Welcome back to The COO Solution Podcast!
In this episode, Derek sits down with Andrea de la Cerda, CEO of Clover Agency and founder of Candula, for a powerful conversation on leadership, trust, and what it truly means to step into the visionary role.
Andrea shares her honest journey of hitting the “I can’t do this alone anymore” moment, why she chose Fractional COO support, and how learning to let go transformed both of her companies. From clearing operational chaos to reclaiming her energy and building a future-focused vision, Andrea shares the mindset shifts and practical changes that helped her lead at a higher level.
If you’ve ever felt stretched thin, overwhelmed by the weeds, or afraid to relinquish control, this episode will speak directly to you.
In This Episode:
[01:09] The Turning Point Why Andrea finally admitted she needed strategic operational support—and why she wanted it now.
[02:31] When the Business Becomes “Too Big” The moment business ownership shifted from excitement to exhaustion.
[04:24] Hiring People Smarter Than You How Andrea embraced the power of surrounding herself with experts—and the mindset shift that changed everything.
[07:52] Protecting Your Energy as a CEO Why staying in your zone of genius isn’t optional—it’s essential.
[11:37] The First 90 Days with a Fractional COO The cleanup phase, the systems audit, and how trust became the foundation for real progress.
[15:45] Stepping Out of the Weeds How having a true second-in-command opened up space for vision, growth, and long-term planning.
[18:47] Delegating Big Initiatives A real example of how Andrea leaned on her COO to execute a major company-wide upgrade from start to finish.
[22:19] Why Visionaries Need a “Make-It-Real” Partner The difference between making ideas up vs. making them happen.
[23:51] The Wake-Up Call for Her Second Business How burnout resurfaced—and how she knew it was time to duplicate the Fractional COO support for her second company.
[28:52] Advice for Founders Hesitating to Let Go Andrea’s guidance for leaders afraid to relinquish control or bring in high-level support.
[31:56] Her Personal Mindset Practices Meditation, breathwork, journaling, therapy, and how she stays grounded as a leader.
📌 Why This Matters
Your effectiveness as a CEO depends on your energy, clarity, and ability to stay in your zone of genius. When you’re buried in operations, compliance, or constant decision-making, you lose the capacity to lead.
Andrea’s story is a real-world example of what happens when a visionary gets the right operational partner—your business grows, your confidence returns, and the future opens up.
✅ Action Steps for Listeners:
- Identify what drains your energy most—and ask if it belongs on your plate.
- Visualize your business with experts in their zone of genius supporting you.
- Ask yourself: What would shift if I stopped doing everything myself?
- Consider whether now is the time to bring in a Fractional COO.
Resources & Links:
Transcript:
00:02
Derek Fredrickson
Hey, everybody, it’s Derek Fredrickson here from the COO Solution and the COO Solution podcast. I’m very excited to welcome a special guest with us today, Andrea De La Serda. Hello, Andrea. Welcome to the show.
00:17
Andrea de la Cerda
Hi. Thank you for having me. This is gonna be fun.
00:19
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, it’s going to be a great conversation. Andrea is a client of the COO Solution, and actually you’ve been with us almost the longest. I remember it was about a year ago in September. (Andrea: I was in Provence with) You were in Provence in France. That’s right, with my wife, Fabienne. And were hosting a retreat, and shortly thereafter, we had a conversation about possibly working together for your business, Clover Agency. And I would love for you to just share a little bit about what was the thought process of you wanting to have a conversation about possibly getting fractional COO support in your business at that point? When we met in September, the COO Solution had only been around for a few months. And so I was sharing what we’re doing and what I’m up to.
01:02
Derek Fredrickson
But what was it that kind of prompted that for you to say, yeah, let’s have a chat, Derek, I’d love to know a little bit more about what you’re doing and if you can help.
01:09
Andrea de la Cerda
I think. So, the way I remember it was were in Provence, and I feel like I did a lot of that retreat with Fabianne. I mean, I think, you know, I did a lot of thinking on where I’m at with this business currently, and I really felt ahead of my size, maybe a little. I mean, I really felt like the business was becoming more than I was good at. There were a lot of compliance issues that were popping up. There were issues with accounting that we needed to really manage, legal things that are really important to me to make sure that we got right, but things that I was really feeling like, oh, man, I really need some support. I need people who really get this, like this, to be able to support me, and I can count on them.
01:57
Andrea de la Cerda
So what I was asking you about your business, which I know was totally brand new at that times, I felt like you were like, oh, I’ll talk about it later. I’m like, no, I want to talk about it right now. You’re like, oh, when you get back to the States, like, no, So, yes, I was very. And you know that about me, too. Once I make a decision on something. I’m like, It’s pretty clear to me what I’m going to do next. And so it all I think came together when we did end up having a conversation about what my needs were.
02:31
Andrea de la Cerda
I was looking for relief, you know, I was looking to get back to what I love to do and that’s, you know, dream up new things and new ideas and, you know, plan for the future. I felt my energy depleting every day because I wasn’t allowing myself to be a space to do that. And to the point even where I was like not wanting to go to work, that’s a horrible feeling. As a business owner not want to show up at work. So something had to change.
03:01
Derek Fredrickson
Thank you for sharing that. I do remember the conversation. I remember in the back of my mind. But we’re not going to talk business here. We’re in Provence. We’re sitting under the nice beautiful tree.
03:11
Andrea de la Cerda
Yeah, like, we’re gonna have some meat, you know, let’s just enjoy the meat.
03:14
Derek Fredrickson
And having a nice glass of Rosé. We’ll talk about it in a week when you get back. And so one of the things I would love, you just touched on it. And it’s a question that I get asked a lot. And I see this with other entrepreneurs and business owners where they have this realization that you’ve just shared for you. You were feeling like you were getting pulled into things that are not your area of expertise. You know, compliance, accounting, you know, budgetary issues and everything else, you know, dealing with team and business owners always have that. They always have that point where they’re like, I’m hitting the threshold of like my tolerance of my excitement, of my confidence. And then sometimes they like discount it and they’re like, but I’ll still persevere. I’ll still go at it. I’ll just work harder and kind of make it happen.
03:55
Derek Fredrickson
I don’t need this type of level of support. I need some team members to be the doers, but I don’t need like a strategic second in command partner in that way. What was the shift for you that said, no, I actually do need that because it is a investment of your time and the investment of resources to work with us and partner together. But what was it that made that shift for you individually? Said, I know I need this type of support at this level and in some cases, like, I need it now.
04:24
Andrea de la Cerda
think there was a time in my business a couple years ago when I realized that I could leverage people who are smarter than me. So getting to like, I could hire people who are smarter than I am. Whoa, that would be such an amazing place to be not only as a business, but also for myself personally. I like to be challenged. I like to have thoughtful conversations and solve big problems. But to do that in my own head, you know, there’s a limit, right, to what I’m going to be able to solve by myself. And I realized how much I love that. I love the banter, I love the thought partnering.
05:16
Andrea de la Cerda
And so when I looked at it that way, that’s when I thought, oh, wow, there’s a lot of power here in leveraging other people’s skill sets and other people’s brain power. And so that, I think, was a shift for me and got me, for the first time I have a business really looking at how can I now leverage team in a way that I never really have before. So that opened me up. And then once I realized I let that go, then it was just about, okay, right, people, right. Let me do what I do best and let others do what they do best. Because we cannot do everything. We can, you know, but we don’t do everything.
05:54
Andrea de la Cerda
There’s just, I don’t know, a business owner who just who, you know, can switch their caps from compliant, legal compliance and HR to, you know, coming up with a new innovative solution. You know, I mean. That’s just very difficult to do. And also, we only have so much time in the day. There’s only so much that we can produce actually in one day.
06:18
Derek Fredrickson
Exactly. Yeah, yeah, I always say that. Go ahead.
06:23
Andrea de la Cerda
Well, I was just thinking, like, I still, though, talk to many colleagues who are faced with exactly what you just said, you know, that they don’t feel it’s not time yet or, you know, they have a hard time letting go maybe of the control of how they do it. And I think there’s another way of doing that.
06:45
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, and we’re going to dive into that because one of the things I’ve noticed and appreciate about you as we’ve done this work together, and I’ve seen the evolution, it’s been almost a year of your ability to trust and let go of control. You’ve been a shining example of that. And that’s incredible as a business owner to model and to feel, yeah, I’ve got somebody that is completely capable, that I trust, like you said, knows what they need to do and how to do it. And, you know, the caveat is when you said smarter, true, but not smarter, like intelligent smarter, but smarter. Like, that’s their wheelhouse, that’s their zone of genius. And that everybody is in a zone of genius for everything, all the time.
07:29
Derek Fredrickson
So it’s acknowledging, like, that’s not for me, but this is for me, and that’s for somebody else, and that’s not for me. And I think especially for business owners, like you said, there’s so many things that we could be doing, but there’s only maybe a small handful of things that we should be doing, and those are very different. And it’s a mindset shift to get out of, like, I could be doing all of these things, but I really only should be doing these three or four core activities as a CEO, as a visionary, et cetera.
07:52
Andrea de la Cerda
And I think that it becomes obvious because energy, look, I mean, I need to show up as my best self for everybody, no matter what’s gonna hit me today, right? And I need energy to be able to do that. I need space in my mind to be able to do that. I need to feel like, you know, I’m not buried in activities that are really zapping my energy. And I think that is, you know, when you’re not working in your own genius, you’re just making it happen. For me, I know it can be really exhausting. No, I can, you know, we’ve talked about this. I don’t know if I should say it, but I don’t have a lot of relationship strengths in my top 10. Like, actually none.
08:39
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah.
08:40
Andrea de la Cerda
So for me, like, my example is, you know, when I’m face to face, meeting with people all day long, it’s very. It takes a lot of energy. But if I have space in my day to think and strategize and dream up new solutions, I have so much more energy at the end of the day.
08:59
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, really interesting. It could be exhausting. This doesn’t mean that we don’t need to have meetings, but you need to, in your case, you know, balance and have that in moderation with what you could be doing in terms of being in that zone of genius with your energy on the vision and the bigger picture and honoring that, because, yeah, you could power through and it will feel tiring, but then like, you’re not only the time has been gone, but also like your energy to then focus on these other things. It’s like I’m feeling depleted, you know, like, I’m kind of exhausted. I’ll share a quick story.
09:29
Derek Fredrickson
I don’t know if I shared this with you when we met or first spoke, but I worked with a client once where every single Monday he had at 9am to 11, a two hour review with his finance manager bookkeeper. And he’s not a numbers guy. He doesn’t really like all of the detail when it comes to financials. And the bookkeeper was almost kind of demanding or she was the one that was, you know, set in the agenda and said, this is what we’re going to do. It’s gonna take two hours. We’re going through charts and graphs and spreadsheets and data.
10:01
Derek Fredrickson
And he was like, you know, not only did I just spend two hours at the beginning of a Monday, like the first thing is the start of the week and then like after lunch, like his Monday, it was like my Monday shot. Like I’ve got no energy left, I’ve got no mojo left. I’ve been like spending so much on this, you know, finance piece. It feels like it’s just, you know, exhausting. So I can completely honor and understand being able to, you know, respect your time and where do you show up and where does it matter the most for you, but also like for the team, but in moderation.
10:32
Andrea de la Cerda
Yeah, that does sound exhausting. Two hours.
10:37
Derek Fredrickson
Right? You were just talking about it. Yeah, that was a Monday. I mean, what we did is say, listen, no more of that meeting and your bookkeeper is gonna to do a, 15 to 30 minute, like loom video running through the financials at a high level. Right. Top line summary. I don’t need all the details and like you’ve got what you need for the week. If there are questions that she asks, you can answer them on your own time and you don’t need to spend all this time having conversation. I think sometimes team members, they crave that connection and they want that which is important. But also like when you’re the CEO, you’ve got lots of team members. You need to have some help with that. In the case of like having a COO in this case.
11:14
Derek Fredrickson
So, when we started working together, I’d love for you to just kind of paint the picture a little bit. What was it like the first few months working with us, working with Gina, who’s your fractional COO, what were the things that you started to see shifting even in the first few months as that work started to cascade into what you were doing every day, but also into the team and the organization and the impact.
11:37
Andrea de la Cerda
You know, it took time. Definitely Gina came in and there was a lot do. So, you know, really getting the lay of the land. If I really honestly probably should have had more support much earlier than when Gina came on board. . There was a little bit of, you know, when you clean out the garage, it’s like, yeah, because I.
11:56
Derek Fredrickson
There’s some cleanup work to do. That’s fine. You know, that’s. That’s inevitable.
12:00
Andrea de la Cerda
A little bit chaotic before it’s, you know, not anymore. And so we experienced a little bit of that together, but it was all good, you know, and in the process of that, identifying where, what systems we had in place, what we didn’t, where those gaps were, maybe where the people gaps were, or maybe we didn’t have the right people in the right seats at times. And so because she had was laser focused on the operation she was able to identify those for me. I didn’t have as much of a handle on that because I was managing so many things. So I wasn’t surprised that there were definitely gaps in our system, but I wasn’t going to be. I didn’t have the time nor the energy to fix it. So. That was fabulous.
12:48
Andrea de la Cerda
There was a few months where I remember Gina really leaned in on building trust with me. That was really important. And I think one of the things that surprise me, you know about this engagement was how nice I felt to have a confidant or somebody that I can trust or something that I can bounce ideas off of. And like I said before, having kind of that thought partner, but also somebody who had my back. Because I think, you know, as a leader, it can be very lonely at the top at times. And, you know, there’s things that you need to be really careful about sharing to the broader team. There’s a time to place.
13:27
Andrea de la Cerda
You know, were sometimes dealing with some, you know, sensitive issues and being able to have somebody that I could, like, bounce ideas off of or actually talk to about that really alleviated a lot of stress. I didn’t really realize I was carrying around, so I thought that was rising. It was a great positive about our engagement that I figured out very early.
13:49
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, I remember that. And that’s a huge value for me is trust. And, you know, with Gina especially and with almost all the clients that we work with, being able to step in and, you know, make things happen and execute on projects and, you know, get the team together to make sure we’ve got right people, right seats. Yeah, there’s maybe some cleanup or some housework that needs to be done just to make sure we’re aligned in that way. But also, we can’t step in and make that type of a shift without that element of trust being in place. There has to be that establishment of credibility and understanding that this is a significant shift in how we’re running the organization. We need to get the team members across the organization on board.
14:30
Derek Fredrickson
And there may be some skepticism there. Right? You know. Who is this person, what they’re going to be doing? Are they going to be evaluated what my job is, and is there something at risk? Like, we don’t want to come in and I often say shake the tree to see what falls out. We need to build that through accountability and trust and really kind of establishing that what we’re doing. I always say it’s a win, win, win. It’s a win for, first and foremost, you, the business owner. It’s a win for the team members, but also it’s a win for the organization in terms of, you know, the vision being executed and growing profits and revenue and everything else. So that trust element is really really important in any engagement, especially in the very beginning. And then, as you’ve worked with Gina, shout out to Gina. She’s incredible. She’s amazing.
15:14
Derek Fredrickson
What has it been like as it’s continued to unfold? I mean, you know, over the last several months, there’s been no judgment. There’s been some ups and downs. Right. So like, entrepreneurship is never linear. There’s been some high highs and some things that have needed to be addressed. But what has it been like to have Gina in that seat? And as you’ve been able to step out in some respect of the day to day, relying on Gina, what has that done for you in terms of just your mental capacity to focus on bigger things or other ventures and just kind of think about the bigger future?
15:45
Andrea de la Cerda
Oh, yeah, it’s very exciting, you know, because we’re now dreaming a vision for the company over the next three to five years. That’s really gonna be game changing. It really really will. I don’t think we would have gone there if I didn’t have support. You know? Maybe I wouldn’t have had the space to really think about the vision and for it to like, codify so much in my mind as it has. But then also, you know, I can’t do it all. it becomes like too big of a task to try to like, you know, break into vertical or a new market. And that’s what we’re thinking about now. So, you know it’s just so game changing. I really appreciate her, I was saying to her, the other day, you heard me.I mean, I know the types of clients she’s navigating.
16:37
Andrea de la Cerda
I know because I worked with them and they’re not always easy and there are some more challenging challenging situation and she’s taking that on and it’s not easy. And so I’m so appreciative that she is handling it and it doesn’t always have to be me.
16:57
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah.
16:58
Andrea de la Cerda
So it’s very grateful.
17:01
Derek Fredrickson
What I love about having this type of a model. I mean, like I said to you earlier, you know, I could talk about how great it is all day long, but hearing it from other business owners that are doing it, that are living it and kind of sharing that perspective.
17:15
Derek Fredrickson
And I think like with Gina or the other fractional COOs that we have that we, when we work with clients, there’s that like that trusted thought partner, right, that kind of say like that second in command, the person that you can lean on, that you can bounce ideas off of, that you can trust, that you can kinda confide in terms of like what’s working well and maybe what’s not working well and having that, you know, exchange in that way. But also the ability, because of the way that we’re wired, right, we love to implement, we love to execute, we love to make things happen. And so when there is that, I’d love to be able to move this forward.
17:49
Derek Fredrickson
The mindset of like a gene is like, great, I’m going to go ahead and make sure we’ve got the right people in the right seats. I’ll make sure we’ve got the plan, I’ll make sure the team’s on board. Kind of like dotting the I’s and crossing the t’s of the things that need to happen on a day to day, week to week basis and of course report back to you. Hey Andrew, this is where we are. We have questions or we need something to clarify, but you’re not involved in the one that has to drive it. You initiate it, but you don’t have to drive it. I know. Especially because of the way you have your strengths. I think it’s not mistaken as activator or maximize. Or maybe it’s both. You’re like, let’s make it happen and let’s make it happen now.
18:21
Derek Fredrickson
So can you give an example maybe of something like that’s happened over the last several months where it’s been like, okay, I know we want to do this. I know that I’m going to need help moving this forward so it’s not on me. And just kind of like, here you go, Gina. Can you kind of make this happen for us? And then she’s kind of, I’m putting you on the spot here, but just kind of initiated that all the way through to, you know, not necessarily maybe completion, but progress to make you feel really good about that.
18:47
Andrea de la Cerda
Well, I think there’s one thing that we’re in the process of doing now. We haven’t gotten it to the end, but we will. And that’s, you know, I realize that there’s, there’s a reminder it in moving in 2.0 upgrade right where we’re like leveling as a organization. And with that is I need to really set the stage for that and codify our culture. So it’s not just in my head, it’s not just, you know that every It’s felt and everybody experiences it and understands it so that I don’t also have to be in the day to day and you know, Gina doesn’t have to be also the one, you know, sharing the, setting the culture for everybody, but it just understood.
19:32
Andrea de la Cerda
And so we’re utilizing a platform, an HR platform, that I think is gonna help us with a lot of our onboarding, a lot of our training, I think it’s gonna be nice intranet sort of system, to connect us all when we’re all remote. I think there’s a lot of really good that can come out of it if you use it really well. I I’m not the one to go in there. There’s no way. Like I would play around in there for a little bit. And then, I would be like, oh gosh I can’t. Like, this is great, but I can’t finish. Like, it wouldn’t get done. It would just be a nice idea. And so she was able to find the right support for that, that somebody who really understood that platform and she understood the vision of what I was trying to achieve. And so together they’re diving in to really build it all out.
20:18
Andrea de la Cerda
And, I mean of course I will be involved when it comes to, you know, what are the trainings, what do we want people to know maybe I need to be on video. We need to add, you know, elements of more of me in the platform. So that will happen. And I’ll be, you know, collaboratively, you know, working with them on that. But she will drive that to the end because if I have this on me, it just would be so unfinished. I have. This is terrible. So this is my unfinished projects
20:46
Derek Fredrickson
That’s lovely. That’s great. That’s amazing. I love that.
20:50
Andrea de la Cerda
Yeah, yeah. So this is where, as I get more and more of this space in my brain that you know, it frees up. This is where I go. My unfinished projects list. And to prioritize, you know, what can I push a little further down? Before I can just pass it off to someone and we can get it done.
21:07
Derek Fredrickson
That’s brilliant. I love that.. I love the idea that you have that journal or notepad or whatever it is, because in my experience, without this type of support, visionaries, entrepreneurs, they get those downloads, they get those ideas and they may make note of them, but sometimes they kind of like, discount it because they know that it’s all riding on them or they feel a little bit of the overwhelm when they’re looking at the list and like. But I have to do everything. I’m already carrying the weight of the business on my shoulders. And after all this things that I know deep down can really drive The future vision of the business forward. But I don’t take action to start them because I may not be wired to finish them.
21:45
Derek Fredrickson
And it’s also not my unique zone or zone of genius to, like, move it all the way through to completion. So when you have that ability. That’s why I always say an entrepreneur’s job is to make it up. You have a team, right, with the right people in the right seats and processes to make it recur and to make it work efficiently and effectively. Usually there’s this gap, and that’s the glue of a COO. That is the one that makes it happen. We make it real. And so I love that you continue to get those ideas, you capture them. And then every now and then, I’m imagining with Gina, like, okay, I’ve got. another couple things to put onto the list and move those forward. Yeah.
22:19
Andrea de la Cerda
Well, I do have to, like, be careful of, like, not overwhelming everybody with all of my ideas at the time. so, yeah, get them going to, like, a good place and then, yeah, just try to kind of, you know, pass them over and not burn anybody out. But yes. Yeah, it’s really tremendous to have that support, because for all the business owners out there, most likely, you’re probably a visionary, like me. So chances are you’re not going to finish anything. Nothing. Nothing will be finished. All of that best intention. And that’s just how it is, just how we’re wired.
22:57
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah. So shift gears for a moment. So we’ve been working together with you and with Clover and with Gina for. almost a year or so now, and you have another business. So you’ve got Clover and you’ve got another business, Candula. And we just started working together with another fractional COO on our team, Jessica, working with you and Candula. So I would love to hear a little bit of a similar arrangement, like with Candula, knowing that we’ve done great work on the Clover side, but you’re also the CEO and founder of that company, and you have a really big vision and passion for that as well. What made you say, okay, yeah, like, let’s kind of take that model that’s working over here and plug it over there. Maybe I’m simplifying if that was the case.
23:43
Derek Fredrickson
But what was that? That made you say, I need the same thing on this side? Because I need this business as well to, you know, achieve what its vision is supposed to be.
23:51
Andrea de la Cerda
Well, I talked a little bit earlier about energy, you know, that energy depletion. And I was feeling that a lot all of a sudden in this business that I love and I have a passion for. There was a time were clipping along and I was doing podcast episodes, I was doing some speaking. I was on fire. This is fun. This is great. And all of a sudden, I started to feel like, whoa, whoa, this isn’t fun anymore. Sometimes when you’re in the weeds, it’s like I was so in the weeds that I needed somebody on the outside to tell me what was happening, because I was getting a lot of messages pinging on me on Slack, you know, phone calls, text messages all day, like, about payroll issues, about compliance.
24:38
Andrea de la Cerda
Again, I was back to all of these accounting questions and did you get that invoice out? And I was like, what? Like, why am I so tired? So actually you know my business coach, who happens to be Fabienne Fredrickson. She was like, this is not, what is happening here. This is like, you should not be doing any of these things.But I know that. But I was so in it that I think I wasn’t gonna see it, because I was just so focused on the day to day fires that I was putting out, and so when she was like this is zooming way out, this is really not good. Like you now it’s time to bring in someone. And I think that because that is a pretty new business, it’s only been around for a couple of years. I was a little bit in that mode of I’m gonna do it.
25:25
Andrea de la Cerda
I’m gonna get people who are gonna support and it’s my vision and I’m clear on it. And then, but then does there hits a moment. I just hit my limit on what now I was able to do within my zone brilliance. Because eventually things are going to come up that now. I don’t want to do. So I think I needed that outside. I need something from the outside that’s gonna be like. This is what’s happening right now. Yeah.
25:54
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, yeah. I mean it’s.
25:56
Andrea de la Cerda
And then it clicked and I knew because look, I’ve experienced it. I know what it can feel like when you have someone as second in command who’s really, you know, in there. So I know. So suddenly I’m like, yeah, exactly, that’s what I need.
26:10
Derek Fredrickson
I love that it’s a similar thing to me. I mean, when I started the COO solution, I mean, in a few short months, I don’t know if I’ve shared this with you, but you know, I almost had to quit like train myself or condition myself to not be the COO in my business because I was in a lot of the detail. I like the detail. I like creating the structure and the process. That’s what I’ve been doing for clients for 17 years. I’m like, hold on, Derek, you really need to like take off the COO hat, Put on the CEO hat, Think about the bigger vision. Think about the things that you normally work on with your clients, but you’re now in like the receiving end.
26:45
Derek Fredrickson
And so I brought on Nicole, who’s our fractional COO to do the exact same thing. And it’s really, again, it’s been a game changer. I appreciate that.
26:52
Andrea de la Cerda
That’s so funny because I was actually wondering about that with you.
26:55
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah.
26:55
Andrea de la Cerda
Given just how you’re wired, like how is that transition? That’s interesting.
27:01
Derek Fredrickson
Just to answer, it’s not been easy. It’s been a bit of a challenge because I like to get into, I don’t say I like to get into the detail, but I like kind of being that air traffic controller. I like to lead and manage and hold accountable, the people, the plans, the projects, the processes. I like to take somebody’s vision and then go and execute on it. And so I was finding my vision and coming up with ideas that I would go and start executing. And next thing you know, I’m like, I’m creating more and more work because I’m doing stuff with marketing, and I’m doing my sales, and I’m doing some stuff on operations and finances and everything else.
27:34
Derek Fredrickson
Then basically took what I do with other clients to scale their company, kind of put that into place. But I realized that I can’t be the CEO and the COO at the same time. So I said, Nicole, who’s one of the first team members we brought on board around the same time as Gina, I said, would you be willing to be my fractional COO? She’s like, of course. I’d be happy to. So we’re kind of using tcs, the COO solution, almost as, like, another client, because that’s the model. That’s what we want to walk the talk.
28:06
Andrea de la Cerda
Yeah. So interesting.
28:08
Derek Fredrickson
I would love to have you share. So there might be some people listening to this or watching this. Other business owners that I often say are in your before, meaning they are in your situation before getting the help of a fractionalCOO, and they want to be in your after, where you are now. They want to be more in the CEO seat, having more time for the bigger vision, feeling the trust of somebody that’s helping run the business for them. What advice would you give them? Or what would you say to somebody who’s thinking, do I need a COO? Is now the time to consider bringing on this type of support? What would you say to somebody who’s just kind of mulling that question over in their minds from our conversation today?
28:52
Andrea de la Cerda
You know, I, I would say, because there is such a temptation to do it your way, right? To maybe not let go of that control. Maybe there’s a fear of, you know, I’m gonna hire somebody and they’re gonna let me down or they’re gonna leave, or they’re gonna steal my idea, or they’re not gonna do it, how I do it, and then the client will be upset. I mean, there’s so many. I feel like that’s something I hear a lot. And oftentimes that hold someone back or keep them small. And I guess my advice would just be, If you could play a game in your head, just play a game, and imagine that if you had people in your business. You know, trusted people. That are in their zone of Genius. And you perceive that they’re doing something that is not something you could do and way better than you could do it.
29:47
Andrea de la Cerda
Like what could happen, is what I would say. If you could just play a game in your head. And just be like. Imagine and visualize three or four really strong team members who are doing the things you don’t want to do that you’re not good at. And they love it and they’re energized. Like what could happen in the business? Like what would it look like now? And that’s what I would say. Because I think that when I was able to do that and reframe it in my head of letting go of control, when I was willing to finally say these are not things I am good at anymore and now I don’t want to do them. And I realize other people we’re so energized and excited to get up in the morning and do those activities. That is a game changing. Now you’re leveraging. Really, leveraging your team.
30:41
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah.
30:44
Derek Fredrickson
It’s a mindset shift for sure. Right. Because you need to look at yourself in a different way of how you’re showing up in the business and kind of like letting go the old version of the business owner that got you to this point. And I love, you know, if you can spend some time to really think and vision about what you want and what you want it to be like and the results that you can have and knowing that it doesn’t have to be just you to get there. You have somebody like a fractional COO and your team that you can trust. It doesn’t happen like in an instant.
31:16
Derek Fredrickson
You have to really think about it and like you said, visualize about it, kind of feel into what that energy would be like in six months time when you’ve got momentum and traction and you’ve got that support and that trust and everything else. So thank you for sharing that. I think like I said earlier, I can tell people all day long, but hearing it from business owners like yourself is really great. So talking about mindset, I know that you value mindset, like personal mindset in terms of how it influences how you show up in your business, businesses. Right. And your personal life and your well being and tell us a little bit about that, like why is that a value for you?
31:56
Derek Fredrickson
And maybe if you can share like one or two things that you do to always be working on your mindset, knowing that there’s more work to be done in order to, you know, reach a bigger and better version of yourself, like, what are some best practices and things that Andrea does to be a really amazing woman, business owner of two companies, a mother. Right, and kind of doing all of that, like, what are some best practices or things that you can share around that area?
32:22
Andrea de la Cerda
Yeah. So I worked for a CEO many years ago. I was his communications person. So I would help him manage all those internal and external communications. I remember, we would joke because sometimes, he would be wanting to tackle this thing, this problem solving, and he would go into the woods and he’d just say, I’m going into the woods. And sometimes quite literally would go into the woods for like a few days. And he could not be reached. No one could reach him. And he would tell me before, like, no one’s gonna be able to reach me. You’re not gonna be able to reach me. I’ll be in the woods. I don’t know how long I’ll be there. I’ll come out. When I come out. Okay, that is weird.
33:06
Derek Fredrickson
Okay, that’s like a hermit.
33:08
Andrea de la Cerda
And then, but sure enough, he would come out. And it was like he had the clarity that he needed. He knew exactly where were going. He was clear on the vision, and then he was able to articulate it to the rest of us and we were off to races. And it would happen all the time, but it would happen. It would happen every so often. And it was usually when it was something big that we were trying to fix or something that needed, he needed clarity in his head.. And he would also do like before all company meetings, which we’d all do on Zoom. There’s thousands of employees, right? They were getting ready. And he would turn off his camera for a minute and he was ,like, I’m gonna go meditate. I’m gonna do some prep work.
33:49
Andrea de la Cerda
And this is before I was really into mind and really understood the power of it and I was like. God what is this guy, he’s really, woo. I mean, he was out there. But I completely get it now. I think there’s something like, as I have grown as a business owner and a leader, I realize how much pressure, you know, there are can be to show up as your best self all the time. Your best self all the time. With clarity and with some level of enthusiasm, some level of, you know, an aspirational tone. We’re gonna do this together and it’s going to be great. Like, you have to have a certain level of space in your mind and energy to be able to do that. And also, you know, tough problems arise any day with no moment’s notice sometimes.
34:45
Andrea de la Cerda
And I need to be centered and to be able to tackle the, in a way that’s really centered. I can’t overreact. I can’t be impulsive. So I think about what I do, I do a lot of breath work. I try to do that in the morning. I give myself a moment of meditation in the morning. I do yoga almost every day.
35:12
Derek Fredrickson
Wow.
35:12
Andrea de la Cerda
I have these like, you know, oracle cards and I read them sometimes and I, I like to keep up on my, you know, horoscope and just like, yeah, what do I need to be aware of today that the universe is telling me? And there’s just a lot of journaling a lot. And personal therapy. And I do therapy at least once a week, sometimes more. And just a lot of journaling. The journaling, I didn’t realize how powerful that would be. And I thought one more thing that they say you need to do, it’s like, oh, gosh, say you need to do journaling. I don’t know. And then finding the time to do it just felt like a chore.
35:57
Andrea de la Cerda
But I think when I saw myself, I saw changes in myself. I saw change in me as a leader and over not a very long period of time, maybe 18 months, maybe a couple years, I feel like I’m different. And in a good way, I feel like I’m different.
36:16
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, that’s great. Thank you for sharing that. I think as you said, as a leader, as a business owner, and, you know, there’s pressure, right? There’s a lot that’s on us because we’re not stagnant, right? We’re not status quo. We’re like this and something better. So as you grow and as you expand your abilities to reach a bigger version of yourself, things come at you. There’s always a need to kind of ground yourself and center yourself. We talked about this other day about, you know, breath work. I mean, I’ve started to use breath work and I’m no breath work expert, but when I do it I actually do feel more at peace. I feel more calm when I’m on my computer working during the day.
37:02
Derek Fredrickson
I have like energy frequency, you know, megahertz, 528, solfeggio, that sort of stuff, just going, you know, I could be listening to other music. I like jazz, I like, you know, hip hop music and everything else. But for me it’s like, it puts me in a zen. It puts me in a zone where I feel like really grounded and really centered. And I love the example of the kind that goes into the woods. I mean, like for you it might be yoga, it might be journaling for. For me, it’s like when I can go skiing, I feel like I can totally connect to a higher purpose of what’s going on. I could just be quiet and I’m just encouraging those that are listening or watching whatever it is for you.
37:37
Derek Fredrickson
There’s no perfect recipe for what we’re sharing that’s going to be a match for you if you’re listening. But find out what that is because as an entrepreneur, you know, you need to be grounded. It is a full contact, you know, environment. And I think knowing how you can always feel centered and at peace and calm, you know, it’s really really helpful as far as the well being goes. So thank you for sharing that.
38:02
Andrea de la Cerda
Yeah. I don’t think it’s a nice thing to have. I think it’s critical to have. I think it’s critical.
38:06
Derek Fredrickson
Yeah, for sure. Definitely. Well, thank you, Andrea. Thank you so much for sharing about everything, especially this last part, but everything about your journey with us, for sharing about the work that we’re doing together. I’ve just been really pleased to see the evolution of everything that’s happened with Clover and about everything that’s about to take shape with your other business with Candula. And so I’m sure our audience really appreciated our time today. So thank you very much for being on the show today.
38:34
Andrea de la Cerda
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Appreciate it.
38:36
Derek Fredrickson
Of course. Thank you everybody for watching today’s episode. We’ll see you next time on the COO Solution podcast. Have a great day.