Women-Owned Business Series: Maggie from Nova Chief of Staff

Welcome back to our Women-Owned Business Series! Today we’re featuring Maggie, founder of Nova Chief of Staff — the first-to-market certification and training company for Chiefs of Staff, now with over 2,000 students across 1,500 companies in 45 countries.

The inspiration behind Nova comes from Maggie’s own story: six years ago, she was a consistent high performer with no language for her own value and no clarity on where her career should go — until she discovered the Chief of Staff role and it changed everything. She bootstrapped Nova from scratch, hit $1M in revenue in her first year, and built the company she wishes she’d had, so other high achievers wouldn’t have to spend years figuring it out alone. Read more about her story below!

First, tell us about your business and anything special we should know about it or you.

Nova Chief of Staff is the first-to-market certification and training company for Chiefs of Staff, with over 2,000 students across 1,500 companies in 45 countries. I started it because six years ago I was a consistent high performer with no language for my own value and no clarity on where my career should go. When I discovered the Chief of Staff role it changed everything, and I became determined to make sure other high achievers didn’t have to spend years figuring that out on their own. I bootstrapped Nova from scratch, hit $1M in revenue in my first year, and have been building ever since. novachiefofstaff.com

Why do you feel a connection to your work?

Because I am my own student. I was the high achiever who didn’t know how to name what made her exceptional, and I found the role that changed my trajectory. Every time a student tells me Nova gave them the language, the confidence, or the career pivot they had been searching for, I feel that personally. This is not a business I stumbled into. It is the work I was built for, and I know that every single day.

As a business owner, community is everything. In what ways do you serve your community, and how has your community served you?

Nova is a community as much as it is a company. We have over 2,000 students who show up for each other across cohorts, conferences, and our online spaces in ways that go far beyond what I could have designed. I serve the community by showing up consistently, sharing what I know, and being honest about what building this has actually looked like. The community has given me back something I didn’t expect: proof that this work matters. When students share what Nova has done for their careers, it fuels everything. They are the reason Nova keeps growing.

What advice would you give to others who want to start a small business?

Bet on yourself before you feel ready, because ready is not a real destination. I spent half of our early revenue on a single podcast sponsorship when every cautious voice around me would have said it was too risky. My gut said go, and I went. Self-trust is a muscle you build through action, not through certainty, and the sooner you start making decisions from that place the faster everything moves. Also: find your niche and go deep. The riches really are in the niches.

What women inspire you and why?

The women who inspire me most are the ones doing hard, unglamorous work without waiting for recognition. The EAs and Chiefs of Staff I have worked alongside for two decades who run organizations from behind the scenes and rarely get credit for it. The first-time founders who are figuring it out in real time without a safety net. The women in leadership who are pushing for seats at tables that weren’t built for them. I am inspired by women who choose courage over comfort, and there are more of them than people realize.

What do you think are the most significant challenges for small business owners or women in leadership positions?

The confidence gap is real, but I think the bigger issue is that women are often operating without the right language for their own value. We have been conditioned to understate what we bring, to wait for permission, and to assume that doing good work is enough on its own. It is not. Visibility matters, self-advocacy matters, and knowing how to articulate your impact in rooms where decisions get made matters enormously. The women who break through are usually the ones who figured out how to own their value out loud, and we need more infrastructure to help women get there faster.

Please plug any promotions, events, or recent milestones you have!

Nova just crossed 2,000 students across 45 countries, which still stops me in my tracks. We run virtual cohorts throughout the year, in-person trainings with our conference partners, and corporate programs for organizations looking to develop their Chiefs of Staff and strategic operators. If you are a Chief of Staff, an EA ready to level up, or a leader looking to invest in the person closest to you, Nova is where you start. novachiefofstaff.com