You are here to expand.Because you feel the pull for more - Impact. Depth. Fulfillment.You are a high performing leader.Vision- and impact driven.You have always been a seeker, innovator, change maker.And you refuse to leave potential unrealizedYou want:Greater impact.Stronger teams.Faster transformation.Deeper presence.Real influence.And a life that feels aligned — not consumed.You want integrity between who you are, how you lead, and how you live.But, you carry weight of responsibility &amp; internal pressure.Always thinking. Rarely switching off .Strategies that worked, do nkt create similar results.Team moves slow.Politics intensify.Expectations rise.Momentum becomes harder to sustain.You are at the treshhold of your expansion, that will determine everything.This is where my work lives.I’m Dagmara Asbreuk, Founder and Architect of Extraordinary Leadership™- — where inner evolution drives exponential growth, legacy impact &amp; deeply fulfilled life.I partner with CEOs and executives who feel the pull toward their next evolution.I operate where most executive coaching does not reach — identity architecture, subconscious pattern release, nervous system expansion, and energetic influence.With over 15 years leading in global and Fortune 500 environments, and more than a decade in transformational leadership work, I developed a transformational framework combining neuroscience, somatic intelligence, energetic dynamics, and executive mastery.Through our partnership, you transform — and so anything else you shape and lead - extraordinary organisation, legacy, and live — from sovereign authority, deep trust, and magnetic presence, with greater ease &amp; alignment.Teams move faster.Ownership strengthens.Momentum accelerates.Performance rises with less force.Energy expands.Fulfilment returns.I have partnered with leaders at Maersk, Abbott, Chanel, IKEA, Roche, Microsoft, GE, and beyond.I am known for precision. Presence. Depth.If you are ready to become the leader your next chapter requires —let’s define that evolution.Book a private consultation.https://calendly.com/dagmaraasbreuk/30-min-consultation

Dagmara Asbreuk

The last 2 weeks have strengthened my bond to Dubai, UAE.

This place we have called home for the past four years.
While much of the world watch and spread fabricated videos and posts about Dubai…
Countries offering repatriation.
Families asking, “When are you leaving?”

We experienced something very different here.

Extraordinary leadership of UAE - that leads with belief, composure, and trust through this out of ordinary times.

Residents standing behind this country with pride and belief. Most choosing to stay. Feeling save.

Friends & neighbours getting closer together.
Showing care for one another, kindness, support, hopeful messages.

For me personally, this meant a lot.

In the very first days when the bombing started, I was alone with my children while my husband was in China and had to wait before he could return.

And yet, through it all, we felt supported, safe, and deeply connected to the community around us.

Dubai is a very special place.

It is more than a city.
It is an identity.

It attracts like-minded people.

Those who believe more is possible.
Those who seek the freedom to self-actualize, to create, to express themselves fully.

For many, it offers opportunities they could not access in their own countries.

Uniting 200 nations living peacefully in one place - learning from each other and celebrating cultures from Eid to Diwali to Christmas.

Dubai is not just where we live.

It's where we raise children with the “all is possible” mindset.

With kindness & respect for all nations & religions.

Where we lean into visionary leadership - unfolding potential & strengthening resilience.

In moments like these, that truth becomes even more visible.

And yes we will rise all stronger from this.

So thank you to all friends here ❤️.
Thank you to the Leadership of UAE prioritising the safety of us all.🇦🇪

It's a privilege to live here.

Executive Leadership Partner | Guiding CEOs and executives to build extraordinary organizations, legacies and lives with greater clarity, fulfillment, ease - not pressure | Exponential Leadership Architect™

AI is not just changing work.

It is exposing leadership.

That is one of the biggest insights from my latest Extraordinary Leadership Podcast conversation with Tania Tasopoulou, CEO of ORC Design Ways.

AI is making work faster.
Easier.
More scalable.
But it is also raising the standard.

Because in the AI era, average leadership will be easier to spot.
The leaders who thrive will not be the ones who know the most.

They will be the ones who can:
✅ communicate with clarity
✅ think critically & exponentially 
✅ ask better questions & be present
✅ make sound decisions from deeper knowing
✅ lead humans with compassion & courage through complexity and change

AI can generate.
AI can accelerate.
AI can support.

But it cannot replace judgment.
It cannot replace human wisdom.
It cannot replace human depth & EQ.

And that is why this moment matters.
Because AI is not only reshaping roles, teams, and organizations.

It is reshaping what leadership now requires.
More humanity.
Better leadership.

So the question is no longer:
Should we use AI?

The real question is:
Who do we need to become as leaders in order to use it well?

That is exactly what we explore in this episode 65 of Extraordinary Leadership🎙️

A message to the little girl who started it all.

Dear little Dagmara,
You don’t know it yet, but the things that make you different will become your strength.
Your depth.
Your curiosity.

Your belief that there is more.

There will be moments when you feel like you are too much.

And moments when you feel like you are not enough.
All of it is part of the journey - discovering limitless potential.

One day you will realise that leadership isn’t about fitting into the world.

It’s about shaping a new one - where people lead from their full potential and together create a better world.

Thank you for standing strong.

For never giving up on your dreams.
For your curiosity and search for deeper answers.

For the determination and resilience that kept you moving forward, even in the most challenging times.

And for your big heart - the one that, when it shines, shifts the room.
- Keep showing up.
- Keep dreaming.
- Trust your inner voice.
- Believe in yourself.

And know there are other women just like you.

On this International Women’s Day, I want to thank the extraordinary women I’ve had the privilege to meet along the way.

Those who inspire me, guide me, share their wisdom on the Extraordinary Leadership Podcast, and trust me to guide them.

And to the men who support and champion women - thank you.

Your impact and presence matter more than you know.

To all women leaders: your leadership matters now more than ever.

And if you feel called to step more fully into your greatness and mission, I’m here to support you.

Happy International Women’s Day.

The most powerful leadership advantage in the AI.

You know that executive who walks into a room and everything shifts?

Not because of their title.
But because of their presence.

The room becomes calmer.
Conversations deepen.
People feel grounded and safe in their leadership.

Decisions happen faster.
Alignment happens naturally.
Execution accelerates.

These leaders are not operating from pressure, force, or constant doing.

They are leading from a different internal dimension - where identity, state, and action are aligned.

In an era of exponential change, this kind of leadership is no longer exceptional.

It is becoming essential.

This is exactly the shift we work on inside the Elevated Leader journey starting in April.

A small circle of executives evolving their leadership capacity for the complexity of the new era.

If this resonates with how you want to lead, feel free to reach out.

Leadership today carries more pressure than ever.

Technological disruption.
Increasing complexity.
Global uncertainty.

Leaders are expected to think faster, decide faster, and guide others through constant ambiguity.

Many respond with more effort.
More analysis.
More attempts to control the situation.

Yet what I see again and again when working with leaders is this:
Externally they are admired, capable, and successful.

Internally they often carry:
• constant mental pressure
• overthinking and second-guessing decisions
• the feeling they must always prove themselves
• the quiet weight of responsibility carried alone

But leadership was never meant to feel like constant pressure.

The pressure leaders experience rarely comes from the role itself.

It comes from the invisible patterns leaders carry within.

Patterns that create:
- overthinking
- self-doubt
- constant proving
- the feeling of never doing enough

When those patterns release, something remarkable happens.

Leadership becomes calm, clear and powerful.

Decisions become easier.
People feel safer and more aligned.
Complexity becomes something you navigate - not something that overwhelms you.

This is the shift many leaders are being called into now.

Not learning more strategies.

But evolving how they lead from within.

This is exactly why I created The Elevated Leader - an 8-week executive experience for leaders ready to expand how they think, decide and lead in the new era.

The cohort begins April 9, and until 21at March you can benefit from a founding member rate.

If you'd like to explore whether it’s the right step for you, feel free to message me.

We are not entering the AI era.

We are entering the next era of leadership.

AI will not determine which organizations thrive.

Leadership will.

Artificial intelligence is accelerating intelligence, speed, and complexity across every industry.

But most organizations are still operating with a leadership model designed for a different time.

And leaders feel it.
➡️ transformation initiatives harder than they should be
➡️ organizations struggling with engagement
➡️ leaders carrying increasing pressure
➡️ human potential inside organizations still largely untapped

AI will not solve these challenges.

In fact, it may amplify them.

Unless leadership itself evolves.

The organizations that will truly thrive in the AI era will not simply adopt new technologies.

They will embrace five paradigm shifts in leadership that redefine how organizations operate, adapt, and create impact.

This Wednesday I’m hosting an executive session exploring these shifts.

Because AI is not the disruption.
Leadership evolution is.

Yesterday I hosted a conversation with leaders about a question that is becoming increasingly relevant:

Who will actually thrive in the AI era?

One insight stood out.

As AI becomes exponentially capable at analysis, speed, and data processing, the real differentiator will not be technology.

It will be human leadership capacity.

Not just what you know.
But who you are as a leader.

AI transformation is not only technological.
It requires leadership evolution.

Leaders who thrive in the next decade will need to:
• Master their state and presence under pressure
• Expand self-awareness, identity, and leadership consciousness
• Lead with deep listening, empathy, and psychological safety
• Integrate intuition with strategic decision-making
• Envision and shape the future rather than simply react to it

The real question for leaders today is not whether these shifts are coming.

The question is:
How fast are we willing to evolve?

Curious - which of these leadership shifts resonates most with you?

My preparation for tomorrow’s executive session didn’t start with slides or strategy

It started with state.

- State-aligning meditation.
- Movement.
- Attuning to what wants to be expressed.

Because state shapes everything presence, ideas, quality of thinking, and ultimately strategy.

And right now, with geopolitics and AI accelerating change, the human system is exposed to more triggers than ever.

Which means regulated state and presence become a real leadership differentiator.

Pressure, stress, mental overload → narrow leadership bandwidth.
Presence and clarity → expand it.

This is why leadership today goes far beyond strategy or knowledge.
It requires the ability to regulate energy, focus, and internal state.
In a rapidly changing and disruptive AI world, this will become essential.

The leaders who embrace the shift
from strategy first → to presence first
will stand out.

Curious what the other five leadership paradigm shifts are that will put leaders at the forefront of change rather than worrying how to navigate the AI era?

A few places are still open for tomorrow’s executive session.

DM me if you’d like to be part of the conversation.

Leaders won’t be replaced by AI.

They will be replaced by leaders who evolve faster as humans.

AI is not the threat.
Exposure is.

AI exposes:
➡️ Who is regulated — and who is reactive.
➡️ Who has inner authority — and who hides behind position.
➡️ Who thinks exponentially — and who still plays linear games.
➡️ Who grows leaders — and who becomes the bottleneck.
➡️ Who shapes reality — and who keeps reacting to it.

AI amplifies:
Clarity — or confusion.
Conviction — or insecurity.
Vision — or pressure.
Awareness & Consciousness.

The real question is not:
“Are you using AI?”

It is:
Is your leadership architecture evolved enough for what is coming?

On March 4th, I’m hosting a 90-minute executive session:
5 Paradigm Shifts in Leadership Defining Who Thrives in the AI Era

This is not about tools.
It is about who you must become.

In this session, we will:
• Expose what AI is already exposing in leadership
• Explore the five shifts separating those who thrive from those who stagnate
• Identify where you and your organisation - truly stand
• Clarify how to evolve strategically in the most effective way to thrive 

These 90 minutes may save months of misaligned focus, reactive decisions, and expensive experimentation.

If you are a CxO, executive, or HR leader shaping direction, strategy and culture. This is the room to be in.

Reserve your seat here: https://lnkd.in/er-Vgehp

Executive Leadership Partner | I help leaders build extraordinary organisation, legacy & life by elevating who they are & how they lead | New Leadership Paradigm Architect™

Your response to uncertainty reveals the beliefs you hold about yourself.


This week, I had a conversation with a successful, optimistic - normally calm and grounded - executive.

He said:
“I’m worried about the economic impact of this war.”

As he spoke, I could see his body & energy contract.
I heard the worry looping in his words.

And I knew - this wasn’t really about the situation.

Moments like this reveal the deeply wired beliefs we hold about ourselves.

The narratives our mind creates, fueling anxiety - come from there.

So I asked him one powerful question.

And he answered:
“If everything fails, if I lose my investments - it means I’m never going to succeed.
I feel like I’m always chasing success… close, but never arriving at financial freedom.”

And there it was.

The belief driving everything:
➡️ anxiety
➡️ constant chasing
➡️ overworking
➡️ instability under pressure.

He couldn’t see it on his own because he was operating from it.

And if that belief stayed unchanged, he would keep repeating the same patterns.

Living in worry.
Creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Because that’s how the mind & energy works.

So we shifted it in that moment.
His body relaxed.
His energy lifted.
His grounded confidence returned.

He accessed a new, empowered belief about himself, money, and success.

It felt natural - because he aligned with who he truly is, not the subconscious pattern he had been running.

That conversation put him on a new trajectory.

Because here is the truth:
The way you respond to uncertainty is not about the situation.
It’s driven by the patterns you carry within.

Change the patterns
-> change the response & results.

This is exactly the work we do in The Evolved Leader starting 9th April.

An 8-week small executive cohort designed to help you free from the internal patterns that create pressure or repeating patterns, and step into more empowered version of self who leads with confident presence & grounded inner authority.

The founder members rates expires 21st March.

If you want to thrive in uncertainty - rather than be consumed by it, this is the place.

DM me if you want details.

I’m getting truly excited about next week’s Executive Session - 4 March.

It’s time to put a spotlight on a new mode of leading and growing organizations in the AI era.

And not about AI tools.
It’s about the human potential.

Over the past few days, I’ve been designing the flow.
The moments of reflection.
The visuals that stay.
The stories that shift perspective.
And my own state - to hold the energy of the room.

Each day, new lenses emerged.

This session will be paradigm-shifting.
Rooted in embodied experience - not theory.

We will focus on:
➡️ The shifts that unlock exponential growth
➡️ Why a strategy-first approach is limiting you, and what must come first instead
➡️ The two modes of thinking and decision-making that drive radically different results
➡️ What unconsciously constrains your organization today - and where your leadership must sharpen to build a future-ready company
➡️ How to move from worrying about the future… to creating it

These 90 minutes will save leaders months of misplaced focus.

Participants will walk away with a new leadership lens - one that unlocks organizational potential and positions them at the forefront of what’s next.

And what makes it even more powerful is the room.

Conscious, forward-thinking leaders.
Serious about growth.
Serious about impact.
Fully aware of the weight of ambition and responsibility.

If you want to be in that room,
DM me to get access.

Executive Leadership Partner | Guiding CEOs and executives to build extraordinary organizations, legacies and lives with greater clarity, fulfillment, ease | New Leadership Paradigm Architect™

Every organization wants productive employees.

Yet most invest millions in training that impacts only 22% of their workforce.

That is not a development gap.
It is a leadership calibration failure.

In Episode 64, Neal Katz, shares what 30+ years of leadership experience and +10 years in research on employee productivity.

Through his work, he developed the CARS model - a data-driven, low-cost, high-impact tool that helps organizations identify the real reasons employees fall short of productivity expectations.

In our podcast conversation he revealed why most organizations misdiagnose underperformance.

• Why training fails 78% of employees
• Why workplace preference (remote, hybrid, office) does not equal productivity
 • How generational differences impact performance
 • How internal motivators - achievement, affiliation, power - shape output

Employee productivity drives organizational performance and understanding what truly motivates your people is not optional - it’s strategic.

Stop asking,
“How do I get them to perform?”

Ask:
“What does this person require to perform at their highest level?”

This conversation will shift how you think about training, generational assumptions, and performance management.

Episode 64 is live.: https://lnkd.in/eNANMGTq

Every era shifts the leverage point of leadership.

The AI era is no different.

It is demanding you operate differently.

A C-level executive stepped into a transformation mandate.
Strong vision.
Clear strategy.
Proven track record.

Yet momentum stalled.
Not because of capability.

He needed a new way of operating.

When he embraced five leadership shifts, everything changed.

➡️ Decision cycles shortened.
➡️ Innovation increased.
➡️ Former resistors became allies.
➡️ Psychological safety strengthened execution.
➡️ Influence expanded beyond his function.

He was invited into higher-level strategic forums.
Financial recognition followed.
His reputation elevated.

And personally?

- Pressure decreased.
- Confidence stabilized.
- Energy returned.
- Relationships strengthened.

Growth multiplied - without self-sacrifice.

This is what extraordinary leadership looks like in the AI era.

On March 4th, I’m unpacking the 5 Leadership Shifts defining who will thrive in the AI era.

Leaders who embrace them will not just keep up.
They will define the standard.

Reserve your seat: :https://lnkd.in/er-Vgehp

The leaders who thrive in the next era will shift into a fundamentally different mode of leadership.

More human.
Interconnected.
Exponential.

The gap has already begun.

Not between those who use AI and those who don’t but between those still operating from an Industrial Era model and those evolving into a human-intelligent architecture.

For decades, leadership rewarded:
- Control.
- Linear thinking.
- Output-first performance.
- Identity tied to results.

It built growth.
It scaled efficiency.

But the AI era changes the equation.

It accelerates everything.
It democratizes IQ.
And disrupt old structures.

If your internal operating system is based on linear thinking, pressure-driven, or tied to external validation - AI will magnify it.
More speed.
More complexity.
More cognitive load.
More decision fatigue.

That’s why so many executives feel:
• Increased pressure
• Reduced patience
• Subtle loss of meaning
• Slower clarity
• Future-based worry

It’s not AI.
It’s a misalignment between the era and the leadership architecture you’re operating from.

On March 4th, I’m hosting a 90-minute executive session:
5 Leadership Shifts Defining Who Thrives in the AI Era

This is not about tools.
It’s about the operating mode that determines:
– The speed and quality of your decisions
– Your capacity to hold complexity
– Whether you are the bottleneck or the multiplier
– How culture behaves under pressure
– Whether your organisation reacts… or shapes reality

If you are responsible for direction, culture, and scale - you cannot afford to lead from an outdated architecture.

Join us to be in the forefront: https://lnkd.in/er-Vgehp

I have not shared this here before…

Leading in uncertainty started for me at age 2 - where safety was taken away.

From that early age, I went through a series of operations. 
Each time separated from my parents for weeks. 
Each time followed by months of recovery.

Those moments felt existential - for me and for my family.
And early on I had to learn how to be strong. 
Physically. Emotionally. Mentally.
How to endure. How to live with uncertainty.

It shaped my resilience, my courage, my capacity to handle challenges that others might not have been able to sustain.

But there was another side to that strength.

I learned to suppress fear. To push through discomfort.
To appear confident even when I didn’t feel steady inside.

On the outside, I was composed.
Inside, my stomach was tight. My body tense. Slightly on alert. Rarely fully relaxed.

I coped by overpreparing. By staying in control. It was exhausting.

Only when I truly understood state mastery - and how deeply the nervous system shapes leadership, decision-making, and team dynamics - did I realize:

Composure needs state mastery.

Learning how to regulate my state changed everything.

➡️ Clearer thinking.
➡️ Calmer decisions.
➡️ More stable teams.
➡️ Less reactive environments.
➡️ Navigating uncertainty with grounded confidence instead of hidden tension.

Leading with composure in uncertain times starts with your nervous system.

And only from there can communication, clarity, and connection truly land.

In volatile times, the most regulated leaders make the greatest difference.

If you want to deepen this capacity, tomorrow I’m guiding leaders through a 3-step framework for leading with composure in uncertain times.

Because uncertainty will continue.

The question is: from which state will you lead?
https://lnkd.in/eWdBvcuB

In uncertainty, your state becomes the signal others follow.


Yesterday I hosted an Executive Session on Leading with Composure in Uncertain Times.

A topic many leaders can relate to right now.
- Geopolitical shifts.
- Economic uncertainty.
- Technological disruption.

Part of the inspiration for this session came from observing how UAE leadership navigated the recent situation with remarkable composure.

In moments like these, leadership is not only about strategy.

It’s about the state from which you lead.

During the session we explored what actually happens when uncertainty hits:
➡️ How the body and mind react.
➡️ How leaders can shift their internal state.
➡️ What helps regulate the nervous system first.

And what state mastery really means in practice.
Because state mastery is not just meditation or exercise.

It’s the ability to stay grounded, clear and intentional when pressure rises.
And it shapes: 
– the clarity of your thinking & decisions
– the emotional climate of your team
– the trust people feel around you
– opportunities you create

Also in those uncertain moments people look for direction, stability and human connection.

And they sense that first through the leader’s state.

I appreciated the openness and questions from participants.

One question stood out:
Why is this topic so important for me to speak about?

Three reasons.
1️⃣ I have personally experienced what it means to look confident on the outside while not feeling composed inside. I know how heavy and unsustainable that can be.
2️⃣ I see many leaders operating from constant pressure and tension, often without access to effective state mastery tools.
3️⃣ And I know the difference it makes when leaders learn to master their internal state - the impact it has on decisions, execution and influence.

State mastery is one of the five essential pillars at the heart of Extraordinary Leadership™ - enabling leaders to operate from their highest potential.

Because leadership impact & results are amplified by the state from which we operate.

That is also why I decided to run an 8-week executive program: Extraordinary Leadership™ State Mastery starting in April.

If you're curious and want to learn more, send me a DM.
-----

I don’t follow astrology blindly.

I don’t outsource my leadership to the stars.

But I do understand energetics.

And collective momentums.
And something is moving.

This is the Year of the Horse.
- Momentum.
- Freedom.
- Power.
- Forward motion.

Apparently, this particular Fire Horse cycle comes around only once every 60 years.

Rare or not - you can feel it.

Old structures are straining.
Outdated identities are collapsing.
What once felt stable no longer does.

Whether you believe in it or not is irrelevant.

What matters is this:
➡️ Does it provoke reflection?
➡️ Does it invite a new decision?
➡️ Does it activate a deeper truth?

So here are the questions worth attention now:
• Where are you still playing smaller than your capacity to lead?
• What decision have you already made internally but not executed?
• Where are you tolerating misalignment that your next level would refuse?
• What infrastructure must you build to sustain the expansion you say you want?
• What standard are you ready to raise and hold?
• If you moved at your true speed, what would change immediately?

You don’t need to believe in the Year of the Horse.

But you do need to decide, how you’re leading this year.

PS. Ramadan Kareem to all friends, clients, partners celebrating this sacred month - wishing you a month of clarity, devotion, and deep renewal.

Last Saturday, as I was announcing an expansive executive session on thriving in the AI era, the situation in our region took an unexpected turn.

Here in the UAE, we are experiencing out-of-ordinary times.

When events unfold suddenly, even the most seasoned leaders feel it.
Even with strong inner work.
Even with State Mastery practices in place.

When sounds reach your home - even when you know they are protective - your nervous system responds.

And at the same time: we are safe.

The UAE leadership handled the situation with calm, grounded confidence.
Citizen safety remained the priority.

Across Dubai, there is quiet trust. Stability. Perspective.

This is extraordinary leadership in action.

It reminds us of something essential:
In volatile environments, leadership is not defined by force.

➡️ It is defined by inner regulation.
➡️ By clarity.
➡️ By steadiness.
➡️ By human connection.

In uncertain times, people look upward for direction and stability.

As a leader, your state either fuels contraction or becomes the calm others anchor to.

That is why I decided to shift this week’s executive session.

Instead of speaking about AI paradigm shifts, we will focus on:
How to Lead with Composure When the World Is Uncertain.

Because this topic matters now more and thriving in the AI era requires leaders who remain regulated.

We stabilise first.
Then we elevate and expand.

Volatility does not remove the need for visionary leadership.
It reveals the leaders who are truly ready for it.

If you are committed to leading with composure in uncertain times, this room is for you.

Join us here: https://lnkd.in/eWdBvcuB

AI is transforming technology.

But it’s also transforming leadership.

Every era redefines what leadership requires.

In the industrial era, leverage was intellectual.

Now, in the exponential AI era - the real leverage is shifting to:
Human intelligence. Emotional capacity. Consciousness.

Most leaders haven’t fully caught up to this shift yet.

And that gap is already visible - in how decisions are made, how teams respond, and how change is led.

In my latest podcast episode, I explore 5 leadership shifts that will determine which leaders thrive in the age of AI.

These come directly from my body of work with CEOs, executives, and founders navigating complexity and rapid change.

In the episode, you will discover:
➡️ Why state mastery is now more important than ever and why it comes before strategy
➡️ Why authority is shifting from knowledge to authentic inner identity
➡️ How to access exponential growth by leveraging both AI and human intelligence
➡️ Why leaders must become system orchestrators and catalysts of collective intelligence
➡️ How visionary leaders architect the future instead of reacting to it

Thriving in the AI era is beyond learning AI solutions.

It requires how you fundamentally think, decide, and show up as a leader.

The leaders who embrace these shifts early will shape the future.

Where do you see the biggest gap between how leaders operate today and what’s now required?

Tune into the episode here: https://lnkd.in/dAzG-9mH

Fractional CFO | Helping Founders Scale Beyond $2M ARR with Strategic Finance & OKRs | Founder @ FounderFirst

There's a point where you just can't wing it anymore.

Usually around $2M ARR.

When growth is real, but messy. When the business works (but the numbers don't fully add up). When pricing gets risky, hiring gets heavy, and suddenly every "quick decision" starts showing up in your burn.

That's where I come in.

I step in as your Fractional CFO to help turn momentum into structure.

We build pricing, capital allocation, operating constraints, and targets the team actually runs on.

Over the last decade, I've worked with 20+ early and growth-stage companies, both VC-backed and bootstrapped, across SaaS, fintech, edtech, and agencies. I've helped scale revenue from $500K to $20M, grow teams from 10 to 200+, and build finance and ops foundations from scratch.

I've been in the room for pivots, layoffs, down rounds, near-bankruptcies, and exits - not as an observer, but owning the financial logic behind what happened next.

In 2024, I founded FounderFirst to go deeper with this work, helping teams build finance that actually supports growth, long before they're ready for a full-time CFO. Since then, we've partnered with 70+ founder-led startups and SMBs, including leading accelerators and venture studios.

That's the professional story. Here's the real one.

I grew up in Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria - no English, no tech exposure, no obvious path.

At 17, I taught myself English.
At 19, I earned a scholarship to study in the U.S.

I arrived with a suitcase, less than $300, and no backup plan, and did whatever scrappy thing it took to stay afloat.

Eventually, I found my way into startups. The chaos, the ownership, the pressure, for the first time, I felt like I fit.

What started as survival became a decade of building behind the scenes.

Now I bring all of it - the scrappiness, the strategy, and the systems - to founders who are ready for real financial leadership.

When I'm not deep in spreadsheets or board decks, you'll find me hiking a national park or nose-deep in a book. (Always open to recommendations.)

If the next set of decisions actually matters, let's talk: https://bit.ly/3NEYTqT

Mariya Valeva

Jeff Bezos always left one chair empty in Amazon meetings.
That chair was for the most important person in the room:
the customer.

Not as a gimmick.
Not as a story to tell on podcasts.
But as a forcing function.
Every strategy discussion.
Every product decision.
Every uncomfortable trade-off.

All of it had to start with one question:
“How does this serve the customer?”
That empty chair is a reminder most companies forget once they start scaling.
Amazon didn’t.

Bezos built the company around four principles that sound simple, but are brutally hard to live by:

1. Customer obsession
Not competitor obsession. Not internal politics.
The customer always came first, even when it hurt in the short term.

2. Long-term thinking
Bezos was willing to look “wrong” for years if it meant being right for decades.
Short-term pain was the price of long-term advantage.

3. Relentless innovation
“If it’s not broken, break it anyway.”
Amazon didn’t wait for disruption - it created it, often cannibalizing its own successes before someone else could.

4. High standards
“Good enough” was never good enough.
Because standards, once lowered, almost never come back up.

The lesson isn’t to copy Amazon.
It’s to steal the discipline.

Ask yourself:
- Who is the “empty chair” in your leadership meetings?
- What gets optimized when no one is watching?
- Are your decisions serving today’s comfort or tomorrow’s customer?

Culture isn’t what you say you value.
It’s what your decisions protect when trade-offs appear.
And the empty chair makes sure you never forget that.

*video credits: simplyougrow insta

Fractional CFO for B2B SaaS ($2M+ ARR) | Founder @FounderFirst

Steve Jobs once said he envied Alexander the Great.
Not for the empire.
But for his mentor.

Alexander had Aristotle by his side - someone he could question, challenge, and learn from directly.
Jobs could read everything Aristotle ever wrote…
but he could never ask him a question.

In 1985, while visiting Sweden, Jobs shared a vision:
What if one day we could build machines that simulate the thinking of great minds?
Machines that allow us to ask Aristotle a question.
Or Einstein.
Or Da Vinci.
Not just read their ideas - but interact with them.

Nearly 40 years later, large language models are the closest thing we’ve come to that idea.
We’re starting to move from static knowledge to interactive knowledge.
From reading history…
to having conversations with it.

The real question now isn’t whether the technology works.
It’s how we choose to use it.

Because tools that expand human thinking can either:
- amplify wisdom
- or amplify noise

The responsibility is ours.

*Video credits: foundedarchive insta

Steve Jobs didn’t save Apple with more features.
He saved it with people.

When he returned in 1997, Apple was close to bankruptcy.
Too many managers.
Too many mediocre projects.
Too much noise.

So he did something most leaders are afraid of:
He cut ruthlessly.
Because B-players cost more than no players at all.

Jobs’ rule was simple and brutal:
Only hire people you’d gladly work for if roles were reversed.
No egos.
No passengers.
No “good enough.”
He believed small, elite teams beat large average ones every single time.
That’s why core product teams stayed under 100 people - with overlapping skills, extreme ownership, and zero excuses.

And the bar wasn’t just talent.
It was commitment.
“We’re here to put a dent in the universe.”
That level of belief is uncomfortable.
It repels people who want safety.
And it attracts people who want impact.
The result?
iMac.
iPod.
iPhone.
iPad.
Not incremental improvements - entire industries reinvented.

Fast forward to today:
Apple’s market cap sits north of $4 trillion.

The real lesson isn’t about tech.
It’s about leadership.
Great teams don’t come from hiring fast.
They come from hiring intentionally.
And most scaling problems I see today?
They’re not strategy problems.
They’re people problems disguised as growth.

Small teams.
Clear standards.
Shared obsession with the mission.
That’s how you build something that lasts.
Great teams don’t just build products.
They change the world.

*video credits: multiprenur insta

16 restaurants closed.
456 people without a job.
And the business was still making £190m.

That’s what happened to TGIF’s UK business.
But this wasn’t a sudden January collapse.
It was a structural failure that finally became visible.

On the outside, nothing looked dramatic.
The brand was still there.
Customers were still walking in.
Revenue hadn’t fallen off a cliff.
But somewhere between Christmas trading and year-end numbers, the decision had already been made..

→ The warning sign wasn’t decline. It was “fine.”
TGIF UK revenue was only down ~3% YoY.
In hospitality, that’s not stability.
That’s erosion hiding in plain sight.
Flat revenue in an inflationary year quietly destroys margin.

→ Costs rose where flexibility didn’t exist
UK casual dining absorbed:
- 8–10%+ labour inflation
- Energy costs that reset permanently higher
- Business rates and rents locked into long leases
These aren’t costs you can “optimize” away.
They compound whether sales grow or not.

→ Pricing power lagged reality
TGIF UK couldn’t raise prices fast enough without losing volume.
So instead of passing costs on, margins absorbed the shock - month after month.
Nothing broke loudly.
It just kept getting tighter.

→ The estate was built for a different world
Many UK locations were legacy bets:
- Pre-Covid footfall assumptions
- Shopping centres and edge-of-town sites
- High fixed rent relative to sales
Some sites weren’t underperforming.
They were structurally wrong.
Those 16 closures weren’t sudden failures - they were the tail that had been dragging the whole business down.

→ Debt removed time
The UK operator was carrying ~£25–30m of net debt.
That meant:
- Free cash went to survival, not reinvention
- Refurbs slowed
- Systems aged
- Optionality disappeared
Debt doesn’t kill businesses.
It kills waiting.

→ Now, let’s move to the US business
Same brand. Same menu. Same logo.
Very different outcome.
In the US, TGIF had already shifted risk outward:
- Heavier franchising
- Fewer corporate leases
- More royalty-based income
- Less balance-sheet exposure
When costs rose, pain was fragmented across franchisees.
In the UK, it pooled centrally.
That’s why the US survived.
Not because it was healthier, but because it was structured to absorb failure.

→ January forced the reset
By early 2026, there was no gradual fix left.
So the solution wasn’t a turnaround plan.
It was a pre-pack administration:
- 16 loss-making sites closed
- Estate reduced to 33 restaurants
- 456 jobs lost, ~1,384 preserved
- Business reset under the global TGIF brand owner

This wasn’t brand failure.
It was financial triage.

Brands don’t fail evenly.
They fail where rigidity meets leverage,
and geography decides where the damage shows up first.

If your revenue went flat tomorrow,
would you know which part of your business would break,
or would you find out in January?

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