Don Stackhouse
LOADING
Open to COO and VP Operations roles
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
MOVING TO RICHMOND, VA

Opened a new school a month early.
Then ran it to a 30 percent margin.

Chief Operating Officer for three Goldfish Swim Schools in Westchester County, New York. About $10.5M a year, 150-plus employees, three ownership groups. The newest one was a $4.5M construction project, finished on budget and a month ahead of schedule. Before this, regional field service for the MTA and MBTA, and five years as a Navy officer.

See the work → Email
Don Stackhouse
$0M
Annual revenue
0+
Employees
0%
Operating margin
0
Schools
How the work goes

Most of the margin is in the schedule.

When the third school opened, payroll ran about $38 for every child enrolled. By early 2026 it was about $18, and enrollment had more than doubled. No classes were cut to get there.

The schedule got rebuilt around when families actually book, the training program was redesigned, and the whole leadership team started working from the same weekly numbers. There is usually a gap between how a place is staffed and how it gets used, and that gap is where the money is. Finding it and closing it has been most of this job.

The third school

What the first year looked like.

The school opened in April 2025, a month ahead of schedule and on budget. Here is where the numbers started and where they were by early 2026.

At opening, April 2025
Early 2026
At opening Early 2026 Operating margin 25.3% 30.4% 5.1 pts Gross margin 63.7% 68.4% 4.7 pts Children enrolled 756 1,900 2.5x Payroll per child $38 $18 53% lower
Operating margin5.1 pts
At opening
25.3%
Early 2026
30.4%
Gross margin4.7 pts
At opening
63.7%
Early 2026
68.4%
Children enrolled2.5x
At opening
756
Early 2026
1,900
Payroll per child53% lower
At opening
$38
Early 2026
$18
First nine months
$2.4M in revenue and $607K in operating income.
January to May 2026
$429K in operating income and $307K in net income.
Leadership team
Grew from 7 people to 15, with 6 promoted from inside.
Figures are for the third school. Enrollment is shown at the May 2026 seasonal peak and rounded.
Three jobs worth explaining

Where the numbers came from.

Goldfish Swim Schools of Westchester County
The new school
$607K
Operating income, first nine months

A new school built from the ground up, open a month ahead of schedule.

Ran the construction project as executive lead. The building cost $4.5M under a fixed-price contract, and it opened in April 2025 a month ahead of schedule without going over. The first nine months brought $2.4M in revenue and $607K in operating income at a 25.3 percent margin. By early 2026 the school was running at a 30.4 percent operating margin and a 68.4 percent gross margin, with $429K in operating income from January through May. Enrollment went from 756 at opening to about 1,900 at the May peak.

$4.5M
Construction cost
1 month
Ahead of schedule
68.4%
Gross margin
Three privately held LLCs, separate investor groups
The platform
$7M to $10.5M
Annual revenue, 2024 to now

Three LLCs, three ownership groups, one operator.

Owns the P&L for all three schools. Finance, HR, sales, marketing, customer service, IT, facilities, procurement, safety, and compliance report in. Ownership signs off on pricing and major capital spending. Everything else runs through this role. The group went from two schools at about $7M a year to three at about $10.5M. The leadership team went from 7 to 15, six of them promoted from inside, plus three regional roles covering sales and marketing, aquatics, and HR.

150+
Employees
10
Departments reporting in
7 to 15
Leadership team
Scheidt & Bachmann, Fare Collection Systems
The field organization
98%
Uptime, with penalties in the contract

Four states of field service for the commuter railroads.

Covered the MTA (Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road), MBTA, VRE, and Pittsburgh Regional Transit. More than $5M a year in maintenance contracts, a 98 percent uptime requirement with financial penalties for missing it, and every invoice collected in full. Cut regional overtime about 30 percent across a 36-person team by fixing the workforce plan and hiring junior technicians. Also ran a $6M program that upgraded 600-plus ticket vending machines to chip and contactless payment, covering about 95 percent of Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road stations, and forecast when the equipment in the field would need replacing.

$6M
Payment upgrade
30%
Less overtime
600+
Machines covered
About

Twenty years of operations work.

Most of my career has been spent running places where the work is physical and the schedule decides whether you make money. A $60M Walmart store with 125 to 175 associates. A 36-person field organization covering four states for the commuter railroads under an uptime contract with penalties attached. Now three swim schools, 150-plus employees, and three separate ownership groups.

Before any of that came five years in the Navy aboard USS CHINOOK, a Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship. Started as Electrical and Engineering Officer and finished as Executive Officer, second in command of a 35-person crew. In between, the ship went through a $4.4M overhaul at Dubai Drydocks, the first time a U.S. Navy vessel had a scheduled overhaul done there, and my job was standing between the crew, Navy leadership, and the shipyard until it was finished.

The current job is the closest thing to running a business without owning it. Three LLCs, ten departments, a $4.5M construction project, and a leadership team that went from 7 people to 15. Ownership approves pricing and major capital spending. The rest runs through me.

Moving to Richmond, Virginia this year and looking for another job like this one, ideally with more locations. Syracuse MBA in accounting and business analytics. Naval Academy, economics.

Don Stackhouse
Experience

The full record.

2024 to now
Chief Operating Officer
Goldfish Swim Schools of Westchester County, NY
Runs three privately held franchise LLCs, about $10.5M a year, with 150-plus employees and ten departments reporting in. Opened the third school in April 2025. The business runs on a weekly leadership meeting and a single scorecard shared across all three schools.
$10.5M a year
150+ employees
2024 to now
Strategic Advisor and Fractional COO
Tinker, through Nth Degree Fractional Executives
Advises the founder and leadership team on operations, financial planning, budgeting, org structure, and growth.
Founder advisory
2023 to 2025
Fractional CFO and Integrator
BuzzWorthy Property Management, Fort Worth, TX
Owned financial planning, budgeting, and management reporting for an RV park operator. Drafted and negotiated the service agreements and built the onboarding process behind growth from one park to six and revenue from about $120K to about $500K.
1 to 6 parks
$120K to $500K
2023 to 2024
Fractional COO and Integrator
Paradise Park Ventures, Dallas and Fort Worth, TX
Early-stage platform buying and developing RV parks. Put a weekly meeting and quarterly goal-setting structure in place where there had been none, and the number of quarterly goals actually finished went from none to about 12 of 16 across two client companies in the back half of 2023.
12 of 16 goals
2023
VP, Finance and Operations
Still Standing, Inc., New York, NY
Built the budgeting, reporting, and operating processes for an early-stage consumer products company and led the finance and operations function.
Finance and ops build
2016 to 2022
Operations Manager, then Regional Manager for the Eastern US
Scheidt & Bachmann, Fare Collection Systems, White Plains, NY
Started with the Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road portfolio, leading eight technicians, a warehouse specialist, and an administrator. Beat the 2016 revenue goal by 16 percent and cut warehouse inventory 25 percent, and was promoted to Regional Manager inside two years. Went on to run field service across four states, more than $5M a year in contracts under a 98 percent uptime requirement, a $6M program to upgrade ticket machines to chip and contactless payment, and the replacement forecasting for equipment in the field.
98% uptime
$6M program
2014 to 2016
Investment Advisor
Doraine Wealth Management Group, Corpus Christi, TX
Built a book from nothing to about $14M under management across roughly 35 households in two years, with no inherited or reassigned accounts. Handled trading across bonds, equities, options, notes, and mutual funds.
$0 to $14M
2010 to 2013
Executive Team Leader, Operations
Target, Connecticut
Beat revenue goals by more than $3M by fixing logistics processes, and lifted customer survey scores from 2.6 to 3.7 while running staffing, scheduling, and floor execution for a high-volume store.
$3M+ over goal
2008 to 2010
Store Manager
Walmart, Connecticut
Ran a $60M store with 125 to 175 associates and full P&L accountability, holiday peak included. Cleared a chronically congested backroom, pulled about five truckloads of dead stock, and rebuilt the flow from receiving to the floor.
$60M store
2007 to 2008
Military Sales Manager
Prime Technology, North Branford, CT
Supported the VP of Sales in winning a $2M government contract with Oceaneering International, covering precision measurement and display systems.
$2M contract
2002 to 2007
Executive Officer and Operations Officer
United States Navy, USS CHINOOK (PC-9)
Electrical and Engineering Officer, then Operations Officer, then Executive Officer, second in command of a 35-person crew on a Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship. Coordinated a $4.4M overhaul at Dubai Drydocks, the first scheduled overhaul a U.S. Navy vessel had done there. Completed a Western Pacific deployment and RIMPAC 2004.
$4.4M overhaul
Education and credentials
Graduate
MBA, Accounting and Business Analytics
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
Undergraduate
BS, Economics with a Spanish minor
United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD
Military service
Executive Officer, USS CHINOOK (PC-9)
United States Navy, Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship
2002 to 2007, Western Pacific deployment and RIMPAC 2004
Also
EOS Integrator Masterclass, Rocket Fuel University
FINRA Series 7 and 66, formerly held
General Lines insurance license, formerly held
Spanish, basic proficiency
Get in touch

Looking for the next operation to run.

Open to COO and VP Operations roles in franchise, field service, and consumer businesses. Moving to Richmond, Virginia this year. Happy to talk any time.

Email Don → LinkedIn Resume