Tina Dao on Scaling from Fitbit to Walmart and Then Choosing ‘Small’ on Purpose

From the Navy to Walmart to Boutique COO: Tina Dao's Mission for Privately Owned BusinessTina Dao, founder and CEO of Liberated Leaders, spent her career scaling organizations from startup to global enterprise, including Fitbit, GetAround, and a 2,800-person platform at Walmart, before building a fractional COO firm dedicated to the privately owned businesses she cares about most. Rooted in her father's entrepreneurial story and a career that began outnumbered 10 to 1 in the US Navy, Tina brings hard-won lessons in culture, trust, and operations to founders who need them.Key Insights You'll Learn:Navy career as an electronic technician at 18, one of the first women in the ratingApplying MBA frameworks in real time while working full time in manufacturing operationsRapid scaling at Amazon Lab 126 and Fitbit: how culture breaks under hockey stick growthAmazon's leadership principles model: embedding values into every stage of the employee life cycleGetAround lessons: why trust, once broken at the executive level, often cannot be repairedWalmart multi-cloud strategy using Azure, GCP, and proprietary data centersMoving to North Carolina to care for aging parents and the seven-year transition that followedThree types of COOs and why even a 1,000-person company can have a gapGold miner vs. weekend prospector: how owner-operators can build companies that run without themExit readiness as daily strategy, not a last-minute event before a saleTina's Key Mentors:Her Father (Serial Entrepreneur): Modeled storytelling, vulnerability, and the cost of building a business too dependent on its ownerUS Navy Leadership: Taught objective performance standards, technical excellence, and resilience under skepticismAmazon Leadership Principles Culture: Showed how values become lived when embedded in hiring, performance, and daily conversationKobi Avital (Walmart EVP): Recruited her to drive multi-cloud innovation; modeled visionary leadership at enterprise scaleHer Mother: Demonstrated quiet sacrifice and inspired Tina's commitment to helping business owners build lasting valueDon't miss this conversation about what privately owned businesses need, why most owners are panning for gold instead of mining it, and how one operator is helping change that.Connect with Tina Dao:Website: liberatedleaders.comTranscript Available: Tina Dao on Scaling from Fitbit to Walmart and Then Choosing ‘Small’ on PurposeWatch on YouTube: Inspired Stories PodcastOur Website: The Inspired Stories PodcastSpecial Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line. Website: addbackbenefits.com