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Carol Schultz

Founder & CEO, Vertical Elevation · Organizational Strategist

Carol helps founders stop being hostages to their own companies — and builds the structure that lets them lead again.

Years working with founders & CEOs

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Client engagements across industries

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Podcast episodes hosted

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CAROL BIOGRAPHY

Carol Schultz is the founder and CEO of Vertical Elevation, a Colorado-based firm that helps founders and CEOs of $5M–$40M companies stop running on fumes and start running on structure.

After 30 years and 500+ client engagements — first as a professional recruiter, then as an executive coach and organizational strategist — Carol identified a pattern she calls Decision Gravity: as companies grow, complexity outpaces structure and every decision routes back to the founder. Her solution is the Organizational Scaffold System™, a three-phase process that installs the frameworks, fractional support, and permanent hire needed to free the CEO.

Carol is a regular contributor to Inc. Magazine and has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, CEOWORLD, and Chief Executive. She is the best-selling author of Powered by People and host of the Evolving Your Workplace podcast.

At a Glance

30+

Guest podcast appearances

Best-seller

Amazon best-selling author

Inc.

Regular contributor

Powered by People

How Talent-Centric Organizations Master Recruitment, Retention, and Revenue — and How to Build One.

Amazon Best Seller · Available on Amazon

Conversations I’m ready to lead

1. Reclaiming Your Time as a CEO

Why being buried in emails and meetings isn’t leadership — and what to do instead

“Why Busy CEOs Are the Biggest Bottleneck in Their Own Company” “The Calendar Audit That Changes Everything for Founders”

2. Decision Gravity: Why Every Decision Keeps Landing on Your Desk

As companies grow, complexity outpaces structure — and decisions collapse back to the founder. Not because they want control, but because they’ve built a dependent team.

“The Hidden Force That’s Keeping Your Company Small” “Why some CEOs are “hostages” to their own operations.”

3. The Right Time to Get Help

How to scale yourself before burnout forces your hand

“The Hire Most Founders Make Too Late”

4. Creating a Culture of Feedback That Actually Works

Why it always begins — and sometimes breaks — with the CEO

“The Feedback Culture Problem Starts at the Top”

5. Founders' Syndrome

The leadership blind spot that keeps great companies from scaling

“The Leadership Blind Spot Nobody Warns Founders About”

6. Why Every Founder Needs a Force Multiplier

And why hiring a Chief of Staff before the structure is in place is backwards

“Why You’re Not Ready for a Chief of Staff Yet”

7. Fractional vs. Full-Time Talent

How to build a lean, adaptable team that matches your growth stage

“Why Fractional Isn’t Just a Budget Play — It’s a Strategy”

8. Leading with Vulnerability

How authenticity earns trust and amplifies your influence

“Why the Strongest Leaders Are the Most Honest Ones”

20 Interview Questions — ready to use

01. You describe what you do as freeing hostages. Who exactly is being held captive, and what’s holding them there?

02. You’ve named this phenomenon “Decision Gravity.” Where did that concept come from, and when did you realize it was the root cause — not the symptom?

03. After 500+ client engagements, what’s the one thing founders almost never see about themselves until someone points it out?

04. What does a CEO’s day actually look like when Decision Gravity has fully taken hold — and what does it look like after you’ve worked with them?

05. You built the Organizational Scaffold System™ as a three-phase process. Walk us through what actually happens in each phase.

06. Most founders think they have a people problem or a market problem. How do you convince them it’s actually a structure problem?

07. You make a sharp distinction between a fractional organizational strategist and a Chief of Staff. Most people use those terms interchangeably — why does that matter?

08. You’ve said that hiring a Chief of Staff before the structure is in place is backwards. What happens to companies that skip that step?

09. You started as an executive recruiter before becoming an organizational strategist. What did 30 years of watching companies hire tell you about why they stall?

10. What are the early warning signs that a founder has built a dependent team — before it becomes a crisis?

11. Founders’ Syndrome is a term people throw around loosely. How do you define it, and what does it actually look like inside a company?

12. You’re open about your own failures as an early leader. What did you get wrong, and why do you talk about it publicly?

13. Most CEOs say they want a culture of feedback. Very few actually have one. What’s breaking down?

14. You’ve said $5M–$40M is the sweet spot where structural breakdown shows up most. What is it about that growth stage that makes it so dangerous — and does the problem look different at other sizes?

15. What’s the difference between a founder who scales successfully and one who becomes the ceiling of their own company?

16. When does fractional support make sense, and when is it a crutch that delays the right permanent hire?

17. You’ve been in rooms with hundreds of CEOs over 30 years. What do the ones who get out of their own way have in common?

18. You raise and train Rocky Mountain Horses and you’re a former powerlifter. What does either of those things teach you about leadership that a boardroom never could?

19. What’s the one thing you wish podcast hosts would ask you that they never do?

20. A founder is listening right now who recognizes themselves in everything you’ve described. What’s the first thing they should do tomorrow morning?

Technical Setup

Shure MV7X microphone

Logitech Brio camera

Dedicated home office studio

Hardwired ethernet connection

Zoom, Riverside + most platforms

Clean audio & video — guaranteed

A little more about Carol

Carol raises and trains Rocky Mountain Horses at an 800-acre working ranch in Colorado — she currently has five. Her late trainer lived by a principle that applies just as much to leadership as it does to horsemanship:

“hint, ask, tell, demand.”

Former competitive bodybuilder and powerlifter. She still hasn’t lost the mentality.

Avid gardener and cook — she believes good food and good strategy have more in common than people think.

Proudly a cowgirl.

Don’t follow the herdisn’t just a tagline — it’s a lifestyle.

Visual Assets

Headshots

2–3 options available
Professional + authentic

Book Cover

Video Clips

Past appearances
Available on request

Book Carol for Your Podcast

For all media inquiries and podcast booking, contact Cat Gloria.
Carol requests a brief pre-recording call — not to vet the show, but to show up fully prepared to serve your audience.