Practically Perfect: Mary Poppins’ Guide to Fractional Leadership

How a spoonful of structure helped one family—and how the same mindset can help your business grow.

Feeling overwhelmed by a business that’s growing fast but running messy? You’re not alone.

When the Banks family hired Mary Poppins, they weren’t looking for a long-term hire.
The house was chaotic. The kids were feral. The parents were checked out.
And no one could quite agree on what the actual problem was.

Sound familiar?

They didn’t need someone to live there forever.
They needed someone to step in, bring order to the mess, and set them up for long-term success.

Enter: the most iconic fractional hire in Disney history.

Mary Poppins: Fractional Family Operations & Systems Consultant

She didn’t waste time with a 90-slide onboarding deck or emotional hand-holding.
She showed up with clarity, structure, and just enough sparkle to get buy-in.

In short order, she:

• Established clear routines that everyone could follow

• Set expectations without micromanaging

• Created moments of connection to rebuild morale

• Delivered measurable results - without taking over the household

• Helped the kids (and their parents) rediscover their roles and responsibilities

• Delivered measurable results—without taking over the household

And when her work was done? She left.

“Fractional leaders aren’t there to replace you. They’re there to support your growth, then step away so you can fly your own kite.”

What This Looks Like in Business

We work with founders who are overwhelmed by:

• Rapid growth but no clear systems

• Constant pivoting with no real priorities

• Margins that aren’t where they should be

• A calendar full of doing, and no space for leading

They don’t need a full-time VP yet.
They need someone to drop in with experience, stabilize what’s wobbly, and get the business moving with intention.

That’s what fractional leadership is all about.

How Plan + Pivot Works with Clients

We’ve worked with brands, just like the Banks family, who needed help getting back on track.
They had strong teams. Great product. Momentum.

But too many decisions were bottlenecking at the top. Planning felt reactive. Inventory was out of sync. Marketing had no roadmap. (You get the picture….)

We stepped in as a fractional partner for 60–90 days to:

• Align assortment, forecasting, and margin strategy

• Build simple, flexible planning systems

• Free up the founder’s time for the decisions that actually needed them

• Re-establish a clear rhythm of work that could scale

And then?
Just like Mary Poppins… we let the kite fly.

You don’t need permanent help. You need smart, targeted support that unlocks long-term growth.

Is Your Business Ready for Fractional Leadership?

If your brand is:

• Growing, but feeling unsteady

• Spending too much time reacting, not leading

• Not quite ready for a full-time hire—but too big to do it all yourself

Then it might be time to borrow a little magic.
(Not the umbrella kind. The systems kind.)

Fractional leadership isn’t a forever solution. It’s a smart one.
It’s the spoonful of structure that helps everything else run smoother.

You’ve already built something great. Let’s help you run it with more clarity and less chaos.

👇 Two Ways to Take the Next Step

☂️ Need a practically perfect fix for your retail chaos? → Book a fractional leadership consult—and let us fly in, get to work, and lift you up.

🎒Not ready to hop on a call? → Join our email list for smart, tidy insights that make messy business challenges feel like a breeze.