.

TOGETHER we can get there