Second in Command: The Chief Behind the Chief with Cameron Herold

What does it take to go from astrophysics to running operations at one of the fastest-growing AI companies in the world?
In this Fan Favorite episode, Cameron Herold sits down with Victoria Weller, former Chief of Staff and now Lead of Operations at ElevenLabs, to revisit one of the show’s most fascinating conversations. Victoria’s path is rare: astrophysics, space medicine, quantum encryption, and Palantir, before landing at the AI voice company reshaping how the world listens.
She breaks down what a Chief of Staff really does at an early-stage startup, how she cleared SOC 2 compliance in seven weeks, and why ElevenLabs grew so fast. They also get into voice cloning, deepfake safeguards, and surprising use cases across hospitals, transit, and accessibility.
Whether you want a COO seat or you are building functions from nothing, Victoria’s story is a masterclass in figuring it out fast. Listen now.

Sponsored by:
Redirect Health - Affordable healthcare benefits designed to make traditional insurance optional, with 24/7 access to primary care and Rx support that helps businesses reduce costs while keeping employees covered.
Learn more: http://www.redirectcoo.com/

Timestamped Highlights
[00:00:44] – The ElevenLabs mission, and why an EPUB can become an instant audiobook
[00:02:55] – Munich to Edinburgh to Berlin to New York: a career across four countries
[00:04:06] – What actually happens to an astronaut’s blood in zero gravity
[00:07:54] – Lasers, quantum encryption, and the pivot toward tech
[00:13:06] – Cameron asks the big ones: aliens, and are we living in a simulation?
[00:19:12] – What ElevenLabs is really building, explained simply
[00:20:50] – How context lets an AI voice sound genuinely sad or genuinely happy
[00:28:12] – The accessibility use cases the team never saw coming
[00:31:03] – Cloning a late loved one’s voice, and the compliance behind it
[00:33:16] – Stopping deepfake voice scams: watermarks and the AI Speech Classifier
[00:38:31] – What a Chief of Staff actually does, and why it feels like a SWAT team
[00:40:32] – Does a great Chief of Staff work themselves out of a job?
[00:47:07] – The advice Victoria would give her 21-year-old self

About the Guest
Victoria Weller is the former Chief of Staff and now the Lead of Operations at ElevenLabs, the AI voice company behind lifelike text-to-speech and voice cloning, where she owns internal operations, compliance, and hiring. She cleared the company’s SOC 2 process in seven weeks. Before ElevenLabs she was a reliability engineer at Palantir Technologies in New York and London. Her background spans astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh, space-medicine research in Berlin, and a master’s in applied physics from Columbia University.
🔗 LinkedIn | Website

Resources & Mentions
Palantir
Columbia University
Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
OpenAI (ChatGPT)
Midjourney
There’s An AI For That
TED

Important Links
Connect with Cameron: Website | LinkedIn
Explore the COO Alliance - The World’s Leading Community for Seconds in Command
Get Cameron’s book: Second in Command: Unleash the Power of Your COO Book
Claim your FREE copy: Second in Command: Unleash the Power of Your COO Book
Take his course: Invest In Your Leaders Online Course (Use promo code PODCAST10 before the end of the month for 10% off)
Chat or video call with AI Cameron via Delphi

Note: This Fan Favorite episode is a recast of one of our most impactful interviews, still packed with insights for second-in-command leaders. Whether it is your first listen or a revisit, there is timeless value inside.

The Second in Command Podcast is an original production hosted by Cameron Herold. Brought to you by COO Alliance. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

Sponsored by:
Redirect Health - Affordable healthcare benefits designed to make traditional insurance optional, with 24/7 access to primary care and Rx support that helps businesses reduce costs while keeping employees covered.
Learn more: http://www.redirectcoo.com/

What if the most important team you lead is not the one you actually run?
In this solo episode, Cameron Herold tells the story of coaching a 400-person company that had become the best place to work in its state, then watched politics spread through the leadership team like black mold. Silos, turf wars, and finger-pointing crept in right as the company scaled.
His fix starts with one shift: your leadership team is your first team, not the department you run. Cameron breaks down the exact systems he used at 1-800-GOT-JUNK to keep leaders aligned, from weekly shout-outs and a shared dashboard to a rallying cry, offsite quarters, and even a giant Monopoly board.
If your leaders are protecting their own turf instead of winning together, this one is for you. Listen now.

Sponsored by:
Cadre AI – Helping business leaders identify the highest-impact opportunities for AI and implement strategies that drive greater efficiency, profitability, and revenue.
Learn more: https://cadreai.com

Timestamped Highlights
[01:04] - The leadership idea Cameron spent years figuring out before sharing it
[01:27] - The Florida company he grew 10x, then watched get infected
[01:56] - The black mold that spreads across even the best places to work
[02:34] - Why a wide receiver's most important team is not the offense
[02:59] - The first team rule every 1-800-GOT-JUNK leader lived by
[03:44] - The 15-second weekly habit that quietly kills silos
[05:05] - The rallying cry that pulls leaders out of their own turf
[05:55] - The death zone between 30 and 100 employees, and the trap inside it
[07:23] - Why your best quarterly planning never happens in the office
[08:07] - Why one simple dashboard beats sixty scattered metrics
[09:29] - The giant Monopoly board that turned projects into a team game
[11:30] - Flip your org chart upside down, and see who lands at the bottom

Mentioned Resources
1-800-GOT-JUNK (the company Cameron helped build and scale)
BlueGrace Logistics (the Florida company in the coaching story)
YPO (Young Presidents' Organization)

Important Links
Connect with Cameron: Website | LinkedIn
Explore the COO Alliance - The World’s Leading Community for Seconds in Command
Get Cameron’s book: Second in Command, Unleash the Power of Your COO Book
Claim your FREE copy: Second in Command: Unleash the Power of Your COO Book
Take his course: Invest In Your Leaders Online Course (Use promo code PODCAST10 before the end of the month for 10% off)
Chat or video call with AI Cameron via Delphi

The Second in Command Podcast is an original production hosted by Cameron Herold. Brought to you by COO Alliance. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

Sponsored by:
Cadre AI – Helping business leaders identify the highest-impact opportunities for AI and implement strategies that drive greater efficiency, profitability, and revenue.
Learn more: https://cadreai.com

Ever wonder what happens when the COO who scaled a company to $100 million realizes he was the problem?
In this episode, Cameron sits down with Mike Wood, COO of Jarrett Companies, who joined a $2 million Nashville construction firm and helped grow it into seven companies doing over $100 million.
They get into the machinery behind that growth: meetings from 6 to 9 a.m., five days a week, a double check on everybody in the building, and profit sharing that turns leaders into owners. Then it goes deeper. Mike opens up about learning to read at 25, the misery that followed his biggest turnaround, and the million-dollar flood where taking full ownership changed his entire team.
If the noise in your head is louder than the problems on your desk, this conversation is your way out. Listen now.

Sponsored by:
STS Capital – A global M&A advisory firm helping entrepreneurs achieve maximum value when selling their business, with a focus on strategic buyers and life-changing exits.
Learn more: https://stscapital.com

Timestamped Highlights
05:30 - Two million to one hundred million: why Mike had to keep replacing himself, over and over
07:38 - Meetings from 6 to 9 a.m., five days a week: the double check habit that ended repeat mistakes
13:16 - The six out of ten rule: why waiting two months on a problem employee costs you everything
15:51 - How to create safety before a hard conversation, so people can actually hear you
18:41 - The science of angry leadership: cortisol, the default mode network, and why exploding makes you dumber
23:26 - More money, happy family, great job, and the most miserable he had ever been: the fish tank moment
24:30 - Learning to read at 25: how a rare form of dyslexia wrote the negative script in Mike's head
30:28 - "This flood is my fault": the $1 million claim that became a masterclass in taking ownership
34:32 - What owners do when nobody is watching, and why every person in the building needs a double check
42:10 - Inside Learn to Love Being You: removing identities, forgiveness, and rewriting the stories that haunt us
About the Guest
Mike Wood is the COO of Jarrett Companies, a Nashville-based commercial construction group spanning site work, paving, concrete, fire protection, and mechanical services. Since joining as an estimator and project manager, he has helped grow the business from $2 million to more than $100 million in revenue across seven companies, including a fire protection company later sold to a private equity firm. Mike is also the founder of Learn to Love Being You, a 10-week program that helps people quiet anxiety and self-doubt through the same inner work that transformed his own leadership.

🔗 LinkedIn | Website

Mentioned Resources
Jason Jarrett, CEO of Jarrett Companies
Learn to Love Being You
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
Smartsheet
1-800-GOT-JUNK?

Important Links
Connect with Cameron: Website | LinkedIn
Explore the COO Alliance - The World's Leading Community for Seconds in Command
Get Cameron's book: Second in Command: Unleash the Power of Your COO Book
Take his course: Invest In Your Leaders Online Course (Use promo code PODCAST10 before the end of the month for 10% off)
Chat or video call with AI Cameron via Delphi

The Second in Command Podcast is an original production hosted by Cameron Herold. Brought to you by COO Alliance. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

Sponsored by:
STS Capital – A global M&A advisory firm helping entrepreneurs achieve maximum value when selling their business, with a focus on strategic buyers and life-changing exits.
Learn more: https://stscapital.com

What if the smartest move you can make is to disrupt your own company before a competitor does?
In this episode, Lindsay Smith sits down with John Durocher, the self-described accidental COO of Calix. John never set out to run operations. He came up through consulting and customer success, never managed a supply chain or an IT org, and that is exactly why his CEO wanted him in the seat. His mandate: question everything.
John and Lindsay get into how to lead change when everyone is comfortable, build a leadership team that actually trusts each other, give feedback in the moment rather than at review season, and use AI to take drudgery off people rather than cut headcount. He also shares the directive that shaped his role: go build the company that would beat us.
For any second-in-command driving transformation without breaking their people, this is a playbook. Listen now.

This episode is brought to you by our Silver Sponsor, Next Level Growth.
They help COOs and leadership teams build Elite Organizations through a proven, customizable framework built around the Five Obsessions of Elite Organizations.
If you and your leadership team are ready to operate at the next level, take the Elite Organizations Assessment and receive a free 20-page customized report based on your answers, plus a complimentary one-hour coaching session with a Next Level Growth Partner and Business Guide to begin implementing tools that will help you build an even more elite business.
Complete the assessment here to get started - nextlevelgrowth.com/cooassessment

Timestamped Highlights
[00:01:32] The accidental COO: how a late-night phone call rewrote John’s career
[00:08:46] Why the people who succeeded longest have the hardest time changing
[00:10:05] Disrupt yourself, or wait to be disrupted... the directive that built his role
[00:10:59] When your CEO used to work for you: inside an unusually honest relationship
[00:16:11] Why John never waits for a formal review to give hard feedback
[00:18:22] The courageous conversation with his boss that became a breakthrough
[00:21:03] The team reset that exposes how little colleagues really know each other
[00:27:26] Seeing the seams: the bird’s eye view nobody else in the company has
[00:29:28] “Staple yourself to the order form” and other ways to fix the customer experience
[00:33:46] Fast isn’t always good... what moving too quickly does to an organization
[00:36:08] Stop telling your boss why it won’t work. Do this instead.
[00:37:25] The COO’s job is to slow down the CEO, not slam on the brakes
[00:42:43] Does remote work actually work? John’s rebuttal to the water-cooler myth
[00:46:41] What’s next for Calix: AI agents and the smart apartment

About the Guest
John Durocher is the Chief Operations Officer at Calix, where he leads operations across the company, from customer success and commercial operations to supply chain and IT. He joined Calix in 2023 as Chief Customer Officer and stepped into the COO role about a year ago. Before Calix, John spent 17 years at Salesforce leading customer success, where he watched the company grow from $250M to $30B in revenue. He began his career in consulting, including time at Accenture and Arthur Andersen, and describes himself as an accidental COO who treats the job like one long consulting project.
🔗 LinkedIn | Website
Mentioned Resources
Salesforce
Accenture
Michael Weening - President and CEO of Calix

About the Co-Host
Lindsay Smith is an experience-driven growth strategist and former Chief Strategy Officer who scaled a new region without a traditional sales team or bloated marketing budget by turning relationships, culture, and execution into revenue. She is the author of No One Needs Another Company Mug. Stop Branding. Start Experiencing and helps leadership teams use experience as a competitive growth lever.
🔗 Connect with Lindsay on LinkedIn
Important Links
Connect with Cameron: Website | LinkedIn
Explore the COO Alliance - The World’s Leading Community for Seconds in Command
Get Cameron’s book: Second in Command: Unleash the Power of Your COO Book
Take Cameron’s leadership course: Invest In Your Leaders Online Course (Use promo code PODCAST10 before the end of the month for 10% off)
Chat or video call with AI Cameron via Delphi

The Second in Command Podcast is an original production hosted by Cameron Herold and co-hosted by Lindsay Smith. Brought to you by COO Alliance. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

This episode is brought to you by our Silver Sponsor, Next Level Growth.
They help COOs and leadership teams build Elite Organizations through a proven, customizable framework built around the Five Obsessions of Elite Organizations.
If you and your leadership team are ready to operate at the next level, take the Elite Organizations Assessment and receive a free 20-page customized report based on your answers, plus a complimentary one-hour coaching session with a Next Level Growth Partner and Business Guide to begin implementing tools that will help you build an even more elite business.
Complete the assessment here to get started - nextlevelgrowth.com/cooassessment

What is a COO actually for, and why do so many CEOs never figure it out?
In this solo episode, Cameron Herold tackles a question most CEOs never answer clearly: What is the point of a COO? Working through Chapter 2 of his book Second in Command, he makes the case that there is no single template. The right COO is the one who fits the CEO.
Cameron breaks down the traits that set strong seconds-in-command apart. Inward versus outward-facing roles. Translating between departments without being the expert. Finding shortcuts and building systems, the worst employee on the worst day can still run. He shares hard-won lessons from his years as COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, including the blowup that spread bad energy through the company for a month.
Get the fit wrong, and you get a swamped firefighter. Get it right, and you get real leverage. Listen now.
Timestamped Highlights
[00:36] – Why there’s no single template for a great COO, only fit
[02:16] – Inward or outward facing: which COO does your CEO actually need
[04:52] – The role a COO almost always plays, even when nobody sees them
[06:05] – Why being a chameleon beats being the smartest expert in the room
[08:29] – Empowerment over rescue: the parenting rule that reframes the job
[10:36] – The department feud Cameron refereed without taking over the work
[11:29] – The burned-out Starbucks sign that exposes a leadership question
[13:07] – The currency bet that saved $100,000 a year for every penny
[14:13] – The Buffalo snowstorm test for whether a system truly works
[15:20] – Strategy or tactics: the Sun Tzu line every COO should sit with
[19:07] – The blowup that spread bad energy through the company for a month
[19:50] – Why the best COO might be 27, not 57

Mentioned Resources
Free PR by Cameron Herold and Adrian Salamunovic
The E-Myth by Michael Gerber
Good to Great by Jim Collins
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Shopify (Harley Finkelstein, Tobias Lütke)
1-800-GOT-JUNK and O2E Brands (Erik Church)
Apple (Steve Jobs)
Tesla (Elon Musk)
Ben & Jerry’s (Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield)
Starbucks (Greg Johnson)
Dell (Michael Dell)
Meta (Facebook) (Sheryl Sandberg)

Important Links
Connect with Cameron: Website | LinkedIn
Claim your FREE copy: Second in Command: Unleash the Power of Your COO Book
Explore the COO Alliance - The World’s Leading Community for Seconds in Command
Get Cameron’s book: Second in Command, Unleash the Power of Your COO Book
Take his course: Invest In Your Leaders Online Course (Use promo code PODCAST10 before the end of the month for 10% off)
Chat or video call with AI Cameron via Delphi

The Second in Command Podcast is an original production hosted by Cameron Herold. Brought to you by COO Alliance. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.