How Natalie Hoop Built Hoop Strategy & Consulting to Coach Fractional Leaders Out of W-2 Thinking

Meet Natalie Hoop, founder of Hoop Strategy & Consulting, where she works one-on-one with experienced fractional leaders who left corporate with real skills and real expertise and are now wondering why building their own business feels so much harder than they expected. Natalie spent fifteen plus years leading operations across VC-backed, PE-backed, private, and public companies before being laid off in January 2023, the moment that, as she puts it, made the leap for her.

What gives Natalie's coaching its edge is a single insight she lived through firsthand. After her first fractional engagement, she discovered the person before her had been making three times what she charged for the same work and worse results. That moment cracked something open. She realized she had been running her business as a W-2 employee, not as a CEO. Now she helps other fractional leaders cross that same line.

Please share a brief introduction and your business:

I have been where you are. That is how I know exactly where to look for the beliefs and patterns that are blocking you and your business from moving forward.I am Natalie Hoop, a Coach for Fractional Leaders. I work 1:1 with experienced leaders who left corporate with real skills and real expertise and are now wondering why building their own business feels so much harder than they expected.The answer is almost never what they think it is. And that is exactly what I help them find.

Take us back to when you launched. What was your marketing strategy?

I started with LinkedIn and slack communities because it was where my network lived. I posted consistently, shared what I was learning, and had real conversations. I did not have a strategy so much as a conviction that if I kept showing up and telling the truth, the right people would find me. It worked slowly at first and then all at once.

Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Not at all. I spent my entire career inside other people's companies building things for them. It took losing my mother, my job, and my soul dog to finally understand that I had been building someone else's dream my whole career. That was the moment I decided to build my own.

What accomplishments are you the most proud of to date in your business?

Building two coaching programs that actually change people's businesses and their lives. I have watched clients raise their rates by 40% and sign new clients in the same month. I have watched someone close their first fractional client three weeks after graduating and add over $50,000 more per year to their income. I have watched people turn down wrong clients for the first time and choose what they actually want to build. That is what I am most proud of.

What is one thing you wish you had known when you started your Entreprenista journey?

I just joined so I am still in the early days. But what I already know is that I wish I had found a community like this sooner. Building a business alone is hard. Building it surrounded by women who get it is a completely different experience.

What did you do before starting your own business?

I spent fifteen plus years leading operations across VC-backed, PE-backed, private, and public companies. I worked across sales, delivery, finance, customer operations, team capacity, and execution. I know what makes a business run better, grow faster, and create real results.

What made you take the leap to start your own business?

Honestly, the leap was made for me. I was laid off in January 2023. I did not plan to start a business. I just needed income. But what happened next changed everything. I took my first fractional role and later found out the person before me made three times what I charged. Same work. Better results. That moment cracked something open. I realized I had been running my business as a W-2 employee and not as a CEO.

Do you have any recent wins?

In the last year I have been featured on seven podcasts, spoken at multiple in-person and virtual events including Athena Alliance and Columbus Startup Week, and written a few guest blog posts.

Who are your customers?

Experienced leaders, Directors, VPs, and seasoned operators with ten or more years in their field who want to go fractional or have gone fractional and are stuck.

What's your top productivity tip?

Batching is everything. I group similar tasks together so I am not constantly switching contexts and draining my energy. I set reminders for everything because if it is not in my calendar it does not exist. And I have learned to take breaks before I burn out, not after. Most people wait until they are empty to rest. By then it costs twice as long to recover.

What's your favorite business tool?

Lettuce. It handles all of my backend financial operations for my S corp so I do not have to think about it. Taxes, bookkeeping, payroll. It is all taken care of so I can focus on the work that actually grows my business instead of drowning in admin. For any fractional leader or entrepreneur running an S corp it is a non negotiable.

What's your approach to work-life balance?

Honestly I am still figuring this out. What I know for sure is that boundaries are non negotiable. I do not put work email or Slack on my phone. When I am done for the day I am done. That one decision has protected more of my energy than anything else I have tried.

How do you avoid burn-out?

See above.

What advice do you have for aspiring Entreprenistas?

Stop doing what you think you should do and start doing what you actually want to do. Most women who come to entrepreneurship have spent years doing what was expected of them, in their careers, in their relationships, in their lives. Building a business is the first time you get to build something entirely on your own terms. Do not waste that by recreating the same rules you just escaped.

What's next for your business? What can we expect to see over the next few years?

I want to be on big stages. A TEDx talk. Keynotes. Rooms full of people who need to hear what I have spent the last few years learning the hard way. And I want every fractional leader who is stuck, undercharging, and wondering if they made a mistake to know my name. Not because I marketed myself well but because the work is real and the results speak for themselves. The goal is simple. When someone asks who coaches fractional leaders, there should only be one answer.

Natalie's story is a reminder that the layoff most people treat as the worst day of their career can also be the moment that finally forces someone to bet on themselves, and that the difference between a struggling fractional and a thriving one usually has more to do with mindset than market. We are so glad to have her in the Entreprenista community and cannot wait to watch Hoop Strategy & Consulting continue to grow.

Want to connect with founders like Natalie? Visit the EntreprenistaLeague to explore our community and discover more stories of women building businesses that truly matter.