Scale Like a CEO

From Founder to Team Builder: Leadership Insights with Sarah Choudhary

• Performance Accelerated Learning • Season 1 • Episode 2

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Join us on the Scale Like a CEO Podcast as we dive into the entrepreneurial journey of Sarah Choudhary, founder of ICE Innovations. Discover how she is revolutionizing industries with her human-centered approach to technology and business. This episode explores key challenges in transitioning from founder to a team builder, the importance of building platforms that prioritize people's wellness, and the essential qualities for building mission-driven teams. Sarah also shares her strategies for decision-making and her vision for creating a leadership culture based on trust, clarity, and shared ownership.

Sarah Choudhary:

One of the biggest challenges I face is transitioning from founder to a team builder. It was like letting go without losing kind of a direction. So as a founder, you started by doing everything like your product strategy, branding, execution and, honestly, it's become part of your identity over the time it becomes part of your identity over the time.

Announcer:

Sarah Chaudhry, a remarkable founder who's revolutionizing multiple industries through her human-centered approach to technology and business. Let's get started.

Justin Reinert:

Hi Sarah. Thank you so much for joining us on the Founder to CEO podcast. Just to get us started, would you mind giving us a 90-second overview of what you do? Yeah, sure.

Sarah Choudhary:

Thank you, first of all, for bringing me here for this opportunity. I'm a founder of FICE Innovations IMC and my company built to challenge some systems that were never designed for real people. If you say we operate for core ventures ICE ride share, which is a bid-based, low-consumption, subscription-based drive-driven more of a subscription-based ride-hailing platform, with built-in peer-to-peer car sharing, and the main purpose of this is to return the power to drivers and vehicle owners. The other thing is iStraw, which is a smart, ai-powered delivery system similar to DoorDash delivery or any other. Grubhub, which is a peer, faster and more efficient for both customers and also local businesses.

Sarah Choudhary:

Ichef is my next venture, which is a door-to-door home cooked meal service that connects communities with fresh, preservative free food prepared by real cooks like mothers, retirees or anyone like that, or food lovers, so they can turn their kitchen into a clean, scalable micro businesses. And the third that I'm working on is, which is connecting these two together, is the eco wallet. That is, our digital wallet, and it's a family finance tool as well, which is making it easier to manage your expenses, each kid's financial habits and move money across the different generations with total trust and transparency. And at ICE, we are not just building the platform we build some possibilities that prioritize the people's wellness and dignity in every place.

Justin Reinert:

That's so great. You've got your hands in a lot of things, but it sounds like some really interesting ventures. I'm curious what's the biggest problem that you see in that industry of ride share and delivery and how are you solving that problem?

Sarah Choudhary:

So the biggest problem I see across in my industry and, honestly, across most of the industry today, is the profit has replaced purpose. There is too much of greed or too little humanity. Big platforms are designed to extract, not empower, and consumers are also frustrated. Small theaters or small business are undervalued and the people who actually move the economy, like drivers, cooks, in my my case and everyday families, are left behind, while the wealth gaps keep growing and at ice innovations.

Sarah Choudhary:

I started with this vision that we are solving this by building the platform that are fear, by design, like I saw it here, where drivers set the terms I chef, where the real people, real food, reaches the family, and iStrawberries, which makes the delivery sustainable, and Wallet is, which helps family management transparently across generations, grandkids or something like that. And it's not about just fixing the broken app, fixing or helping the broken system, because I don't just want to fix the industry, I just want to influence the system. So my goal was always being on a bigger than the entrepreneurship. It about leading the change at a bigger level, because I truly believe that we can build this country, that it finally serves all of the people, not just some powerful ones.

Justin Reinert:

That's so great and I'm curious what makes you unique in the way that you're helping others?

Sarah Choudhary:

As I already said, most of the one of the unique thing that I would say about myself over the company is I don't just build the products, I build people to the products. So most of the founders, they focus on scaling the platforms. I focus on scaling the human potential. Whether it's a driver on ICE rideshare who finally earns fairly, a home cook on ICE chef who turns their kitchen into income, or a family using EcoWallet to teach their kids how to get financial confidence, my work centers on helping other rise, not just funds up. So I blend AI, business and behavioral understanding to create a system that just don't work but uplift. So my approach is deeply human. Even though I work with AI, I speak a lot about AI ethics and responsible as well. I listen closely, I move fast and I act boldly, and I don't just give the access, but I give the ownership of their future. What truly set me apart is not just solving the problem. It helped people to reclaim the power that they didn't know that they had.

Justin Reinert:

I love the human focus that you have in the way that you're building your business. Transitioning a little bit, I'd love to hear, as you've been building these businesses, what are some challenges that you have encountered in building your teams to help you continue to grow the businesses.

Sarah Choudhary:

Yeah, one of the biggest challenges I face is transitioning from founder to a team builder. It was like letting go without losing kind of a direction. So as a founder, you started by doing everything like your product strategy, branding, execution and, honestly, it's become part of your identity over the time. So handling these things off was not just about delegation. It felt like releasing a part of yourself. So what I learned is that building a team is not about duplication, it's more of like multiplication for me.

Sarah Choudhary:

So the real challenge was not finding the talent, it was finding the people who would carry the same vision and understand as well with the same intensity. That's the harder part. And plus also bring their own genius, looking the things in from their angle. And it took me time to shift from controlling the outcome to trusting the process. So I had to build a system that allowed for freedom with alignment, where people can lead. They can also innovate and also fail safely while still moving towards the bigger mission, and also fail safely while still moving towards the bigger mission. So that shift from founder to leader, it was not just tactical, it was deeply personal and it's also what elevated everything I have built.

Justin Reinert:

When you're able to have a team that has that freedom with alignment, who you bring on to the team is really important. Like you mentioned getting them aligned to the vision. I'd love to hear what are the key qualities that you're looking for when you're hiring people to make sure that you've got people that are aligned to that vision.

Sarah Choudhary:

To be honest, I'm still in process of building my teams and approaching is very intentional. The moment I realized I couldn't scale the impact alone, it was the moment I knew I had to start. My idea was expanding faster than my hours I have and I knew that I wanted to lead a movement, not just a company. So I needed other minds, other engineers and energies around me. Just don't hide just to fill the roles. I look for people who share the mission and stretch the vision as well. So the quality I look is for very simple Adaptability, because we are constantly changing, if the industry, you see, with AI and everything, is constantly evolving.

Sarah Choudhary:

Integrity is one of the debt, because we build the trust with everyone. And initiative, because I value people who move without waiting for the permission. And most important is sense of purpose, which is bigger than a paycheck and other than the title. It don't impress me. Alignment does so. As you mentioned, I'm building a team that don't just execute they believe and while we are still growing, every new person we bring in is a step forward to building a culture in ICE that's not just productive but, more deeply, mission driven.

Justin Reinert:

Yeah, those are those four qualities, you know agility, integrity, alignment to purpose and a missing one was the adaptability initiative. Yeah, those are. So I think those are so key for any growing organization. Those are really important to have. Those are really important to have. I'm curious you know you talk about bringing on people to the team to be able to help you grow. What's it like letting go of some of the tasks? And delegating those to others.

Sarah Choudhary:

For me it was pretty uncomfortable at first because my instinct was to hold everything close. But with the time being I realized and learned from other founders and great names as well the growth demands the trust right. So when you delegate the right way, you are not giving up the control. You are creating the space for others to lead as well. And when your vision starts to breathe on its own and cultivating to multiple productive things, that's a travel or journey of a delegation firm in a minute.

Justin Reinert:

That's definitely challenging, I think, for many founders to let go of that, you know. I'm curious if you could talk about a time when you felt overwhelmed by decision making, and what strategies did you implement to overcome it.

Sarah Choudhary:

Yeah, there was always a time when I was juggling with multiple platforms, Like by decision-making, and what strategies did you implement to overcome it? Yeah, there was always a time when I was juggling with multiple platforms like iFight, Fear, iShape and Wallet. It's all in active development with complete need as well, timelines and there is a pressure as well. So I was flooded with decisions every hour, especially when you are building something your applications and all this stuff and I hit a wall. So I realized I couldn't run on instinct alone. So I created a mental framework that I call purpose over pressure.

Sarah Choudhary:

So I step back and ask myself these two things Does what I'm doing align with my long-term mission, and what are the consequences of doing versus delaying it? So is this a decision only I can make, or should someone else own it? So these questions and them help me clear the noise that I have around me and move with intention, Because overhanging doesn't come from too many decisions. It comes from trying to meet them without clarity. So when I have a good clarity with these questions and answers, it was easy for me to coordinate it.

Justin Reinert:

Getting that clarity, I think, is important, and I really like the question about am I the only one who can do this? Because I think about that often, you know is am I the right person to be doing this? Is there someone else that can do it? I think that's a really great test of whether you should be taking something on. And so, as you look forward, what's your vision for the evolution of your leadership culture and what steps will be critical for achieving that vision?

Sarah Choudhary:

So my vision is to build a leadership culture that's not based on control but on the trust control but on the trust, clarity and shared ownership, basically. So I want my teams where people don't just follow the instructions, they bring the ideas, challenge the norms and lead the effort with heart. So to get there, I am focused on three critical steps. Number one is the clarity of purpose, and everyone in my team and around me in my work culture should know not just what we are building, but understand the purpose, that why we are doing that, and there is a psychological safety as well. That is space where people can speak up, they can take risks, can grow without any fear and then grow without fear. There should be a guarantee that whatever they speak won't be taken against them. There'll be decentralized decision-making. Leadership is not just about the title, it's about initiative. Ultimately, I don't want to be the smartest person in the room, I want to build a room full of leaders. That's the culture I'm shaping.

Justin Reinert:

That's really great and, gosh, psychological safety is so important as you're building that team. I know it's something that I talk about a lot in various circles, whether it's from writing about leadership or when I'm working with other executives and helping them build out their teams. Site safety is just so important. Well, sarah, thank you so much for joining me today on Founder to CEO. If people want to get in touch with you, how can they reach out?

Sarah Choudhary:

I think the best way to reach me out is through LinkedIn. I live over there, so just search my name, sarah Chaudhary, and send me the message. I also welcome direct inquiries at my website, which is my full name, sarahchaudharycom. Whether it's partnership, investment or purpose driven collaboration, I'm always open for conversation that builds something meaningful.

Justin Reinert:

Great Well, thank you so much, Sarah.

Sarah Choudhary:

Thank you.