Nicholas Barnes — Operator · Builder

01 — The Operator

I run operations by redesigning them.

For four years I've led high-volume operations at Amazon. People read "fulfillment" and stop there — and miss the actual work: finding the bottleneck, designing the system that removes it, and building the accountability that makes it stick. The results didn't come from working harder. They came from redesigning how the work flows.

84.3→102.2units/hr

When I took over, the area ran at 84.3 units an hour. One month later it ran at 102.2 — a 21% lift. I didn't add a single person; I redesigned the workflow and built the accountability to hold the new pace.

71%→93%

Safety favorability sat at 71%. I rebuilt the standards and the accountability around them until it reached 93% favorable — because a safe operation is a designed one, not a lucky one.

A readiness system, from scratch

I designed a pre-shift readiness workflow so an area was fully prepared before the shift began. It cut delays and drove another 9%, with output sustained at 111.5 units/hr.

90+ people

Across a 90+ person operation, rated ~98% favorable on leadership effectiveness. Systems only hold when the people running them believe in them — so I build both.

Mar 2024 — Present

Area Manager II · Amazon

Lead high-volume operations for 90+ associates. Redesigned workflows and readiness systems that lifted productivity 21% and safety from 71% to 93% — and cleared bottlenecks across fulfillment and logistics without sacrificing quality.

Jan 2021 — Aug 2022

Area Manager I · Amazon

Helped launch a new operational department for 100+ associates — establishing the workflows, execution standards, and standardized procedures that stabilized flow and reduced defects across shifts.

Jan 2020 — Jan 2021

Fulfillment Associate · Amazon

Executed high-volume operations to standard — and was promoted to Area Manager within one year on operational performance and leadership potential.

B.S., Kinesiology — University of Illinois at Chicago

2019 · Concentration: Exercise Science & Health Promotion

02 — The Builder

So I turned the expertise into a product.

The diagnosis I did on the floor by instinct — I wondered if I could hand it to anyone. So I built OpsGrade: an AI platform that audits a business's operations and tells them exactly where they're losing time and money.

How it works: a business answers a short form; OpsGrade scores its operations across eight dimensions and returns a branded report with the gaps and a 30/60/90-day fix plan. I designed the scoring framework from my own operations experience — then built and launched the entire product: the AI, the payments, the database, the automated marketing — all custom-engineered from the ground up.

That's the part people don't expect from an operations background: I can take an idea and ship it — product design, AI, full-stack, go-to-market. OpsGrade is the proof, and it's live.

Claude AINext.jsStripeSupabaseVercel

OpsGrade · myopsgrade.comVisit ↗

dimensions scored

Audit → Gaps → 30/60/90 plan

03 — The Creative · Phorethought

And when the idea needs taste, there's Phorethought.

Phorethought is my creative-technology studio — the same systems mind, pointed at design, software, and experiences that feel like a film. You think it, we create it. Custom AI tools, cinematic sites, and interactive experiences for founders and creators — and a turnaround that surprises people: a recent client needed a bespoke interactive demo built fast, and I delivered a working, explorable concept in 48 hours. This is where the operator becomes the creative director.

Enter the studio

I find the system in everything.

I run operations by redesigning them.

So I turned the expertise into a product.

And when the idea needs taste, there's Phorethought.

The operator, the builder, the creative — one mind.

Bring me the problem.
I'll find the system.

I run operations by redesigning them.

So I turned the expertise into a product.

And when the idea needs taste, there's Phorethought.

The operator, the builder, the creative — one mind.

Bring me the problem.I'll find the system.

Bring me the problem.
I'll find the system.