Rooftop Roundtable | From Founder to Leader: The Identity Shift Nobody Prepares You For

​As businesses grow, the role of the founder changes, and quicker than you can often adapt to.

​​Because your identity as a founder is deeply personal, these shifts can feel heavier than expected.

What once worked (doing everything, staying close to every decision) becomes unsustainable. Expectations rise, pressure increases, and leadership starts to feel different.

In this virtual roundtable, Kate Pollard and Dr Elena Hinova-McNamee will unpack the internal shift required to move from founder energy to leadership presence - and why many scaling challenges aren’t strategic, but personal.

​​You’ll leave with:

• ​​A clearer understanding of why leadership feels heavier as you scale

• ​​One practical shift to lead with more confidence and less pressure

• ​​A simple reflection lens to identify your current leadership tension

​​About Dr Elena Hinova-McNamee

​​Dr Elena Hinova-McNamee is a leadership expert, researcher, and executive coach who supports founders and teams through the human side of growth. With over 15 years in organisational leadership and more than a decade coaching leaders, her work focuses on emotional resilience, psychological safety, and sustainable performance. Elena blends evidence-based frameworks with practical coaching to help leaders strengthen self-awareness, navigate complexity, and build high-trust environments where people - and businesses - can truly grow.

​​About Kate Pollard

​​Kate Pollard is a GTM growth advisor and former founder who built and scaled HR tech platform Circle In to 100+ enterprise customers globally before its successful exit. Through FORK Collective, she now partners with founders to unlock sustainable growth and traction, particularly in B2B. Kate brings real lived founder experience - navigating the messy middle of scaling teams, culture, and revenue - and helps leaders build clarity, confidence, and capability as their businesses grow.