I'm Sarah Renneker, and Groundwork is my one-person small business.

I started Groundwork after a decade working in Tech. I've seen how companies grow, how they struggle, and what separates the ones that grow well from the ones that struggle to breathe. The company sizes I’ve worked at range from five-person local businesses, to small startups, all the way to a thirty-thousand-person enterprise. The industries I worked in included marketing, small local businesses, cybersecurity, insurance, higher education, EdTech, HR tech, and more. In my career, I’ve worked in, and with, every critical business department from marketing, sales, services, support, engineering, design, executive leaders, and beyond.

I want to help you better understand and connect with your customers, so that you can grow your business.

My favorite type of work is to research, design, and build meaningful products and services.

In the world of business, that includes researching customers, competitors, pricing, reporting; you name it. Once I understand the complete picture of a problem or problem space, it’s time to do the fun work of designing a solution together. Then we get to turn an idea into reality by building, monitoring, and iterating to meet our success criteria.

Aside from helping build and optimize digital presences, an area I’m growing my business is printing.
I want to be your go-to person when you need things like business cards, brochures, branded clothing, and things that will remind your customers that you’re the best one for them to reach out to.

How I work

I'm a one-person practice, which means when you hire Groundwork, you're working directly with me.
I only say yes to partnering with teams and businesses I know I can accelerate in a meaningful way.
If the work you need done is too big or small for me to handle, I’ll happily refer you to a trusted partner that can get the job done.
I work locally and remotely, and I am based in Portland, Oregon.

Outside of work

When I'm not doing research or running workshops, I'm probably cooking from scratch, experimenting in the garden, visiting nearby state parks, designing stationery, or studying Japanese.