#047 Why More CEOs Are Hiring Chiefs of Staff with Keziah Wonstolen

Built For This Podcast, with Carly Pepin

May 18, 2026 by

Carly Pepin

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Carly Pepin sits down with Keziah Wonstolen, founder of Vannin Chief of Staff, to explore why the chief of staff role has become one of the fastest-growing and most valuable positions in modern business leadership.

In this episode of Built for This, Drawing from her background at Accenture and her own experience serving as a chief of staff, Keziah shares how she built a company dedicated to helping CEOs scale more effectively through operational support, strategic execution, and leadership alignment. What began as a fractional consulting model evolved into one of North America’s leading chief of staff talent providers before eventually being acquired by the Chief of Staff Association.

The conversation dives into the critical differences between executive assistants, chiefs of staff, and COOs, and why more founders, private equity firms, and scaling companies are turning to chiefs of staff to operationalize vision, manage change, and improve organizational execution. Carly and Keziah also unpack the realities of growth, implementing frameworks like EOS and Scaling Up, building intentional culture, and creating structures that allow leaders to spend more time in their zone of genius rather than drowning in operational complexity.

Keziah also opens up about the deeply personal experiences that pushed her toward entrepreneurship and her passion for helping leaders reclaim their most valuable resource: time.

This episode is a practical and insightful look at modern leadership, operational scale, and why the right support structure can completely transform a company’s growth trajectory.

About Keziah Wonstolen:

Keziah Wonstolen is an award-winning entrepreneur and management consultant based in Denver, Colorado. After spending 13 years at Accenture, where she advised global organizations on operational strategy and leadership effectiveness, she founded Vannin Chief of Staff to help executives scale more efficiently and build stronger operational foundations.

Through Vannin, Keziah and her team specialized in supporting private equity firms, portfolio companies, and family offices, helping leaders optimize execution, improve alignment, and build scalable leadership structures. Her work has earned recognition including the Denver Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and participation in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program.

Today, she is recognized as a leading voice in the evolving chief of staff space and continues shaping how modern organizations approach executive leadership and operational strategy.

Key Themes:

Vision Needs Structure: Why even the strongest leaders need systems, accountability, and operational support to scale effectively.
Time Is the Ultimate Asset: How chiefs of staff help executives focus on high-value work while reducing operational overwhelm.
Culture Must Be Operationalized: Why values should shape hiring, communication, accountability, and leadership behaviors across the business.

Listen On

Youtube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpesVGlZ888

Spotify Link https://open.spotify.com/episode/1RjNzfzjGSZnqJB8AQN5zH?si=c5dff76cccb04940

Apple Podcasts Link https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-more-ceos-are-hiring-chiefs-of-staff-with/id1835497020?i=1000768404884

Memorable Quotes:
“Leaders are managing more change than they ever have in the past.”
“Time is not a renewable resource.”
“The chief of staff takes this ambiguous challenge, creates structure around it, and turns it into something executable.”

Keziah Wonstolen