You don’t have to burn yourself out to build a successful business.

I learned that the hard way.

On paper, everything looked great.
✔ Built three businesses to $200M in revenue
✔ Bootstrapped a service business to $25M with 25 people in five years
✔ Scaled a VC-backed tech company to $28M ARR in under two years with just 12 people
✔ Made a double-sided consumer marketplace profitable in three months with a five-person team
✔ Raised $30M in venture capital

But behind the scenes, I was exhausted, constantly putting out fires, and convinced the business would fall apart if I stepped away.

So I pushed harder, thinking that was the only way.

Then life forced me to stop.

I ran headfirst into a glass window. A concussion took me out for eight weeks. No emails, no meetings, no problem-solving. For the first time, I couldn’t step in to fix things.

And when I came back, I was shocked. The business hadn’t just survived. It had thrived.

That moment forced me to question everything.

I always thought the key to scaling was working harder and building better systems. And systems did help. But what really made the difference wasn’t the business. It was me.

I had built a company that depended on me, not because it had to, but because I didn’t know how to let go. I believed that stepping back meant losing control. That if I wasn’t involved in everything, things would fall apart.

That belief had to change.

Learning to trust my team, step back, and stop being the bottleneck wasn’t easy. But once I did, everything changed.

The systems worked because I let them. My team thrived because I gave them space. And the business grew faster than ever, not because I was in every decision, but because I wasn’t.

Now, I help founders do the same.

Most founders come to me because they feel stuck. They’re scaling, but at the cost of their time, health, and freedom. It doesn’t have to be that way.

If you’re ready to build a business that grows without you being in the weeds, join me for daily insights on scaling, leadership, and personal growth.

Let’s get started.
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Let’s connect:
Email: hello@christinecarrillo.com
Twitter: @ChristineCarril

Christine Carrillo

Paragon Tech

Paragon is a Managed Intelligence Provider (MIP) helping the lower and mid market enterprise moneyball their data for capital and operational efficiency. Think of us as your CIO-led data team available on-demand to knock out big and small data projects.

Partner & COO

ELK Marketing

Marketing team behind hypergrowth brands like Rakuten, Goodr, Arc’teryx, Lifeaid, Lunya and many others; a force-multiplier for top of funnel organic revenue and trusted partner to the CMO org.

VP of Growth

GrowForward.co

Founder

Silicon Valley Software Group

SVSG is a tech advisory firm made up of founders, CTOs, CPOs, and other SMEs helping PE/VC evaluate digital investment opportunities and oversee technology transformations for their portfolio companies.

Partnerships (Consultant) 

Mission Control

Deploy and trust Generative AI in minutes. Mission Control is a no code platform for building and running AI workflows.

GTM 

Labthree

Incubating products that drive max CLTV for brands and digital communities.

Co-Founder

Red Bull Records

Scout and advise music talent under the RedBull Records banner. Artists, producers, and managers relations. LA market discovery lead and Red Bull Soundstage artist submissions funnel management.

A&R Consultant

Cross Campus

Our mission at Cross Campus is to inspire and empower a community of freelancers, entrepreneurs and startups (both pre- and post- accelerator) to create, innovate and ultimately excel.

Head of Sales

R/GA

Accelerating tech startups who are creating products and services at the crossroads of sports, technology, and entertainment. 

Leveraging the full resources of the LA Dodgers, its partner and ownership organizations, and the industry-leading branding strategists at R/GA, this program will provide unparalleled access to sports industry partnerships and distribution channels across the world of sports business, training and fan engagement.

We are actively looking for companies that are not only innovating products and services, but also exploring completely new business models that exploit emerging technologies.

Consultant, The Los Angeles Dodgers Sports & Entertainment Accelerator with R/GA

Built In LA

Built In LA is a community driven organization that has created an online network where entrepreneurs can connect with each other, post job openings and blog about lessons learned. Built In LA has a company directory and keeps track of local funding announcements and other start up news.

Director of Community

Uniting the brightest minds in tech, product, and marketing to help companies navigate an ever-evolving digital landscape. 

Shoot me a note if you'd like to learn more.

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The Battle

Christine Carrillo

Dylan Steinman

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