Turning Chaos into Opportunity, One Business at a Time

I’m Maria Briskman, i help founders, executives, and leadership teams move from crisis to profit—fast. I don’t come from the traditional startup founder mold.

Having led P&Ls across marketplaces, taas, luxury retail, real estate, hospitality, coworking, and beauty services, I've operated in industries with entirely different business models, margin structures, and operational priorities.

This gave me a unique edge: I don’t apply one-size-fits-all playbooks—I diagnose precisely what moves the needle in that business. From cutting $800K in costs in salons, to scaling revenue 3X in retail, to stabilizing a $175M P&L through an IPO crisis, I’ve learned how to read the story behind the numbers. My approach blends sharp analytics with real-world experience to uncover growth levers others miss and turn chaos into clarity and prof!t.

“At WeWork, I was the only one talking about profitability.”

While all startups chased growth at all costs, I knew profit is the only real success metric. What Do I Bring?

I don’t just advise—I build, fix, and execute. With over 15 years of experience leading business turnarounds, optimizing profitability, and scaling operations, I specialize in turning struggling companies into high-performing, revenue-generating machines. Here’s what I bring to the table:

Crisis Leadership & Business Turnarounds

  • Took over underperforming district of beauty salons with 5 out of 15 being unprofitable, all hit profitability and growth goals in less than 6 months.

  • Led startup’s first-ever profitable streak after 10 years of unprofitability, navigating bankruptcy, CEO turnover, and an acquisition while scaling revenue from $3.7M to $5M/month.

  • Stabilized a market through a $40B valuation collapse, retaining zero churn in both employees and customers.

  • Spearheaded multiple high-stakes vendor crises, including migrating platforms in 30 days, replacing a 100+ person BPO team in under a month and porting softphone numbers in 2 weeks.

P&L Mastery & Profitability Strategy

  • Managed $175M+ P&Ls across marketplaces, mobility, retail, and real estate, optimizing contribution margins by 18-28% and cutting OpEx by $1M+.

  • Designed financial forecasting models, AOPs, and profitability roadmaps for long-term, scalable success.

  • Developed data-driven marketing strategies—pivoting to high-intent, geotargeted campaigns that maximized ROI.

Operational Excellence & Execution

  • Built international cross-functional teams that drive real results, from startup launches to Fortune 500 transformations.

  • Designed and implemented internal process improvements that recovered $2M+ in bad debt and improved dispute win rates from 36% to 68% in 5 months.

  • Created a structured, high-impact meeting format for leadership teams, improving execution speed and decision clarity.

People-First Leadership & Scaling Teams

  • Led and restructured teams of 500+ employees, coaching leaders to increase team productivity, retention, and engagement.

  • Built in-house claims, risk, and CX teams from scratch, improving efficiency and reducing liability.

  • Spearheaded turnaround efforts across beauty, retail, and mobility sectors, developing playbooks for sustainable success.

Bottom Line: I bring real-world execution, profitability-first thinking, and leadership that thrives under pressure. If your business needs a fixer, a builder, and a strategist who can navigate uncertainty and scale smartly—let’s talk. 🚀