About

Built by trades experts.

The Catalyst for the Trades is a nationwide consulting, podcast, leadership, and acquisitions platform run by the trades experts behind CI Web Group.

The story

How Catalyst and CI Web Group connect

The Catalyst for the Trades exists for operators who build, buy, and scale with intent — not spectators. Five pillars with Personal Brand as priority: Personal Brand, Consult, Podcast, Hands Up, and Acquisitions.

The brand sits on CI Web Group's platform: Hydra OS, AI search, and a team that has lived supply-chain discipline, agency rebuilds, and field operations. Jennifer founded CIWG in 2006 — a twenty-year company — and concentrated it on the trades in 2015, so the trades focus is a decade deep. Catalyst is where that expert DNA shows up as strategy, media, authorship, and deal work — the OS, not another marketing shop.

Specialized delivery stays with the ecosystem: CI Web Group helps contractors evaluate, brand, and market newly acquired businesses; JustStart AI provides AI training for operators and teams.

Leadership bios and photos come from ciwebgroup.com/team— the public source of truth for the people behind both brands.

Years in review

How Catalyst got here.

2023
The brand took shape.
Catalyst's identity was finalized while storyboarding, travel, and the realities of operating kept the show from launching before it was ready.
2024
The focus sharpened.
The team refined the format, explored more specific trades topics, and built the partnerships that gave the podcast its early momentum.
2025
The conversation widened.
Interactive sessions and a broader range of industry voices moved Catalyst from a new show toward an active resource for trades operators.

Leadership

Meet the operators leading Catalyst

Founders, operators, and hosts — not a generic agency roster.

Leadership
Jennifer Bagley
Founder & CEO
Jennifer Bagley is the CEO of CI Web Group and the visionary behind Hydra OS, the AI-first web operating and digital marketing system for the trades. She is the author of Hands Up: A CEO's Letter to the Generation That Will Inherit What We Build , Co-Founder of JustStartAI, a columnist and industry AI expert for HARDI, and host of The Catalyst for the Trades Podcast.
The Catalyst for the Trades Podcast, hosted by Jennifer Bagley, is where the trades talk growth: AI in the trades, scaling and exiting, and the operators building what comes next. Legacy and leverage for the people who build the world.
CIWG profile →LinkedIn
Leadership
Melanie Osio
COO
Melanie Osio is COO of The Catalyst for the Trades and Chief of Staff at CI Web Group. She designs the processes, team structures, and accountability frameworks that give a fast-moving technology and marketing company the operational backbone to scale without losing precision.
Before CIWG she worked inside…
CIWG profile →
Growth & Media
Jazmin Ramirez
Executive Director, Growth · Podcast Co-Host
Jazmin Ramirez is Executive Director of Growth at CI Web Group and co-host of The Catalyst for the Trades podcast. Her path began on the front lines of the trades — plumbing office manager in 2014, then HVAC operations (dispatcher → CSR → operations manager), where she built end-to-end inventory automation with…
CIWG profile →LinkedIn
Growth & Media
Liz Slone
Director Digital Strategy and Editor
Liz Slone is Director of Digital Strategy and Editor for The Catalyst for the Trades — shaping personal-brand systems, editorial voice, and content that helps trades operators show up with clarity online. She turns strategy into publishable assets operators can actually run.
Source: ciwebgroup.com/team/liz-slone
CIWG profile →

Behind the scenes

The team behind the Catalyst podcast

Krista Glasser
Producer · PR & Communications
Krista Glasser is PR/Podcast/Communications Manager at CI Web Group and producer of The Catalyst for the Trades — the person who makes the show ship. She has been with CI Web Group since 2021. Source: ciwebgroup.com/team/krista-glasser
CIWG profile →
Rose
Executive Assistant to Jennifer Bagley
Rose is an original CI Web Group team member and the operational force behind Jennifer Bagley — coordinating her schedule, speaking circuit, partnerships, and high-leverage Catalyst initiatives. Source: ciwebgroup.com/team/rose
CIWG profile →

Next step

Talk to the team.

Consulting, podcast collabs, Hands Up, or acquisitions — start a conversation with the operators who run Catalyst.

Talk to us Explore consulting Visit the Learning Center Speaking schedule

Built by trades experts.

How Catalyst and CI Web Group connect

How Catalyst got here.

The brand took shape.

The focus sharpened.

The conversation widened.

Meet the operators leading Catalyst

Jennifer Bagley

Melanie Osio

Jazmin Ramirez

Liz Slone

The team behind the Catalyst podcast

Krista Glasser

Rose

Talk to the team.