Calling Operator with Laura Nicol Ep 51. Falling in Love with Startups and Running—Phoebe Pincus
Laura Nicol dials into Phoebe Pincus, COO at Startmate and Co-Founder at Cheeky Run Club.
We cover a lot. Learning to lead when you've never had female leadership role models. Being the opposite of a perfectionist. Her career journey from psychology student to general manager to chief of staff to COO. We also get into starting Cheeky Run Club, balancing passion projects with big jobs, and finding your “bumper rails". If Cheeky Run Club brought you here, hello cheeky friends!
Inside:
- The Good Weekend Quiz: A pandemic-born family ritual that still lives on today.
- Becoming a leader others want to follow: Phoebe’s aha moment? A halftime pep talk at social touch rugby. “I’ve seen you give half-time pep talks at social touch… you just need to find a way to do it that feels authentic to you.”
- Designing COO-CEO partnerships and her role managing internal operations and external fundraising
- Transitioning from Chief of Staff to COO. Differences. Common ground. Practical to-dos.
- “How do you set goals?” One of the most-asked questions in Chief of Staff circles.
- Life rules and systems: “Always Swim,” prioritising what you know you should be doing, and the shadow theory of values.
- Representing running the Cheeky way: joyful, social, best thing for your mental health. Plus why even non-runners turn up for the women's health content.
- The Cheeky outlet: “this is my thing, it feels like an extension of us”
Want to connect with Phoebe? Find her on LinkedIn.
Also mentioned:
- Maisy Bennett
- Michael Batko
- Jason Fang
- Cheeky Run Club: Spotify, Apple, Instagram, Cheeky’s Substack
- Anna Coldham
- How to fall in love with running with Phoebe & Anna from Cheeky Run Club (KICPOD)
- How to fall in love with running (Cheeky Run Club)
Pre-interview chats:
Guest ideas?
Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn.
A note from your host, Laura:
My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons.
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