In this compelling episode of Founders Future, host Ammar Elm sits down with Mike Randolph, co-founder and COO of The Agency Initiative—a consulting firm dedicated to cultivating courageous leadership. Drawing on formative leadership experiences at Tesla and Yeti, Mike shares how he and co-founder Kristen Kavanaugh founded The Agency Initiative to empower leaders to act with intention, integrity, and self-awareness.

Mike reflects on the origin of the firm’s name, “agency,” not as a business service but as the power of intentional decision-making rooted in personal values. He recounts pivotal moments at Tesla, where he and Kristen led leadership and DEI efforts and often found themselves grappling with high-pressure decisions misaligned with their principles. These moments, marked by physical tension and ethical conflict, became the foundation for a leadership framework focused on recognizing and harnessing one’s inner agency.