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Julien Smith

Founder and CEO of Practice, Executive Coach

Julien Smith is the Founder and CEO of Practice, a platform designed to assist coaches in building and managing their businesses independently. He has a strong background in entrepreneurship and is also a New York Times bestselling author. His notable works include "The Flinch" and "Trust Agents," the latter co-authored with Chris Brogan, which has been influential in the field of social media marketing.1 2 3

Career Background

Before founding Practice in November 2019, Smith co-founded Breather, a flexible office space company, where he successfully raised over $150 million and took the company to Series D funding. His leadership at Breather involved strategic hiring, fundraising, and partnership development, which contributed significantly to the company's growth and visibility in the tech industry.2 6

In addition to his entrepreneurial ventures, Smith is an executive coach, focusing on first-time venture-backed CEOs. He leverages his extensive experience to guide these leaders in areas such as customer acquisition, team building, and operational management.4 5

Personal Insights and Philosophy

Smith emphasizes the importance of combining passion with marketability in business ventures, believing that both elements are crucial for success. He is known for his ability to articulate complex ideas clearly, which has allowed him to impact a wide audience through his writing and coaching.2 3

His approach to coaching is rooted in the belief that CEOs often lack opportunities to express their true selves, and he aims to provide a supportive environment for them to do so.6 Smith's commitment to helping others is evident in his work, as he seeks to empower individuals and teams to achieve their potential.7

Highlights

Oct 4 · twitter

Freedom doesn’t make us productive. Structure does.

The best work I’ve ever done, the most progress I’ve made, was when I had routine and social pressure holding me accountable.

If you’re from the Western world, I’m betting you’re the same. We need structure.

Oct 1 · twitter

Below, a chart of growth for a client I coach.

It's important to understand that when you have traction, and your business is working, this is what explosive looks like.

Founders often believe just some growth is ok. This is not true. You have to be top 1%.

It takes a while sometimes to prove this out. But when you have it, you see it, and you realize what you had before wasn't enough at all, and you were deluding yourself.