By: Jeff Haanen & Josh Rogers
It was the spring of 2023, and I (Jeff) was ready to work again. Having exited my previous leadership role and taken a sabbatical, I was ready to do what I feel most called to: building ventures that matter.
But I found the tradeoffs facing me weren’t appealing. I didn’t want to lose flexibility or control over my time, and most full-time roles were just that. I also thought about acquiring a business, but wasn’t ready for the debt and stress. I even considered operating somebody else’s business, but the level of work required for little to no equity also didn’t make sense, even though my background “qualified” me for this work.
And yet I wanted to be on a team again. I wanted to do more than just consult, but actually build businesses and organizations I cared about. And though I wanted to provide well for my family, I didn’t want to burden any one organization or small business with my full income requirements.
So, I started to talk to a handful of CEOs, and here’s what I learned. They wanted somebody to actually build their vision, solve immediate problems, and work alongside them – not just give advice.
The solution I backed into – and now have been working at for years – is fractional leadership. For three clients – a small businesses in the water treatment industry, an academic center at a university, and a church – I came onto the leadership team, and have turned strategy into operations, managed teams, created content, solved customer challenges, created budgets, hired employees, and – step by step – helped three great owners & CEOs grow their organizations.
My (Josh) work experience has been a bit different. As an operator in mostly fintech companies, I’ve watched what happens when founders stretch themselves across too many critical roles—when the same person making product decisions is also managing people, setting strategy, and putting out daily fires. Sometimes they pull it off through sheer will and talent, but even then, they hit walls they can’t break through alone. Other times, businesses flatline or retract, cultures unravel, people get hurt, and leaders burn out. I fell into that trap myself—trying to carry everything alone when I could have been more effective with the right support.
Like Jeff, my experience led me to wonder if there’s a better way to actually grow a business – that’s better for the founder, the team, and the customers they’re called to serve.
The Market Gap
Here’s what I’ve seen, time and time again. Consultants deliver reports and recommendations, then leave. Coaches ask great questions and provide frameworks, but ultimately tell founders to “figure it out.” Both approaches just add more to an already overloaded founder or operator’s plate instead of actually taking work off it. Companies often need real, embedded leadership—not just advice—but can’t always afford or justify a full-time executive. Meanwhile, experienced leaders find themselves working in isolation, limited by their own existing networks, without the community and collaboration that made them effective in other organizations.
I (Jeff) saw the same thing. When I approached companies as a consultant, I could feel that they were actually wondering: “Rather than tell me what to do, can you just do it for me?” Advice is cheap – and with AI, getting even better and cheaper. To get the help they need, then, founders often must either sacrifice equity if they raise capital or make an expensive (and often stressful) bet on executive-level talent. Or they have to figure it out themselves through a myriad of online gurus, podcasts, and groups. Many founders feel a bit like Dante at the beginning of his Inferno, “At the midway point of life I found myself in a dark forest, for the straightforward pathway had been lost.”
So, Josh and I started talking about market gaps, and we were both drawn to a fractional leadership model. However, we didn’t find one that both shared our values and created a community of leaders and business owners that supports their personal and professional growth. We wondered, could we provide good work for experienced leaders, while also fueling businesses with the talent they need to thrive?
YOKE Is Born
And so, YOKE was born. The word “yoke” comes from the idea of two animals pulling together, tilling the soil and preparing it for planting, growth, and eventually harvest. Also, being motivated by our faith, we seek to live and work in a way in which “our yoke is easy, and our burden is light.” We believe that hiring an experience, mission-aligned, and driven fractional leader can both be good for your business and your soul.
YOKE creates a path where businesses get the right leader at the right time—someone who has the experience and actually does the work, not just advises on it. YOKE can also help businesses solve immediate problems by getting another “leader in the room” who takes real responsibility in the company. And then we stick around – to support both the businesses and leaders we serve. We’re not just executive recruiting; instead, we say to owners, “Let’s build your company together.”
YOKE also provides flexibility, income, and a community of driven, smart, experienced leaders who share a conviction that business is really here to serve the needs of our customers, employees, and the communities in which we live. We give experienced leaders a way to contribute meaningfully without building their own practice from scratch, while being part of a community of peers who understand the challenges they face. Instead of founders and operators carrying everything alone and leaders working in isolation, it can create partnerships where everyone can focus on their zone of genius. YOKE leaders are embedded in the company, yet flexible enough to shift when markets or business needs shift. And when they do, we’re still here to find new opportunities, to collaborate, and plow the soil–together.
The Impact We’re Shooting For
We believe businesses and organizations that have healthy teams can grow and be a significant force for good. We believe YOKE can catalyze the healthy growth of ventures that matter. And we believe that, as a result, owners and CEOs can also be healthier, delegating what they’re not as good at while working alongside character-first, fractional leaders.
We see a day where exited owners decide to build again, pouring into earlier versions of themselves as an act of service; where corporate operators dedicate their talent to SMBs and mission driven organizations; where aspiring entrepreneurs are enabled to bootstrap their dreams while gaining helpful experience through fractional leadership engagements; and consultants both earn a steadier income and do so by getting their hands dirty in the daily operations of their client’s organizations. We also see a day when co-builders are pouring into one another, fueling their professional and personal growth in community. And when experienced leaders have the platform and support to contribute at their highest level, they can invest their experience in growing businesses and developing people in ways that make their communities better places to live and work — while continuing to grow and become more complete individuals themselves.
And we envision a day when businesses and mission-driven organizations overcome challenges and hit new levels of impact through healthy growth. When this happens, and businesses have the leadership they need to thrive, we believe they better serve their customers, create healthier workplaces for their employees, and contribute more meaningfully to the communities where they’re rooted.
Ultimately, we’re working to build a community that embraces excellence in leadership, authenticity over ego, business as service, and work as an act of renewal.