# Sarah Derheim > Brand Designer | Chief of Staff to Early-Stage Founders & CEOs | 0→1 Operator Building Systems, Cadence & Communication Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/sarahderheim I'm a 0-1 operator who builds the Office of the CEO for early-stage founders. I design operating systems, run cross-functional projects, and handle executive communications so founders can focus on what only they can do. My edge is pairing brand fluency with rigorous execution—outcomes improve without losing the soul of the work. I help founders protect their time and ship what matters. That means standing up OKRs and KPI dashboards, coordinating board materials and investor updates, running performance reviews, managing special projects, and being a proxy when the founder can't be in the room. I've led operational turnarounds (–370% to +12% margin improvement), built company-wide operating cadences, and partnered with CEOs on fundraising and strategic initiatives. I'm comfortable handling the hard stuff: legal issues, compliance, restructuring, and the messy middle where vision meets reality. My background is unconventional. I started in creative direction, leading rebrands for Hedley & Bennett, GEM, and Brandable. I loved the design work, but kept gravitating toward the operational side—the handoff points, the broken processes, the "who's actually responsible for this?" moments. I realized my strength was translating founder vision into systems the entire team could execute. At Lunch Bunch, I served as Head of Operations (Chief of Staff role) for a 20-person food startup, overseeing operations, HR, legal, and marketing while scaling revenue from $30K to $2M in 18 months. At GEM, I directed a full rebrand that lifted conversion by 45% while implementing workflows that made the team 2x faster. Clarity and structure aren't the enemy of creativity—they're what make it sustainable. Today, through Middle Space Studio, I work as a Brand Designer and fractional Chief of Staff for pre-seed and seed-stage founders in wellness, food, hospitality, and education. I build the infrastructure that lets founders lead—Notion dashboards, SOP libraries, operating cadences, and communication frameworks that create visibility and accountability. I'm drawn to mission-driven companies where the work has heart. I like stepping into chaos and leaving behind clarity, consistency, and calm. If you're building something meaningful and need a strategic partner who can run point on priorities and keep momentum, I'd love to connect. ## Work Experience ### Founder @ Middle Space Studio Jan 2024 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Middle Space Studio is a creative and strategic consultancy helping early-stage, mission-driven founders bring structure and soul to their businesses. I partner with CPG, hospitality, and wellness brands to bridge the gap between vision and execution—combining brand strategy, digital design, and operational consulting to build scalable systems for growth. - Built a multidisciplinary consultancy model integrating brand strategy, digital design, and operational systems—delivering end-to-end solutions that reduce client dependence on multiple contractors and strengthen brand consistency. - Partnered with pre-seed and seed-stage founders to develop investor decks, brand books, and websites that supported capital raises, retail expansion, and new product launches (including Amazon readiness). - Implemented scalable operational frameworks—Notion dashboards, SOP libraries, and marketing calendars—that improved client execution speed and accountability by ~30–40%. - Developed custom brand strategy playbooks aligning founder vision, messaging, and visual identity to improve internal cohesion and external storytelling. - Built a scalable internal operations backbone using Bonsai for project tracking, invoicing, and SOW management—enabling 100% on-time client delivery and future team expansion. - Established a creative-ops consultancy model that allows founders to focus on leadership and product while I translate their vision into systems, tools, and brand infrastructure that drive measurable results. Tools: Shopify · Squarespace · WordPress · Adobe Creative Suite · Notion · Mailchimp · Klaviyo · Bonsai · Google Workspace ### Head of Business Operations & Strategy (Chief of Staff role) @ Lunch Bunch Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | Los Angeles, California, United States Served as strategic and operational lead for a 20-person, early-stage food and education startup. Oversaw operations, HR, legal, and marketing while managing a 15-person cross-functional team. Partnered directly with the CEO and Board to lead the company from an unprofitable DTC model to a $2M multi-channel business within 18 months. - Led operational turnaround, improving gross margin from –370% to +12% and scaling revenue from $30K to $1.5M through cost restructuring and production optimization. - Cut purchasing spend by 50% by transitioning to larger vendors, negotiating favorable net terms, and improving cash flow management. - Built company-wide operating cadence (OKRs, KPI dashboards, and quarterly reviews) to align teams and increase delivery reliability. - Owned HR & legal operations, overseeing payroll, benefits, and compliance via Justworks; implemented performance reviews and managed two settled lawsuits. - Partnered with the CEO on board communications, fundraising decks, and investor updates to enhance strategic clarity and confidence. - Managed school and community partnerships, overseeing compliance and logistics for multi-district meal programs. Key Tools: Monday.com, Google Workspace, Slack, Justworks, KPI Dashboards ### Associate Creative Director @ Cocktail Academy Jan 2022 – Jan 2022 | Los Angeles, California, United States Led creative direction and studio operations for a high-volume experiential marketing agency serving premium spirits and lifestyle brands. Managed a hybrid team of 7 creatives (2 in-house, up to 5 contractors) and reported directly to the CEO. - Built creative operations infrastructure by implementing Monday.com and Google Drive systems, reducing revision cycles and improving project delivery speed. - Directed creative across Diageo brands (Don Julio, Tanqueray, Johnnie Walker) and partners including Kin Euphorics, 818 Tequila, and Prime Video, elevating design consistency and retaining key accounts. - Developed pitch decks, moodboards, and event lookbooks that turned brand concepts into executable activations, driving repeat client engagements. - Managed six-figure design and production budgets for influencer and PR gifting programs, optimizing costs while maintaining quality and brand alignment. - Recruited, onboarded, and mentored designers and contractors, improving creative quality and turnaround efficiency. Tools: Monday.com · Google Workspace · Adobe Creative Suite ### Senior Designer @ MIKUNA® Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | United States Collaborated with the Creative Director and Copywriter to design and execute brand visuals across digital, print, packaging, and retail for Mikuna, a plant-based protein startup scaling within the competitive CPG wellness space. Owned end-to-end brand design during national retail expansion, helping define visual systems and creative standards. - Owned 360° brand design execution across packaging, ecommerce, paid media, and retail, strengthening Mikuna’s premium identity and cohesive storytelling. - Designed and launched new packaging and in-store assets that improved shelf visibility and supported rollout in Whole Foods and other natural retailers. - Developed and executed digital campaigns that contributed to double-digit engagement and follower growth across owned social channels. - Coordinated vendor production for print, retail, and DTC materials, maintaining quality and on-brand execution across 20+ SKUs. - Implemented structured design workflows in Google Workspace, improving cross-team collaboration and cutting asset retrieval time by ~40%. ### Creative Lead @ GEM Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Los Angeles, California, United States Served as creative lead and cross-functional bridge between marketing, operations, and product during a high-growth rebrand and product relaunch for this wellness CPG brand. Managed internal and external creative teams, vendor relationships, and agency partnerships to scale GEM’s identity and performance across digital and retail channels. - Directed a full 360° rebrand in partnership with Verdes Agency, overseeing logo, packaging, website, photography, and tone of voice — achieving a 45% lift in conversion post-launch through improved storytelling and cohesive design execution. - Managed end-to-end rollout across all channels (social, email, paid, retail, and ecommerce), collaborating with operations and product to align packaging, fulfillment, and creative for a consistent customer experience. - Implemented Asana, Figma, and Google Suite systems to centralize creative workflows and feedback cycles, cutting turnaround time from 2–3 weeks to 1 week and improving collaboration across teams. - Partnered with the CEO on fundraising efforts, designing investor materials that translated complex business vision into clear and compelling creative strategy. - Directed two brand photoshoots and managed contractors, freelancers, and vendors to maintain creative quality and budget alignment through launch. - Supported launch of new product formulations and Amazon expansion, ensuring creative alignment across DTC, retail, and marketplace channels. ### Senior Designer @ GEM Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | Venice, CA ### Design Manager, Digital @ Brandable Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Beverly Hills, CA Served as digital design lead across a high-volume portfolio of early-stage CPG brands in food, wellness, and beauty — managing 5–8 concurrent brand launches for national retail partners including Target and CVS. Reported to the Creative Director and collaborated cross-functionally with brand, business development, and web development teams to execute digital-first go-to-market strategies. - Led digital launches for consumer brands such as Craft City, Veggiecraft Farms, Ready to Thrive, and Good Vibes — owning website design, digital content, and paid media assets from concept through live rollout. - Reduced launch timelines by an estimated 30–40% by implementing structured project workflows, coordinating cross-functional alignment, and centralizing communication across design, development, and brand teams. - Created reusable design systems and templates that standardized brand expression across CPG verticals, improving creative consistency and speeding future launches. - Supported high-stakes retailer pitches alongside business development and creative leadership, developing brand decks and mockups that secured nationwide placements at Target and CVS. - Partnered with web developers to translate visual design into production-ready websites and maintain quality through QA testing and iteration cycles. Tools: Adobe Creative Suite · Trello · Google Workspace · Slack ### Associate Art Director @ Hedley & Bennett Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Los Angeles, California Served as the sole in-house creative, reporting to the CMO and collaborating directly with the Founder/CEO to translate vision into cohesive brand systems across digital, print, retail, and B2B channels. Partnered with marketing, ecommerce, and product teams to evolve Hedley & Bennett’s visual identity and launch high-profile collaborations. - Led creative direction and design for six national brand collaborations — including Vans, Parachute Home, Product(RED), and Topo Designs — developing 360° campaigns across packaging, digital, and influencer seeding that drove sales and earned national press (LA Times, The Kitchn). - Directed the Vans collaboration launch, selling out in under two weeks and introducing a new product category (footwear) through cohesive storytelling and cross-functional coordination. • Improved email marketing click-through rate by 35% through redesigned templates and campaign systems that strengthened engagement on the brand’s top-performing channel. - Implemented creative briefs, launch calendars, and photo production templates that streamlined campaign execution and reduced turnaround time by ~30%. - Designed catalogs and trade materials that supported wholesale and B2B expansion, ensuring consistent brand storytelling across digital and physical customer touchpoints. - Collaborated with external creative directors on brand refresh initiatives, refining photography, typography, and color systems to align with the brand’s evolving aesthetic. Tools: Adobe Creative Suite · Shopify · Klaviyo · Asana · Google Workspace ### Graphic Designer @ Hedley & Bennett Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Greater Los Angeles Area ### Co-Founder & Head of Creative @ Odella Studio Jan 2014 – Jan 2018 | Phoenix, Arizona Area Co-founded a boutique creative studio specializing in brand strategy, digital design, and marketing for mission-driven founders in hospitality, wellness, and food & beverage. Served as both creative and operational lead, overseeing client strategy, design execution, and business operations from 0→1 growth. - Built the studio from inception to 20+ active clients within the first year, establishing a strong niche among female founders and small businesses seeking authentic, values-led brand strategy. - Directed 360° brand launches and rebrands across hospitality, wellness, and beauty — leading positioning, identity design, web development, and content creation that improved client visibility and customer engagement. - Designed and implemented operational systems for proposals, contracts, client onboarding, and creative workflows, reducing project turnaround time by ~30% and increasing client retention through better structure and clarity. - Created scalable brand frameworks and marketing templates that enabled clients to maintain cohesive messaging and grow digital engagement across channels. - Oversaw copywriting, social media, and campaign execution, producing cohesive storytelling and marketing assets that directly supported business growth and community recognition for client brands. - Managed business operations end-to-end — including pricing, proposals, and project management — ensuring sustainable growth and high client satisfaction over three years. Tools: Adobe Creative Suite · Squarespace · Shopify · WordPress · Mailchimp · Klaviyo · Google Workspace ### Event Coordinator (Promoted to Co-Owner) @ The Event Loft Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | Orange County, California Area Promoted from intern to co-owner within five months at a full-service event production company specializing in high-end weddings and corporate events. - Managed a 25-person cross-functional team, including catering, logistics, and design staff. - Oversaw full-cycle event operations from client brief through execution—vendor coordination, budgeting, and day-of leadership. - Designed and implemented on-site systems to streamline vendor communication and improve event flow and client satisfaction. - Known for calm crisis management, clear communication, and ensuring seamless guest experiences under pressure. ## Education ### Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies Specializing in Design Thinking & Sustainability Prescott College ### University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts ### RE-Design Certification in Systems Design Ecosa Institute ### High School Diploma Sage Hill School ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarah-derheim-29977b121 - Portfolio: https://sarahderheim.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/sarahderheim JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/sarahderheim/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13