Welcome to The COO Solution Podcast, the go-to resource for business owners, CEOs, and visionary entrepreneurs looking to scale smarter, lead better, and build businesses that run without bottlenecks.
Today’s guest is Nicole Gallicchio-Elz, fractional COO and the Chief Operating Officer of The COO Solution. With over 15 years of experience building high-performing, process-driven organizations, Nicole brings a unique blend of analytical thinking, operational leadership, and heart-centered collaboration. This episode explores her journey to becoming a COO, what makes a great second-in-command, and how fractional leadership transforms how businesses scale.
In This Episode:
- (00:36) Nicole’s Journey to COO From helping her father’s construction business as a teen to building her own company after college, Nicole shares how her love for structure and operations shaped her career.
- (06:09) Blending Strategy and Tactics Nicole breaks down how her background in science and math helps her blend analytics with big-picture thinking for clients across industries.
- (10:31) The Power of Fractional Leadership Why fractional COOs, OBMs, and VAs offer CEOs the support—without the full-time overhead.
- (14:42) Task vs. Strategy: Understanding the Right Support Nicole explains how to determine whether your business needs a VA, OBM, or COO—and what each role brings.
- (20:10) Common Challenges CEOs Face Discover the three recurring themes Nicole sees when supporting overwhelmed CEOs at the edge of growth.
- (22:33) How to Build Trust Quickly as a COO Nicole shares her trust-building approach: Take one task off the CEO’s plate immediately—and deliver fast.
- (26:01) Knowing When to Step Back Learn how seasoned COOs navigate the tension between diving into the weeds and leading from a higher level.
- (28:32) Walking the Talk at The COO Solution Nicole shares what it’s been like stepping into the COO role for TCS itself—and how she and Derek are co-building a model for sustainable scale.
- (32:31) Nicole’s Final Insight What would your business look like if you got just 10 hours back each week? Nicole explains how that shift in time and energy can change everything.
Why This Matters
Many entrepreneurs are stuck in reactive mode—overwhelmed, overextended, and unsure how to scale without burning out. This episode offers real-world insights into how hiring the proper support (and knowing when) can create freedom, momentum, and long-term success. Nicole’s experience reveals what’s possible when leaders focus on what they can do and empower others to do the rest.
Action Steps for Listeners:
- Ask yourself: What would you do with 10 extra hours each week?
- Review your business: Are you overwhelmed, stagnant, or on the edge of growth?
- Take the free quiz at TheCOOSolution.com to determine whether a Fractional OBM or COO is the right next step for you.
Resources & Links:
- Discover if Now is the Time for a Fractional COO: Take this quick assessment to see if your business is ready for this game-changing operational support. 👉 – Take the Free Assessment Here
- Learn More About The COO Solution: Visit The COO Solution to explore our services, discover new insights, and learn actionable strategies for scaling your business smarter.
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Transcript:
So welcome everybody to the COO Solution podcast. I’m very excited to welcome our guest today, Nicole Galiccio-Elz. I’m going to read a brief bio about Nicole. We’re very excited to dive in today. So Nicole is a seasoned Chief Operations Officer known for bringing calm to chaos and structure to scaling businesses. With over 15 years of experience in strategic operations, Nicole specializes in transitioning growing teams into high performing, process driven organizations. She is also the COO of the COO Solution and a fractional COO for multiple of our clients. She’s passionate about empowering founders to lead with clarity, build accountability and scale sustainably. Nicole’s background in science and math gives her a unique analytical lens, while her heart for collaboration makes her a trusted partner in growth. Nicole, it’s great to have you.
01:41
Derek Fredrickson
Welcome to our show today.
01:43
Speaker 2
Thank you, Derek. I’m really happy to be here and talk all things COO, all things OBM, all things strategy. I am excited. It’s something I’m obviously passionate about from what you just read. So really thankful to be here.
02:00
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, it’s wonderful to have you here and I feel like I’ve known you longer, but it’s really only been a few months we’ve been working together. I think it was November, December that we started, right?
02:10
Speaker 2
It was, it was November. And it definitely feels longer. Although when you, when I think about it also feels like it was just last week. So there’s this weird back and forth of almost like a homing feeling too. I love the model. I. The team is fantastic. So it’s been a great couple of months thus far.
02:30
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, I’ve really appreciated working with you. It keeps evolving. Like every week I feel like there’s something different. We were kind of like partners in crime and the things that we’re doing to grow the business with our clients and the work that you’re doing as a fractional COO, we’ll dive into some of that today. But I’d love to just kind of start off with. For our viewers and listeners, tell us a little bit about yourself, like, what’s your journey to becoming a COO? How did you feel drawn to that in your kind of professional career? And just tell us a little bit about that experience.
03:01
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I happened to be talking to another guest on a podcast, and they brought up real early on in childhood that his dad had a construction business. And that’s kind of what planted the seed. And I didn’t realize until that conversation with that person that my dad owned his own construction business. And I was there with him through the evolution of getting a computer and what invoicing looked like and QuickBooks and Excel and doing that I don’t want to. I’m going to date myself. But from the start of it, right when it first came on, and learning how everything worked, realizing that seed was planted early and I didn’t obviously realize it at a young age, I interned and quickly became their office manager at a very young age, in conjunction with running the entire front end for the retail.
03:56
Speaker 2
A retail store and all of their cash operations that came in and out. So before the age of 20, I was already in a management role. And it was, you know, through college. I love science. Right. As you said, science and math was where I wanted to go. And after college, I did not want to take just a regular job because obviously I had worn all these hats in this management role. So taking an entry level, atmospheric role was like, this does not feel right, but I love it.
04:30
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah.
04:31
Speaker 2
So I started a business fresh out of college, got a publishing contract, started writing text, and the business boomed. And I sat in a COO seat and realized, wow, I fit here right. From quite a young age. And it’s been there since. Right. Every job that I have or role that I’ve taken on, this is the seat that I’ve sat in. And I’ve had a lot of different experience in so many industries. And it was what really drove me to say, I love the same thing every day, but not in the same space. And I so enjoy watching my experience that I bring to a company, let that company flourish, and then all of the clients that benefit from my advice and the growth, it’s been truly rewarding. So, you know, that kind of led me to you. Right.
05:30
Speaker 2
Looking to expand this energy and knowledge that I can bring to the table in different ways. And that’s part of what I love of being the COO.
05:42
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah.
05:43
Speaker 2
For TCS, because now I’m driving more careers in that way. So that’s a little bit about where I’ve been and how I’m here today.
05:52
Derek Fredrickson
Amazing.
05:53
Speaker 2
Yeah. It’s been a long journey.
05:55
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah. Well, congratulations. And it’s still a journey, right? I mean, you said you left. Yeah. I don’t know your age, but I think we’re on the same. Same, same mark. And I feel like we have plenty of years to go.
06:07
Speaker 2
We do, yeah.
06:09
Derek Fredrickson
I have a question for you, though. Like, when you know, with your science and math background, it’s very analytical, it’s very kind of tactical and numbers based. You talk about cash flow and invoicing and QuickBooks and everything else, but you’re also like a very, I would say, excellent strategic thinker. And I think one of the things that’s interesting about the work that we do and the services we provide to our clients as COOs is that it blends the strategy and the tactical. And I’m curious for you, how did that evolve from tactics, analytics, you know, kind of data driven, which is still there to some extent. We’re always looking at numbers and KPIs. But you’re also now working with clients on the big picture. The strategy, the future, the growth, the big ideas.
06:54
Derek Fredrickson
How do you, how did that transition in that way and how do you blend the two together? Because sometimes they’re like left brain and right brain, but it’s like merged together. Quite often you have to pivot right back and forth.
07:04
Speaker 2
I’ve never been asked this question, but I know the exact answer. So from an atmospheric perspective, while you have the numbers, not everything is quantifiable. So you have to take in other factors that come into play. So it’s not a straight. This is the data and this is the output, which is why a lot of people say, like, well, why are they getting the weather wrong? Like, it’s hard because there are so many things on a molecular level that you can’t quantify for and your brain has to think outside the box. Then once I started rolling into business and thinking about marketing and thinking about strategy, that’s where I gained that experience and was able to apply that knowledge. And I had taken assessments obviously probably 15 years ago when I started, and my assessment looked different. Right.
07:59
Speaker 2
It was a little more analytical and I was leaning into that to drive operations. But once I was certain on processes and I had already knew what needed to be in place in different scenarios, it started to evolve. Working more with visionaries and leaning into this, you also need vision as a COO to connect the two. Right? You’re this bridge between what the CEO is thinking and processing that into reality. So you have to have this adaptable brain in order to create the two. And I can definitely see where it started from because while you can learn coding and you can learn all this stuff, when you’re thinking at a big high scale of climate and where we’ve been and where we need to go, that part of your brain has to work in order to be successful.
08:56
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, you’re totally right. It’s that, it’s that adaptability. And especially I was talking to somebody this week about it and I often say, like the work that we do, right? As COOs, I still consider myself the CEO even though I have the company. As I shared in our team meeting the other day, sometimes I have to take the hat off and say, like, derek, CEO, not COO, but you know, it’s a combination of both. But it’s like the horizontal view onto an organization, marketing, sales, operations and finance. But then it’s the vertical view. It’s the strategy up with the visionary, with the founder, and then it’s the tactics. I don’t say down like it’s, you know, but delegating down with the team, with the processes and the people and the structures and everything else.
09:40
Derek Fredrickson
And so we have to kind of like pivot in different ways depending upon the situation with the client. What’s working, what’s not working, what’s the need, where do we want to strategize and then put things in place that make that happen. It’s a, it’s a unique skill set and expertise to have the combination of both. It’s like the, it’s a little bit like sometimes the visionary and entrepreneur is like the kite. And we’re oftentimes like the string. And without the kite we’re like, give us something to do, right? Give us something to make happen. And the kite without a string will sometimes just kind of. Yeah, yeah. So were talking earlier also before we jumped on about the idea of kind of fractional leadership, right? This idea of fractional, and we call it part time contract or whatever it is.
10:31
Derek Fredrickson
And part of what we do to our clients is we offer fractional, right? It’s not full time, it’s not the full commitment. It gives them the support, the structure, the accountability and the strategy that they need at a fraction of the time. And, and whether it’s a fractional CEO or a fractional OBM or were talking even as a virtual assistant. Why is it really important for business owners to in some cases, when they get to that point where they know they can’t do it by themselves, they know they need a different solution and relying on finding the right people, the right team, the right individuals that can come in and help them move the business forward. How do they know? Like when is that time?
11:10
Speaker 2
And.
11:10
Derek Fredrickson
And how do they know? Well, who do I bring on board? Do I get a va? Do I need a COO? Like what are some of the factors that contribute to that decision making process for a business owner?
11:23
Speaker 2
Yeah. So there’s kind of a two part. Right. The how do I know I need someone. I think you’ll have that feeling. Right. I’m overwhelmed. I’m doing everything. We are on the cusp of growth, but we can’t get past this. Maybe you’re seeing some frustrations with your team. Things just don’t feel aligned. Right. You’ll start to see the evolution of we’re not progressing upwards. We’re either stagnant or maybe we’re dripping. That’s the time in my opinion to make a decision. Right. So then you have the buckets. I’ll start with VA. So VA should be task-based. You have everything in place. You know the process, you have videos, you have SOPs. You need someone to take all of the production and execute it. So it should be not necessarily buttoned up. Right.
12:20
Speaker 2
A VA is very capable of being proactive and providing you with advice. But there should be. These are the delegation tasks and knowing how to delegate is probably the best way. Obviously there are VAs that can help you delegate. There are things that if you’re not sure, you know, I don’t know if I know how to delegate. But you should at least have those tasks in place that you know you want to offload. Whether it’s inbox scheduling, customer service tickets, those are the types that a VA is going to help you with. If you’re feeling that there’s a gap between someone managing your team and a little bit of strategy. Right. Can we talk marketing? You know, I have marketing plan, but I need someone to really drive the team and implement things and make sure that the engine is turning. That’s the OBM.
13:09
Speaker 2
Right. And they’ll drive the VA, they’ll drive your team, they’ll report back to you. Where are we with different stats? If you’re a CEO that is solo and you don’t know how further to grow things feel just truly disorganized and you have no other strategy leader or thought partner. That’s where the fractional COO comes into play. And we talked about not needing to hire an entire team, right? You can start small and maybe you start with an OBM and you realize, oh gosh, I definitely need a COO to talk high level things, right? What is going to make the biggest impact? What products do you know, have the biggest roi? Let’s look at all of this from a high level. That’s the COO space that’s going to start to make things move and to drive that needle. And a fractional COO is ideal.
14:05
Speaker 2
And in my opinion there are, you know, a fractional COO is going to have other experiences that are very unique to bring to the table. Where if you’re hiring specific to bring on a full time person, they may have been a COO somewhere else, just in that nature. They don’t have this great deal of, you know, working with 100 different industries. You know, in my case that I’ve seen bits and pieces of everything and what works and what doesn’t work and it brings this creative nature to having a fractional CEO that a full time one may not have.
14:42
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, I love the analogy you did for like VA OBM CEO. I was thinking while you were sharing, like there’s almost like a theme or a word that goes with each one. Like I would and tell me if you think this is right. But VA is about like execution, right? It’s like, it’s like get it done, right? Task oriented OBM. You use the word drive and they’re like, they’re driving the implementation, they’re making the project real in a way and then the COO is the partner. And I love that because oftentimes we refer to the work that we do. We are that second in command, right? We run your business for you or with you. And when I say for you, that doesn’t mean out of control, it’s actually giving you control back to the business owner.
15:28
Derek Fredrickson
I remember once, and it’s that partnership, it’s that second in command, it’s that t rusted, strategic, thoughtful of all of the things that are going on that you can rely on. And you know, as we’ve talked about in our work together, trust is a huge value in everything that we do with our clients. And being able to have that trust of somebody that you can share with, that you can bounce ideas off of, you can get their feedback and also trust them to again, go and make it happen with the team and the processes and everything else. I. One of the first clients I worked with as their fractional COO, we had a. I mean, they made up the joke. But have you ever seen. I know this is totally off topic, but have you ever seen the movie the Godfather?
16:09
Speaker 2
Of course.
16:10
Derek Fredrickson
Okay. The consigliere, like the one that’s the, like the voice of reason that the Godfather consults to. And sometimes we would do a slide presentation and like in Derek, and it would be a picture of the. I don’t even remember the guy’s name, but the consigliere in the photo.
16:27
Speaker 2
That’s perfect. That’s exactly it.
16:29
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah. I love that. I love that. How do you. I’m curious that when you are working with clients as a fractional CEO, like you mentioned this analogy, like full time, it might be somebody who’s just like they’ve been a COO in the exact same industry and we get this question a lot. Does a COO, a fractional COO, do they have to have specific industry market niche experience in order to move the needle and do the great work that they’re there to do, or is it not as necessary? Can they look at it in a more. I don’t say generic, but is that a criteria that matters?
17:10
Speaker 2
My knee jerk reaction is no. Right. The. A seasoned fractional COO will not need to know because they should learn as they go. Right. There are plenty of situations where I’ve stepped in and yes, I know a little bit about accounting, but the overall day to day you’ll pick up. Right. And those conversations happen naturally. Right. You need to know, you need to dive in, what the team is doing, what the service is. But at the end of the day, it’s what you’re talking about with the leader and what their plan is, where you can learn about the industry, you can learn about the service. It’s more the skill set that you’re bringing to the table that I think is really important. And I think the bigger connection is the behavioral style fit and the work style fit.
18:05
Speaker 2
Knowing that you’re understanding what you know, we, the Kolbe, you know, you understand what their Kolbe is and you understand how to work with them is bigger priority for success, in my opinion, than, you knowing the industry.
18:19
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah.
18:19
Speaker 2
Because in one of the cases that I’m working with, the industry is failing. Right. So thinking outside the box as to what else can we offer our clients, what else can we bring to the table? Are there different ideas out there? Can we offer a different solution is something that someone in the industry may not be in tune with. So I think there’s a really big benefit of knowing other industries and not necessarily just have focused in that industry for your entire career.
18:53
Derek Fredrickson
And I, and I agree and we get this question a lot. That’s why it was great to hear your, you know, kind of input for audience. Because I know that sometimes they. People ask that question and often say at the end of the day, like, marketing is marketing, sales is sales, operations is operations, no matter what the service, the delivery, whatever it is, and finance is the output of really doing really good marketing, sales and operations. So, and I agree because when we come in, we have this different perspective. We have this fresh look that may not be from that exact industry. And that can be learned. Right? We’re, we’re natural fact finders and problem solvers and getting information that’s going to provide that context.
19:35
Derek Fredrickson
So shifting gears just a little bit, in the client work that you do as a fractional COO, I’m curious in the scope of how you support the client and the work that you’re doing with the visionary, with the team, are there common themes, are there common challenges that you’ve seen in some of the client work? Are there common opportunities that you’re helping to initiate and move forward? Like, because it varies, right? Every client is different, their challenges are different. But are there themes that come up that tend to be more present than others?
20:10
Speaker 2
Definitely. The biggest theme I think I’ve seen is they don’t have anyone that’s been a strategic partner or leader at the level that a fractional COO is offering them or that I am offering them. That’s been the most common theme. The second most common theme is uncovering things that they did not know was going on within the company and bringing things to light where they may have had blinders on or not necessarily blinders, but they were so focused on a couple of things that a visionary should be focused on that they weren’t attuned to everything that was going on a different level and coming in and assessing everything and auditing what’s going on with the company. That’s a typical thing that I see, a typical theme that. Oh, my gosh, I didn’t know they were operating like this. Let’s. Yeah, let’s just fix it.
21:04
Speaker 2
And it’s a quick change. And most of them are on really, like I said, on that cusp of growth, but they don’t know how to take the next step. And that is also, I would say, the third common theme. That, how do I think outside of my next step? How do I grow from six figures to seven or seven to eight? What is, what are the next steps and how do we get there? I think those are the biggest ones that I see across the board.
21:30
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah. How do you, how do you find, kind of, we use the term embedding, right. When we, when we work with a client, we embed the fractional COO, the fractional OBM into the organization quite quickly, which is not easy to do because they have their team, they have their structures or processes or maybe lack thereof. In some, to some extent there’s that element of trust with the visionary in order to step in and rely and say, you can give it to me, I got it, we’ll make it happen, we’ll make it real, we’ll make it recur. But in reality, I’m curious, how do you do that?
22:06
Derek Fredrickson
What are some of the things that you do when you first work with the client as their fractional COO to establish that upfront trust and understanding and giving them the permission to let go of control, because that’s why we’re here, is to, not to take control, but to give them control back by owning things and implementing things and making things happen. How do you do that in the very beginning, quite quickly with an organization, the visionary, the team, etc.
22:33
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I told you when I first came on that I’m very hands on right there. I’m going to dive in. I’m very tactical and very technical. And that is my go to where you could come in and you can talk strategy and thoughts. And my trust building is to talk with them. Give me a task. I’m taking a task off your plate right now. And that is the trust building exercise that I immediately do. Whether it’s before our onboarding call, whether it’s during our onboarding call, I am taking something directly off their plate. It’s not the same for everyone. That’s something that just comes up in conversation. I ask a lot of questions. They’re not all the same questions. It’s not something that I have a list of. Oh, these are the questions I’m going to ask Derek today because I’m working with.
23:26
Speaker 2
It is something that happens organically as I start to think outside of the box. And those are the types of tasks that I begin to take off their plate because trust is really important. So you’re going to want to give, ask them to give you something, do it immediately. We’re not waiting. You’re not getting it to them next week. You need to do it now. Right. And that’s been my, you know, process to build trust. And I come in kind of as a shock, right, Because I ask a lot of questions. I mean, my brain needs to understand high level to, you know, start or top to bottom to really understand what’s going on. So there is always this, I would say, like, by week two, we’re in shock phase. Like, oh, my gosh, you uncovered all of this?
24:13
Speaker 2
You did all of that in two weeks?
24:15
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah.
24:15
Speaker 2
How did we get here so quick? So that’s been my strategy for a really long time. I think it’s come from, you know, did fractional HR slash COO for a while. And when you’re working in the HR space, things come up that were always unexpected. So learning to pivot and ask questions, it really evolved from that type of work that I was doing. That’s more urgent rather than, let’s just chat strategy for a little bit. It’s. You have to dive in. And that’s been my. My go to.
24:48
Derek Fredrickson
And it’s an. I love that. It’s an element of both sometimes in our experience, like the visionary. I love this expression. They want to throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. And we’re wired sometimes to, like, we’re already thinking about, like, how to make the spaghetti, how to serve it, what goes with it, you know, when it’s being served, how much of it’s going to, you know, and so we have to throttle ourselves because I think we’re w. And our zone of genius in some respect is like, we’re gonna make it happen. Like, let me add it, right? And whether it’s. It’s big picture or sometimes, like, we can get into the details, but we also know that’s not always where our value is best served.
25:23
Derek Fredrickson
But because we’re focused on how do we do things more efficiently, how do we do things more effectively. We’ve talked about this, where we focus on what we’re doing with the client as much as how we’re doing it. Because oftentimes the how is the thing that’s been getting in the way because there is no structure or system or process in place. And so we’re having to do all of that at the same time. The question I have for you about that is how do you kind of prevent yourself from getting into the weeds? Like, you could go in and you’ve seen me do this with co solution. I’m like, okay, hold on. How do you do that? How do you manage that.
26:01
Speaker 2
You just have to know the level. Right. So for example, working with a client and head first in all of it, right now I understand everything. And if the team’s not executing the way that they’re supposed to be executing, understanding that step, well, okay, this is my, where I’m drawing the line. I can’t execute everything for them. Now we have to think strategy. What are we doing that if the team is not executing the way they’re supposed to be? And that’s the line that comes back to, okay, let’s think bigger picture. But in order to think bigger picture, you do have to know that nitty gritty. So it’s a strategic dive. Right. And it’s not the same for everyone. It’s. Everyone is different.
26:50
Speaker 2
But knowing and reminding yourself of boundaries, expectations and goals that we have set as a team, planning accordingly and knowing enough is enough, basically take your foot off the throttle, take a step back. We’ve took, we’ve taken the dive we needed to. It is not the same timeline for everyone. I would say I would put a timeline on it. If you’re two months into working with a client and you’re still doing day to day tasks, that something is wrong. Right. But somewhere in the middle, it’s okay to fluctuate. It also depends on how much time you’re working and dedicating with a team. Right. That matters too. So it is an experience thing as well to know what’s the chaos and how to draw the chaos back and when to think big picture.
27:46
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, we’re in some respect, we’re focusing on like what’s happening today, what’s happening this week, what’s happening next month, what’s happening next quarter, what’s happening for the rest of the year. And we’re again like that timeline, we’re having to pivot because there may be things that are going on today that need our attention and focus and support today. But then we’re like, let’s make sure we’re looking ahead to the next week, the next month ahead. Because there’s that planning perspective, which in some cases is not there. And then, okay, we know the idea, we know the plan, and then as we say, reverse engineer to make that happen. I love that. So a couple of months ago I asked you to step in and help me as a fractional CEO for the CEO solution. This episode is titled in some respect, Walking the Talk.
28:32
Derek Fredrickson
Right. I feel like, yeah, you know, this is what we offer, this is what we support our clients with and And I’m just curious, like, when I had that conversation with you, I reached out. I don’t even know exactly how. What was your thought? What was your perspective of like, they make sense. I mean, you know, Derek’s doing everything by himself to some extent. We had a team, were getting a lot of traction, momentum, and then what’s it been like, kind of stepping in to help me and partner with me. That’s that partnership as that second in command in the work that we’re doing as we continue to grow and scale. The CEO solution, which has been happening quite rapidly over the last year, very rapidly.
29:11
Speaker 2
It was something that I wasn’t looking for right when I first came on board. And once we talked and I understood where you were going with the growth of the business, it’s a seat that I would, I love to sit in. Right. It was something that I was so excited about because while I love being a fractional COO in different industries, I am passionate about being a fractional COO. And knowing that I could give my experience to other fractional COOs was like, that’s it. I love this. This is something that I thrive on because now they’re going to take what I’ve helped them with and express it spreads. Right. So it is wonderful to be in this seat and see the growth of how other companies are benefiting from a fractional COO. And I’m really upset.
30:18
Speaker 2
I’m so grateful to be here because it’s something that I’m truly engaged with and looking forward to seeing it grow further.
30:27
Derek Fredrickson
So, yeah, it’s interesting because I get to see it, I mean, we see it together with the clients that we work with in some respect, but in terms of the reliability and the strategic partnership that I have with you to lean on in the same way that you do with our other clients and kind of building this in a way for scale, building this for long term growth. You know, we just did our team meeting yesterday. We, I don’t know, 15 or so people, and it’s been growing every time we get together every month. And I think between you and I, you know, leveraging our team, but also supporting them and guiding them in what they’re doing, but also in some respect in how we’re doing it. Again, it’s kind of like walking the talk.
31:12
Derek Fredrickson
It’s because the way that I’m wired and you’re wired, we’re looking at, well, what could we do to serve our clients better, to support our team better to provide a better service while also at the same time thinking, how can we do that? How can we systematically do that for scale? So if we have now say 20 clients, what’s going to be in place for 40 or 60 clients? And I’ve always thought like that systematically and in a process driven way. But now I think with your help, kind of helping me kind of pull out more of like, well, what’s your plan? What is the bigger vision? What is the big picture? It’s been really, it’s been really, yeah. Beneficial to have that in place. And I’ve enjoyed doing that together, for sure.
31:52
Speaker 2
Yeah. And it’s a unique model. Right. Because you have the COO hat. So to see our different ideas come together is. It’s been a blessed situation because it’s not something that you deal with every day. Right. You’re used to the other side where you’re working with a visionary who is high level and quick start. And you know, it’s been wonderful.
32:18
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, wonderful. Anything else that you want to share, Nicole? Any other kind of final thoughts, insights, reflections, tips, tricks, strategies? Anything else?
32:31
Speaker 2
So I think for our listeners, if you’re listening from the space of do I need a fractional COO and what are they going to do for me? I want them to think about what would you do if you had 10 hours, even just 10 hours a week back of your time? How could you expand your company with just 10 hours? That’s something I don’t think a lot of CEOs are thinking about right now. Right. They’re thinking, well, how can I grow and what can I do? But you as a visionary are most of the time the biggest draw to your company.
33:11
Speaker 2
Whether it’s for your team, whether it’s for your audience, your service, the most important part and having time to sit and be a visionary is so important to the growth and that even just 10 hours is transformational, in my opinion, to how your company is going to evolve over the next year, three, five years. So for our listeners, I really want to plant that seed of think about what 10 hours could do for you and how far it can grow.
33:43
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, I love that. It’s oftentimes giving them the space to think about what it could be, what it could look like. Because oftentimes they don’t because they’re just so focused on the day to day and the busyness and everything else. And then, you know, they get that quantity of time back. But in some respect. They get that energy back because they feel more excited, they feel more empowered. They feel like they can have faith and trust and confidence in a trusted second in command, fractional COO to make that happen. And again, I love, you know, start somewhere. It could be a va, it could be an OBM, it could be a COO. But knowing that, I know it sounds cliche, but like, what got you here is not going to get you there.
34:26
Derek Fredrickson
And you know, that’s the, that’s the path to scale and to grow. So wonderful. And you might be listening and wondering again, like, is now the time to bring on a fractional CEO or OBM? So a little plug here, you can go to theCOOsolution.com there’s a free quiz assessment there that allows you to understand is now the time to think about bringing on a fractional COO or OBM. It’s, it’s very thorough. It’s very helpful in looking at the different parts of your business or marketing, sales, operations, finance, your team, what’s working, what’s not working, what’s the gap. And so you can check that out on the website if you’re interested. And yeah, this was a really great conversation. Nicole, I enjoyed having you. Thank you so much. And thanks for being on the COO Solution podcast and we’ll see you next time.
35:16
Nicole Gallicchio-Elz
Thanks, Derek.
35:17
Derek Fredrickson
You’re welcome.
And that’s a wrap on this episode of The COO Solution Podcast.
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Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.
