I’m Stepping Down As CEO

It’s not click bait.

As of yesterday, Monday 4/8, I am no longer the CEO of Stodzy Internet Marketing.

It’s a bit emotional. I’ve loved being the CEO of Stodzy. However, I also know that stepping down is the right thing to do.

In this week’s issue, I’ll walk you through my entire thought process and give you an idea of what’s next.

Why Am I Stepping Down?

I am stepping down because it’s the best thing for the company.

Stodzy has seen tremendous growth over the last two years. As such, it requires a different leadership team to bring it to the next level.

Running a small company is not the same as running a big company and there are people more qualified than me to operate Stodzy as a big company.

If I want Stodzy to be everything I know it can be, then I need to get out of the way.

The truth is … I am not a good project manager.

I’m too inpatient and restless. In my mind, whatever I am working on feels like the most important thing in the world. I am always “moving onto the next one.” This personally trait serves me well in sales and marketing, because I am always looking for the next deal, but it doesn’t serve me well as a manager.

The personality traits that helped us get Stodzy to $1,000,000 are not the same personality traits that will help the company get to $10,000,000.

Moving forward, I will stick to what I am best at. My new role is to focus on building the sales and marketing team. This way I can apply that fervor to generating more leads, closing more deals, and scaling the sales team as we continue to grow.

The Full Story

Okay, here’s what really happened.

Over the past 6 months, I have been working hard to ​build a sales team​. On top of that, I have also been trying to manage the day to day of the company.

You know the expression. “When you try to do everything, you end up doing nothing.” That’s what was happening.

I was getting in the way. By trying to be everywhere at once, I was making life more difficult for everyone, especially myself.

Finally, after months or torturing myself, I had a long conversation with Bryan and Tricia about my role at Stodzy, and we all came to the conclusion that the best thing for everyone was if I focused my time on the sales and marketing.

I know that this is the right thing to do.

How Do I Feel About It?

I feel a huge sense of relief. I’ve always felt an intense duty and responsibility to the team at Stodzy. When I get tired or burned out with my work, I remind myself how much the team depends on me and that good leaders lead by example.

I can see that my intensity and my refusal to admit my limits were hurting the team, rather than helping them. So moving forward, I know I will be able to work with more focus and scale. I’ll be able to get more done with less effort.

I’m excited to use my extra mental bandwidth for other projects as well. You all know my long term vision has always been to build a personal holdings company. Over time, I will build a team to manage the sales department and I’ll hopefully be able to work myself out of the company. When this happens, I can focus full time on my portfolio.

The time has finally come for the company (and me personally) to go next level. I’m really excited.

But, I also feel a bit sad.

I’ve often dreamt of building Stodzy to $10,000,000 a year. I like the idea of creating a legacy for myself in the behavioral healthcare space. It’s sounds arrogant, but I like the fact that the company is named after me and that I could potentially build something that I can tell my kids about.

I realize that makes me sound pretentious, but that’s how I feel. So yes, I am sad to be passing on the torch. But as I said before, I am passing it to someone who is more capable than I am.

Congrats To Tricia

Going forward, Tricia will be the CEO of the company.

I couldn’t be happier for her. Tricia is one of the most remarkable people I have ever met. She’s amazing.

Tricia first started working for me back when we were all in the Florida office. She was hired to do outreach for the link building team. She was very timid and scared, but she believed in our company and it changed her life.

We used to have Monday meetings in the office. I so vividly remember a moment when I was sitting on the floor talking to the team. Tricia was sitting on one of the couches and she was looking at me while I spoke. I could tell she had complete buy in as to what we were building. I don’t even remember what I was talking about, but I totally remember the look on her face. She saw a brighter future for herself in our company.

She went from an entry level link builder to the CEO of a multi 7 figure company. That’s awesome.

Tricia is more organized than I am. She’s level headed and doesn’t see everything as a nail that needs to be hammered.

Although I feel a bit of unease about this next stage in our company, the one thing I feel 100% certainty about is Tricia’s ability to manage the company as CEO.

There’s not a doubt in my mind that she will take us to where we want to go.

What Will I Be Doing Now?

I will continue to build the outbound sales team.

This is the most important work I’ve ever done, at least as it pertains to the long term success of the company.

We’ve taken Stodzy as far as we can without a legitimate sales process. We generate all our business through SEO and referrals. SEO and referrals will continue to be a major part of my marketing strategy going forward, but it’s time to pour gas on the fire.

In addition, I’m still laser focused on my personal brand, finding new investment opportunities, and ​building out my investment portfolio​. I am in the middle of a few investments and partnerships that I am very excited about. I can’t wait to share them with you.

Am I Scared?

I’m nervous, but I’m not scared. I have faith in my team.

I believe that if I continue to do the next right thing, then our company’s future will unfold itself in the way we envision. I have faith that the company is in good hands with Tricia, and I have faith that I will figure out how to create a successful sales team, despite the learning curve.

What I have to figure out is what stepping down does for my identity.

I know better than to attach my identity to a title. I am so much more than a CEO or even a director or sales. First and foremost, I am Tim. I am me. I am strange and complicated and nuanced in all the ways that human beings are.

A CEO is what I do, it’s not who I am.

But I admit, there was something about the title that made me feel good and made me feel important.

There’s no question that life will be different going forward, but that’s a good thing. The point was never to stay the same. The point was always to morph and grow into something more than I am in this present moment.

I know that’s what’s happening. I am embracing this new chapter with open arms.

The post I’m Stepping Down As CEO appeared first on Tim Stoddart.