My CEO Journey and Why I Created ExecSide for Other Entrepreneurs
Today, I’d like to share something more personal.
A short reflection on my journey as a CEO and what ultimately led me to create ExecSide for other entrepreneurs and founders.
For more than 20 years, I was running my own businesses as a CEO.
From the outside, it often looked like success.
From the inside, there was a feeling that stayed with me for a long time: a quiet, persistent sense of being alone.
Not alone in the sense of isolation but alone in a way that many founders will immediately recognize.
As a CEO or business owner, you stand in the middle of many powerful forces.
- Clients pull you in one direction.
- Partners, vendors, and technology providers in another.
- Employees look to you for stability and certainty.
- Investors, advisors, and the market bring their own expectations.
Each of these forces is legitimate. Each of them pulls; often with good intentions.
And the owner?
The owner stays in the center of it all. Carrying the responsibility. Absorbing the pressure. Making decisions that affect everyone; often without having anyone truly on their side.
You can’t openly share your doubts with your team. You don’t want to offload everything onto your family. And many challenges feel too complex, too sensitive, or too lonely to carry alone.
I felt this for years.
What helped me was learning how to hold myself together in the middle of that pressure. I worked with external business coaches. I trained intensively in endurance sports where I discovered that long-term performance is as much about mindset as it is about strength.
Building a company is the same.
It’s not a sprint. It’s a long, demanding endurance game.
Over time, this combination of structure, reflection, discipline, and support allowed me not only to grow internationally, but also to stay grounded while doing it.
Later, when I started working as a coach and advisor to other entrepreneurs, something struck me immediately. They were experiencing exactly the same thing. They had started their businesses with passion and excitement. And a few years later, many felt overwhelmed, stressed, and disconnected from the joy they once expected their business to bring.
Again and again, I sensed the same unspoken thought:
“I’m carrying this alone.”
That’s when it became clear to me:
There has to be a better way.
And that’s why I created ExecSide. The idea behind the name is very simple.
ExecSide means standing on the executive’s side. On the CEO’s side. On the founder’s side.
Creating a space where you can slow down. Reflect. Reconnect with what truly matters. Why you are doing this. What kind of life you want to build.
And how your business can become a vehicle that supports your personal and professional fulfillment instead of consuming it.
That’s why we start with a 30-day Executive Reset – to pause and return to the foundations.
That’s why we offer Executive Mastery – a transformation from a stressed, overwhelmed CEO into a purpose-driven, fulfilled leader who regains clarity and control.
And that’s why ExecSide is designed as an ongoing support system:
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a steady rhythm of insights and content
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monthly group coaching
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peer-to-peer accountability partnerships
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and a community that truly supports you — so you are no longer alone in the center of the storm
As a bonus, members also receive access to a growing collection of my online courses covering leadership, growth, structure, and preparing one day for transition or exit.
If this resonates with you, I invite you to simply try it.
Join us on a 14-day trial. Experience it from the inside. And then decide whether it’s right for you.
Because no CEO should have to carry everything alone.
