The IKEA Effect: Why Your Team Can’t Follow What’s Only in Your Head
by Bria Niewenhuis | at Minnebar 19 | 10:30 – 11:10 in Zeke Landres | View Schedule
You wouldn’t hand someone an IKEA box and say “just figure it out”—so why do we do that with our teams?
This session is for founders, creatives, and growing teams who are stuck in the cycle of miscommunication, missed steps, and constant clarification. We’ll unpack how keeping your processes in your head is sabotaging your growth—and what to do about it.
Using the IKEA analogy (yes, the missing instructions and all), we’ll walk through a practical method for getting your business out of your brain and into a system your team can actually follow. No jargon. No boring binders. Just real-world strategies for documenting what matters so your team can move without you hovering.
You’ll leave with:
- A clear process for capturing what’s in your head
- A framework for turning chaos into usable SOPs
- Tools to build systems that support your growth—not stall it
If your business relies on “just ask me” to function, it’s time to fix that.
Bria Niewenhuis
Bria NiewenhuisFounder & SOP Architect | Sepia Strategies
Bria Niewenhuis is the founder of Sepia Strategies and a systems architect for founders who are tired of being the glue holding everything together. Through SOPs, operational strategy, and real-talk education, she helps small businesses move from survival mode to scalable success.
With a career spanning corporate America, fintech, and nonprofits, Bria has seen what happens when businesses grow without structure—burnout, bottlenecks, and constantly putting out fires. She’s on a mission to change that for historically excluded founders who deserve systems that work for them, not against them.
At Sepia Strategies, she helps founders and teams build scalable systems that support growth without the grind. Whether you're hiring for the first time or trying to get out of the weeds, Bria brings the strategy, clarity, and tools to turn scattered processes into a real foundation for freedom.
The glow-up isn’t more clients—it’s building operations that don’t crumble when you take a break.
Check out Bria and Sepia Strategies here:
- 🌐 Website: https://www.sepiastrategiesllc.com/
- 💼 Bria’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bria-niewenhuis-6750b3140/
- 🏢 Sepia Strategies LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sepia-strategies/
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Interested Participants
- Chris Warren
- David Simmer
- Andrew Shell
- Sam Grumdahl
- Jenny Wallace
- Chip Pedersen
- Jeanne Erickson Cooley
- Minnestar
- Brian Repko
- Tyler Dane
- Alex Bangs
- Jaiden Riordan
- Tor Flatebo
- Tori Peraza
- Frank Schilder
- M. Vang
- Paul Esch-Laurent
- Petro Megits
- Meena Mangalvedhekar
- Lori Ryan
- AbdulRahman AlFayad
- Cameron MacDonald
- David Quinn
- Amy Brown
- Brian Muenzenmeyer
- Gina Lemon
- Melissa "Mel" Bernstein
- Sarah Lew
- Nick Winkler
- Kaitlin Strand
- Nate Donovan
- Ben Ihde
- Risa Hustad
- Margaret Adelsman
- Loveline Toussaint
- Alan Gonzalez Suarez
- Lindsay Neibauer
- Jeff Peterson
- Val Quinn
- Greg Woodfill
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