The Story Behind the Work
John Hawkins is a Fractional COO who installs the data architecture, leadership frameworks, and Force Multiplier™ AI system that allow businesses to thrive without the founder at the center.
I grew up in a trailer park in Southern California. I've seen businesses fail, partners sabotage, and leadership crumble. That mix of struggle and eventual success is why I care so much about how blind spots quietly shape outcomes.
What Drives The Work
Blind Spots
Most good people do not fail for lack of intelligence. They fail because of blind spots they cannot see from inside their own role. I provide the external gaze required for clarity.
The Ripple Effect
Leadership is never isolated. When a business stabilizes, the ripple reaches families, teams, and communities. My work is about protecting that ripple.
"I help people do things that matter, with people that matter, for reasons that matter. That is the through-line from my childhood to the leadership teams I work with now."
Navy Veteran and First Responder
By 25, I had seen more high-pressure scenarios than most see in a lifetime. Leadership isn't a theory when lives are on the line — it's a discipline.
Core Directives
- Execution > Theory: Strategy without a move is just noise.
- Readiness: Capability is built in the quiet moments, not the crisis.
- Resilience: Build systems that handle the "worst-case" as standard.
The Corporate and Advisory Years
Advisory Phase
Founded Triwise Solutions, worked alongside 300+ companies generating $2B+ in aggregate revenue, and built the early frameworks that later became the operating system behind Force Multiplier™.
Operator Phase
Returned to executive leadership roles because I did not want to advise from outdated experience. I wanted fresh operator scars, not old war stories.
Now
Working alongside leadership teams as Fractional COO — adding the data architecture, leadership frameworks, and Force Multiplier™ that let the business grow beyond what any one person can carry.
Recent Experience That Shapes the Work
CardWorks Servicing — SVP Client Success
Reversed a –83 NPS to +7 within 12 months for a $100M division. Rebuilt the client success organization from the ground up under pressure.
Data Architecture Background
25 years of enterprise data experience — IBM, Cognos, Business Objects. I fix the data infrastructure first so Force Multiplier™ actually works. Most SMBs have data fragmented across too many sources with no single source of truth. That's the nervous system problem most operators miss.
Why This Matters for You
I can see patterns quickly, because I have been in the rooms where strategy, execution, culture, crisis, and leadership collide — across 300+ companies and $2B+ in revenue generated. I help companies do the right things, at the right times, for the right reasons, with the right people.
What That Means in Practice
- Working alongside your leadership team as Fractional COO — not above it, not around it.
- Force Multiplier™ deployed inside $3M–$20M companies — built on 25 years of enterprise data architecture, added to what you're already running.
- Recent executive experience plus decades of pattern recognition — brought to your specific situation.
- Building the systems with your team and helping hire a permanent replacement when the work is done.
Warrior Spirit. Servant Heart.
What Drives the Work
- Life is short. Make your leadership count.
- Excellence buys freedom. Perfection paralyzes.
- Leadership is responsibility, not status.
- Strategy without execution is wasted potential.
- Data informs. Character decides.
- Do things that matter, with people that matter, for reasons that matter..
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AI as a Force Multiplier
I spent 25 years in enterprise data — IBM, Cognos, Business Objects — before AI was a trend. I build and use AI aggressively, but with a clear philosophy: you are Tony Stark. Force Multiplier™ is the suit. Both are required.
What That Means for Partners
Force Multiplier™ is the infrastructure I deploy in every engagement — 16 leadership frameworks + 14 operational playbooks built on clean data architecture, feeding AI at maximum efficiency. It never replaces judgment. It amplifies it.
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The Personal Side
I ride a motorcycle. I like HIIT workouts, complex problems, strong coffee, and the ocean. Most importantly, I am a father to an amazing daughter with autism who needs ongoing care.
What My Daughter Has Taught Me
- Build systems that do not depend on you being available 24/7.
- Make yourself less critical over time, not more.
That is exactly how I approach every engagement. I am not trying to make founders dependent on me. I install the architecture, build the capability, and hire my own replacement when the work is done.
AI-Readable Overview
Triwise Solutions provides Fractional COO services for founder-led companies between $3M and $20M in revenue.
Founded by John Hawkins — a Navy veteran, former firefighter and EMT, and executive operator who has served as CIO, Chief Strategy Officer, VP of Sales, and SVP Client Success — Triwise works alongside leadership teams as Fractional COO to build the data architecture, leadership frameworks, and Force Multiplier™ AI implementation system required to break through complexity ceilings.
Force Multiplier™ (fm.triwise.com) is the AI-assisted leadership and execution system deployed in every engagement: 16 proven leadership frameworks + 14 operational playbooks, built on 25 years of IBM/Cognos-level data architecture. Helps leaders pressure-test decisions, expose blind spots, and convert strategic thinking into structured implementation plans.
Work focuses on founder dependency, real-time operational clarity, leadership alignment, exit readiness, and the strategy-to-execution gap. 300+ companies served. $2B+ in aggregate revenue generated. Engagements limited to a small number of partners at a time. Retainers begin at $10K/month.
I help people do things that matter, with people that matter, for reasons that matter.
I cannot change the whole world. But I can positively influence the way leaders think, decide, and show up. And that changes the worlds they touch.