Retail Operations
Managing physical locations, customer experience, scheduling, staffing, daily priorities, and store performance.
About Karla
I built the kind of business I now help other owners lead.
I’m Karla Wenger, an entrepreneur, retail operator, product business owner, and consultant.
Before becoming an entrepreneur, I worked in the medical field while pursuing an education in nursing. My path into business was not traditional, and I did not begin with a large investment or a team of experts telling me what to do.
I learned by building.
The business behind the perspective
From an idea to a real operating company
I founded Mayan Collective and grew it from a product idea into a business generating almost $1 million in annual revenue.
The company now includes physical retail, ecommerce, wholesale, manufacturing, fulfillment, product development, seasonal launches, customer experiences, and a growing team.
I have personally worked through the parts of business that are rarely shown online: hiring the wrong person, training someone new, managing payroll, making difficult financial decisions, dealing with inventory, creating processes, opening locations, correcting mistakes, and trying to lead while still handling the everyday work.
I have also experienced the moment when growth stops feeling exciting because the owner has become the system holding everything together.
Where it began
A career built on caring for people
Before becoming an entrepreneur, I spent nearly ten years working in the medical field while pursuing an education in nursing.
That experience taught me how to care for people, remain calm under pressure, communicate clearly, notice important details, and take responsibility when the work truly matters.
Then I made a decision that changed the direction of my life. I left the medical field to start my business one month before the pandemic began.
There could not have been a more uncertain time to become a business owner. I had to learn quickly, adjust constantly, make difficult decisions, and keep moving forward without knowing what the next month would bring.
What began as a leap of faith grew into a product based company generating almost $1 million in annual revenue, with physical retail locations, ecommerce, wholesale, manufacturing, fulfillment, customer experiences, product launches, and a growing team.
My knowledge does not come from watching someone else build a company. It comes from years of making payroll, leading employees, solving operational problems, opening locations, managing growth, making mistakes, correcting them, and continuing to build.
My medical background taught me to care for people. Entrepreneurship taught me how to lead them, develop them, create systems around them, and build a company capable of growing beyond one person.
The reason for the work
Why I started consulting
Over time, I realized that many talented business owners are not struggling because they lack ambition or ideas.
They are struggling because too much of the business depends on them.
Their employees need clearer responsibilities. Their managers need better tools. Their numbers need regular attention. Their processes need to be documented. And the owner needs enough space to think, lead, and make good decisions.
I started consulting because I can see the operational and leadership problems that owners often cannot see while they are standing in the middle of them.
I help owners slow down long enough to understand what is actually creating the pressure, decide what needs to change, and build practical systems their real team can follow.
How I lead
People stay where they feel valued, but they also need clarity.
I pour deeply into my team because I want people to know that their work matters and that they are part of something meaningful.
But caring for employees does not mean avoiding difficult conversations or removing accountability. Healthy leadership requires both kindness and clarity.
People deserve to know what is expected of them. They deserve proper training, honest feedback, opportunities to grow, appreciation for what they contribute, and leaders who care about them as human beings.
I have spent years learning about leadership, coaching, communication, culture, and the practical realities of managing a growing team. I have also learned through mistakes, difficult seasons, hiring decisions, employee challenges, and the daily responsibility of leading real people inside a real business.
I help business owners create the kind of workplace where employees can succeed and where the owner does not have to sacrifice herself to keep everyone else moving.
Experience in practice
What I bring to the table
Team Leadership
Defining roles, setting expectations, creating scorecards, improving accountability, training employees, and developing managers.
Team Culture and Retention
Creating workplaces where employees feel valued, understand what is expected, receive meaningful feedback, and have a reason to stay and grow.
Leadership Development
Helping owners and managers communicate clearly, coach employees, address problems early, build trust, and lead with both kindness and accountability.
Systems and SOPs
Turning information that lives inside the owner’s head into clear and usable processes.
Product Based Business
Pricing, production, inventory, packaging, fulfillment, launches, ecommerce, and wholesale.
Growth Decisions
Evaluating new locations, new revenue streams, staffing investments, expenses, and the operational requirements behind growth.
Owner Independence
Creating a company that can operate without the owner personally answering every question or fixing every problem.
How I work
My approach
I am warm, direct, and practical.
I will not hand you a generic workbook and tell you to think bigger. We will look honestly at your business, identify where the pressure is coming from, and determine what your company actually needs next.
Sometimes the answer is growth. Sometimes it is better systems. Sometimes it is a stronger manager, a clearer job description, a pricing change, or permission to stop doing something that is no longer working.
My job is not to make your business look impressive from the outside. My job is to help you build a business that works better on the inside.
A better way forward
I believe a successful business should support the life you are building, not require you to sacrifice all of it.
If your business is growing but you are tired of being the only person who knows how everything works, I would love to help you find a better way forward.
Apply to Work With Karla