Carly Kremer built Beekeeper’s Naturals into a brand carried by more than 20,000 retailers. She has a team of 50+ people.
Somehow, she still found herself personally calling ice cream trucks to save a company event.
That was one of my favorite stories from our Substack Live today, mostly because I’ve seen some version of it happen at nearly every growing company I’ve worked with.
The founder is still solving problems they shouldn’t have to solve. Not because they’re incapable of delegating, but because the team, roles, and ways of working haven’t quite caught up with the business.
Carly was refreshingly candid about the mistakes she’s made getting there. We talked about:
Why hiring the impressive résumé doesn’t always mean hiring the right person.
How staying too scrappy can actually start costing you money.
Why delegating isn’t the same as handing someone a giant document of instructions.
How to build a team that can make decisions without constantly pulling the founder back in.
One thing Carly said really stuck with me: As she prepares for her next maternity leave, she’s spending less time explaining how she would do things and more time making sure her team understands what outcomes they’re responsible for.
Pretty meaningful shift!
It’s also the difference between building a team that can follow instructions and building one that can actually operate without you.
Our conversation was a continuation of the first installment of Operator Questions for Founders, and I loved getting to compare what she’s learned in the founder’s seat with what I’ve seen from the operator side.
If you’re growing a team, making your next hire, or wondering why everything still seems to land on your desk, I think you’ll get something out of this one.
And if you missed our original article, What Nobody Tells You About Scaling a Lean Team, you can catch up here.
A huge thanks to Carly for being so generous with her experiences, especially with baby number two arriving soon!
