Episode 035. Become the CEO of Your Life with Amanda Goetz
The agency world was never meant to be a one-character show. In a culture that glorifies doing it all at once — CEO, visionary, mom, partner, friend, athlete — we’re often left feeling like we’re failing at all of it. But what if the key to thriving wasn’t about finding “perfect balance”… but about owning intentional imbalance?
This week, we sit down with Amanda Goetz, 2x founder, 4x CMO, mom of three, newsletter creator to over 150,000 readers, and author of the upcoming book Toxic Grit: How To Have It All And (Actually) Love What You Have. Amanda unpacks what it really looks like to live and work at full capacity without losing yourself along the way.
Redefining What Ambition Looks Like
Amanda is on the verge of releasing her book and launching her six-week book tour, all while stepping into her new role as the host of the Girlboss Podcast (soon to be Ambition 2.0). She shares how she approaches high-velocity seasons in her career with clarity and structure; not by chasing balance, but by consciously choosing which “character” takes the spotlight at different times in her life.
For Amanda, there’s the CEO, the mom, the woman who craves independence, the woman who wants connection… and none of them can lead at the same time. When she’s launching a book, that character gets center stage. When she’s home with her kids, she steps fully into “mom mode.” It’s not about being everything at once, it’s about being fully present in whatever season you’re in.
Systems, Not Superpowers
We loved how Amanda debunked the myth that women who seem to “do it all” are just superhuman. The truth? They have systems. Amanda breaks down her approach to delegation with surgical precision, from how she trains her EA over a dedicated 100-hour ramp-up period, to how she uses Loom to document SOPs for everything from email management to booking date night babysitters.
She also gets candid about outsourcing strategically: hiring a chef to meal prep instead of spending hundreds on takeout, building Friday household rhythms so groceries and cleaning just happen, and redefining what “luxury” actually means when your time is your most valuable asset.
This isn’t about extravagance. It’s about designing your life around what fuels you, not drains you.
Character Theory & Intentional Imbalance
The heart of Amanda’s philosophy is what she calls Character Theory: recognizing the different roles we play and deciding who’s in the director’s chair at any given moment. When we try to make all those characters speak at once, chaos happens. But when we intentionally choose which role leads (and build in real transitions between them), something powerful happens: focus, energy, and presence return.
She shares how small rituals like “commute” baths and Alexa timers create containers for those transitions. No guilt. No apologizing. Just clarity.
Rewriting the Rules of Growth
We talk a lot about scaling smarter, not harder — and Amanda embodies this truth. She doesn’t start five things at once; she masters one, systematizes it, and then layers on the next. From newsletter to community to fractional CMO work, her journey is a blueprint for how to build sustainable, resilient growth without burning out. As women founders and agency leaders, we’re often told to do more. Amanda reminds us that we actually need to do less — with more intention.
(00:00:00) Focus and Finish: Master One Thing Before the Next
Why agency owners lose time and momentum when they try to scale too many initiatives at once
The difference between launching something and actually monetizing it
A reminder that doing less, strategically, can grow your business faster
(00:09:27) Delegation Without Guilt: Building the Support You Deserve
How Amanda reframes delegation as strategy, not luxury
The 100-hour rule that sets her EA up for real success
Creating SOPs that free up mental space (yes, even for date night)
(00:23:58) Character Theory: Choosing Who Leads Your Life
How competing “characters” create internal friction and guilt
Why you can’t give every role equal weight all the time
How structure creates presence instead of fragmentation
(00:36:55) The Urgency Trap, the Parking Lot, and Two Post-Its
Why most “emergencies” aren’t urgent—or even significant
Using timers and clear check-ins to reduce interruptions at home and work
Designing micro-boundaries (5–8 pm offline) that almost never need exceptions
(00:49:59) You’re the Director — No One’s Giving You Permission
Amanda’s final reminder: no one will hand you the boundaries you need
How reclaiming control over urgency and access changes everything
Why stepping into your own agency unlocks sustainability and power
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