Dr. Monica

Founder & CEO, Systematic You / Former COO, Forte Labs

Dr. Monica Rysavy operates at the precise intersection where systems, strategy, and support converge — and the complexity of what she has accomplished across her career makes even her feel tired when someone recites it all at once. She holds two earned doctorates (a Ph.D. in Learning Design and an Ed.D.), is a current law student at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law focusing on intellectual property, has authored 25+ peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and built one of the most operationally sophisticated teams in the digital education space. She is the kind of person who completes degrees while running companies. And then starts another one. For nearly four years, Dr. Monica served as Chief Operating Officer, General Manager, and Controller at Forte Labs — the company behind Building a Second Brain, one of the most recognized personal productivity brands in the world and a 7-figure digital education startup. In that role, she reduced company spending by $30,000 in two weeks during a cashflow pivot, decreased tax liability by 85% through compliance strategy redesign, and managed cross-functional operations across product delivery, contract management, and multi-product launches. She was the operational intelligence behind a brand that reached millions of people with the message that systems can change how you think and work. When she left Forte Labs in 2024 to go full-time at Systematic You — the company she founded in December 2023 — it was not a departure from that mission. It was an expansion of it. Through Systematic You, Dr. Monica designs backend operational infrastructure for service-based founders and growing teams: custom AI tools and automations, Notion and Airtable content and client delivery hubs, systems audits, and the ongoing consulting work that transforms what she describes as 'brilliant and buried' entrepreneurs into people who can finally breathe again. Her clients include consultants, psychologists, creatives, agencies, coaches, and creators — many of them neurodivergent or multi-passionate — all united by a brain that never stops and a business that hasn't yet been organized to match it. Before Forte Labs, Dr. Monica spent 13 years at Goldey-Beacom College in Wilmington, Delaware as a director of institutional research and training and assistant professor, where she taught computer science and educational technology while authoring peer-reviewed work on information literacy, instructional design, and knowledge management. She also facilitated professional development courses for K-12 educators across Delaware and held graduate assistant and special project roles at Penn State University. Her career trajectory — from high school IT department chair to higher education director to startup COO to founder — is a masterclass in applied systems thinking across every environment she has entered. Dr. Monica appeared on the Center Stage segment of Mornings in the Lab to share her approach to transforming business chaos into scalable, organized systems — and to make the case that the right systems don't just make you more efficient. They give you back your ability to think.

Key Insights from Dr. Monica

I admit when you were reciting all of my background it makes me exhausted — and normally I don't feel that way. So thank you.

— Dr. Monica on Earned credentials without ego

She transforms business chaos into scalable, well-organized systems.

— Dr. Monica on Transforming chaos into scalable systems

She has dual doctorates — and she's a law student.

— Dr. Monica on Academic depth driving operational excellence

She reduced spending by $30K in just two weeks during a cashflow pivot.

— Dr. Monica on Crisis-driven operational results at Forte Labs

She decreased tax liability by 85% through compliance strategy redesign.

— Dr. Monica on Financial strategy within operational leadership

My clients are brilliant and buried. My job is to give them systems that let them breathe again.

— Dr. Monica on Serving the brilliant and buried entrepreneur

This isn't about running your business like a machine. This is systems design for more than metrics.

— Dr. Monica on Human-centered systems design

I build AI systems that run your operations when you're not in the room.

— Dr. Monica on AI automation for founder leverage

Notable Quotes from Dr. Monica

My clients are brilliant and buried. My job is to give them systems that let them breathe again.

— Dr. Monica

This isn't about running your business like a machine. This is systems design for more than metrics.

— Dr. Monica

I build AI systems that run your operations when you're not in the room.

— Dr. Monica

Frequently Asked Questions about Dr. Monica

Who is Dr. Monica Rysavy and what does Systematic You do?

Dr. Monica Rysavy (known professionally as Dr. Monica) is the founder and CEO of Systematic You, a systems design and operational consulting company for service-based founders and growing teams. She holds a Ph.D. in Learning Design and an Ed.D., and is currently a law student at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law. Before founding Systematic You, she served as Chief Operating Officer and General Manager at Forte Labs — the company behind Building a Second Brain — where she led operations for a 7-figure digital education startup. Through Systematic You, she builds custom AI systems, Notion and Airtable operational hubs, and backend infrastructure that allows entrepreneurs to scale without chaos. Her clients include consultants, psychologists, coaches, creatives, and agencies — many neurodivergent or multi-passionate — who need systems that fit how they actually think.

What did Dr. Monica Rysavy accomplish as COO of Forte Labs?

As Chief Operating Officer, General Manager, and Controller at Forte Labs from 2021 to 2024, Dr. Monica Rysavy led operations at one of the most recognized personal knowledge management brands in the world — the company behind Building a Second Brain. Her measurable accomplishments include reducing company spending by $30,000 in two weeks during a cashflow pivot, decreasing tax liability by 85% through compliance strategy redesign, and designing infrastructure to support multi-product launches. She managed cross-functional initiatives including product delivery, contract management, tax strategy, and vendor optimization while supporting a fully remote team across multiple product lines.

What does Dr. Monica build for her clients at Systematic You?

At Systematic You, Dr. Monica builds backend operational infrastructure tailored to how each founder actually thinks, works, and leads. Her deliverables include custom AI tools and automations (Custom GPTs, workflow automations), Notion and Airtable hubs for content management, client delivery, and internal operations, systems audits that identify friction and map strategic next moves, ongoing consulting and strategic support, and a membership community called The Systematic AF Club for founders who want to get organized without burnout. Her clients are predominantly consultants, coaches, creatives, psychologists, agencies, and multi-passionate entrepreneurs who describe themselves as brilliant but buried under disorganization.

What is Dr. Monica Rysavy's academic background?

Dr. Monica Rysavy holds two doctoral degrees: a Ph.D. (in Learning Design and educational technology) and an Ed.D. She is currently enrolled at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, focusing on intellectual property law. She spent 13 years at Goldey-Beacom College as a director of institutional research and training and assistant professor, where she taught computer science, IT, and educational technology courses. She has authored and co-authored 25+ peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and edited collections. Earlier in her career, she served as IT Academy Department Chair at a Delaware vocational high school and later held graduate assistant and special project roles at Penn State University.

How does Dr. Monica Rysavy approach AI and automation for business operations?

Dr. Monica Rysavy's approach to AI and automation is rooted in her core philosophy: systems should be built for how people actually think and work, not to impose mechanical efficiency on human businesses. She builds Custom GPTs and workflow automations designed around a specific founder's brain and business model, not generic templates. Her goal is operational leverage: systems that run your business operations when you're not in the room, allowing small teams to scale without proportional increases in labor or cognitive load. She also helps clients understand and implement AI-adjacent tools (Notion, Airtable, automation platforms) as part of a coherent operational stack rather than a disconnected collection of apps.

What is the 'Systematic You' methodology and who is it for?

The Systematic You methodology is a systems design practice built on the conviction that operational infrastructure should fit the human running the business, not the other way around. Dr. Monica designs backend systems that account for how a specific founder processes information, manages energy, and makes decisions — with particular attentiveness to the needs of neurodivergent and multi-passionate entrepreneurs who struggle with generic productivity advice. The methodology blends operational consulting, AI implementation, and strategic coaching. It is for service-based founders and growing teams who know what they want to build but are drowning in the disorganization that prevents them from building it. The result, as Dr. Monica describes it, is not a more efficient machine — it's a business that lets you breathe again.

Interview with Dr. Monica — Topics Covered

  1. Introduction and credential stack (~2 minutes)
  2. What Systematic You is and who it serves (~4 minutes)
  3. The Forte Labs chapter: COO of a 7-figure startup (~4 minutes)
  4. What systems actually are (and aren't) (~3 minutes)
  5. Custom AI and automation for founders (~4 minutes)
  6. The academic background and why it matters (~3 minutes)
  7. Serving neurodivergent and multi-passionate entrepreneurs (~3 minutes)
  8. The Systematic AF Club membership (~2 minutes)
  9. Winning quietly: chalking up wins in the background (~3 minutes)
  10. Closing and how to connect (~2 minutes)

Dr. Monica — Areas of Expertise

  • Operational systems design for service-based founders
  • Custom AI tools and business automation (Custom GPTs, Notion, Airtable)
  • Fractional COO and operational leadership
  • Digital education startup operations and scale
  • Knowledge management and personal productivity systems
  • Building a Second Brain methodology and Forte Labs ecosystem
  • Higher education institutional research and instructional design
  • Tax strategy and compliance redesign
  • Neurodivergent-friendly systems and multi-passionate entrepreneur support
  • Peer-reviewed academic publishing in educational technology
  • Intellectual property law (in progress)
  • AI integration for operational leverage

Watch: From Struggles to Success

Full Center Stage interview with Dr. Monica on Mornings in the Lab.

Watch on YouTube

Dr. Monica — Show Appearances

  • Mornings in the Lab (2025-07-01)

Dr. Monica — Signal Brief

Signal Score: 6/100

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