Emily's an incredible people and operations leader who is passionate about doing things differently. Her latest project is Kic, a fitness app quashing diet culture—founded by Laura Henshaw and Steph Claire Smith. In this episode, we explore her journey from corporate to startup land; leading inside a unicorn to a bootstrapped company with year-on-year growth. There were so many, but highlights include: Balancing anxiety and mental health around leadership and the techniques that have defined Emily. Scaling from employee #90 at Linktree to leading a 20-person people and culture team through rapid growth. Reshaping Kic's strategy from product-led to a community and content-led fitness empire. Why community-led brands will win and how to embed a community-first mindset into your company planning. How mentors and coaches can 10x your personal and career growth.

Find Emily Robinson on:

• LinkedIn

Emily’s Northstars and frameworks:

• Jane Martino
• The Four Agreements
• You Can Heal Your Life

ANZ operators—ones to watch:

• Maxine Minter, General Partner at Co Ventures, Founder and Advisor at Co Lab
• Mikayla Hopkins, Head of Marketing at Tracksuit

Other folks mentioned in the episode:

• Laura Henshaw (CEO and co-founder at Kic)
• Steph Claire Smith (Chief Community Officer and co-founder at Kic)
• Isa Notermans (Chief People Officer)
• Anth Zaccaria (Co-founder of Linktree)
• Alex Zaccaria (CEO and co-founder of Linktree)
• Jessica Trumble (CEO & Founder at We Are Charlotte)
• Michael Stocks (Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific at Squarespace)
• Do I want Kids? Miniseries with Laura Henshaw
• Co Lab (Matching high-growth founders with executive coaches)
• Simon Sinek

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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