Second in Command: The Chief Behind the Chief with Cameron Herold

What if your job posting was designed to push the wrong people away? In this Fan Favorite episode, Cameron Herold sits down with Tod Melnyk, former second in command at Martell Media and now its CEO, to revisit one of the show’s most candid conversations on hiring and culture. Tod went from 18 years at Labatt Breweries to running the business behind Dan Martell’s brand. He shares how Martell Media...

What does it take to build a global team from scratch when a pandemic hits weeks into your new job? In this episode, our co-host, Lindsay Smith, sits down with Awa Kone , Head of Finance at Caliza. Awa previously served as COO of Corridor and as global head of operations at Flutterwave. Awa shares why she never expects the fires to stop, how she works with a CEO without being a yes-woman, and what...

What does it take to go from Chief of Staff to running your own business unit before turning 30? In this Fan Favorite episode, Cameron Herold sits down with Melisa Tokmak, former General Manager of Document AI at Scale AI and now founder of Netic, to revisit one of the show's most insightful conversations on building teams and leading fast. Melisa's path is rare: a tiny village in Turkey, Stanford...

What does it take to keep a brewery's supply chain running when a hurricane floods it six feet deep, four days after you start the job? In this episode, Lindsay Smith sits down with Tom O'Connell, Chief Supply Chain Officer at New Belgium Beer. Tom brings nearly 28 years in brewing, including 25 years at Anheuser-Busch where he led more than 1,400 employees across 46 locations, before joining New...

Ep. 608 - FAN FAVORITE | YPO President and COO Sean Magennis - Lead With a Servant's Heart What does it take to lead an organization of 27,600 CEOs across 135 countries while still leading with a servant's heart? In this Fan Favorite episode, Cameron Herold sits down with Sean Magennis, former International Chairman of the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) and former President and COO of YPO, now E...

What happens when a company builds its growth strategy around reviving forgotten small towns instead of chasing the next big metro? In this episode our co-host, Lindsay Smith, sits down with Nick Murphy, COO of Optomi Professional Services, a 100% US based technology firm operating through two brands: Optomi, which delivers high-end IT staffing, and Provalis, which brings IT and business process c...

What does it take to sit at the right hand of three different CEOs, back to back, and make each partnership work? In this Fan Favorite episode, Cameron Herold sits down with Laurie Aaron, former Chief of Staff at AT&T and now founder of Arron Coaching, LLC, to revisit one of the show's most clarifying conversations on a role almost nobody truly understands. Laurie's path is rare: 30 years insi...

Most operators never learn to fight autopilot, the quiet enemy of excellence. In this episode, Lindsay Smith sits down with Mike Fedorov, COO of Applied AI Labs. With 26 years in operations and supply chain, as a former Accenture Director and Mars operations leader, Mike built his reputation staying on-site, in the detail, close to where the work breaks. He shares his philosophy that a COO's first...

How do you walk into a company of nearly 800 people as its first-ever president and win over the ones who wanted your job? We are bringing this one back because it keeps landing with second-in-command leaders. Cameron sits down with Sameer Kazi, the first president in ActiveCampaign's history, who joined a fast-growing company of nearly 800 people and had to earn trust from day one. Sameer traces...

What does it really take to turn a single-family ranch into a thriving, multi-stream meat company that families and top chefs trust? In this episode, Lindsay Smith sits down with Conner Hackett, General Manager of Stemple Creek Ranch , to unpack how a small California ranch grew into a multichannel meat company without ever cutting corners. Conner shares why culture and purpose matter more than te...

What does it take to go from astrophysics to running operations at one of the fastest-growing AI companies in the world? In this Fan Favorite episode, Cameron Herold sits down with Victoria Weller, former Chief of Staff and now Lead of Operations at ElevenLabs, to revisit one of the show’s most fascinating conversations. Victoria’s path is rare: astrophysics, space medicine, quantum encryption, an...

What if the most important team you lead is not the one you actually run? In this solo episode, Cameron Herold tells the story of coaching a 400-person company that had become the best place to work in its state, then watched politics spread through the leadership team like black mold. Silos, turf wars, and finger-pointing crept in right as the company scaled. His fix starts with one shift: your l...

Ever wonder what happens when the COO who scaled a company to $100 million realizes he was the problem? In this episode, Cameron sits down with Mike Wood, COO of Jarrett Companies, who joined a $2 million Nashville construction firm and helped grow it into seven companies doing over $100 million. They get into the machinery behind that growth: meetings from 6 to 9 a.m., five days a week, a double...

What if the smartest move you can make is to disrupt your own company before a competitor does? In this episode, Lindsay Smith sits down with John Durocher, the self-described accidental COO of Calix . John never set out to run operations. He came up through consulting and customer success, never managed a supply chain or an IT org, and that is exactly why his CEO wanted him in the seat. His manda...

What is a COO actually for, and why do so many CEOs never figure it out? In this solo episode, Cameron Herold tackles a question most CEOs never answer clearly: What is the point of a COO? Working through Chapter 2 of his book Second in Command, he makes the case that there is no single template. The right COO is the one who fits the CEO. Cameron breaks down the traits that set strong seconds-in-c...

What if walking away from the CEO seat was the smartest career move you could make in AI right now? Cameron Herold sits down with Alex Triplett, COO of you.com, the company quietly powering web search for AI agents behind brands like Salesforce, Anthropic, and Harvey. Alex turned down the chance to be a CEO to take the second-in-command seat at a fast-moving AI startup, and he explains exactly why...

What if the most misunderstood role in business is also the one deciding whether your company scales? In this solo episode, Cameron Herold, founder of the COO Alliance and author of Second in Command, tackles the question every growth-minded CEO eventually faces: what exactly is a COO? Drawing on Bennett and Miles’ research and his own years as second in command at 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, Cameron explain...

What does it take to keep a brilliant, unpredictable founder from burning down the very thing he built? In this episode, Cameron Herold sits down with Dr. Jeff McNairy, Chief Medical Officer and second in command at Rythmia , the only medically licensed ayahuasca facility in the world. Jeff gave up his psychology license to help build something the medical world said could not exist. He and founde...

What if the parts of building a $100 million company nobody posts about are the ones you most need to hear? In this recast episode, Cameron Herold drops the highlight reel and tells the truth about scaling. The near-bankruptcy at $100 million. The $9 million fraud. The nervous breakdown on an elevator floor. The stuff entrepreneurs never post about until years later, if ever. Cameron walks through...

What would you risk to build something that’s never been done, like beaming energy from orbit or launching football-field-sized data centers into space? In this raw conversation, Cameron Herold sits down with Joe Yaffe, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer of Cowboy Space Corporation . They dig into the grit, tension, and daily chaos of scaling a $2 billion startup that’s disrupting the...

Are you really wired to scale, or just bracing for endless chaos? Cameron Herold, the relentless "Business Growth Guru," rips open the playbook on what actually drives proven, sustainable hypergrowth in today's world. With stories from building global brands like 1-800-GOT-JUNK and years in the trenches with top COOs, Cameron refuses to let leaders settle for mediocrity. He dives brutally deep int...

How do you actually scale without losing yourself or your team in the chaos? In this conversation, Sivana Brewer sits down with Mara Castro , COO at Twentyeight Health and former Warby Parker trailblazer, to dissect what it takes to build, lead, and sustain high-performing teams in brutally demanding, mission-driven environments. Expect raw takes on leadership, the dangerous myth of “just do more,...

What does it truly take to lead five powerhouse brands… and keep every single customer and franchisee loyal? In this candid conversation, Ankin Laysha, COO of Wellbiz Brands , reveals what most COOs miss about operational scale, brand integrity, and building elite franchise teams that actually deliver. If you think brand consistency is just a checklist and that operations is paperwork, think again...

Ever felt the raw pressure of holding a company’s fate and the founder’s trust in your hands? Lindsay Smith drills into the no-filter reality of the “second in command” role, sitting down with Aaron Getty, President of Joe Taylor Restoration. This is not your average COO conversation. Aaron Getty lifts the curtain on his wild ride from sales rep to running every part of a rapidly scaling restorati...

What if your next big business breakthrough started with owning your own blind spots? This Fan Favorite episode throws you in the trenches with Cameron Herold and SaaS Academy's former COO and current CEO Matt Verlachi, as they go far beyond surface-level business banter. From surviving firefighting chaos to building, selling, and now scaling SaaS Academy, Matt Verlachi exposes the real skills tha...