Get to the point.
I'm Stephanie Alexander. I built BOOST into the back-office partner for nearly 800 government contractors, then sold it. I also co-founded govmates, the matchmaking network that connects primes, small businesses, and agencies. Now I help CEOs and boards make the hard call, plainly and early.
In 2023 I led BOOST through breast cancer treatment. Why that matters in a boardroom →
On your board
A director who knows the CEO's chair from the inside, and asks what the room is avoiding.
At your lunch
Ninety minutes on the hardest decision on your desk, and one page with three actions. No pitch.
For your company
Fewer surprises, a succession answer that survives the CEO, and a sale you're ready for.
A director who says the uncomfortable thing early, with the numbers behind it.
I have been the CFO, the founder, and the seller. I know what a board needs to hear, and I know how it sounds from the CEO's chair.
Finance and controls
CFO of a government contractor that grew from $3 million to over $30 million in under five years, including an ESOP set up with outside financing.
Building and selling
Founded BOOST in 2012 with no clients, employees, or outside capital. Ran it as CEO for thirteen years, until I sold it to The Brydon Group in 2025.
Market access
Co-founded govmates in 2015: 9,000+ member organizations and 43,000+ matches linking primes, small businesses, research groups, and agencies.
Leadership through change
Led through a sale and a move from CEO to Executive Chair.
Led BOOST through my own breast cancer treatment in 2023.
Succession and transition
I've lived the question every board should ask its CEO: who runs this when you step back? I'll test your board's answer.
Call me when
The seat I'm looking for
Paid independent director and advisory board seats at founder-led and private-equity-backed government contractors.
A written scope and a regular meeting cadence. I read the materials, ask the uncomfortable question, and say what I think.
Lunch. One problem. One page.
A CEO and I spend ninety minutes on the hardest decision on their desk. There is no fee. Instead, you donate to one of three charities I support. You take my advice or you leave it, and then you get back to work.
You send a half page
The problem, what you have tried, and the decision that is due. Two days before we meet.
We work it over lunch
Ninety minutes, one problem, no slides. I ask the questions your team won't.
You leave with one page
A short note with three actions. Your donation goes directly to the charity you pick from the three below.
Pick your charity
Suggested donation: $500+ per lunch. All three are 501(c)(3) charities.
Give directly to the one you choose before we meet, and forward me the receipt. None of it comes through me.
Conservancy Guardians USA Fund
Funds local, community-led work to protect threatened wildlife and habitat in East Africa.
Give through the U.S. fund →The Step Sisters
Pays for practical help, such as rides, childcare, and house cleaning, for Northern Virginia women going through breast cancer treatment.
Give at stepsisters.org →HopeLink Behavioral Health
Provides mental health, crisis, and suicide intervention services for adults, youth, and families in Virginia, including 24/7 support at 988.
Give at hopelinkbh.org →Come back whenever it's useful: another lunch, a second opinion, or a conversation about an advisory or board seat. The only things I ask: each lunch comes with a donation, and you buy my overpriced salad with double protein. Eating enough protein is my real full-time job.
In 2023 I ran a company while being treated for breast cancer.
I looked for something written for the CEO in that seat, and I couldn't find it. Most guidance is for the patient. Almost none is for the person who also has a board, lenders, customers, and a team that needs a plan.
Leading when the leader is sick
I'm talking with founders, CEOs, and directors about what they needed in the first thirty days. The questions I keep coming back to:
If you have been in that seat, or sat across from it, I'd like to hear what you wish you'd had.
What I've learned, without the fluff.
Travel, to the point
Less guidebook, more musings and history lessons: what I learned about a place, what surprised me, and what I'd tell a friend before they went.
"There's practically a gallery every 10 feet. We duck in and out and lose time."Santa Fe
Recent trips: Santa Fe, Portugal, Tanzania, Ireland.
From the BOOST blog
Posts I wrote for the BOOST blog. More of my posts →
We Need to Get Younger Women on Boards
Growth: Awesome, and Messy, at the Same Time
Seriously With a Government Shutdown?
Topics I speak on
Selected appearances
Hampton Roads native. Two-time Hokie.
I knew at 22 that I would own a company someday. It took losing a job I loved to start one. Midway through Virginia Tech's Executive MBA, I was let go without cause. That night I sketched a business model on the notepad by my bed.
That sketch became BOOST. It booked $984 in its first year. I went three years without a paycheck. My first one came on January 22, 2015, the first payroll BOOST ever ran, and it was a $50,000 salary. I stayed the lowest-paid person on the team for a long time and reinvested everything.
Sometimes, proving your point goes a long way.
That is where the name comes from. It is also how I work: say the hard thing early, show the numbers, and never waste your time.
Before BOOST, I led Army programs worth more than $10 million a year at Innovative Concepts. Then I spent nearly six years at Precise Systems, from business manager to CFO and VP of Corporate Administration, as it grew from $3 million to over $30 million.
Let's get to the point.
Tell me which of these fits and what you need. I read everything and reply to what I can help with.
