I Did Not Become a Coach
Because I Had Great Mentors.
I became one because I had terrible ones. I learned more from the bad leaders, the chaotic companies, and the genuine disasters I survived than from anything I ever read in a book. That is the whole point.
This Is What the Work Looks Like.
No jets. No Lamborghinis. No highlight reel. Just a normal guy who genuinely loves this work, takes it seriously, and shows up the same way every time.
This is what it actually looks like to be a business coach for founders who coaches through experience instead of theory.
Started From the Floor. Literally.
I started at Target. Not as a manager. On the floor. Overnight shifts, unloading trucks, dealing with customers at their worst and employees going through things that do not get covered in business books. That is where I learned how to lead. Not in a classroom. In the mess of it.
From Target I moved to PetSmart - store manager, then district-level leadership. Then Dick's Sporting Goods. Nearly 15 years in corporate retail. Store manager. District-level influence. I ran stores all over North Georgia and spent a decade developing the management fundamentals most people never learn until they are already in over their heads. How to build a schedule. How to hold a standard. How to have the conversation you have been avoiding. How to build a culture that survives turnover.
Then I went smaller. And harder. King of Pops - General Manager, Director of Operations, Director of Sales. Then CEO of SCP Coldworks. Then COO roles at Thrive, Publishing.com, Providence, Acre Vault, Team Logic IT, and others. I also built Pathways Book Press and serve as CEO there. I have carried direct P&L responsibility for over $250 million in revenue across my career. I have seen companies nearly collapse and watched founders get in their own way. I have been the guy brought in to fix what someone else broke and the guy who had to make the calls nobody else wanted to make.
I did not read about these things. I lived them. And when founders ask me how I coach, my answer is the same every time: I coach from what I have been through. Not from what I studied. That is the difference between a business coach for founders who has operated and one who has not.
"A consultant borrows your watch to tell you the time and walks away with the watch. I am not a consultant. I have worn the watch. I have run the business. I know what 2am on a Sunday with payroll due feels like."
Where I Have Actually Been.
This is not a credentials list. It is a map of where I earned what I know. Every one of these roles taught me something I now bring into coaching rooms every single week.
Started at Target on overnights. Stocking shelves, unloading trucks, learning how to lead team members through the hardest interactions retail can throw at you. Moved to PetSmart as a store manager and worked up through district-level leadership. Then Dick's Sporting Goods. Nearly 15 years of building management chops in corporate retail. That foundation never goes away.
Left corporate retail for the smaller, harder version. Worked every function at King of Pops before stepping into the CEO seat at SCP Coldworks. Built teams, built culture, built operating systems from scratch. Wore the elf costume. Got the pie in the face. Learned what it actually takes to build a company from the inside out.
COO roles across multiple fast-growing companies. Led leadership teams, implemented methodologies, and carried direct P&L accountability personally across hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Learned how to lead leaders. How to lead remotely. How to build strategy, scale operations, and drive vision at the highest level. Every company is different. The fundamentals hold everywhere.
Built Roll With the Punches to take everything I learned the hard way and put it directly into the hands of founders running $1M to $20M businesses. Three books published. 20+ years in the trenches before any of this. The R3 Operating System built and deployed. 100+ founders coached. Still going.
What You See Is What You Get.
No Instagram lifestyle. No rented Ferraris. No motivational photoshoots on private jets. Just a real person doing real work with real teams.
I Am Not That Guy.
You have seen them. The online coach on a rented yacht. The guru with the Bentley he drives through the shot and parks out of frame. The guy who has never actually run payroll telling you how to build a business.
That is not me. I have maybe three shirts with buttons. I do not own a sport coat. I drive a normal car, live in the suburbs, and spend my weekends coaching youth soccer and building Legos with my kids. I am as normal as it gets, and I am completely fine with that.
My wife and I have five kids. We go to church. We volunteer. We drink unsweet tea and go to movies. We are in the thick of real life, every single day. I coach from that place. Not from some manufactured persona designed to make you feel like you need to aspire to something I am pretending to be.
Not Values From a Brand Deck.
Real Convictions.
These come up in every coaching conversation. They are not aspirational. They are operational.
When someone is underperforming, the first question is never "are they capable?" It is "do they know exactly what is expected of them?" Nine times out of ten the answer is no. Clarity fixes what coaching cannot.
Not what you write on a wall. Not what you say in a meeting. What you actually let slide every day. Your team is watching, not listening. The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.
If you are the answer to every question, you have not built a business. You have built a job with extra stress. The goal is a team that can move, decide, and execute without you in every room.
The leaders who understand their people, communicate with honesty, and build trust instead of fear consistently outperform the ones who rule through pressure. Not because it feels good. Because it works.
I learned what accountability looks like from a manager who had none. I learned how to communicate by watching one who could not. I learned how to build culture by inheriting a team that had been destroyed by someone who did not care about people. Bad leaders are expensive teachers. They are still teachers.
Everything I Do Is Powered by R3.
After 20+ years in the trenches running businesses and watching what actually works versus what just sounds good in a conference room, I built the R3 Operating System. Three components - Vision, Strategy, and Action - applied consistently inside a business. Clarity, Focus, and Execution. Not theory. Not a framework you file away after a workshop. A system you run every single week.
R3 is the operating system behind every service I offer and every company I work inside. If you want to learn more about what it actually is and how it works, start at ther3os.com.
Learn More at ther3os.com
The Frameworks Are in the Books.
Three books built from 20+ years in the trenches operating and coaching. Not theory. Not filler. The real playbook from someone who has been inside real businesses.
The trenches-level leadership manual for founders who are tired of tolerating mediocrity and ready to build a team that actually carries its own weight. Leadership, hiring, onboarding, culture, accountability, conflict, scaling. Every chapter ends with a Monday Morning Playbook action. Available on Amazon and Audible.
Empathy is not soft. It is the most practical leadership tool available to anyone running a team. This book shows you how to use it without losing your edge. Built from real leadership experience, not a research project.
The operational foundation every small business needs. Systems, structure, and the fundamentals that let a business run beyond the founder. The starting point before everything else. Practical, direct, and built for founders who are in it.
Real Work. Real Results.
"Pete's coaching may be one of the single best professional decisions I've ever made. His experience and practicality are invaluable. He genuinely wants other businesses to succeed. Pete's on my speed dial, and he's going to be there a long time."
"If you want to take your business to the next level, Pete Srodoski is the coach you need. Pete helped me cut through distractions and focus on what really matters, organizing my team to achieve peak performance and deliver real results."
"Pete takes a truly personal, practical, caring and insightful approach to his evaluation and recommendation for my business. I trust and highly recommend Pete to any small to mid-size organization who needs both business coaching and strategy."
If Any of This Resonates,
the Next Step Is a Conversation.
No pitch deck. No pressure. Just an honest conversation about where you are and whether I can help.