This Is Harder than I Want It to Be
A podcast for impact founders who want to scale their mission-driven business without burnout, featuring practical frameworks for delegation, team building, and operational systems in 5-minute episodes.
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A new podcast from Linda van Egmond about honest shifts and smart moves for overwhelmed, mission-driven founders.
You're building an impact business that matters, but you're drowning in decisions and day-to-day actions. This Is Harder than I Want It to Be gives overwhelmed impact founders practical frameworks to delegate effectively, build independent teams, and create systems that work for you.
Linda van Egmond draws from a lot of failure and success during 20 years of supporting impact startups, and running her own B-corp start-up, to deliver 5-8 minute episodes. One shift, one tool, one step forward. New episodes every other Thursday.
About the Host
Linda van Egmond
Fractional CMO & Integrator aka Temporary Co-Founder for Impact Founders
If you want someone to tell you you're doing great..., I’m not your person.
If you want to know exactly why your company isn’t scaling the way it should, and how to fix it, that’s my zone.
I step into the messy middle: between “we have great plans” and “we’re actually pulling them off.” The part where everything feels urgent, but nothing is running as smoothly as it should. There I fix the stuff you don’t want to deal with (but know you should).
I’m a Fractional Integrator, or temporary co-founder, for impact-driven founders who want to grow without burning out or losing sight of their mission.
Recent Episodes
19
Oct. 8, 2026
How do I know if my business is growing too fast?
Free Scoping Session with Linda "Growth is great. Until it isn't.” Growth can feel like proof that everything is finally working, until the team, systems, and follow-up underneath cannot keep up. In this episode, Linda looks at what breaks when momentum arrives before the infrastructure is ready to carry it. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why the moment right after momentum picks up is often where things start to go wrong. Reality Check: Linda shares the story of a startup with strong interest a
18
Sept. 24, 2026
Why won't my team follow the new system?
Free Scoping Session with Linda "The System Looked Great on Paper" Your new process looked logical, clear, and complete, but your team quietly stopped using it. In this episode, Linda explains why good systems still break and the three questions that help you repair the conditions around them. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why a well-documented process can fail within weeks of rollout. Reality Check: How one growing company's new system collapsed because the team understood what to do, but not
17
Sept. 10, 2026
How can I stop using perfectionism as a place to hide?
"Why do founders get stuck researching instead of launching?" Sometimes the work that looks productive is actually protecting you from finding out whether something will work. In this episode, Linda looks at the founder who is not overwhelmed by too many decisions, but stuck because they keep waiting until they feel completely sure. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why some founders stay busy refining, researching, and aligning instead of making the decision that would move things forward. Reality
16
Aug. 27, 2026
Is your team’s communication problem actually an accountability problem?
Free Scoping Session with Linda “We Thought We Had a Communication Problem” When the same team problems keep coming back, it is easy to blame communication. But often the real issue is missing structure: unclear ownership, fuzzy decision-making, low trust, and constantly shifting priorities. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why adding more meetings, messages, or tools rarely fixes the real problem underneath. Reality Check: Linda shares the story of a team stuck in low-level conflict, repeated dec
15
Aug. 13, 2026
Why am I the bottleneck in my own business?
“I Was the Problem and I Didn't Know It” Sometimes the thing slowing the business down is not the market, the team, or the timing. It is the founder who has become so central to everything that the business cannot grow without cracking. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why founders often look everywhere else for the problem before realizing they may be the bottleneck. Reality Check: Linda shares the story of a founder who thought she was holding the business together, but was actually holding it b
14
Aug. 7, 2026
This Is Harder than I Want It to Be Season 2 Trailer
This Is Harder than I Want It To Be: Season 2—What Happens After Things Break Linda van Egmond introduces Season 2 of "This is Harder Than I Want It To Be," focused on what happens after failures and breakdowns in leadership, teams, systems, or growth. She argues that failure is part of good leadership and highlights founders who acknowledge mistakes and fix them. Unlike Season 1, which covered shifts made before things break, this season begins each episode with a real failure from her or fou
13
July 30, 2026
At what point is my business actually ready for structure - and how do I know I'm not just adding bureaucracy? Listener Q&A
FAQ 2: "At what point is my business actually ready for structure - and how do I know I'm not just adding bureaucracy?" Worried that “more structure” will kill your scrappy edge and turn your business into a slow corporate machine? In this episode, Linda breaks down the real difference between structure that creates clarity and bureaucracy that creates drag, plus a quick test to make sure anything you add actually replaces friction. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why founders fear structure will
12
July 16, 2026
Do I need an integrator or do I just need to get better at managing my time? Listener Q&A
FAQ 1: "Do I need an integrator or do I just need to get better at managing my time?" You don’t have a “time management problem” if your days are packed with decisions, questions, and fires that only you can put out. In this episode, Linda helps you figure out whether you need a better system, or a better structure. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why “I just need to get more organised” is often a sign you’re carrying structural load, not just a messy calendar. Reality Check: Time management only
11
July 2, 2026
Done Is Better Than Perfect: Season 1 Review + Season 2 Preview
You don’t have to be a “podcast person” to start a podcast. In this episode, Linda shares the behind-the-scenes truth of Season 1 and the simple system that helped them ship ten episodes, even with perfectionism in the room. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why “I don’t even listen to podcasts” can still be the start of a podcast. Reality Check: The honest constraints: no commute, no headphones, and a brain that needs quiet to think. The Shift: The moment it clicked that voice carries nuance text
10
June 18, 2026
Your Business Needs to Work Without You
Thought you were building a team, but it still feels like everything depends on you? In this episode, Linda breaks down what actually has to change for your business to run without you and gives you a practical 90-day roadmap to make it real. Link to Operational Assessment Free Scoping Session with Linda What You'll Learn: The Hook: The real question isn’t “can you take a vacation?” It’s “would the business still function if you had to disappear for two weeks with no warning?” Reality Check: A
9
June 4, 2026
'Just Hire Someone' - That's Terrible Advice
When you’re overwhelmed, hiring sounds like the obvious fix. But if you don’t have clear outcomes and simple processes first, you’re not hiring help, you’re hiring more questions (and more chaos). In this episode, Linda shows you the “pre-hire” work that makes bringing someone on actually reduce your workload. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Hiring doesn’t solve overwhelm; it often turns chaos into expensive chaos. Reality Check: A founder hired three people fast and ended up working more because
8
May 21, 2026
How Small Problems Become Big Fires
Ever notice how the thing that “wasn’t urgent” somehow becomes the thing that blows up your week? In this episode, Linda explains why small problems escalate when they have nowhere to land, and how a simple weekly ritual can keep issues from turning into emergencies. What You'll Learn: The Hook: The real reason issues don’t surface early is usually the system, not the people. Reality Check: A client complaint sat untouched for two weeks because it felt too big for chat but not big enough for a
7
May 7, 2026
The Meeting That Saves Me 10 Hours a Week
Your team is flooding you with messages and “quick syncs,” but somehow you still don’t know what’s actually getting done. In this episode, Linda breaks down the one 30-minute weekly meeting that replaces the chaos with a simple rhythm: everyone sees the same numbers, surfaces the real issues, and leaves with clear priorities. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why constant Slack pings and endless meetings are usually a symptom of missing one key weekly rhythm. Reality Check: How a growing team can c
6
April 23, 2026
It's Not A Process If It Only Works When YOU Do It
You take a day off and everything grinds to a halt, because the “process” is actually just you. In this episode, Linda van Egmond shows you how to turn what’s in your head into a system your team can run without constant check-ins. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why your phone blows up the moment you step away, and what that reveals about your business. Reality Check: How growth can increase pressure when the critical knowledge lives in one person’s head. The Shift: A process doesn’t have to be
5
April 9, 2026
Stop Measuring EVERYTHING: Measure What Moves
Thought more metrics would make things clearer, but you feel even more stuck? In this episode, Linda breaks down why tracking everything leads to overwhelm and inaction, and how to choose the handful of numbers that actually change your results. What You'll Learn: The Hook: More dashboards do not mean more clarity when you do not know what to do next. Reality Check: Tracking everything can paralyze you, but tracking nothing leaves you blind until it is too late. The Shift: Lead indicators pre
4
March 26, 2026
Your Team Can't Read Your Mind: How to Use the Vision Check-In
You have a clear vision in your head, but your team is building from an older version of it. That gap is where good work quietly goes off the rails. In this episode, you’ll learn why “I already told them” is rarely enough, and how a simple, repeatable check-in keeps everyone executing the same priority, with the same context, at the same time. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Your team is working hard, but still missing the mark, because they cannot execute the updates you never explicitly shared.
3
March 12, 2026
Goals Keep Slipping? Why It Happens and How to Fix It.
It's the end of the quarter. You look at the goals you set 90 days ago and realize you did maybe one of them. The rest are still sitting on the list. In this episode, Linda breaks down why goals keep slipping and shares a simple weekly rhythm that makes your 90-day priorities actually happen. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why ambitious 90-day goals quietly slide when there is no weekly rhythm to keep you connected to them Reality Check: The real reason goals do not get done is not laziness or l
2
Feb. 26, 2026
Strategy is Not A Plan: The Bridge Between to Action
You spent a full day on strategy. You mapped the vision, set the goals, and left energized. Then Monday happened, and that beautiful plan went straight into a drawer. In this episode, Linda shows you why your strategy stays stuck on paper and exactly how to bridge the gap between thinking and doing. What You'll Learn: The Hook: Why strategic plans feel productive but disappear the moment you're back at your desk Reality Check: The pattern Linda kept seeing in strategy sessions—great alignment,
1
Feb. 12, 2026
Delegating vs. Dumping: Are You Bad at Delegating?
Thought you were bad at delegating? You're probably just bad at setting people up to succeed. In this episode, Linda breaks down why your team keeps coming back with questions and exactly how to fix it. What You'll Learn: 00:00 The Hook: Why delegation feels like it's failing (hint: it's not about trust) 00:58 Reality Check: The story of founder Kate, whose capable team couldn't stop asking questions 02:06 The Shift: Delegation isn't about handing off tasks. It's about setting people up to wi
Feb. 5, 2026
Impact Founders, Listen Up! It Doesn't Have to Be This Hard!
You're building an impact-driven business that matters. But you're drowning in decisions, stuck in the weeds, and thinking: this is harder than it needs to be. You're right. It is hard. But it doesn't have to be this hard. This Is Harder than I Want It to Be is your 5-8 minute weekly reset. One problem reframed. One action to take. One change that creates space. Hosted by Linda van Egmond, a 20-year veteran of working with impact founders and B-corp startup operator, this show tackles the rea
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