Stephany Leemburg builds businesses with a disciplined engineering mindset and a practical operator's focus. Based in Canada, she balances hands-on execution with strategic transitions, helping small enterprises stabilize their operations and define clear objectives. Her work emphasizes strengthening the people inside a business, designing systems that run efficiently without losing the human element, and growing enterprises sustainably.
Leemburg's career began with a strong interest in systems. Trained in industrial engineering, she quickly recognized the value of methods that enhance flow, minimize friction, and establish repeatable processes across various environments. That versatility became integral to her professional path. In large organizations, she gained experience in process design, implementation, and stakeholder management, learning how to identify where systems were functioning well and where they required intervention. These lessons sharpened her adaptability and ability to translate technical frameworks into practical, everyday solutions.
Her focus shifted when she began working with smaller, faster-moving companies. The pace and flexibility of these environments suited her preference for direct impact and creative problem-solving. She took on diverse responsibilities, from direct-to-consumer operations to customer experience and e-commerce management.
"Wearing different hats taught me to listen to owners who share their goals, teams who reveal operational challenges, and customers who express their expectations," Leemburg shares. "I realized successful transitions depend on fluency in both the language of deals and the language of daily work."
This dual expertise shaped her consulting and acquisition approach. Today, she steps in as a Strategic Operational Partner and Fractional COO, blending transaction literacy with hands-on operational leadership so owners get both the deal and the execution right. Rather than imposing immediate change, Leemburg begins with observation to understand culture and employee knowledge. She treats that knowledge as a foundation to build on, not replace. "People who keep a business running deserve a chance to shape its future, and to share in its gains," she says. Her interventions focus on reducing ambiguity through documented routines and clear performance measures that give teams a shared definition of success.
Leemburg's acquisition strategy reflects this philosophy. She targets service-oriented businesses that she believes play valuable roles in local economies, such as laundromats and plumbing companies. "I look for operations with untapped potential, companies that could run more consistently, teams ready to step into leadership, and processes that can be modernized without losing community character," she states. When Leemburg acquires a business, she prioritizes listening, learning, and co-creating improvements with employees. She frames acquisitions as partnerships aimed at building healthy operations that sustain long-term value or prepare for future transitions.
It's worth emphasizing that Leemburg advocates for employee ownership and meaningful participation in decision-making, especially for those with years of institutional knowledge. Her practice includes exploring pathways for staff to buy into the businesses they support or assume leadership roles when possible. By prioritizing inclusion and cultural integration, she helps build enterprises that can operate independently and remain resilient.
Essentially, Leemburg brings an engineer's precision to operations, pairing standard procedures, sharp performance metrics, and well-structured team processes with a human-centered touch. She aims to ensure systems empower people instead of weighing them down. Working closely with smaller companies has sharpened her ability to connect everyday operations with long-term goals and to guide change in ways that feel seamless rather than disruptive. Her goal is to leave every organization stronger, more resilient, and ready to thrive on its own.
Leemburg Limited, her base company for acquiring, operating, and optimizing small businesses, plays a role in fulfilling this mission. The firm focuses on working with owners and supporting small businesses and solopreneurs through customized solutions that streamline and drive sustainable growth.
Stephany Leemburg plans to expand these models into new markets, such as the United Arab Emirates and the United States, adapting operational templates to different cultural and regulatory contexts. She aims to provide turnkey support for entrepreneurs who prefer to focus on their craft rather than administrative tasks. By offering back-office systems and infrastructure, she intends to enable small business owners to concentrate on the work that defines their business.
