You don’t need to do more—you need operational support that gives you space to lead, think, and be fully present where it matters most.
Walt Disney had his brother, Roy.
Walt was the dreamer. The ideas, the energy, the vision that changed everything.
Roy was the operator. The contracts, the hiring, the systems, the structure.
Walt had an idea. Roy made it real.
And here's the thing nobody talks about.
Without Roy, Walt's ideas stayed ideas.
Without Walt, Roy had nothing worth building.
They needed each other.
But most business owners I know are trying to be both.
They're holding the vision and running the operation.
Leading the strategy and managing the team.
Thinking about the future and answering every message today.
And somewhere in the middle of all of it, the vision gets buried.
Not because they stopped caring about it.
Because they're too deep in the day-to-day to see it anymore.
That's not a “discipline” problem. It's a “structure” problem.
And it has a solution.
This week, I spoke with Tamara Munoz – founder of Behind the Screens – about what it actually looks like to step out of the operational trenches without losing your grip on what you're building.
We talked about why letting go feels unsafe – and what changes that.
The identity shift that has to happen before any of this works.
And what scaling actually means when presence and peace matter more than a revenue headline.
This conversation shifted something for me personally.
I think it will for you, too.
🎧 Listen to the full episode.
Because your job was always to be Walt.
It's time to find your Roy.
KEY TAKEAWAYS: Rethinking Operational Support for Sustainable Scale
- Small Businesses Need COOs Too: You don’t need a big team to be a “real” CEO: even a lean, lifestyle-focused business benefits hugely from fractional COO support.
- Hire Fractional Brains, Not Just Fractional Hands: At a certain stage, another assistant isn’t the answer. A fractional COO becomes your “2nd brain” – they turn your vision into contracts, systems and hires that fuel growth while you continue to steer your business.
- You Decide What ‘Big Enough’ Is: Top‑line growth that crushes your profit or your nervous system is fake success. Define what presence, peace, and security look like for you, then only scale in ways that protect all three.
BEST MOMENTS: What Strategic Operational Support Sounds Like
01:04 – 💬 “ I can grow my business without losing control, without breaking the bank, and also to do it without breaking my lifestyle goals of living with more presence, purpose and peace.” – Steve Day
15:35 – 💬 “ I call it CEO extraction. We gotta get you out of the trenches. We walk them through this whole framework.” – Tamara Munoz
26:18 – 💬 “ Then make decisions based on, okay, we are fully optimised, and we're nearing capacity. What's our next step?” – Tamara Munoz
TIMESTAMPED OVERVIEW
00:00 Intro: Getting operational support
11:45 Defining what success will look like
24:50 Scaling a company with a fractional COO
34:36 Finding peace and presence
Episode Transcript
Please note: This transcript was generated using automated transcription tools and may contain typographical errors or inaccurately captured words or phrases.
Dr Steve Day: If you like the idea of having a COO in your company, an Operations Manager. Somebody to basically do all of the stuff that you just wish you didn\'t have to do. But you know you need to get done as a business owner. This episode is definitely worth listening to.
Because I just had an amazing conversation with Tamara Munoz, who is the founder of Behind the Screens.
Tamara helps small business owners to have the operational support they need. To get the absolute experts in to help you at time when you can\'t probably afford or justify hiring your own COO or your own Operations Manager. To come in and work 40 hours a week in your business. So if you are at that transition point where you know you need operational support at a high level. But you don\'t need to hire someone in full time and you need fractional support.
Listen to this episode as I talk through some of the challenges, the mindset issues that I\'ve had. The decisions that I\'m making right now in my business. That align really truly with what tomorrow does. And I was massively encouraged by this conversation.
And it suddenly opened my eyes. To think about, okay, I can see what my next steps should be in order to grow my business. Without losing control, without breaking the bank. And also to do it without breaking my lifestyle goals of living with more presence, purpose, and peace. Listen in and enjoy.
Hi Tamara. Thank you so much for coming on the show. As with a lot of people I have interviewed recently, I\'m really excited about this conversation. And we were just talking just before I came on about the fact that we are actually in similar industries.
I think that\'s gonna be a, as often proved to be the ground for brilliant conversation. It\'s gonna be really valuable. So thank you very much for taking time out to come on today.
Tamara Munoz: Of course. Thank you so much for having me.
Dr Steve Day: Cool. Well, I\'d love to kick off. And, you know, I\'ve read all about your story and who you are. Obviously an intro explained a little bit about what you do now. But I\'d love to know just a three, four minute history of why you do what you do. Like what, why you passionate about this. And just yeah, a summary of like the who you work with and how you help them.
Tamara Munoz: Yeah, absolutely. So my story began ages ago when I worked in corporate. I worked very high volume operations, fast paced. I was very young and I burned out very early on in my career. It was a very demanding job, but beyond that, it was observing all of my peers at the time, high rates of divorce. They were putting their kids to sleep via FaceTime.
And I was young, I wasn\'t thinking about getting married or having kids. But the, lifestyle just was not incongruence what I wanted for my life in the future. And then I had a series of unfortunate events happen. My grandmother passed away. One of my stores had an electrical fire on Christmas Day and I had to leave Christmas dinner with my family to go handle that.
And that was kind of the tipping point for me where it\'s just like, why am I burning myself out and sacrificing so much? That is, it is important to be there for my family, to grieve, to navigate these, phases of life for someone else\'s dream. And also at the expense of not only my happiness, but also my health.
I was really struggling at that time health-wise. And that was kind of the flip, that the switch, that flipped for me. I was like, okay, this is not where I wanna be in 10 years. So I put my head down and it, what were next steps? I was, I\'ve been in leadership and in operations from a very young age.
I got pulled into this world at 19. So I, at that point had almost a decade of work under my belt in scaling teams. Building, training, running very high level, high volume operations with teams of hundreds. And how can I take all of that experience and do my own thing? So the easiest way was through virtual assisting.
That was my easiest way out of just setting up small systems supporting entrepreneurs. And I very quickly replaced my corporate income. And here in the States, you can\'t buy a house as an entrepreneur until you have about three years worth of tax returns. So, I was not going to wait three years. So I kept my job and my business running for about six months.
And once I had enough and I had the house, had the keys in my hand, I called my boss and I quit. And then I got married the next day. It all happened like in, in a weekend. And we, the business grew very quickly. We grew very, very fast. I outgrew the virtual assisting world very, very fast. I found online business management, creating systems for, for small businesses, and then eventually grew into the role of fractional COO.
So that\'s what I personally do inside of small businesses. While my agency behind the screens handles more of the online business management systems creation, virtual assisting. We have an incredible team of, amazingly, like operationally forward humans who make it all happen. And it\'s been a lot of fun. It\'s been a trip, but it\'s been a lot of fun.
Dr Steve Day: Cool. Awesome. I love that. And I think that many entrepreneurs have got these stories. Probably all of us have got some sort of story. But like these pivotal moments where you can just say, that\'s, like, that\'s when my entire mindset shifted. And, you know, I read about those stories.
You mentioned just then, about your grandmother and about a colleague dying, and on the Christmas day. And, you know, I\'ve similar stories to why I just decided that, you know, I\'ve got to, I\'ve gotta, for myself do this. I\'ve gotta figure out how do I build a business that truly can serve who I want to be. Who the person I, who, I wanna become as well.
And to do that, I needed to completely rethink about what, where I got value from in the world. So I\'d love to know how you transitioned that. Like how do I see myself worth as a better say way of saying it? Because you know, being in high flying in corporate and being like the whole mechanism behind that. The reward system where you get your dopamine fixes from on a day-to-day basis.
Like that, like leaving that, in the same with me leaving medicine and coming into the world of, trying to be a family person. And, you know, be there for my kids, and like I say, not putting \'em to bed by FaceTime. Actually being picking up from school every day. All these amazing things I get to do now. But I had to shift myself worth. So how did you overcome those challenges of moving from corporate identity to self-employed, doing your own thing. And actually how did, you find that transition?
Tamara Munoz: It is, it\'s still very difficult. I\'m seven years in. It\'s an identity thing, especially being high performing. And I mean, you having a background in medicine, you\'re a high performer and a high achiever.
It\'s very difficult to move the mindset you, it\'s like addiction replacement. So from moving from being addicted to the corporate grind and 16 hour days. And hitting those achievements and getting promotions and doing the thing. To now it is, how many people can we serve? How, many services can I put out there?
How can we do X, Y, and Z? How can I hit the next revenue milestone. And it has been, I have had to deprogram that. Because it, it took me up until about two years ago to realize that, oh, I\'m just building what I was working in. I\'m just building it myself and I\'m working so much more. And I really tied my worth to, as a kid, to my grades and my achievements in school and then in incorporate to my promotions and achievements there.
And now it was tied more to my successes within business, the awards, the rooms I was in, the monetary part of it. So I\'ve had to do a lot of deprogramming and nervous system regulation. And rediscovering who I am as a person outside of my hustle. Because I default to that\'s where I feel safest.
I\'m the eldest daughter of immigrants. Like I have been working in one way or another since I was very young. So it has been a challenge for me to also be where my feet are and be present. And not feel the guilt of when I\'m working I\'m not with my kids and I feel guilt there. But when I\'m with my kids, I\'m not working.
And then I feel guilt there. There has been a lot of healing that has had to happen. A lot of, untangling, and detangling what I see as success and what feels like success. And being very clear as to what it is that I\'m actually chasing. Like, what does success actually look like for me. And not letting other people\'s ideas of success define it for me. Which is also very difficult to do when you work online and you are inundated with messaging.
And, even your peers telling you what they like and what you know, what they\'re achieving, and you\'re like, oh, I could do that better. I could totally handle that. And your plate\'s already overflowing. So it\'s been a lot of checking in on myself and a lot of mindset work.
It\'s a daily battle of what is enough. What does success look like today? When can I, can work all day. I really enjoy what I do. I can easily work from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM That\'s not why I\'m building this. So it\'s also keeping the reason why. Which is supporting other people, but also supporting myself. And having the freedom, financial freedom, time freedom. To be present with my family and just keeping that at the forefront. But yeah, I, it\'s not easy. It\'s not easy when you spend your whole life defined by your achievements.
Dr Steve Day: No, not at all. But yeah. Good on you. And I\'ve very similar struggles and the challenges and everything you just described. So I can really relate to all of that. And one of the big shifts for me was defining what my vision for the future was. And it used to be about, oh, I want this, my income, so I could do that. Or my revenue would be X, or whatever it was. There was always some sort of target.
And then I worked with a, a coach for a couple of years. And after probably about 12 months, it took me to actually genuinely start thinking differently, not just saying it you know, actually, having transformed my vision is. And my vision now is to live more presence, purpose, and peace. And having that now as my target means that does the decision I make today allow me to live for more presence purposes and peace.
And that doesn\'t mean I can just not earn money. Because actually if I didn\'t earn money, my stress levels would go through the roof. I wouldn\'t have be, have any peace. I wouldn\'t be able to be present because I\'d be worrying about money. So it\'s getting that balance right. But having that guiding star, if you like. To actually say, look, is this business, this decision I\'m making today, does it align with who I want be in the future?
So yeah. And I\'m interested because one of the things just leaning on from that you talk about, on your side and the work you do is about being, getting CEOs to have a human-centric business.
And I love that and I think that\'s very much aligned with what we\'re talking about here. But like we just described, like this is tough. It is like changing the way people have been programmed. The conditioning they\'ve had their entire life. So how do you help people to do that? What are your methods or your the, how do you overcome the challenges, the obstacles that other people face when they\'re trying to go on this path that, you know, we\'re on ourselves?
Tamara Munoz: Yeah. There\'s, a shift that needs to happen. And like we talked about, it\'s identity based. So it\'s working with people in finding safety in business. The reason why we hold on so tightly to everything and why we keep our hands in every little thing when we\'re starting out. And even in those first five years, so many entrepreneurs just refuse to let go.
Even when they hire an assistant. When they hire a manager to handle something, they\'re still, like a helicopter parent. They\'re still involved in everything, micromanaging. It\'s because they don\'t feel safe. They don\'t feel safe in what they have set up. They don\'t feel secure that the team member that they have hired is going to accomplish X, Y, and Z in the way that they want to handle it.
So there\'s layers to that. First thing is, do you have a documented system in place? Has it been documented? Is it clear? What the expectations of the tasks that you are delegating to these people are. From there, do you feel that you are getting the communication needed from this team member? So, how do you know that they have completed this task without you having to check in on them personally?
What are those markers? What does their communication with you look like? And then there\'s also the other side of things where it\'s just like, as you are letting go of these things, what shifts are you making personally? How are you filling your time? I feel like when business owners have a little bit too much time on their plates, they either create a whole second business, which happens.
They\'ll either start a media side of the business where it\'s not just the podcast, it\'s now they have a podcast network. And they have like three different things that they\'re handling. Or they create a whole other service. So it\'s how are you filling that time and how are you staying your role of CEO?
So it\'s defining the job description of the business owner. And letting them stay in their lane. So a lot of what I do as the COO, it\'s, managing up and also managing the team. Where it\'s I, I\'m helping my business owners stay in their lane and create safety. And prevent that friction that comes from delegating for the sake of delegation without delegating like full tasks. Without there being a reason why things are being delegated.
And then having the right people in the right roles as well. So role clarity. And all that good stuff on the back end that needs to be super, super clear. So we have our epic framework that we walk people through as we extract them. It\'s, I call it CEO extraction. We gotta like get you out of the trenches. And we walk them through this whole framework.
It\'s a whole process because it\'s not just us setting up the systems and creating it for them. It\'s done for you. Because at this point my business owners are at their max. They cannot work anymore. So we don\'t expect them to work anymore. We handle it for them, but it is a process. But it\'s also giving them time and their nervous system time to like regulate.
So it does take months to get them to the point where they don\'t feel like they need to oversee every little thing. Everything is working without them. And there\'s ego detangling that happens there. We want to be needed. There is, the business is your baby. So then it\'s like trusting someone else with your baby.
And also keeping them feeling very valued in their own business where it\'s like, you\'re not being replaced, we\'re just helping you grow. And, having them feel very, very established in their role as CEO and visionary.
Dr Steve Day: Yeah, love it. Just saying that, just a, phrase came to mind is actually when I was speak, I was speaking with one of my clients a couple of weeks ago. And we were talking about where they come from. Where they, where, they were now and where we go, where we\'re going with them. And one of our expressions was, I\'ve, I\'m not really sure what, I\'m gonna do now.
Tamara Munoz: Yeah.
Dr Steve Day: Like they suddenly, they, this identity crisis about yeah, but that\'s what I\'ve always done. Like, what is my role now? Like that, you know, maybe that\'s the person I need to pass on to you for the next, level stuff. But yeah, it was just really interesting, there\'s this almost fear of, what do you mean that I don\'t have to do any of that anymore? It\'s just gonna happen? Like with evidence behind it, well, and it\'s just like very interesting.
One thing that I struggle with personally when I speak to, when I\'m looking at getting help with this stuff, it\'s this idea of a CEO. Because I currently don\'t see myself as a CEO. Because I\'m a company of basically three people.
Like I have built, purposefully built a lean company. I\'ve been bigger. I\'ve been, for not huge 14 people at one time. And what that did for me was actually just create a lot of noise around what we were doing, and a lot of management structures, and a lot more issues. That I wasn\'t seeing the direct value of.
And I realized that actually because of the way I worked and what we do, lean is actually probably the most efficient way. But there\'s a point now where I\'m like, okay, we\'ve taken to the extreme of lean. But now I do want to shift my, mindset, my role more into that visionary. And so, but I also, when I\'m think about CEO, I\'m thinking of a company with a CEO, a COO, you know, a, just a C-suite in general. You know, maybe layers of management.
And so I don\'t feel like a CEO, if that makes sense. Yeah. And so therefore I wouldn\'t look to approach a company like you. And is that, right because of the size that we are. Or is actually just that a wrong way of looking at the problem?
Tamara Munoz: Yeah. I wouldn\'t say that it\'s wrong. I do think that it goes back to identity where you are a CEO, you do have a legitimate business. It is successful. just because it\'s lean and you don\'t have a massive team doesn\'t mean that it\'s not legitimate. And that you can\'t benefit from having a fractional COO supporting you. And that\'s the reason why like I was able, I have job security and I have, I was able to do the things that I\'m doing.
It\'s because it is fractional. You don\'t need someone full-time. I think, truly do believe that unless you have a massive corporation bringing in multi-millions a year with a team of like 30 plus, if not more. You truly don\'t need someone sitting in that seat for 40 hours a week. That\'s just unnecessary.
But having that second brain supporting you in implementation so that you are fully in your visionary is invaluable. And it helps you move so much faster. So the way that I, I describe it a lot, it\'s, there was Walt Disney and then there was his brother Roy Disney. And Walt is the visionary. So he had the ideas, he was the idea man.
He was a face. He was the heart of the operation. And then Roy handled all the logistics. So Walt had an idea. Roy\'s like, okay, cool, he\'s the one go getting the contracts. He\'s the one that\'s, hiring everyone. He\'s the one that\'s setting up the systems, having the conversations to make Walt\'s vision a reality.
So that\'s kind of what the visionaries are. My Walts, and we are the Roys. And we support in the implementation and integration. And I feel like businesses at any level can really benefit from that. But truly businesses that are in that micro and small sector that they benefit the most from it. Because they don\'t have the manpower. To move mountains as quickly as more of like a mid-size and large company can.
The resources are a lot more finite when you are a smaller company. So just having that second brain with the resources is really supportive. Because then that also opens up like your, mind equity where like you can have so much more space to think and innovate and create partnerships. And just do so much more that you really couldn\'t do when your mind was just caught up in the day-to-day grind of your business.
Dr Steve Day: Yeah. Okay. Good. And that\'s our chat. No, I think though, genuinely I think that has actually helped to define that, what that actually means. Because, I think, and not just for myself, for people I work with, a lot and, clients and people I speak to all the time. It\'s this shifting oneself, like the point of letting go.
Like so much of what I do. I mean, I think this is what I help people to do is how to, I was just talking before, is how to turn vision into operational flow. Like the actual mechanics are doing that. That is my bread and butter. That is like literally how I help people to change their lives, like on, on a day-to-day basis.
So that for me isn\'t the challenge. But I see it in other people and it reflected back in me. Or the other way around is, this, it\'s the mindset shift. It\'s understanding what also is available out there. Like you just said, like, being able to tap into a resource as someone who\'s got your back, who\'s experienced knowledgeable. Who has seen this all before, doesn\'t get flat by it all.
And when you go, yeah, but, surely only I can do that. You know, that\'s sort of that throwing out. Which I know you would\'ve heard as many times as I have. And, like we are able to actually, see, okay, maybe there is a way to bridge this moment between. Like, because I, in so many ways, I\'m speaking personal because I think it\'s, relevant to so many people. But like at the point now is like what I need to do is to hire someone who\'s really, really good. Who\'s as good as me or better.
That is where I\'m at now. I don\'t need another assistant. I can AI automate AI the hell out of anything. And with AI now it\'s systems are necessary to a point. Until they can replace themselves by using cool tools. Yeah. And like that is my goal for my staff. My assistants is can you, like systemize yourself out of your own job?
Now you become super valuable to me.
Tamara Munoz: Yeah.
Dr Steve Day: Let\'s say this on a regular basis. But, so that\'s, okay for me, that\'s the operational stuff. This what we\'re talking about now sounds like actually could be the thing that, would help me right now the most. Without me having to think about, oh my God, I\'ve gotta go and hire, you know, a full-time or even a part-time COO or that level.
And how do I even approach that? How do I even go out and hire somebody who I\'ve, you know, I don\'t come from a corporate world. I come from a solopreneur property and medicine. Like the idea of me actually having to find an effect, not business partner. But like a partner in the business to, to help like be my second brain.
That is a huge amount of barriers and blockages in there. Whereas what you\'ve described makes a lot of sense. So thank you for that.
Tamara Munoz: Of course. I\'m glad.
Dr Steve Day: Cool. So thinking about that, so thinking about if you, whether it\'s myself or anybody else is coming towards you. And what is your advice at this point to someone like me who is, sees there\'s a need.
Who sees like, okay, look, I get what you\'re saying. I get this would be a value of value. But like, what are my first steps? Like whether it\'s working with yourself directly, someone else similar. Or actually trying to do this myself. Like how do I actually break out of this point of being maybe my, my, I, I\'ve started to believe it. But I\'m not yet convinced it\'s gonna work.
What is your advice for the next mental stage in this journey?
Tamara Munoz: I think the first thing, the very, very first thing that you need to do is decide what you want out of this kind of partnership. So what is going, to get off your plate if you were to enter into, a partnership like this and what does, what do you want your day-to-day to look like? Once you do have that, you know, fractional, COO at your side.
So what does that free you up to do? What does success look like for you in that kind of partnership? And then from there, you\'re better informed. When you\'re going out to interview or to just even post.
And then from there start going through, applications of who is this right person? Because like with, you know, with everyone, each COO might bring their own strength. so it\'s, very important that you are very well defined in what you want, like what, the end goal is for this partnership.
As well as who you\'re looking for in terms of like personality fit. I do think that\'s very important in this kind of partnership with the team members, the NEPA team members, the clients that I work with, where I function as their COO, we talk daily. We are, I am in their back pocket.
We talk all day, every day and there needs to be synergy. There needs to be, you know, we don\'t need to be friends just like in a professional setting. We don\'t need to be friends, but we need to respect each other in this, it\'s, that times a hundred because in small businesses, like you go through so much in a day. You live like three lifetimes in a day in a small business because there\'s just so many moving pieces.
Everyone is very, is wearing a multiple hats. You do need someone that is flexible. I will say that, I have found in my time working in this space that there\'s, There\'s having boundaries and having scope of work and all that good stuff, and then there is a complete inflexibility when you are working with small businesses.
Being flexible is, a very important skill because we do have to run lean. At the end of the day, we\'re running businesses like we do need to make profit and. Just because we have, you know, the capital to, to hire X, Y, Z doesn\'t mean that we should, if the team that we have and the tools that we have at our disposal and the AI that we have at this point in life, if we can optimize the, hell out of that first and get as much as we can out of what we currently have.
And then make decisions based off of, okay, we are fully optimized and we\'re nearing capacity. What\'s our next step? So just having someone that understands and is coming alongside you to work in that way and understands that there, there is scope of work and then there\'s also flexibility in times of.
Fast growth when we\'re scaling rapidly, it\'s all hands on deck. We\'re, doing what we need to do to get the business to the next point. So then we can hire comfortably and we can scale it intentionality. I think that\'s the biggest thing. Because if not, you\'re gonna end up with a team of 30 people.
And like you mentioned, it\'s good. There\'s gonna be overlapping roles, there\'s going to be miscommunications, it\'s going to be a lot of duplicate work, a lot of, expenses that aren\'t necessary at that point.
Dr Steve Day: Yeah, definitely. I think, you know, going back to that experience of very quickly, so within oh 12 months, I think we had 14 people and there was, we didn\'t have the systems and the structure to support that, and we were making up as we go, went along and that caused huge amounts of inefficiencies as well.
And, so I, so that\'s why I shrunk back down to be lean as well. And because it was more aligned with what I, what, where I wanted to be in my life at that moment, like I said, about actually creating the business purely to, not purely but the primary reason for the business\'s existence is for the lifestyle.
It, so it, lends to me, and, that did not work when I was trying to actually manage this very fastly growing team. Without, if I\'d had a COO in seat at that point, who could have actually taken over some of that and actually rationalize some of those hiring decisions and actually then realize, okay, we actually don\'t need that person.
Or I can manage that person, or I, you know, whatever it is that, that I think maybe would\'ve worked out, a lot better. But it was just me trying to basically wing it. And going too fast for my experience and my knowledge and my systems and my infrastructure, et cetera, et cetera. I didn\'t have, funding or anything going on, it was all me driving it.
So every time I hired, I had to generate the revenue to, to match that or, you know, end up going, down in, in, terms of capital. And that\'s not a great place of business to be. So I can see that, like, you know, in hindsight going back like this, if, I\'d had that conversation then. And then got somebody like yourselves on board, it would\'ve been probably worked out differently.
Or actually you would\'ve rationalized as Steve, what you doing? Like you said, stop trying to do everything. Because that was the problem. I was like, oh, I can do this, I can do this for you. I can do this, I can become a, you know, VA agency. I can supply your services. I can do that. And did it all, like, literally in the space of a short amount of time.
So yeah, hindsight\'s a great thing, isn\'t it? cool. thinking on about, scaling. Because I think one of the things as, as well that like I\'ve, actually moved away from using that word because I used to use, it a lot. And I realized actually that for me, doesn\'t actually resonate with my reasons now for building the business.
And I\'m not saying that. Like in the same sentence, I\'m, not saying I don\'t want to scale, I don\'t want to grow more revenue. I don\'t, it\'s not, I\'m not saying that, but I\'m not scaling for the sake of scaling. I\'m not simply saying that what\'s important to me is a revenue target. Or to have a team of this big, and like you said before, that\'s the ego coming in.
And I definitely used to think like that. I was proud that I had four businesses, like, like set up. And it\'s like, actually now I have one business. I\'m far, far less stressed, you know, and far less accountancy fees as well. You know, just simple things like this and just less, things I have to think about and work on. And it\'s those sort of like maturity things about, okay, why are you actually doing this?
But the scaling thing is, again, one of these reasons why I actually spoke to someone similar business to yours. they did fractional COO stuff, so in some ways very similar. and like one thing that kind of put me off is like they were saying that. If a COO is gonna come into a small business like me, I\'ve got to be in a thinking about scaling.
I\'ve gotta give them opportunity for growth to allow them to be a part of something that is becoming something else in terms of size and revenue and just because of your human centric approach. And, I know you\'ve mentioned in, stuff that I\'ve read about scaling.
I just wanna know what does scaling mean to you? What should it mean and you know, what is in your mind the right way to approach it? So you do attract great talent in, but not at the cost of something that\'s important to you.
Tamara Munoz: Yeah. So scaling means what you make it mean.
So it\'s very individual for me, just operationally. And in terms of business, there is no point in scaling top line if your bottom line isn\'t going with you. So for example, You can scale and make 5, 6, 8, $8 million and that\'s totally fine. But if your bottom line now your revenue\'s taking a hit, your profits are taking a hit and, that percentage starts to shrink because you are, in order to scale to that size, now you need to hire on so much.
More you need, you have way more tools you need to hire on labor. For example, for my agency, we are labor dependent. So as I scale top line, I need to be so careful about my bottom line because I, for every person I hire, it\'s basically I need to sign three to five clients to make sure that the, percentage of profit stays about the same. so there is that intentionality.
That needs to happen. So for me, scaling personally, it\'s not worth bringing in so much more at the at in the front, on the top line if I can\'t keep my bottom line. \' cause I also don\'t wanna do one, two, $7 million worth of work and then bring home like $6 after taxes and everything.
Yeah. it\'s not worth the time, the effort. and at that point you\'re not even running a profitable business. You\'re just, you have like an expensive hobby. That\'s basically what it ends up being. And also what do you want out of your life? So do you want to have. An empire and run a multimillion dollar business.
And do, you know, manage all the people or do you wanna have what I would consider more of a lifestyle business that it keeps you and your family comfortable, you\'re setting yourself up for retirement. you feel joy and fulfillment with what you\'re doing. And you don\'t necessarily need to hit the, ego driven millions multimillions, you know, you\'re just running a very successful business.
Because we have to find success as. I can pay my bills comfortably. I can save comfortably. We go on various vacations. I\'m off of my computer by four, my weekends are off, my evenings are off. I, and it\'s, about the def what you define as success, and then we can scale to that. So for you, if it\'s, you know, my, I\'m prioritizing my piece over everything else in my presence over everything else.
Great. Amazing. So let\'s look at the, black and white. What do you need to bring home? So that your piece isn\'t disturbed. When the business is going through the ups and downs of the ebbs and flows of business, great. What does that look like operationally? What do we need to execute? What does that top line number look like?
And then from there, we can decide. Great. So this is what you\'re taking home. Amazing. You\'re, we hit our success goal. Now, if we want to continue scaling in terms of like bringing in more money, top line. what do those triggers look like on the bottom line? So like, every single time that we bring in an extra a hundred thousand dollars up front, how does that impact our bottom line?
And also how does that impact your piece? So if we have fully extracted you from your business, realistically it shouldn\'t impact your piece. Like that\'s kind of where we wanna hit, where we take our business owners out of the operation so much that they\'re, just functioning in their role and what is happening monetarily in the business, regardless of how.
Fast and how big we grow, it doesn\'t really impact them too much. Then we can do whatever we want and scale as quickly as we want monetarily, but it\'s because you\'re, removed, right? Like your day-to-day is the same. You\'re focused on vision, your, revenue acquisition partnerships, things of that nature, but you have someone else running the operation and other people executing.
So it\'s very personalized. I, do think that trying to give. Every business that cookie cutter, this is what scaling is like. That\'s where we, come across a lot of friction and a lot of mistakes are made and where businesses end up in the red really quickly because it\'s not just about revenue.
Like there\'s just so many things take into consideration and as an entrepreneur, you get to do whatever you want and you get to define success and you make your own rules, which is amazing. It\'s difficult, but it\'s amazing that we get to do that. And, for that we had to be, as an operational partner, I had to be very conscious and keep that in mind where some of my, clients want the notoriety and the PR and, you know, Inc, under 30 and that\'s great.
And then I have other clients who just like, hey, I just wanna pay my bills. I wanna stay at home with my kids. I, have older clients who just like, I just wanna make enough money to like travel comfortably. And great, we\'ll do that. And that\'s what we\'re hitting. Those are the goals that we\'re hitting.
Dr Steve Day: Wonderful answer. Absolutely brilliant, and I think that, yeah, like with so many things, it\'s about the planning and about the work that goes ahead of the execution. That means that when you do execute, you get to the result you actually want. Yeah. Simple as that. Really. So awesome.
Tamara, thank you so much for coming on today.
I\'m gonna do it to close after that brilliant answer because I think it just really summed up everything that, you know, people should be thinking about before going into something like this. And I think really, really nicely illustrated the kind of person you are and the kind of companies that you help people build.
So wonderful. But before you do go, I have one final question for you. The name of this podcast is Systemize Your Success, but what does success mean to you and why.
Tamara Munoz: Me personally like you, it means presence and peace. I have found that I found myself saying that I thrived in chaos for a very long time, and come to find out that was coming from a very unhealed part of me, where the chaos drowned the noise of the things I was trying to avoid. Whether it\'s the relationships that I was building or the responsibility that I, had.
So as I\'ve grown and matured and just even in my entrepreneurial journey, it has truly become about finding peace and helping others find peace as well. I think that\'s why it\'s such a big part of what I do, is to help others find safety in their business so that they can let go.
And also presence. I have three, three young kids. I have three kids under five. So five and under. I am in the trenches of that and as I, my, my daughter is my oldest, and as I\'m watching her grow. It\'s so, it goes by so quick, and that gives me a lot of anxiety in that I don\'t wanna miss this.
I have such an incredible opportunity to be able to be present for all the phases of their childhood. And I look back at my childhood, it went by so quickly. Like it was just, I blinked and then I was out of the house. And knowing that\'s what\'s happening here, it\'s very important for me to be fully present with them. I, come from a family of immigrants, so my parents worked six days a week, 12 hour days, and I\'m so grateful for everything that they did.
And also they weren\'t physically present there a lot because they had to work so much, and I do think that it would be a disservice to all of their sacrifice for me to then just build that same life for myself. Yeah. It\'s part of honoring them as well and honoring what they\'ve done for me my entire life.
It\'s being able to then be present and give that to my kids and, heal that in this next generation of just having physically and mentally that\'s a big part of it. Mentally present. parents.
Dr Steve Day: Yeah. Love the answer. Thank you very much indeed. Well, it\'s been a pleasure having you on. I absolutely love this conversation. So thank you very much for your time today.
Tamara Munoz: Thank you. I appreciate you. It was great speaking to you and just talking about all my favorite things. This is all so fun for me.
Dr Steve Day: Thank you so much.
VALUABLE RESOURCES (for strategic operational support)
- Get free access to our DIDACT and Recruit Right frameworks—here's the link to our best Guides, Frameworks, and Templates: https://sys.academy/guides
LINKS TO CONNECT WITH THE GUEST
- Website https://behindthescreens.biz
- IG PAGE: https://www.instagram.com/behindthescreens.biz
- IG Profile: https://www.instagram.com/tamaramunozwhilden
ABOUT THE GUEST
Tamara Munoz is a Fractional COO for leading online businesses and founder of Behind the Screens, partnering with growth-minded CEOs to build calm, effective operations. After running high-stakes, 24/7 operations for brands like Disney and Starbucks, she saw firsthand how traditional corporate systems burn people out—and became determined to prove you can protect both people and performance.
Today, Tamara leads a 22-person team, helping founders get out of the trenches, close operational gaps, and reclaim their time without sacrificing growth. A first-generation American, she now finds joy in travelling and cooking with her husband and three young children.
LINKS TO CONNECT WITH THE HOST
- Podcast: https://www.systemizeyoursuccess.com
- Website: https://systemsandoutsourcing.com/
- Facebook Group: https://facebook.com/groups/systemsandoutsourcing/
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/systemsandoutsourcing/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/systems_and_outsourcing/
- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@drsteveday42
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsteveday42
ABOUT THE HOST
Steve moved to Sweden in 2015 and transformed how he ran his businesses—switching to a fully remote model. A former NHS doctor, with a background in computing and property investing, he now helps overwhelmed business owners systemise and outsource effectively. Additionally, through his courses and coaching, Steve teaches how to automate operations and work with affordable virtual assistants, freeing up time and increasing profits. He runs his UK-based businesses remotely with support from a team of UK and Filipino VAs. He is also passionate about helping others build scalable, stress-free companies using smart systems and virtual support.
For more articles related to leveraging operational support and delegation, you may also like:
How Jason Cut His Workweek in Half—While Setting Up His Business for Growth
Overcoming Fear of Remote Work: When to Hire Your First Virtual Assistant