Host: Carrie Tuttle

Guest: Andrea Oh

Most entrepreneurs are taught to fake it till they make it. Andrea Oh built her company around removing that need entirely.

A four-time tech founder with two successful exits, Andrea is now CEO and co-founder of Savvy Knowledge, a skills validation platform built for high-risk industries like government, defense, healthcare, and cybersecurity. She is also an entrepreneur in residence at Platform Calgary and a former competitive volleyball player.

Andrea joins Carrie for a deep conversation about the myth that starting a company guarantees an exit, how Andrea defines imposter syndrome, and why she coaches founders as a teammate rather than an expert.

Andrea shares what it takes to build trust, give honest feedback, and ask for help, along with what her years as a competitive athlete taught her about connecting personal goals to company goals. She also talks candidly about losing confidence in her own voice after her second company and what it took to get it back.

The discussion gets deep when they talk about what good coaching actually feels like for the person being coached, why vulnerability builds more trust than having answers, and how trusting her own voice again after a difficult stretch changed the way she leads today.

This episode is a must-listen for leaders and founders who want a more honest look at imposter syndrome, building trust, and bringing out the best in the people you lead.

QUOTE-WORTHY MOMENTS:

• “Your role is not to be perfect. Your role is to be relatable.”
• “If I care about the person, I will say the things they need to hear because I want what's best for them.”
• “Starting a company doesn't guarantee an exit.”

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

• Starting a company does not guarantee an exit, and mistakes are part of the path to success.
• Imposter syndrome is a false feeling of not being good enough that most people experience.
• Trusting your voice and your instincts matters more than being popular.
• Coaching works best when the coach acts as a teammate rather than an expert.
• Effective coaching starts with building trust and avoiding transactional interactions.
• Honest feedback is easier to hear when it comes from a trusted relationship.
• People being coached should leave feeling lighter, heard, and ready to move forward.
• Leaders can ask the people they lead for help and build a reciprocal relationship.
• Connecting each person's own goals to company goals builds autonomy and stronger teams.
• Founders and coaches both benefit from asking for honest feedback and being open to it.

LINKS FROM EPISODE:

Learn more about Savvy Knowledge: ⁠https://www.savvyknowledge.com/⁠

Andrea Oh LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-oh/

Andrea Oh Instagram: @sixfootcanasian

Resources Mentioned:

Book: Quiet Champions by Ian Chisholm

Founders Podcast with David Senra: https://www.founderspodcast.com/

Take the sales team performance diagnostic: https://api.teammojo.ca/widget/quiz/Ft18WA4QmmbTNieprM6P?notrack=true

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