196: The Top 12 | What is a COO? Maria Jones Explains

It’s a brand new season on the Business Infrastructure podcast – Season 16! In nearly four years, there’s so much to celebrate especially as we approach our 200th episode. That’s why this season we’re reflecting on our success factors starting with you, our loyal listeners and subscribers, as well as our top-notch guests. In that spirit, we’ve compiled a list of the top 12 most downloaded episodes to date and will re-air them this season (in no particular order).

First up is the episode featuring Maria Jones. This episode originally aired in April 2020 and because of its organic viewing success on YouTube, we knew we had to include it in this Top 12 lineup.

Maria is the Founder & CEO of Nerdy Industry, LLC which provides operations advisory services to budding entrepreneurs. She describes Chief Operating Officers (COOs) as the “innovators of execution.” Their role as second-in-command to CEOs is vital to business continuity and delivering on sales promises. Yet, many leaders don’t understand what they do and overlook operations as the core of any business.

In this episode, Maria defines what a COO is, debunks common myths about them, as well as operations, and uses analogies and examples to assert their undeniable value. She also shares key metrics every business should measure to assess performance.

Special Guest: Maria Jones, Founder & CEO – Nerdy Industry, LLC; Atlanta Director of COO Forum

Location: Atlanta, GA USA

Air Date: April 3, 2022

Resources

Book:

Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO: a book by Nate Bennett and Stephen Miles

Article

Second in Command: The Misunderstood Role of the Chief Operating Officer: a Harvard Business Review article by Nate Bennett and Stephen Miles

Course:

Operational Excellence Foundations: an online LinkedIn Learning course by Dr. Richard Chua

Video:

Related Episodes

019: Who Said Operations Isn’t Sexy?

020: Striking the Perfect Balance Between Marketing and Operations

089: Understanding the Value of COOs with Bill Shepard

093: Supporting People in Charge of Operations with Marvell Allen

Credits

Producer & Host: Alicia Butler Pierre
Podcast Editor: Olanrewaju Adeyemo
Video Editor: Gladys Jimenez
Transcription: Jodie Maquiran
Sponsor: Equilibria, Inc.

Bios

More About Guest, Maria Jones:
Maria Jones is the Founder & CEO of Nerdy Industry, LLC which provides operations advisory services to budding entrepreneurs. She’s an accomplished Senior Executive and Thought Leader with more than 20 years of success spanning startup companies, healthcare, financial services, real estate, and SaaS IT. Throughout her career, Maria has been responsible for reducing operations by 25%, growing revenue by 200% through new project initiatives, and increasing employee satisfaction statistics.

She streamlines operations, optimizes customer experience, and maximizes customer engagement. A proven leader, she achieves operational budget savings through process analysis, development, and re-engineering while maintaining a 98% on-time delivery rate. Maria is also the Director of the Atlanta Chapter of the COO Forum.

More About Host, Alicia Butler Pierre:
Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu™ framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Façade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world’s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 55 countries.

More About Sponsor, Equilibria, Inc.:
Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions.