soaringconnections

Practical consulting for small businesses

Less friction.
More forward.

Untangle the work. Get clear on what’s next.

I’m Jeff Cheeney. Through Soaring Connections, I help small-business owners and teams improve workflows, set priorities, and put technology and AI to practical use.

Find your starting point Talk with Jeff

Based in Fernandina Beach, Florida In person & online

Find the liftAn original coastal illustration: a bird rides above flowing ocean contours, with a gold route leading toward open water.A FRESH PERSPECTIVEA PRACTICAL WAY FORWARD
SC / 01Find the lift that’s already there.

30+ years connecting people,
technology, and better ways of working.

Jeff’s professional background includes

Cisco Western Union NetApp

01 / Small business consulting services

What’s getting
in your way?

You don’t need a polished project brief.
Start with something you’d like to work better.

Workflow assessmentMap the work, find bottlenecks, and choose a focused improvement. Strategic planningSet priorities and build a practical 90-day action plan. Technical operationsAssess tools and information flows, then plan what needs to change. AI training & adoptionPractice on real tasks with human review and privacy guardrails.

Workflow review & assessment

Follow the work.
Find the friction.

Trace a real task from first request to finished work. See where information gets re-entered, handoffs get blurry, and jobs sit waiting.

What we can build together

  • A map of how the work actually happens
  • Improvements ranked by effort and likely value
  • One focused change to test, with an owner and a measure
Think about

Quoting, scheduling, onboarding, invoicing—the tasks your team repeats every week.

Let’s look at one workflow

Strategic planning & analysis

Choose what matters.
Make room for it.

Put your goals, options, and real capacity in the same conversation. Turn competing ideas into decisions your team can act on.

What we can build together

  • A clear view of your options and tradeoffs
  • A short list of priorities and what to set aside
  • A practical 90-day plan with owners and review points
Think about

A new offer, a growth decision, or a team pulled in too many directions.

Let’s clarify your next move

Technical operations assessment

Connect the tools
to the work.

Look at how information moves between your people and systems. Get clear on what needs to change before adding another subscription.

What we can build together

  • A map of key tools, information flows, and owners
  • A prioritized view of gaps and manual work
  • Requirements and a practical implementation roadmap
Think about

Disconnected systems, spreadsheet workarounds, and reports assembled by hand.

Let’s untangle your tools

Practical AI education & adoption

Start with one task.
Learn by doing.

Choose a useful, low-risk task and explore where AI could help. Practice giving it context, reviewing its work, and keeping human judgment in charge.

What we can build together

  • A task worth trying and a clear definition of success
  • A repeatable way to frame, ask, and apply
  • Review steps and privacy guardrails that fit the task
Think about

A first draft, a meeting summary, or a recurring customer question—with sensitive details removed.

Let’s choose a useful experiment

We agree on scope and deliverables before work begins. Technical operations focuses on assessment and planning; implementation is scoped separately.

02 / How we work

Small steps.
Visible progress.

We work alongside the people who know the business. The goal is a useful change—and the confidence to keep improving it.

  1. 01

    See it clearly.

    Listen, ask questions, and make the current work visible. Understand what a better result would mean for you.

  2. 02

    Choose a next step.

    Agree on a focused scope and a change your team has room to make. Define how we’ll know it helped.

  3. 03

    Try. Learn. Adjust.

    Put the idea to work, review what happens, and adapt together. Keep the useful parts. Improve the rest.

Jeff Cheeney, founder of Soaring Connections
Jeff CheeneyFounder, Soaring ConnectionsYour thinking
partner.

03 / Meet Jeff

Big-picture experience.
A personal approach.

I’m Jeff Cheeney. I’ve spent more than three decades helping people deliver complex technology and navigate change, including roles at Cisco, Western Union, and NetApp.

Today, I bring that experience to the practical questions facing small businesses: Where does the work get stuck? Which decision matters next? How could our technology serve us better?

I work with you and your team to connect the dots, challenge assumptions, and find a next step that makes sense. My Agile background shows up in collaboration, small experiments, and honest feedback.

B.S. Computer ScienceBaylor UniversityM.S. Computer ScienceUniversity of Southern California
MIT · Certificate

Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy

04 / AI training & workshops

AI feels more useful
when you try it.

Clear explanations. Live demonstrations. Time to practice. Sessions meet your audience where they are, with privacy and human judgment built in.

A / Owners & teams

Everyday work,
with AI.

Practice on a recurring task: a customer response, a meeting summary, or the first draft you’ve been putting off.

Practical skills
B / Leaders

From possibility
to a useful pilot.

Choose an opportunity, define a small experiment, and decide where people need to review the result.

Thoughtful adoption
C / Community groups

Curiosity.
At your own pace.

Explore everyday uses through familiar examples, unhurried practice, and plenty of room for questions.

Confidence & discovery

Example themes. Format and activities are tailored to your group.

Plan a workshop

A few things to know

Before we
connect.

Where do you offer consulting and AI workshops?

Soaring Connections is based in Fernandina Beach, Florida. Consulting and workshops are available online, with in-person sessions by arrangement. We agree on location and format when we discuss your project.

What if I don’t know exactly what I need?

Bring a recurring frustration, a decision you’re weighing, or something you think could work better. We can talk it through and decide whether there’s a useful way to work together.

Do we have to adopt AI or buy new software?

No. We start with your goals and current process. A clearer handoff, a simpler routine, or better use of what you already have may be the right next step.

How does an engagement begin?

We start with a conversation about your situation and intended outcome. Before project work begins, we agree on scope, deliverables, format, and fee.

Do you provide ongoing IT support?

The technical operations offer focuses on assessment, requirements, and planning. Hands-on implementation or specialist support is discussed and scoped separately.

A next step, together

What could
work better?

Tell me about one thing that’s getting in the way.
We’ll start there.

Talk with Jeff Cheeney

Start a conversation

904-601-5577Fernandina Beach, FL

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