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Scaling a Company? Here's Why Most Leaders Fail
About 80% of new U.S. businesses survive their first year. However, only about 50% make it to year five, and roughly 35% last ten years. What truly makes the difference between those who survive in the long term and those who don't? In this episode of The Speak In Flow Podcast, fractional CMO Sarah Fruy joins Melinda Lee to unveil how to be part of the success stories while your company keeps growing. A must-listen for any executive or founder feeling the growing pains of a team that's doubling in size, wondering why your hard-earned culture feels like it's slipping away, and looking for a proven roadmap to scale without breaking what made you strong.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
Why Growth Breaks Companies
“There tends to be this friction between the old and the new.”
Sarah reveals why turnover during scaling is actually healthy and how to manage the transition from wearing many hats to owning specialized roles.
The OKR Communication System
“Every action that each individual, each department is taking should be in service of a company-level objective.”
Cascading objectives and key results (OKRs) create clarity. Weekly all-hands meetings, Slack updates, and AI recaps work together to prevent message dilution.
The One Tool That Ends Meeting Madness
“Audit your meetings.”
Cut unnecessary calls, dismiss people after 15 minutes when their part is done, and use asynchronous updates on Slack instead of performative stand-ups.
Why Your Company Values Are Probably Lying to Your Employees
If you say you value work-life balance but celebrate the person who worked all weekend, you're creating a disconnect that kills morale.
____________________________________
Believing that you have all the answers is one of the fastest ways to stifle your team members’ initiative and hinder your company’s growth. The worst part? Many leaders fall into this trap without realizing it.
Learn how to avoid this pitfall in our latest blog post. "The Smart Person Trap."
____________________________________
About the Guest:
Sarah Fruy is an experienced fractional CMO and marketing advisor who has nearly 20 years of experience in B2B and B2C across online advertising, SaaS, and digital media. She has helped two companies scale past $100 million and played a key role at Pantheon, contributing to the company's rise to a $1 billion valuation and unicorn status. As VP of Marketing at Rockbot, she spearheaded initiatives that generated a 76% year-over-year surge in marketing-driven revenue.
Social Handles
Website: www.sarahfruy.com
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahfruy/
Fun Facts:
🌿 Sarah's love for growing plants started small but has spiraled into a full-blown jungle with 45 pots (and counting) taking over her house.
🧩 She's a puzzle purist — no cheating by looking at the picture on the box. The harder, the better.
📷 She's also passionate about photography, especially capturing intimate portraits of loved ones and black-and-white architecture shots that tell a story through shadows and light.
_____________________________
About Melinda:
Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach, and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results.
She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and has worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence.
Website: https://speakinflow.com/
The Legacy Growth System™: https://www.speakinflow.com/legacy-growth-system
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflow
Instagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflow
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerall
Thanks for listening!
Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.
Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!
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If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.
Leave us an Apple Podcast review.
Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.
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By Melinda LeeAbout 80% of new U.S. businesses survive their first year. However, only about 50% make it to year five, and roughly 35% last ten years. What truly makes the difference between those who survive in the long term and those who don't? In this episode of The Speak In Flow Podcast, fractional CMO Sarah Fruy joins Melinda Lee to unveil how to be part of the success stories while your company keeps growing. A must-listen for any executive or founder feeling the growing pains of a team that's doubling in size, wondering why your hard-earned culture feels like it's slipping away, and looking for a proven roadmap to scale without breaking what made you strong.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
Why Growth Breaks Companies
“There tends to be this friction between the old and the new.”
Sarah reveals why turnover during scaling is actually healthy and how to manage the transition from wearing many hats to owning specialized roles.
The OKR Communication System
“Every action that each individual, each department is taking should be in service of a company-level objective.”
Cascading objectives and key results (OKRs) create clarity. Weekly all-hands meetings, Slack updates, and AI recaps work together to prevent message dilution.
The One Tool That Ends Meeting Madness
“Audit your meetings.”
Cut unnecessary calls, dismiss people after 15 minutes when their part is done, and use asynchronous updates on Slack instead of performative stand-ups.
Why Your Company Values Are Probably Lying to Your Employees
If you say you value work-life balance but celebrate the person who worked all weekend, you're creating a disconnect that kills morale.
____________________________________
Believing that you have all the answers is one of the fastest ways to stifle your team members’ initiative and hinder your company’s growth. The worst part? Many leaders fall into this trap without realizing it.
Learn how to avoid this pitfall in our latest blog post. "The Smart Person Trap."
____________________________________
About the Guest:
Sarah Fruy is an experienced fractional CMO and marketing advisor who has nearly 20 years of experience in B2B and B2C across online advertising, SaaS, and digital media. She has helped two companies scale past $100 million and played a key role at Pantheon, contributing to the company's rise to a $1 billion valuation and unicorn status. As VP of Marketing at Rockbot, she spearheaded initiatives that generated a 76% year-over-year surge in marketing-driven revenue.
Social Handles
Website: www.sarahfruy.com
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahfruy/
Fun Facts:
🌿 Sarah's love for growing plants started small but has spiraled into a full-blown jungle with 45 pots (and counting) taking over her house.
🧩 She's a puzzle purist — no cheating by looking at the picture on the box. The harder, the better.
📷 She's also passionate about photography, especially capturing intimate portraits of loved ones and black-and-white architecture shots that tell a story through shadows and light.
_____________________________
About Melinda:
Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach, and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results.
She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and has worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence.
Website: https://speakinflow.com/
The Legacy Growth System™: https://www.speakinflow.com/legacy-growth-system
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflow
Instagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflow
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerall
Thanks for listening!
Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.
Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!
Subscribe to the podcast
If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.
Leave us an Apple Podcast review.
Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.