A Little About Our Origin Story

by Kristin Toth, Founder/CEO, Ulu Partners

I Never Set Out to Be a Coach. I Set Out to Build.

I didn’t plan to become an advisor, coach, or consultant. That wasn’t the dream.

I loved building…creating something from nothing…something that should exist in the world that could provide value, create impact, and scale into a real, meaningful business. And for years, I did just that—inside startups, scaling companies, and industry-defining platforms. (If you want more of my CV, check it out here.)

What I didn’t expect was how much I’d learn about people. About leadership. About what really breaks when a business starts to scale and tries to become a company —and what must be built and cultivated if you want that growth to be sustainable.

I’ve led companies through exhilarating growth and gut-wrenching complexity. I’ve rebuilt leadership teams from the ground up. I’ve wrestled with culture drift and fought hard to bring it back into alignment with purpose and values. I’ve stared down burnout—mine and my team’s—and learned (the hard way) that preventing burnout is far more powerful than recovering from it.

And through all of it, I started to notice something:

The systems we use to scale businesses—frameworks, spreadsheets, org charts, pitch decks—often ignore the humans inside them. We spend so much time on our product/service, our customers, our investors…that we forget that the true source of success is within our companies - our teams…and we need to set them up for success.

The truth is: you can’t scale a business without scaling the people inside it. You can’t execute (at least not well!) without alignment. You can’t build something meaningful if your leadership is disconnected, your culture is accidental, or your team is burning out.

So I started Ulu Partners—not just to give advice, but to walk with founders and executive teams. To help them build companies that grow and endure. Companies that are not just financially successful, but also deeply aligned, joyful, and resilient. (YES! Joy is possible, even doing hard things!!)

Not long after I began, I met Jonathan—and something clicked. We had both sat in the founder/leader seat, both carried the weight of growing companies while trying to protect our people and our purpose. Our conversations sparked ideas, clarified frameworks, and reminded me that this work—while deeply personal—doesn’t have to be lonely.

I realized that partnering with other founders and experienced leaders wouldn’t just expand our capacity—it would make our work better. Richer. More grounded in a diversity of lived experience.

We’re building a collective of partners who share a belief in scaling with soul, leading with integrity, and building companies that last—not at the expense of people, but because of them. And, most importantly, we’re helping our external partners (our clients) build more efficiently and effectively and bloom into the CEOs/Presidents/COOs/CTOs and other leaders that truly realize their vision.

This work is deeply personal to me. I’ve been in the seat. I know what it feels like to carry the vision—and the burden—of building something real. That’s why I show up as a true partner: strategic when you need clarity, practical when you need action, and deeply human through all of it.

If you’re scaling something meaningful—and want a partner who’s been there and still believes that building can bring more joy than stress—I’d love to talk.

Let’s build something great. Together.