Heart & Hustle

What Heart & Hustle does

Heart & Hustle is a US-based business consulting firm that serves three deliberately narrow customer segments: Couplepreneurs (couple-led businesses), Managed Service Providers (MSPs), and early-stage Startups. Founded and led by Tom Nielsen and Michaela Nielsen, the firm operates from Lincoln, Nebraska and Dunedin, Florida, and is structured as a small, founder-owned practice with 1–10 employees. The firm shows two founding-date references — a stated company history going back to 1999 and a firmographic founding date of 2016 — which suggests either a re-founding or a re-positioning event that established the current niche focus.

The firm's central intellectual property is the DAWN Model (Dynamic Alignment & Workflow Navigation), a proprietary consulting methodology supported by what the firm describes as 120+ tools. Around the DAWN framework, Heart & Hustle has productized several named engagements, including the Foundations to Impact Program, the Empowering Teams program, and an Analytics Hub offering. Distribution is anchored in content-led inbound — a podcast with 71+ episodes and an active blog — rather than paid channels or partnerships. No software product, platform, or technology architecture is disclosed beyond the methodology and tool set.

The business model is project-based professional services sold directly to SMB clients, beginning with a free consultation. The firm has signaled a geographic exclusivity model that limits the number of clients accepted per area, which acts as both a capacity control and a positioning lever. Heart & Hustle is privately held by the founders with no disclosed institutional capital, M&A activity, partnerships, or leadership changes; revenue, contract values, and pricing are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Heart & Hustle

Legal name

Heart & Hustle

Website

https://hearthustle.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Heart & Hustle is a small US business consulting firm serving Couplepreneurs, Managed Service Providers, and Startups using a proprietary DAWN Model methodology, operating from Lincoln, NE and Dunedin, FL.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Consulting Services

NAICS

Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Organization Design & Operating Model Consulting (BPAHAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Leadership Development & Executive Coaching (BPAHAGAD), HR Strategy & Operating Model Design (BPACAJAA), Performance Management & OKRs (BPACAPAF)

Keywords

• Business consulting services
• Leadership development programs
• Strategic planning consulting
• Organizational transformation services
• Team empowerment coaching

Headquarters

HQ city

Lincoln

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Business Consulting Services: Professional consulting engagements including assessments, strategic planning, leadership development, team empowerment, and ongoing partnerships. Services are delivered through structured programs with defined timelines (2-6 weeks for assessments, 3-9 months for implementations, ongoing for future-state partnerships). Revenue is generated through project-based consulting fees and potentially retainer arrangements for ongoing partnerships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Heart & Hustle is a business consulting firm that delivers structured advisory engagements under its proprietary DAWN Model framework, encompassing organizational health assessments (Gotta Have HEART), strategic planning and quick-win implementation (Defining the HUSTLE), culture transformation (Finding Your SOUL), and ongoing leadership partnerships. The firm also runs an Empowering Leaders program (Foundations to Impact, 1-on-1 Coaching, Impact Sessions, Analytics Hub) and an Empowering Teams program (Dynamic Alignment, Legacy Leadership Blueprint, Strategic Impact Sessions), with specialized service tracks for Couplepreneurs, Managed Service Providers, and Startups.

Product overview

Heart & Hustle is a consulting firm that offers a unified methodology called the DAWN Model (Dynamic Alignment & Workflow Navigation), which includes four key consulting programs: Gotta Have HEART Assessment (2-6 weeks), Quick Wins: Defining the HUSTLE (3-6 months), BIG Wins: Finding Your SOUL (5-9 months), and Future-state Partnership (ongoing). The company provides specialized consulting services for three niche markets—Couplepreneurs, Managed Service Providers (MSPs), and Startups—each with tailored offerings. They also operate the Empowering Leaders program (Foundations to Impact, 1-on-1 Coaching, Impact Sessions, Analytics Hub) and Empowering Teams program (Dynamic Alignment, Legacy Leadership Blueprint, Strategic Impact Sessions). Additionally, they produce the Heart & Hustle Podcast. The company leverages 120+ tools to deliver results and uses the same training methodology internally and for clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DAWN Model: A comprehensive framework developed by industry experts illustrating six pivotal elements essential for business success and excellence, emphasizing dynamic strategies, cohesive alignment, streamlined workflows, and strategic navigation

Products and services

• DAWN Model (Dynamic Alignment & Workflow Navigation)

Quantifiable outcome

• Gotta Have HEART Assessment: 2-6 week timeline with immediate ROI identification
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO): EO is a global peer network for entrepreneurs providing learning events, forums, and executive education. While structured as a membership organization rather than a consulting firm, it serves the same founder/CEO buyer with peer learning and leadership development, partially overlapping with Heart & Hustle's leadership development offerings.
• EMyth: EMyth is a coaching and business education company built around a proprietary methodology for working ON the business rather than IN it. It targets the same SMB founder buyer and offers coaching programs, courses, and tools comparable to Heart & Hustle's DAWN Model and structured assessments.
• Franklkern / Coaching.com-style SMB coaching firms: Paul Mitchell's (Hair) Schools of Business and similar coach-led SMB consulting firms use proprietary curricula and coaching methodologies targeting service-based SMBs. They share a model of founder-led, methodology-driven coaching with structured engagements and content marketing, relevant as a comparable at the small end of the SMB consulting market.

Direct peers

• Strategic Coach: Strategic Coach provides structured coaching programs and proprietary tools for entrepreneurs and leadership teams, with a recurring membership model. It targets the same founder/CEO buyer and uses a productized methodology, similar to Heart & Hustle's DAWN Model and structured programs.
• EOS Worldwide: EOS Worldwide is the most direct competitor, offering a proprietary operating system framework (Entrepreneurial Operating System) delivered through a network of certified EOS Implementers to SMBs. Like Heart & Hustle, EOS sells a productized methodology with structured tools and assessments, targets similar SMB segments, and uses exclusivity-style positioning with the same target buyer (leadership teams).
• ActionCOACH: ActionCOACH is a global business coaching franchise serving SMBs with structured coaching programs, group workshops, and proprietary methodologies. It directly competes for the same SMB leadership and operations coaching buyer, with a similar productized service model and content marketing approach.
• Vistage Worldwide: Vistage is a peer advisory and executive coaching organization serving SMB CEOs and business leaders through facilitated peer groups and 1-on-1 coaching. It competes directly for the same SMB leadership buyer and offers a mix of peer group facilitation, coaching, and content (similar to Heart & Hustle's podcast and content approach).
• Chief Outsiders: Chief Outsiders provides fractional executive and consulting services to mid-market and SMB companies, including marketing, strategy, and operations consulting. It targets a similar SMB leadership buyer and competes for the same strategic consulting engagements, with a focus on measurable outcomes.
• Scaling Up (formerly Gazelles): Scaling Up is a growth methodology and coach certification company founded on Verne Harnish's Rockefeller Habits, serving SMB leadership teams with structured tools, assessments, and operating system frameworks. Comparable to Heart & Hustle on productized methodology, certified practitioner network, and SMB leadership focus.

Broad incumbents

• Gallup Workplace / Leadership Circle: Gallup is a broad incumbent in leadership development, employee engagement, and organizational consulting, with proprietary assessments (e.g., CliftonStrengths) and consulting services. It competes for the same leadership development and organizational health buyer, but at a larger enterprise scale with a much wider portfolio than Heart & Hustle's SMB focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@hearthustle402
• Facebookfacebook.com/HeartHustle402
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hearthustle402
• Instagraminstagram.com/HeartHustle402
• TikToktiktok.com/@hearthustle402

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Heart & Hustle