Exploring Life & Business with Aviva Leebow of Built For More

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aviva Leebow.

Hi Aviva, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story is grounded in sseing beyond the limits other people place on us.

At 19, less than two months into college, I experienced a severe episode of bipolar disorder. A doctor told my parents I would never graduate college and would never amount to anything. My parents refused to accept that as the story of my life, and eventually, I stopped accepting it too.

With the support of people who believed in me and helped me see what was still possible, I rebuilt. I graduated from college, earned my law degree with honors, and eventually became CEO of Pacesetter in the steel industry.

At Pacesetter, we challenged traditional assumptions by building around technology, talent development, and a culture where people were encouraged to think strategically and lead with confidence. I also experienced how isolating leadership can be. Joining a Vistage peer group gave me trusted advisors who helped me see my blind spots, navigate difficult decisions, and become a stronger leader.

After leaving Pacesetter, I started my own business to give other CEOs the same kind of challenge, perspective, support, and accountability that had made such a difference in my life. That work eventually became Built for More.

Built for More is deeply personal to me because I know what it feels like to have someone else define the limits of your future. I also know the power of having people around you who refuse to let those limits become your identity.

Today, through Built for More, I work with purpose-driven CEOs and leadership teams through Vistage peer groups, executive coaching, and facilitation. As a certified Outgrow Advisor, I also help companies use the Outgrow methodology to shift from reactive selling to proactively creating more predictable growth. Across all of this work, I help leaders see what they cannot see alone and build what they already know is possible.

They are not pursuing more simply for the sake of more. They want to create greater growth, impact, freedom, and possibility for their companies, their people, and their communities.

Once you see what is possible, you cannot unknow it. That belief has shaped my life, and it is now at the center of the work we do.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. Starting my own business brought up limiting beliefs and mindset challenges I had not fully confronted before. I questioned whether I was really capable of doing it, whether I belonged in this space, and whether people would actually want to work with me. I wondered if I had enough experience to give back and make the impact I hoped to make.

I had never considered myself a salesperson, so trying to grow the business often made me feel uncomfortable and overly salesy. In many ways, it was easier to be a hired CEO than to step out on my own. It took 11 months to launch my first Vistage group, and during that time, I almost quit more than once. Fortunately, I had people who believed in me, encouraged me to keep going, and reminded me to believe in myself. They helped me recognize that I was built for more, even when I was struggling to see it.

Once the first group launched, the business gained momentum quickly. I launched a second group about six months later and continued expanding from there. But entrepreneurship is still a roller coaster. There have been great successes, difficult stretches, poor decisions, and plenty of lessons, including learning what happens when you bring the wrong person into a peer group.

I sometimes joke that the first few years of building a business feel like malpractice because you discover so many things by doing them wrong first. Every new stage eventually takes you beyond the skills that got you there. You plateau, and then you have to grow, adapt, and evolve again.

That experience has made the Built For More philosophy deeply personal. It is not about having endless confidence or always knowing what to do. It is about continuing to move toward what you believe is possible, especially when fear and self-doubt make it tempting to stop.

As you know, we’re big fans of Built For More. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Built for More works with purpose-driven CEOs and leadership teams who have already built something meaningful but know there is more possible. Not more simply for the sake of more, but more impact, growth, freedom, and possibility.

What sets us apart is that we work on both sides of growth: the leader and the organization. We help CEOs expand how they think, lead, and make decisions while helping their companies build the systems, behaviors, and accountability needed to grow more predictably.

Through Vistage peer advisory groups and executive coaching, we give CEOs a trusted place to discuss challenges they often cannot bring anywhere else. Members gain the collective perspective of other CEOs, individual coaching, and access to world-class speakers with expertise across a wide range of leadership and business topics. We help leaders see blind spots, pressure-test decisions, challenge limiting beliefs, and think at the level their vision requires.

Through Outgrow advising, we help companies shift from reacting to opportunities to intentionally creating them. Outgrow is not sales training. It changes how the entire organization thinks about growth by making proactive, value-focused communication part of how people operate. Aviva also delivers Outgrow workshops and keynotes for leadership teams, Vistage groups, EO forums, and conferences, introducing audiences to a different way of thinking about predictable growth. For organizations ready to implement the methodology, our advising builds the measurable behaviors, structure, and accountability needed to create lasting results.

We also provide leadership facilitation that help teams think differently, address the conversations they may be avoiding, and turn ideas into action.

Our work is grounded in real-world leadership and operating experience. We understand the isolation, uncertainty, and responsibility of leading a company. We provide the challenge, perspective, structure, and accountability that help leaders follow through.

We are most proud that Built for More is not simply a name. It describes both who we are and the leaders we choose to work with. Our clients are purpose-driven leaders who want to create greater possibilities for their companies, their people, and their communities. We understand how they are wired because we are wired that way, too.

Once they see what is possible, they cannot unknow it. They are Built for More.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I have taken some significant risks, beginning with leaving the relative security of being a paid CEO to start my own business. That decision meant stepping into uncertainty, betting on myself, and building something without knowing exactly how quickly it would succeed.

As the business has grown, some of the hardest risks have involved saying no rather than saying yes. Once I became clear about our ideal client and the Built for More philosophy, I had to be willing to let go of clients who were not the right fit. I have also closed parts of the business where I knew we could not create the level of impact we wanted, even when those services were generating revenue. Those decisions created the bandwidth to build the next version of the company and stay focused on the leaders we are uniquely positioned to serve.

I have also made meaningful investments in the business knowing the return would be slow. I think about those decisions by asking whether an investment moves us closer to the company I know is possible and allows us to help more purpose-driven leaders at scale. If the answer is yes, I am willing to accept that the payoff may not be immediate.

I do not believe risk-taking means being reckless. For me, it means being willing to release something comfortable when it no longer aligns with where you are going. Sometimes the greatest risk is continuing to protect what you have instead of pursuing what you know you are capable of building.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://builtformore.ai
• Instagram: @BuiltforMoreLeader
• Facebook: @BuiltforMoreLeader
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avivaleebow
• Youtube: @BuiltforMoreLeader