Maddy Niebauer on Peace Corps Lessons and Building vChiefs

We sit down with Maddy Niebauer to trace the experiences that shaped her early mindset. She reflects on growing up in the Bay Area, moving often, and changing schools year after year. As a result, she learned to adapt fast, make friends quickly, and keep going through disruption. She also explains how high academic expectations at home pushed her to take school seriously, even when the pressure felt heavy.Maddy Niebauer and the search for directionFrom there, the conversation moves into college and the uncertainty that comes with choosing a path too early. She shares why she started college undecided, why psychology pulled her in, and how research first seemed exciting. However, one long project with inconclusive data changed her view of academic work. That moment forced her to question what kind of future she wanted. It also opened the door to a wider conversation about discovery, curiosity, and the limits of rigid career planning. In that sense, fractional leadership starts with learning how to step back and reassess your role.West Africa changed the frameAfter college, Maddy joined the Peace Corps and spent more than two years in Ivory Coast. That chapter gave her a direct view of service, shared responsibility, and daily life in a communal culture. She describes how family structures, work, and even simple tools carried a different meaning there. Because of that, she returned with a stronger sense of perspective and a deeper interest in mission driven work. Later, that same perspective shaped how she viewed management, nonprofit impact, and fractional leadership in practice.Building vChiefs with MaddyWhen she returned to the United States, she worked in education, earned an MBA at Columbia, and later moved into nonprofit consulting. Eventually, a chief of staff role at Teach For America became the turning point. She didn’t chase that title at first, yet the work fit her strengths. Then layoffs pushed her to make a decision. Instead of starting over in another job, she turned a side engagement into a business. That move became vChiefs, a company built around part time executive support. Here, fractional leadership became more than an idea. It became the service itself.What Maddy learned about letting goWe also talk through the messy parts of building a company. She explains early pricing mistakes, unclear project scope, and the cost of being too accommodating. More importantly, she shares what changed when she stopped trying to do everything herself. Her decision to hire support, build systems, and later work with a co CEO gave the business room to grow. At the same time, it gave her more freedom. That lesson sits at the center of this episode. Fractional leadership helps leaders focus on what only they can do. In the end, fractional leadership works best when trust, structure, and self awareness all grow together.Chapters00:00 Welcome to Founders Journey01:07 Meet Maddy Niebauer01:31 Growing up in the Bay Area05:12 What changing schools taught her09:11 College pressure and choosing a path20:21 Peace Corps work in Ivory Coast26:21 Tutoring centers and social enterprise28:24 Columbia MBA and nonprofit consulting36:19 Teach For America and chief of staff work40:30 Starting vChiefs and letting go as a founder