The Engine Room
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The professional home of second-in-commands

It’s not lonely at the top.
It’s lonely in the middle.

The Engine Room is a practical development community for the operational leaders in founder-led businesses. COOs, Ops Managers, Integrators and Senior EAs.

Book a discovery call See what’s inside
30 minutes With Emma or Julie Free, no obligation
Emma King and Julie, co-hosts of The Engine Room
Built for COO Operations Manager General Manager Head of Ops Integrator Senior EA
The problem

Founders get coaches. Founders get mentors. Second-in-commands are expected to just figure it out.

You’re the person in the middle of the business. The founder has the vision. The team needs direction. And you are the one expected to turn ideas, conversations and decisions into action.

You keep things moving. You solve problems. You protect the founder’s time. You hold the team together.

Whether you are new to the role or have been doing it for years, you are not starting from scratch. You already have the instinct, experience and ability that brought you here. But as the business grows, the role becomes more complex, and you need the space, support and practical development to grow with it.

To strengthen your leadership. Increase your influence and impact. And move from being the person who keeps everything running to becoming the founder’s trusted strategic partner.

But who supports you?

The Engine Room was built to change that. A room built for the person in the middle.
What you’ll build

Real leverage, not just another task list.

Inside The Engine Room, you’ll build the skills, confidence and strategic thinking to lead, not just deliver.

01

Translate the founder’s vision into a clear plan the team can actually execute.

02

Lead the team with more confidence, even in the difficult conversations.

03

Hold people accountable without feeling awkward or heavy-handed.

04

Make better decisions without constantly needing the founder’s approval.

05

Spot operational gaps and risks before they become bigger problems.

06

Sharpen the systems, processes and communication that move the business.

07

Step out of reactive mode and into stronger, calmer leadership.

08

Feel less isolated in a role that not everyone in the business understands.

Is this you?

The Engine Room is for you if…

  • You are the person people come to when things need fixing.
  • You want to step up as a stronger, more commercial leader.
  • You sometimes feel caught between the founder and the team.
  • You want more confidence in difficult conversations.
  • You’re tired of carrying things alone.
  • You want practical tools and people who understand the role.
What’s inside the room

Practical training, honest conversations, tools that actually get used.

01 · Live sessions

Development, not lectures

Live monthly sessions on leadership, accountability, operations and commercial thinking, run by people who’ve done the role.

02 · The community

Peers who get it

Ask real questions to other second-in-commands. No corporate posturing. No LinkedIn theatre. Just people who understand the pressure.

03 · Tools & templates

Steal what works

Meeting agendas, accountability frameworks, one-to-one templates, decision logs. The operating kit for a strong 2iC.

04 · Coaching moments

Sharpen your thinking

Hot-seats, deep-dives and Q&A with Emma and Julie on the situations you’re actually navigating this month.

Meet the team behind the Engine Room

Emma & Julie: both sides of the desk.

For more than 15 years, Emma and Julie have worked side by side as CEO and COO, one setting the vision, the other turning it into action.

They know what it takes to build a founder and second-in-command partnership that can lead a growing business through change, complexity and opportunity. They also know how much responsibility sits with the person in the middle, and how lonely that role can feel.

Through the company they co-founded, It Takes Two, Emma and Julie provide the coaching, training and practical tools that help founders and second-in-commands work better together.

The Engine Room is the community around that work: a place for operational leaders to connect, learn from one another and grow alongside people who truly understand the role.

It is the room Julie didn’t have 15 years ago when she became COO. The Engine Room was created to make sure today’s second-in-commands have somewhere to call home.

Ready to step into the room?

Book a discovery call with Emma or Julie.

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