Define. Measure. Win.
How Yolanda Clarke Builds Mission-Ready Teams
On the Build-Your-A-Team (#BYAT) podcast, I get to talk to incredible Veteran founders and realize their brain works in a different dimension.
If you don’t know Yolanda yet, here’s the quick download: Army veteran, Lockheed Martin alum, founder of a mission-support and tech services company that helps the Department of Defense (DoD), Intelligence Community (IC), and energy sectors run smooth, scalable operations. She’s been in austere locations, led complex teams, and now runs a company built on high standards, high trust, and zero tolerance for mediocrity.
Hire for Grit, Not Just Skills
One of the first lessons Yolanda learned? No hire is better than a bad hire.
Early in her entrepreneurial journey, she brought on accounting and HR – roles she didn’t want to do herself. Why? Because protecting her energy and focus kept her showing up every day. But as her company scaled, she realized she needed to hire to replace herself – people who could own the workflow, build systems, and make themselves (and her) redundant.
Enter the “workflow bosses.” Described as analysts who mapped every process, interviewed every team member (including Yolanda herself), and documented operations from end to end.
The payoff? When the company grew, nothing broke. New capabilities plugged in seamlessly. Compensation stayed aligned. High performers stayed motivated because underperformers couldn’t hide behind the same rewards.
That’s the standard: hire people who scale the mission, not your workload.
Map the Mission, Fail Fast
In Yolanda’s world, success isn’t a feeling – it’s mappable, measurable, and fixable.
Her background in regulated environments taught her that clarity is crucial. Contracts, requirements, and performance standards are 100% knowable. If something’s off, you brief it early – not because you want to avoid blame, but because bad news doesn’t get better over time.
That instinct to fail fast quickly became her secret weapon. By noticing small problems early and thinking through what went wrong, Yolanda could adjust before things got messy. Over time, those moments became lessons, not just for her, but for the system she was building and the people around her.
Yolanda’s “superpower” – decisiveness – shows up here: she doesn’t stall, stew, or outsource the tough calls. She acts. Quickly. Decisively. And her team trusts that momentum because it’s backed by data and discipline.
Resilience in Action
That decisiveness didn’t come from an MBA textbook. It came from growing up in a high-stakes environment.
Rural America. Limited resources. Real danger. Bears, lions, Hells Angels relatives – all part of the landscape. When you learn early how to manage unexpected challenges around every corner, you build that mental agility to stay calm and think clearly.
That resilience carried her into her military service and later into entrepreneurship. Whether you’re navigating a battlefield, a defense contract, or a startup scaling curve, the lesson is the same: stay steady, assess quickly, and move.
How She Leads
Yolanda’s not just about tech or ops; she’s about people and mission. Her hires aren’t just skilled – they reflect her values, uphold accountability, and drive real impact. Her leadership combines:
High standards with compassion
Operational rigor with strategic vision
Clear metrics with cultural alignment
The Takeaway?
Whether you’re running a small business, a government contract, or a PE-backed portfolio company, there’s a Veteran lesson in every step: hire the right people, define success clearly, empower your team with the right processes, and never let mediocrity survive on your watch.
From austere fields to defense contracts to her own kitchen table-turned-operations hub, Yolanda Clarke has built teams that are mission-ready, resilient, and scalable. And the lesson for all of us: structure, clarity, and grit aren’t just military traits – they’re the difference between good teams and teams that can move mountains.
Catch the full conversation with Yolanda on the Build Your A-Team Podcast, where you find your podcasts or simply click on Resources. You’ll see the full menu, and your brain will thank you.
