13 Irons LLC: From Manual Tracking to Connected Operations

The Client

13 Irons LLC, led by Jawara Partee, is a professional services business managing multiple projects and team members across different workstreams. The business was growing, but the operations side wasn’t keeping up.

The Problem

Jawara was doing what most small business owners do: running everything from his head, a few spreadsheets, and whatever tools he’d picked up along the way.

Project tracking was scattered. Different projects lived in different places. Some were in spreadsheets, some were in email threads, some were just in Jawara’s memory. Getting a clear picture of where everything stood required manually checking five different places.

No single source of truth. Team members didn’t have a reliable way to see what needed to happen next without asking Jawara directly. Every status update, every assignment, every priority shift had to go through him.

Time spent managing instead of doing. Jawara was spending hours every week just keeping track of what was happening. That’s time that should have been spent on the actual work generating revenue.

What NVZN Built

We took the “operations cleanup first, then layer in automation” approach.

Phase 1: Operations Cleanup & Smartsheet Build

We started by mapping out every project type, workflow, and handoff in the business. Then we built a structured Smartsheet environment that became the single source of truth:

• Project dashboards showing every active project, its stage, who owns it, and what’s next
• Standardized workflows so every project type follows the same process. No more guessing what happens after step 3
• Team visibility so everyone can see their assignments and deadlines without asking

Phase 2: AI-Powered Project Management

Once the structure was in place, we layered in AI-powered automation:

• Automated status tracking that monitors project progress and flags delays before they become problems
• Task prioritization that surfaces what needs attention now versus what can wait
• Smart notifications so the right person gets the right alert at the right time, not a firehose of updates

The Results

• One connected system replaced 5+ scattered tools and spreadsheets
• Team autonomy increased. People can find what they need without asking the owner
• Project visibility went from “let me check” to instant dashboards
• Jawara’s time shifted from managing chaos to focusing on revenue-generating work

The Takeaway

13 Irons didn’t need a fancy AI system on day one. They needed their operations cleaned up first. Once the foundation was solid, adding AI and automation on top made everything click. That’s the order that works: structure first, then technology.

If your business is running on scattered tools and your team can’t do anything without going through you, the problem isn’t your team. It’s your systems. Let’s fix it.