From Zero-Client Startup to 10x Growth with a Real-Time "Board of Directors"
Case Study - Emma Frutkin
"This isn't just a bunch of courses, or some membership—it's like she is inside my business. The real-time access to her keeps me on track and moving forward so much faster."
Business: Sea Salt & Seltzer
Industry: Boutique Marketing Agency, Marketing & Strategy Services (Service-Based, Online)
Coaching with Andrea: Summer 2024
The Challenge
A lifelong entrepreneur and marketer, Emma decided to build her own marketing agency from scratch. After moving with her family and working at a growing tech company, the pull to build her own thing kept getting louder. She launched with zero clients, zero revenue, financial pressure, and big ambitions.
"If you're going to build your own marketing agency, like you're not getting any younger… I just had this drive to do it. So, I did. My agency business was literally zero. I started at zero. I had been coaching like once a month, but I knew I'd have to kick it up a notch if I really wanted to grow this thing!"
Building a brand-new business with no clients, she knew she needed deeper support, real access, and a strategic partner to build this next chapter.
The Solution
Emma leaned all the way in, starting with an Activator intensive and quickly moving into group coaching. She used every tool available—Voxer, group calls, retreats, and real-time advisory support—crediting Andrea's coaching as a core driver of her rapid growth.
"This is so different than any previous coaching I'd done. This isn't just a bunch of courses, or some membership that takes a lot of energy to keep up with, it's like she is… inside my business. The real-time access to her keeps me on track and moving forward so much faster, much more effectively than waiting for some monthly coaching call."
Beyond Andrea's support, the Ascension collective community gave her something she'd been missing:
"These women get it, even though we're in all different industries, we're experiencing the same challenges and growing and expanding together. The retreats might be my favorite thing… I just feel like a CEO when I'm there… it really supercharges that mindset to be in the same room as everyone."
Andrea also transformed how Emma leads her growing team:
"She's helped me with systems and boundaries with employees. I have a lot of team members, and I needed to shift into letting them do what I hired them to do and staying out of the way. I can have a tendency to outwork anyone, but I need to focus on the right things so I can keep doing what I'm best at, and that's remaining the visionary leader."
Coaching included:
Activator intensive + ongoing Ascension Collective
Real-time Voxer access and strategic advisory support
Systems and boundaries for team delegation
CEO focus protection and priority management
Retreat experiences and peer community support
From email-driven days to "big three" weekly priorities
Results:
10x revenue growth from a brand-new business starting at zero, to a level where Emma can "pay myself and survive"
Built a profitable agency in ~18 months while carrying the emotional and financial aftermath of a previous business closure
Expanded and stabilized her team, adding systems and boundaries so employees can "do what I hired them to do" without pulling her back into everything
Shifted from email-driven days to focusing on her "big three" weekly priorities
No longer building alone—surrounded by real-time strategic support and community
Transformations at a Glance
| Category | Before | While Working with Andrea |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | Brand-new agency, minimal revenue | 10x growth in year one; profitable + paying herself |
| Team | Early hiring without systems; frequent pull-back into tasks | Clearer boundaries + delegation; team operating more independently |
| Systems | Days dictated by email + ad hoc tasks | Confident CEO decisions; proactive expectations & boundaries |
| Mindset | Building the business alone; stress from past challenges; little guidance | Real-time support; clarity, confidence, and decisive momentum |
| Lifestyle | Carrying all the mental load; no real free time | More focus, mental spaciousness, and shared support |
"I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am without Andrea. I started this business from nothing, and with her support I've grown it, stabilized it, and learned how to lead it. The coaching, the real-time access, the retreats, the community—they've all helped me think clearly, make better decisions, and show up as the CEO I always knew I could be."
Emma Frutkin
Founder, Sea Salt & Seltzer