The Ops Authority

Former operations executive Teri Swope shares how chronic stress shuts down your ability to think clearly, and the three-pillar POWER framework she uses to lower your stress baseline and lead from calm. Teri spent 25+ years in executive operations leadership, and she knows the hidden cost of holding it all together: the composure on the outside, the exhaustion underneath, and the decisions that su...

A coaching client came to me with a sentence I have heard more times than I can count: I have become the bottleneck. She was making every decision, running marketing she was never hired to run, and still holding delivery together. Nothing about her discipline was the problem. The original scope had quietly moved and nobody had said so out loud. In this episode I share the SHOW framework we built t...

Nobody signs up for a certification program hoping to leave with four new best friends. That is exactly what happened to Beth, Cameron, Jenessa and Tera, who met inside a Director of Operations cohort, began gathering thirty minutes before every training, and are still meeting every Friday, nearly two years on. I sat all four of them down to ask how it started, what has kept it alive, and what it...

Not every operator wants to run their own company, and that turns out to change nothing about how valuable the skill set is. Dr. Cinnamon Brown came into our program on the employee track and stayed on it, and she is now a Learning and Development strategist who reaches for operations every single week. We talk about why corporate titles hide the work people are actually doing, the ceiling operato...

Twenty years in the nonprofit sector taught Claire Crum something most operators never get told: the causes you care about are often where your skills are worth the most. She now runs a six person ops agency helping mission driven organizations do more with what they already have. We get into why nonprofits so strongly prefer operators who understand their funding streams and stakeholders, how out...

An aging workforce, a hundred years of "this is how we've always done it," and a shrinking pool of people to hire. That is the operational reality inside the printing industry, and it is exactly where my guest thrives. Continuing our operator in the wild series, I am joined by Kasandra Murray, a fractional CMO and COO who serves print manufacturers. She unpacks why retention is the industry's bigg...

Are you a talented operator quietly wondering if there is still a place for you in this market? You aren't alone, and this episode is the reset you need. I'm unpacking why so many capable service providers are questioning their value right now and why this is not an AI conversation; it's a confidence conversation. I'm sharing what has actually changed in the market, how the modern operator has evo...

What if the reason certain business strategies never worked for you has nothing to do with effort, and everything to do with design? In this episode of The Ops Authority Podcast, I'm joined by my longtime business bestie, Melissa Froehlich, a strengths-based business strategist and Kolbe Certified consultant, to explore how Human Design can transform the way you build and run your service-based bu...

Saying yes to the wrong client can cost you far more than money. In this episode of The Ops Authority Podcast, I sit down with Raquel Castillo, founder of The Online Integrator, to talk about one of the most uncomfortable lessons in business: how to fire a client, and how to avoid ever needing to. Raquel shares the story of an engagement that looked perfect on paper but unraveled over misaligned v...

What happens when you gather the most common, most challenging questions from our Director of Operations community and answer them live, without a script? Pure gold. In this Ops Edition of The Ops Authority Podcast, I'm joined once again by Lynette Robinson to tackle three real-world scenarios that every operator faces: how to clearly communicate what you do, how to build local connections that co...

Ever poured time or money into a big program that promised the world and delivered very little? In this solo episode of The Ops Authority Podcast, I'm taking you behind the scenes of a major shift we've made to our Director of Ops Certification program, and the philosophy that drove every part of it: confidence comes after evidence, never before. I'm sharing why we separated our signature work int...

Dreaming about leaving corporate for consulting but unsure if you're truly ready to take the leap? In this episode of The Ops Authority Podcast, I'm pulling back the curtain on the eight strategic steps that every operator needs in place before handing in their notice. From getting proof of concept to building your network behind the scenes, this is the calculated, confident roadmap I wish I had w...

What happens when six business owners from completely different niches sit down together after a major marketing summit? You get raw, honest insight into what is actually working right now, and what is not. In this special episode of The Ops Authority Podcast, I am sharing a roundtable conversation recorded by my friend Dr. Destini Copp after the New Media Summit in Austin. Alongside Kelly Snyder,...

Ten episodes in and the questions just keep getting better. In this milestone Ops Edition of The Ops Authority Podcast, I am joined once again by the brilliant Lynette Robinson for a real-time Q&A that gets straight to the heart of personal development for operations professionals. We tackle three community-sourced questions: the real difference between a DOO and a COO, how to handle video require...

Welcome back to another episode of The Ops Authority Podcast! I have Kimberly Howard on the show today. Kimberly is a Certified Director Of Operations and she is sharing her journey from educator to DOO. Our conversation highlights her action-oriented approach throughout the certification and beyond, and her belief in her abilities. She also shares more about the Strategic Mapping Model™, explaini...

Have you heard us talk about the Strategic Mapping Model™, but are unsure of what it entails, and how it can be a valuable asset in your Director of Operations (DOO) business? Today we are talking about the Strategic Mapping Model™, which is the licensed material that we teach in the very first module of the DOO certification program. We have had students join us just to learn this information bec...

What happens when you gather the most common, most challenging questions from our Director of Operations community and answer them live, without a script? Pure gold. In this Ops Edition of The Ops Authority Podcast, I'm joined once again by Lynette Robinson to tackle three real-world scenarios that every operator faces: how to clearly communicate what you do, how to build local connections that co...

What happens when a former COO of a top 10 mega real estate team takes everything she learned the hard way and turns it into a business built to help others avoid the same chaos? That is exactly the story Lauren Duke, founder of CoreOps Collective, is here to share. In this episode, we are going deep into the operational business foundations that real estate agents desperately need but rarely have...

Events are more than just experiences; they're pressure cookers where every operational decision converges at once. In this episode of The Ops Authority Podcast, I'm joined by event producer Shay Wheat to explore the operations behind live events that most people never see. From reverse engineering strategy to leveraging AI, Shay shares the systems that support high-stakes events without burning o...

Welcome to a brand-new three-part series on The Ops Authority Podcast, where we go behind the scenes with operators from industries that look completely different on the surface but share the same heartbeat: strong operations. In this first episode, I'm sitting down with Thais Saenz, Founder of Saenz Global, to explore the world of roofing contractors. From managing chaotic job sites to leveraging...

Have you ever felt like you were throwing spaghetti at the wall with your business, despite having years of experience? In this student spotlight episode of The Ops Authority Podcast, I'm joined by Carol Burgard, a graduate of our 27th Director of Operations Certification round. Carol shares her journey from feeling scattered and uncertain to building a confident, structured mentorship business gr...

For the past several years, I have been honored to gather together some amazing peers whose big hearts for service are unmatched. We come together to do a State of the Union address. This always gives me the awesome opportunity to gather bigger perspectives, and when we come together, there is always massive learning, growth, and innovation. In this second part, we're looking ahead to 2026 and dis...

For the past several years, I have been honored to gather together some amazing peers whose big hearts for service are unmatched. We come together to do a State of the Union address. This always gives me the awesome opportunity to gather bigger perspectives, and when we come together there is always massive learning, growth, and innovation. This year, we're reflecting on 2025 and discussing the mo...

What if the strategies you needed to finish 2025 strong were already being proven by operators just like you? In this final episode of the year, I'm pulling back the curtain on the three approaches that are generating the most momentum for our community right now. These aren't theories or trends; they're real-world tactics that service providers are using to land clients, increase revenue, and bui...

If you're wondering how to scale with stability in your business without burning out or overcommitting, Episode 292 is tailor-made for you. I'm walking you through the exact five-step framework that I used, and that I continue to teach others, to build and grow a lean, profitable service-based business. This is not about chasing volume or investing in complex ad funnels. It's about creating the ki...