The right person in the room changes everything.
Part strategist.
Part champion.
Entirely in your corner.
You have a vision worth believing in. What's been missing is someone who can see it as clearly as you do—and help you turn it into the story, the strategy, and the momentum that makes other people believe in it too.
I'm Amy VanHaren. I've spent 25 years helping mission-driven brands find their footing and their fire. I’ve built a marketing agency serving iconic brands like Patagonia and Amy's Kitchen, a maternal health platform reaching 100,000+ parents, and cross-country experiential campaigns that generated 1.7 billion media impressions and $750K in partnership revenue. I raised nearly $4M, secured partnerships with Target, Walgreens, and NASA, and led my last company through a strategic acquisition.
I don't just see what you're building. I see what it could become, and I know how to creatively close the gap between those two things.
I keep my roster intentionally small and work with only a few brands at a time. Because this kind of work requires presence, not a playbook.
Who This is For
My best clients are founders and brand leaders who are building something that matters, and are ready to invest in the strategy that matches their ambition. You might be:
A funded founder who has product-market fit but needs a clear, cohesive brand or marketing strategy to match the next stage of growth
A small or scaling team that's been executing on instinct and needs the messaging, structure, and systems to grow without losing what makes you distinct
A brand in transition — launching something new, repositioning, raising a round, or stepping into a bigger market
A visionary who needs a thought partner and champion in their corner, not just someone to execute the plan
I'm especially drawn to brands in women’s or maternal health, mental health or wellness, and community— and to any founder who is building with both purpose and ambition. The two aren't in conflict. In fact, that's exactly where I do my best work.
My Approach
What working with me looks like
I help founders and companies move. From stuck to clear. From invisible to findable. From circling to closing. From idea to launched.
The method changes depending on where you are and where you're headed— sometimes it's your brand strategy and messaging, sometimes it's the pitch deck that finally closes, sometimes it's the campaign that puts you on the map. But the outcome is always the same: momentum.
I'm a brand strategist and storyteller, not a performance marketer. I don't run ads or manage your media spend. What I do is harder to find and more valuable: I help you see what you've been building with new eyes, name what’s needed, and move with the kind of clarity and confidence that makes other people believe in it too.
I also work with founders on the less visible side of brand strategy: how you show up in rooms that matter, how your story creates pull rather than pressure, and how to shift from convincing people to offering them something genuinely worth saying yes to.
The through-line is always the same. The path we take to get there depends on what you actually need.
What we might actually work on
Every engagement is different. Depending on where you are and where you're headed, we might be working on your brand positioning and messaging—or your pitch deck and partnership strategy. Your go-to-market plan—or the experiential campaign that puts you on the map. Your founder presence and how you show up in rooms that matter, or the email and content systems that keep your community close.
The through-line is always the same: clarity, confidence, and momentum.
The path we take to get there depends on what you actually need.
Ways to work together
The Clarity Intensive
For founders who need to get clear before they can move.
For when you've been circling your brand, your story, or your strategy and can't quite land it. We get to the heart of your brand—your positioning, your ideal audience, your key goals, and your 90-day priorities—so that everything you create from here has real foundation under it. Two deep strategy sessions, async support throughout, and a roadmap you can actually use.
Delivered over 3–4 weeks.
The Momentum Project
For brands and founders who are ready to move and need the right person to move with.
A defined project with a defined outcome. That might be a pitch deck that closes, a launch that lands, a brand campaign that gets you found, an email flow strategy, or a partnership strategy that opens doors. We scope it together based on what you actually need, then build it—the messaging, the strategy, the materials — until it's ready to move.
Project-based, typically 4–12 weeks.
The Strategic Partnership
For founders who want an ongoing thought partner through every season of growth.
Not a CMO. Not a contractor. The person you call before the the big pitch. Before the launch. Before the pivot decision that's been keeping you up at night. I become an extension of your leadership team—bringing strategic clarity, honest perspective, and a creative mind. Monthly deep-dive sessions, priority async access, and a consistent presence that keeps you moving with clarity and confidence.
Ongoing. Minimum 3-month commitment. Limited availability.
You’ve been doing this alone long enough.
Let's find out what's possible when you have the right person in your corner.