When your business hits a wall, is it really “sudden”… or were the warning signs there all along? In this Elevate 360 Summit episode, Melissa sits down with Renee Williams—strategic consultant, fixer, corporate dropout, and the calm “chaos whisperer” that high-performing women CEOs call when growth gets messy, systems crack, or big pivots are on the table. Drawing from her background supporting multi-billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions, Renee now helps founders regain control when the back end is breaking, teams are stalling, or the business has outgrown its old way of operating. Her grounded, direct style brings structure and confidence to leaders who feel buried under decisions, fires, and moving pieces. Together, she and Melissa dig into crisis vs. growth, operational breakdowns, misaligned hires, pivot timing, and how to stop ignoring the “pebbles” before they turn into full-blown boulders. If you’ve been feeling friction in your people, processes, profits, planning, or public perception, this conversation is going to hit a little close to home—in the best way. Takeaways Crisis rarely happens overnight—most CEOs miss the early “pebbles” because they’re focused on what they’re great at and ignoring what’s quietly breaking.Operational breakdowns almost always point back to one of five areas: people, processes, profits, planning, or public perception.Growth exposes what you’ve outgrown—especially team members who no longer fit the pace, skill level, or mindset required.Leaders who avoid hard conversations become the bottleneck; leaders who “hire slow and fire fast” create stability.Don’t let sunk-cost fallacy keep you stuck—if the plan isn’t working, stabilize, reassess, pivot, and lead.Good planning matters, but so does the willingness to abandon the plan when real-time data tells the truth.Coaching and mentorship create the mindset shifts CEOs need to expand beyond their own limits—talent alone will only take you so far.Stillness is a superpower. CEOs make their best decisions when they can step out of the chaos and hear themselves clearly. Topics discussed in this episode: crisis mitigation for CEOsthe five operational areas that signal breakdownpeople issues: right person, wrong seatteam bottlenecks and growth misalignmentoffboarding with clarity and leadershipsystems, process gaps, and automation needsprofit management and financial preparednessstrategic planning vs. reactive decision-makingsunk-cost fallacy and knowing when to pivotmindset blocks during seasons of growthconfidence, clarity, and the inner work behind leadershiphow coaching accelerates a CEO’s evolutionRenee’s personal pivot after a life crisisembodying the 360-degree approach in business BUSINESS RESOURCES: ▶ Ready to upgrade your leadership and surround yourself with high-performing entrepreneurs? Get a $1 preview inside Melissa’s private community, The Hive: https://burnouttoallout.thrivecart.com/hive-preview/ ▶ FREE Daily Lead Gen Checklist: http://www.burnouttoallout.co/linkedin-checklist ▶ For more resources and information on Melissa’s current offerings: www.burnouttoallout.co Connect with Melissa: 〉LinkedIn™: a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-henault/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...
