Owning the Seat, Betting on Apprenticeships, and Unlearning Burnout with Michelle Sims

On this episode of The Z Pod, Host Z sits down with Michelle Sims, CEO of YUPRO Placement, to talk about what it actually means to lead, not just hold the title.

Michelle opens up about the early days of her CEO role, when she found herself running every decision past her board chair for approval, until he told her plainly that the accountability was hers, not his. It's a lesson she now builds into how she leads her own team, making sure decision rights and responsibility are clear, not assumed. She talks through stepping into the CEO seat just ten days before COVID hit, steadying the company first, then making a bet almost nobody in the industry was making: building out apprenticeship programs with little precedent to lean on. That bet helped triple revenue in two years and put her in Washington advocating with the Department of Labor on apprenticeship policy.

Michelle also gets honest about hitting real burnout and the unlearning it forced, that exhaustion was never proof of commitment, and how that belief now shows up at YUPRO through 200 hours of PTO and required wellness days. She closes with advice for early-career professionals: build an identity outside of work, and be selective about whose feedback you actually let in.00:00 Welcome to The Z Pod01:28 Meet Michelle Sims02:44 Playing Small as CEO04:44 Owning the Seat09:39 COVID Leadership Test10:22 Betting on Apprenticeships15:13 Unlearning Burnout Culture17:39 Wellbeing as a Value21:22 Advice for Early Careers24:52 Closing and Takeaways#leadership #wellbeing #staffing #ceo #recruiting