Today, I’m joined by Fabienne Fredrickson, author, coach, and founder of Boldheart. Together, we’re diving into one of the most crucial mindset shifts for women entrepreneurs: moving from doing to being. If you’ve ever felt like your business depends on you for everything, this episode will change how you think about leadership, delegation, and scaling.
In This Episode:
- Are You the Bottleneck in Your Business? (00:14) – The common trap of entrepreneurs believing no one can run their business as well as they can.
- The Shift from Doing to Being (02:33)– Why scaling your business requires a different mindset than what got you to six or seven figures.
- Fabienne’s Journey (05:16) – How she scaled from a solo entrepreneur to a multi-seven-figure business owner by stepping out of operations.
- The Cost of Staying Stuck in Operations (10:03) – Why trying to “do it all” limits your growth and keeps you overwhelmed.
- The Role of a Second-in-Command (13:43) – How can hiring a fractional COO or integrator help you scale easily?
- Why Women Entrepreneurs Struggle to Let Go (17:33) – The trust factor and overcoming the fear of delegation.
- Building a Business That Runs Without You (24:55) – How Fabienne’s journey with The COO Solution helped her regain time, freedom, and clarity.
- Creating Systems for Sustainable Growth (30:05) – Why the right processes and leadership support accelerate business success.
Why This Matters
Many entrepreneurs hit a growth ceiling because they’re stuck in the day-to-day operations instead of leading at a high level. Letting go doesn’t mean losing control—it means creating the proper structure so your business thrives without you being in the weeds. This episode will help you shift the mindset needed to break through to the next level.
Action Steps for Listeners:
- Identify one task you’re still doing that you could delegate—and commit to letting go of it this week.
- Take the free quiz at TheCOOSolution.com to determine if your business needs a Fractional COO.
- Grab Fabienne’s free book, The Leveraged Business, at Boldheart.com and learn the mindset shifts needed to scale past seven figures.
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.
New episodes drop soon—subscribe to The COO Solution Podcast so you don’t miss an episode!
Let’s connect:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-coo-solution%E2%84%A2/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecoosolution
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecoosolution
👉 If you found this episode valuable, share it with a fellow business owner ready to scale smarter!
Transcript:
Have you ever felt like your business wouldn’t function without you? Like if you step away, things will fall apart. You are not alone. Many entrepreneurs hold onto every detail believing that no one can run their business as well as they do. But what if I told you that letting go could be the key to scaling your business, finding more freedom and making a bigger impact?
Welcome back to the COO Solution Podcast. The missing piece to scaling your business with ease. I’m Derek Fredrickson and today we’re discussing a critical mindset shift that every woman entrepreneur must make the shift from doing to being. I’m joined today by Fabienne Fredrickson, my wife, who is also an author, coach and founder of boldheart.com. She’s going to help us unpack entrepreneurs biggest challenges in stepping back trusting their team and scaling without burnout. You’ll hear powerful insights, real world success stories, and a mindset framework that can help you shift from an overwhelmed operator to an empowered visionary. So if you’re ready.
So if you’re tired of being the bottleneck in your business and you’re ready to unlock your next level of growth, stick around for this episode. It will be a game changer. Scaling a business isn’t just about revenue. It’s about creating the systems, the structure and the mindset that allow your business to grow without you being in the weeds every single day. Many entrepreneurs struggle with delegation.
fear of letting go and not trusting their team to handle responsibilities. But what if I told you that shifting from a doing mindset to a being mindset is the key to unlocking exponential growth?
Our guest today, Fabienne, has worked with women business owners who made this shift and saw their business transform, gaining more freedom, reducing stress, and achieving sustainable growth.
Welcome, Fabienne, it’s great to have you.
Thank you, Derek. It’s wonderful to be here with you. I’m so happy to be a guest on this podcast.
Yeah, and it’s great to have you and I was on your podcast not too long ago and here we are on my podcast and we’re excited to dive in. And of course, as many of you can probably guess by now, Fabienne and I are business partners, husband and wife, parents to three lovely children. live here in Paris, France, living the dream. And yeah, we’re really excited to dive in today. before we get started, Fabienne.
I know your story. We’ve been working together for nearly 17 years. But I’d love for you to share with our listeners a little bit about your personal journey and what led you to this topic that we’re going to dive into today of really helping women business owners shift their mindset about scaling their business.
Yeah, I’ll take you back listeners because there you were there 25 years ago. I decided to become a business coach. I wanted to teach people how to get clients. It was something that I didn’t know how to do in the beginning with my very first business. And I think this is the key point is when we start our business, we have more time than we have money. So we.
do everything ourselves, we pull up our bootstraps or whatever that saying is, all hands on deck, meaning our own two hands, and we do everything ourselves. And that’s the mindset of the starting entrepreneur. For the first few years, you don’t have enough money, you don’t have experience in hiring people. So you become this rugged individualist, this solo entrepreneur, if you will.
And then there gets to be a point at which, and this is what happened to me, I had no more of me, no more time to be able to take care of a lot of the things that the business needed. As I grew my business, I worked with more and more clients, but all of the operational stuff of the business just kept stacking up. My to-do list got longer and I started working on evenings and weekends.
And a story that I typically share about my husband, who was always very supportive of my entrepreneurial journey. And thank you for that, Derek. You always saw my bigger future. And, but I remember this one time I was nearing six figures and we had little kids.
I remember this.
And I was going back to my desk in the evening and trying to steal a few hours on weekends. And I remember you saying, you just signed on another new client? We never see you. And this was before, you know, we started working together and I just didn’t know how to scale my business.
by trying to see clients and deal with the operations and hire and fire and all of this, even when I had a team. And what I realized is that the mindset of the entrepreneur who starts her business cannot be the mindset of somebody who is looking to scale. Once you get to six figures, multiple six figures, you have to work from a totally different
Derek Fredrickson (06:05.313)
Mmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (06:11.854)
playbook because there’s no more of you to go around. But there comes this moment where you know you need to let go of the operations, but your mindset is still in startup mode where you’re like, I can’t trust anybody. If it’s going to get done, it’s got to be done by me. I can’t afford people. And that’s the thing, because you’ve done it. I did it so long by myself. I only trusted myself.
Derek Fredrickson (06:30.711)
No one’s gonna do it better than me.
Fabienne Fredrickson (06:41.248)
And the thing that I get so much when I’m trying to teach people to hire somebody like a fractional COO is they say, it’s going to take so much time to hire someone. It’s all the training. I might as well just get it done myself. they think it’s a cost. And the mindset that needs to shift is what got you here at?
Derek Fredrickson (07:01.431)
Mmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (07:08.586)
six figures overwhelmed the bottleneck will keep you there unless you are willing to shift your mindset and realize that to scale your business to multiple six figures, to seven figures, to multiple seven figures and the eight figures needs to totally shift into the mindset of I am a leader. I am somebody who needs time to think, not time.
Derek Fredrickson (07:13.431)
Mmm.
Derek Fredrickson (07:36.631)
Mmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (07:38.232)
to do. And when you shift that mindset away from doing and into thinking, into being, your business can grow.
Derek Fredrickson (07:39.276)
Yeah.
Derek Fredrickson (07:49.071)
I love that because I, you know, we’ve heard that expression, what got you here won’t get you there. But when you say what got you here is going to keep you here in a way that’s pretty profound because that’s that, you know, we’ve talked about that ceiling of complexity, that glass ceiling where like to break through, it’s a completely different shift. And this is what I love about the way that you teach and coach women business owners is that it’s that mindset.
shift. mean, you teach from a mindset first methodology because yeah, we can say you should delegate, you should outsource, you should create systems in your business, you should provide some structure that you can scale. But you know, it’s easier said than done, but it’s the mindset shift that they actually need to be working less and thinking more about the proper level of support in order to scale and grow in that way.
Fabienne Fredrickson (08:39.342)
Now, you know that I’ve been teaching women entrepreneurs for 25 years, but specifically how to get from six to seven figures for, I don’t know, would say close to 17, 18 years. And in my methodology, because now I just like every day, you know, it’s I help women get out of the busy-ness so they can scale.
What I’ve realized is about my entire business is teaching them the mindset to get out of the operations. So whether they’re leveraging their team, whether they’re leveraging systems and processes, shifting their business model, looking, you know, even to how to do marketing, every single aspect.
Derek Fredrickson (09:12.257)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (09:33.832)
of what shifts a woman from scaling a business to seven figures and beyond is directly correlated to getting out of the day-to-day operations of her business. So if you’re listening to this today, dear friend, dear listener, the thing that’s keeping you stuck is when you’re trying to do the operations, be the doer, micromanage your team.
Derek Fredrickson (09:50.199)
Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (10:03.606)
and you’re doing it without a second in command. When you’re still in the operations, you are costing your business money. The opportunity cost of you staying stuck, trying to play whack-a-mole in your business is costing you growth.
Derek Fredrickson (10:06.999)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (10:23.438)
costing you peace of mind. And this is what changed for me is, you know, I happen to have found you because I married you. I really didn’t. I just looked right, you know, in my own home. But the thing, the thing that you’ve heard me say a million times, Derek, is I did get my business to seven figures with a bunch of part-time people, virtual part-time people. But the problem was,
Derek Fredrickson (10:32.391)
You didn’t have to do a really big recruitment process.
Derek Fredrickson (10:39.095)
Hahaha
Derek Fredrickson (10:48.459)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (10:53.624)
that there were no systems, no processes, and my business was being held together with toothpicks and band-aids. Yeah, and so while I was like, yay, I’m at seven figures, I was managing so many people. I think at that point I had nine virtual assistants.
Derek Fredrickson (11:02.155)
Yeah, I remember that expression.
Derek Fredrickson (11:15.999)
Yeah, I remember.
Fabienne Fredrickson (11:17.486)
And I was the one that was having a one-on-one with all of the assistants and I was directing every aspect of the business. when a complaint came in, I would have to handle it. And when it was time to do something with technology or something, I was involved. And that was keeping me from thinking and visioning and mapping out my big next move.
Derek Fredrickson (11:40.609)
Mm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (11:46.514)
And the thing that was absolutely instrumental in getting my business, which is now called Boldheart to multiple seven figures. And it’s now been at that for 17 years was getting out of the operations and trusting you to lead, manage, and hold accountable all the team.
Derek Fredrickson (12:08.491)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (12:15.594)
all the projects, all the processes. Now I was lucky because I already trusted you. Yeah. But what we learned over time in doing assessments, you and I, is like you are wired for this. You are wired to lead and manage and make sure that projects get done, that year end goals get reached.
Derek Fredrickson (12:21.301)
Yeah, fortunately.
Derek Fredrickson (12:29.505)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Fredrickson (12:32.949)
Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (12:45.696)
that everything works like a well-oiled machine. And what I’ve learned is that I’m not. A mindset shift that I share with a lot of our women business owners is the person who starts the business is not wired to run the business. And that’s not something that’s talked about in business circles. There’s this false belief that
Derek Fredrickson (12:48.545)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (13:14.056)
the person who initiates the business, right? The word entrepreneur comes from the verb in French, entreprendre, which means to initiate. The person, yeah, the person who initiates the business is actually not wired to run the business successfully and to scale. And so all of that to say, we are doing ourselves a disservice when we don’t have a second in command.
Derek Fredrickson (13:19.019)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Fredrickson (13:22.775)
to start.
Derek Fredrickson (13:32.663)
Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (13:43.694)
or some people call it an integrator, a COO to run all of the operations. And when you do get one, you scale infinitely faster and with more ease and you get back your weekends, you get back your evenings. It’s actually miraculous.
Derek Fredrickson (13:46.231)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Fredrickson (13:57.74)
Yeah.
Derek Fredrickson (14:01.899)
Yeah, and I remember when we were doing that in the beginning and over the years as we, you know, continue to work together. I love this expression, which is, you as the visionary, the entrepreneur, the founder, like you have the big idea, your future thinking, you’re looking at the vision, you’re looking at the big picture and individuals like COOs, second in command, like myself, were wired to finish things, right?
visionaries start things, we finish things, we make things happen. And, you know, oftentimes the visionary makes it up, right? Their job is to make it real. job is to make it, make it, sorry, their job is to make it up. We make it real. And then with the right solution. And I often say the solution is a combination of the people and the process, right? Right. People, right? See processes that are followed by all. So you make it up, we make it real. And with that solution,
we make it recur. And that’s when you can scale and get out of the day to day. And what I’ve seen firsthand in doing this with you, Fabienne, for so many years and the fractional work that I’ve been doing with my clients and now building out the COO solution, we now have seven COOs working with almost 20 different clients, is that when that mindset shift happens for that visionary entrepreneur and they realize they can get out of the day to day, they can get some of their time, energy, and effort back.
It allows them to reinvest that back into the vision, back into the big picture, back into the strategy. And not only is that going to infinitely drive the business forward, energetically, they feel alive again. They feel excited. They feel enthusiastic because they’re in their lane. They’re in the mindset of what a visionary is supposed to be. A visionary is not supposed to be in the day to day. We’re in the day to day, but the visionary is there to create the ideas, to start things and let us capture that and make that real.
Make that happen.
Fabienne Fredrickson (15:56.142)
A visionary is somebody who, not to sound cliche, but has a bigger vision of what they want to do in the world. And 95 % of us initiators, entrepreneurs who start a business are people who are not wired to finish things.
Derek Fredrickson (16:14.103)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (16:14.894)
How do I know this? Because I’ve worked with tens of thousands of women in business. And as you know, Derek, we give them assessments. And 95 % of the results come in the same. are people who have lots of ideas, who are high idea generators, but we will most likely only finish a small portion of the projects on our own. So.
Derek Fredrickson (16:26.401)
Mmm.
Derek Fredrickson (16:40.791)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (16:42.094)
If a woman entrepreneur, really any entrepreneur is wondering why they’re not making enough money, even though they’re working so hard is because there’s so much unfinished business. And we’ve taken a project to 60 % or 80%. And that’s when it starts to fizzle and not feel sexy anymore because it gets into the like, Oh, I have to finish this thing. It’s not exciting anymore. And so.
Derek Fredrickson (16:52.36)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Fredrickson (17:01.131)
Yeah, yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (17:09.664)
What I really appreciate and as you know, I sent all of my clients to the COO solution because I say to them, you’re going to scale so much faster when you have a fractional COO helping you run your business and finish the things that you haven’t been able to finish on your own. And sometimes they say to me, you know, I don’t know if I can afford that right now. I say to them, if you were to make a list.
Derek Fredrickson (17:33.664)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (17:37.55)
of all of the unfinished projects that you’ve taken to 50 % completion, 80 % completion, and you give that within the first month or two to your fractional COO, they will monetize all of those projects. They will hold you accountable, get your team to finish it, maybe even finish it themselves. This is why a fractional COO
Derek Fredrickson (17:53.579)
Yeah. Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (18:07.446)
Pays for themselves in the form of finished projects, but then what happened to me and what happens to all of The members of my business who who work with the COO solution Then they get back several hours a day not just several hours a week, but they start to get back five hours six hours a day and This is what I tell them just start thinking
Derek Fredrickson (18:20.737)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Fredrickson (18:36.727)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (18:36.928)
Start reading, start focusing on exponential growth activities and let your COO do everything else. Your job is to think and vision and that’s how you will make exponentially more money.
Derek Fredrickson (18:47.756)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Fredrickson (18:51.605)
Yeah, yeah, amazing. I have a question? How so like as you said, when we started, there was that trust factor that was in some way inherent, right? Because we’re husband and wife, but in some way, perhaps not because you were relying on somebody that had not been working in your business to to help in delegation to create some systems and structure. And for an entrepreneur who’s listening, you know, how can they
really feel confident and clear that the right support in their business as a second in command fractional CEO, how do they really feel that level of trust, especially as a woman entrepreneur? Because as we know, they need that support when they get that mindset shift and realize what, what got you here is not going to get you there and it’s going to keep you stuck here. And again, your job is to make it up. We make it real, but then how do they feel confident and clear to get that trusted support?
as opposed to somebody that, again, they often say, you know, we can run your business for you, right? That’s what we do as a COO. We’re the operator of your business. That doesn’t come from an ego and control, but it’s really more to free you up so that you can scale and focus on the vision. But that trust factor is so critical, especially for women entrepreneurs to be able to kind of pass that on and to rely on somebody to work with their team and to run the day-to-day and to support them to be the visionary. How does that…
clarity shift happens when it comes to the trust factor and getting that support.
Fabienne Fredrickson (20:24.686)
Well, if I’m being honest, it usually doesn’t. The trust is usually not there for a bunch of different reasons that if you allow me to be really real on your podcast, I will. So number one, it’s what we talked about before is nobody really thinks that somebody else can run their business for them.
Derek Fredrickson (20:27.735)
Mmm.
Derek Fredrickson (20:34.699)
Yeah, of course. I wouldn’t expect anything else.
Fabienne Fredrickson (20:49.93)
and with them. They feel like they will be found out like, my God, I don’t have my stuff together. They’re going to judge me. two, they don’t know how to hire somebody like that. So they don’t even trust themselves to hire somebody. They don’t know what to look for. They have no idea about what kind of assessment results, even what to delegate.
Derek Fredrickson (20:57.143)
Mm.
Derek Fredrickson (21:02.743)
Yeah, it’s so true.
Fabienne Fredrickson (21:15.896)
to a second in command. And so there’s a lot of white knuckling, like control, like, you know what? There are too many unknowns. I’m too overwhelmed. I can’t even think about hiring somebody. there’s no trust there. But if I’m being honest, if you’re a woman in business, you don’t always trust. I hope it’s okay to say this. You don’t always trust a man to come in.
Derek Fredrickson (21:16.129)
Mm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (21:46.154)
especially a man to come in and run your business. Why? Because there have been, in my experience, I’ll just speak about myself, so many people, and I mean men, have acted like they knew better than me.
Derek Fredrickson (21:48.689)
Mmm. Pff. Mmm.
Derek Fredrickson (21:55.915)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (22:07.796)
over the years. I don’t want to use the word mansplaining, but you know, there are a lot of people out there with attitudes that sometimes look down on an overwhelmed woman business owner.
Derek Fredrickson (22:11.745)
Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (22:23.042)
and make us feel bad. And we’ve we have been taken advantage of as a woman, just like even going to the car dealership or the, you know, like anything. And so we have an extra level of distrust in the world. And then we don’t want to give that to our business to somebody if we don’t know them. So here’s the really interesting thing about you.
Derek Fredrickson (22:25.249)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Fredrickson (22:32.554)
Yeah, I know, I know.
Fabienne Fredrickson (22:51.214)
And why I send all of my clients to the COO solution. One, you have a proven track record in working with a woman business owner who doesn’t, you know, necessarily finish the projects. And you have been working with a team of all women, practically all women for 17 years.
Derek Fredrickson (23:05.399)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Fredrickson (23:17.995)
Yeah, it’s my entire time doing this. Yeah. Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (23:21.216)
Yeah, and you have respected me.
And there’s a lot of emotion that comes up there because not every person who runs a business for you will respect you. You’ve respected the fact that I am a high idea generator and you’ve provided the string to my kite and never tugged on my kite and judged me for the way I am. so you’ve been working with me, the majority of your clients.
Derek Fredrickson (23:44.801)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Fredrickson (23:54.913)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (23:55.886)
think other than one in the past has, have been women, but on top of that, I know your assessments. You are somebody who creates processes, who believes in consistency and, you analyze and you, you, you make things happen basically, and you’re literally wired.
Derek Fredrickson (24:07.499)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (24:25.29)
like the perfect COO. And because you know women like me, entrepreneurial women, because you’ve been in this world of entrepreneurial women, like thousands and thousands of them, and they all looked up to you and trusted you. And you’re wired for it. You’ve been able to hire the COOs who are wired like you, who think like you, who operate like you. And
Derek Fredrickson (24:33.13)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (24:55.662)
because your number one value, I’m speaking as your wife, but also as your, you know, coworker for so many years, your number one value is trust. And I’ve seen you do this with our children, and I’ve seen you do this with our friends, with your clients, with my clients, that you have a high aversion to anything that smells of distrust.
Derek Fredrickson (25:00.865)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Fredrickson (25:06.017)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Fredrickson (25:19.543)
It’s so true.
Fabienne Fredrickson (25:21.226)
Yeah, and one of your top strengths is responsibility. I hope it’s okay that I’m talking about you like this.
Derek Fredrickson (25:26.793)
That’s fine. That’s why I wanted you here. This is really important stuff. I just, if I could just add one thing and I want to come back to this, because this is really like the thing that we want to put on the table to discuss. And what I’ve learned in working with you in this way, and as I’ve been growing the COO solution and working with, you know, our clients and our team, again, as you said, almost all of them are women, is that there’s a way
You know, I learned this from you. Things aren’t linear. Things aren’t black and white in some cases. And there is a balance to what I call the structure of accountability or providing the container that allows the women entrepreneur to step in and be the visionary that they know they want to be and they know they need to be, but also the faith and the confidence and the trust to have somebody that can lead.
and manage and hold accountable their people, their plans, their projects, their processes, but not in a, the deadline and it has to be done and it’s this way or the highway in a very kind of direct linear way. It doesn’t work in that way. And so when we have that structure of accountability and realize that, listen, structure is not sexy, right? People don’t love the idea, especially entrepreneurs. I’ve never heard an entrepreneur say like, I can’t wait to have structure in my business. It’s like, no, I don’t want any structure, but structure.
Fabienne Fredrickson (26:37.911)
It doesn’t work.
Derek Fredrickson (26:53.215)
actually creates freedom because it’s the foundation, it’s the framework and especially with the trusted second in command that can create the processes and get the people on board so they can be more efficient and more effective in what they’re doing. And you know this because of the work that we’ve done, especially when we work with a client, we always use our service and how we support them through the filter of what’s the ROI. We want to add value. So it’s the tactical of contributing to the bottom line because we knew
as a business owner for this to work, it’s got to move the needle. We don’t just create structure and systems and process just for the sake of it. But the byproduct of that is you contribute to the bottom line. You increase revenues, you become more profitable, you get your time back, you have a more aligned team. So that trust component is really, really important.
Fabienne Fredrickson (27:41.76)
Yeah, and exactly. And just to go back to one of the things that I respect and admire about you so much is your sense of responsibility. And I know this as your spouse, because you are responsible when it comes to so many things in our life. And what I’ve experienced in working with you is you take
Derek Fredrickson (27:54.039)
Mm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (28:10.57)
psychological ownership of somebody’s business when you’ve worked with them. I know that now you run an agency to make it more affordable for people to have your processes, but every single one of your COOs has that sense of responsibility. So going back to the trust issue, the thing that I appreciate, and I’m just going to divulge this now, if it’s okay, is that
Derek Fredrickson (28:17.729)
Mm.
Derek Fredrickson (28:30.071)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (28:40.958)
You and I have decided that I’m not working directly with you as my COO anymore. We agreed that you would launch your agency and now I am a client of your agency and I work with one of your COOs. And what I really appreciate about that is she’s like, she’s like another Derek.
Derek Fredrickson (29:08.663)
Yeah, I know.
Fabienne Fredrickson (29:09.442)
She’s wired like you, she thinks like you, she leads, manages and holds accountable the people and the projects of my multiple seven figure business the way you used to. But I know I feel safe, I feel like I can trust because you hold the frame around it. It’s not like I had to go find another COO, you are there, like your presence is felt, we have calls with you.
Derek Fredrickson (29:30.357)
Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (29:39.758)
there is this safety because you take responsibility for every single one of your clients, even though another COO is leading, managing and holding accountable the people in the project. So if you’re listening to this today, I don’t even work with Derek Frederickson one-on-one anymore. I have hired one of his COOs because I can trust you’re there.
Derek Fredrickson (29:42.935)
Mmm.
Derek Fredrickson (30:04.241)
Yeah. Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (30:05.998)
You’ve got the processes, you’ve hired somebody that you feel so good about that you can trust that they’re running our businesses the way you would have. And I really appreciate that. And I don’t know any other, there are other fractional COO companies out there and I have never seen anyone create something so trustworthy, so safe.
Derek Fredrickson (30:19.329)
Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (30:34.56)
especially for a woman in business. I know you have male clients too, but I really appreciate that you have this growing specialty in working with women entrepreneurs who want to get to seven figures, multiple seven figures and eight figures.
Derek Fredrickson (30:49.707)
Yeah. And I’ve learned that from, working together and part of the work that, you know, not only with boldheart, but the other clients, you know, cultivating teams and cultivating the right team. It’s not just about the right person in the right seat, that there are tactical practical things that are a component of that. But what I’ve learned from you is that there’s this energetic gut feeling when it comes to the resonance that you want to have with a member of your team to ensure that they really are aligned.
not just as the right person in the right seat to do the right job in the right way, but they get it, whether it’s the assessments, get the mission, they get the understanding of what it’s going to take and is that component of trust. So, know, the trust factor for me, like you said, it is my number one value. There’s that trust with the client, but there’s also that trust with the team member. That’s why I often say the work that we do, it’s a partnership. It’s a collaboration. We’re in it together.
with the client to support them and guide them and take care of the operations in the day to day and execute on the strategies and make things real. But there’s that trust component and having the right people that I’ve spoken to. And I’ve spoken to a lot of people and a lot of people on paper would be great, but I just didn’t feel it. It just didn’t resonate with me. And that’s why, for example, in the work that you’re doing with one of our team members, it’s like you got
another version of me in a way, right? I mean, it’s incredible.
Fabienne Fredrickson (32:17.058)
Yeah. And I’ll say this. I’ve seen you just because I happen to be married to you. I’ve seen you say, you know what? I interviewed a potential COO today and they’re not a right fit. And I am not. I’ve seen other COO companies just slap somebody in place like, there you go. Here’s your COO. And not only is the founder of the fractional COO company
Derek Fredrickson (32:23.361)
Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (32:46.866)
no longer there, like gone after the initial match. You never see him or her, which is not the case with you. But it’s also like, I’m just going put these two together. You take that psychological ownership, but also the energetic ownership of the fit being really that this is like of utmost importance too..
Derek Fredrickson (32:49.259)
Mm-hmm.
Fabienne Fredrickson (33:14.062)
to you as the founder of this agency, but I happen to also, uh, we share clients. So when, uh, one of my coaching clients hires one of your COOs on the weekly Q and A call, end up hearing, you know, I’m like, so you hired a fractional COO and over the weeks that follows the, all tell me like, Oh my God, how did he know she is so
Derek Fredrickson (33:21.399)
Mm.
Derek Fredrickson (33:29.345)
Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (33:42.592)
perfect for me. Like I trust her. It’s like we were meant to be working together. And I don’t know how you do it, Derek Fredrickson, but you have this pairing up magic that and everybody’s happy.
Derek Fredrickson (33:57.259)
Yeah. Well, again, I said this in a way when we did your podcast, which I wouldn’t be where I am doing what I’m doing if it wasn’t for you. I mean that not just in the work that we’ve been doing for 17 years, right? And especially in the beginning when we didn’t know what we know now, but I’ve learned so much about how to do what I’m doing in an authentic, transparent,
real way that actually makes a difference. And that’s a value that also include in how I am and how I do things in the way that I interact with their team, whether it’s with clients. And so, you know, here I am, you know, growing this company and it’s been incredible and amazing and I’m focusing on scaling. I have a COO from my team who is a COO for me now, of course. And, but I wouldn’t be where I am without.
you Fabienne in terms of kind of champion me and supporting me and guiding me through this incredible journey. And I’m very, very grateful and honored that you’ve been there for me and you continue to be there for me and champion me to be a bigger version of my future self. So thank you for everything that you’ve done.
Fabienne Fredrickson (35:10.754)
Well, you’re welcome. in a way, it’s a bit selfish because when my clients make the decision to hire a fractional COO from your agency, they scale. It makes me look good. They get their evenings and weekends back. And I just want to just go back to that question about trust.
Derek Fredrickson (35:27.147)
Yeah. Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (35:39.656)
that there was one more point that I didn’t get to finish. And I think the reason why women entrepreneurs trust you and work with you is that you respect women. And that is a huge deal.
Derek Fredrickson (35:54.327)
Mmm.
Derek Fredrickson (35:58.487)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (35:59.256)
And not everybody does. so if we’re going to have somebody help us run a business and match us up with a COO, like we want to know that they respect and hold us in high regard. And I know you, you, you do all of that for your male clients too. And the reason that they trust you is because you are a trustworthy guy. In fact, I’m going to say, you know, I’m a marketer at heart. I teach marketing and business growth, but way long ago when I first
started dating you, I said to somebody, I have a marketing tagline for Derek. And I said, if you remember from maybe the 80s or the 90s, that Sarah Lee, you know, cake commercial that would say nobody doesn’t like Sarah Lee, nobody doesn’t like you and nobody doesn’t trust you. And this is why I think
Derek Fredrickson (36:36.627)
my gosh, yeah.
Fabienne Fredrickson (36:56.49)
you’re going to help so many women make their own money and lots of it growing their businesses is because you respect us and we can trust you.
Derek Fredrickson (37:07.713)
Yeah, amazing. Well, thank you, Fabienne. Thank you so, so much. Before we wrap up, for those that don’t know Fabienne, can you share a little bit about where somebody can go to find out more about you, about Bold Heart? Share what you’re up to, your program. Just for those that are curious to find out more about who you are, where can they go?
Fabienne Fredrickson (37:29.462)
Yeah, thank you, Derek. I have been a business coach for women for 25 years. My business is called boldheart.com.
Yes, like bold and yes, like heart. And I’ve written a book called The Leveraged Business, how you can go from overwhelmed at six figures to seven figures and gain your life back. And I offer a free copy of the book. It’s actually a mindset book about scaling your business. And you can go to boldheart.com to get a free copy if you’re willing to pay for the shipping.
Derek Fredrickson (37:41.399)
Yeah. Yeah.
Derek Fredrickson (38:08.457)
haha
Fabienne Fredrickson (38:09.368)
print it and send it to you. That’s the good place to start.
Derek Fredrickson (38:12.289)
Wonderful. Well, thank you, Fabiennene. Thank you so much for being a part of this episode. It was really an honor and I so appreciate your message and everything that you’ve shared. Again, being in your environment for the last 17 years has led me to this point. And I just want to say thank you for sharing that with me, sharing that with our audience. And yeah, it was just amazing to have that.
to have that conversation today. So thank you.
Fabienne Fredrickson (38:42.478)
Thank you. The best is yet to come for you, but also for all of the people that choose to work with you. And it’s been an honor to be here. Thank you.
Derek Fredrickson (38:48.501)
Yeah. Thank you so much. So yeah, if you’d like to find out more about Fabiennene Fredrickson, you can visit boldheart.com. And if you are from this episode, maybe thinking about, I’m a little bit curious, Derek, if I should consider bringing on a fractional COO, is now the right time, which is a great question to be asking. You can go to thecoosolution.com and on
the website there, there’s a free quiz that you can take, which is a really personalized informational assessment to understand perhaps if now is the right time to think about bringing on the game changing support of a fractional COO. So you can go to the coosolution.com and sign up for that free quiz. And thank you for listening. And I look forward to having you join for a future episode. Thanks so much. Thanks Fabienne. Bye bye.
