Growing a firm requires growing as a leader—letting go of what no longer works and adopting new mindsets and processes that better serve your business. Here’s how to embrace your changing role as your company evolves.

For Kate O’Hara, being involved in a million day-to-day details was always a highlight of her job, not a drag. “I thrived on the intensity of [having my hands] in every aspect of the business,” says the Minnesota-based designer, who became CEO of her firm when her mother stepped down in 2019. “I was heavily involved in sourcing, project management, marketing, vendor relationships, even logistics,” says O’Hara. “But as I officially transitioned into my new leadership role and the company expanded, I quickly learned that I had to let go of personally overseeing every detail of the business. Growth demands trust.”

If that transition sounds straightforward, she will be the first to tell you it was not.
Six years into the top job at O’Hara Interiors, which staffs 30 out of offices in Minneapolis, Austin and Dallas, O’Hara is still navigating what it means to be the face of the brand—especially after years spent working behind the scenes. “Stepping into that figurehead position was, and still sometimes is, uncomfortable,” she says. “It was a [big shift] to go from an operational role, where I was happy to stay out of the limelight and be relied upon to carry out the work, to an executive role, where I’m recognizably associated with the brand and have to rely on the team around me. Maybe it’s my Midwestern sensibility, but it required an evolution in my mindset to move past that big moment of discomfort, even though I understood it made sense from a strategic perspective.”