How I came to this work.
About
I’m glad you’re here
The leaders I work with are already exceptional.
They've built real careers through discipline, competence, and doing what others won't. On the outside, everything is working. On the inside, they're carrying decisions they haven't made, conversations they haven't had, and a quiet sense that operating the same way won't get them where they actually want to go.
That's not a capability problem. That's a clarity problem.
I'm Kathy Sacks. I work with high-performing leaders who are ready to stop over-functioning and start leading with precision, authority, and intention.
My background is not in life coaching. It's in business.
I've spent more than two decades building and growing companies, leading teams through funding rounds, advising founders and CEOs, investing in early-stage technology companies, and serving on boards. I've worked inside venture-backed startups and alongside leaders navigating real stakes — capital, people, growth, and reputation. I support leaders who run their own businesses and I also serve as a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company.
I've seen what actually breaks leaders — and what allows them to scale without losing themselves in the process.
What I do now sits at the intersection of strategy and self-leadership. I help leaders see what they can't see on their own — the blind spots, the patterns, the internal friction — and move through it with speed and precision. Not in the abstract. When the pressure is real.
I live inside two questions: What do you want — and what's getting in the way?
Leadership is not theoretical to me. It's lived.
I work closely and discreetly with a small number of clients at a time. The people who choose this work are not looking for reassurance. They're ready for honest reflection, rigorous thinking, and real change.
If you're ready to lead at a different altitude — let's talk.
I didn’t stop striving.
I reinvented what it was demanding of me.
For a long time, I was highly effective at succeeding on the terms available to me — performing, proving, and carrying responsibility without letting the strain show. On the outside, it worked. On the inside, the cost kept rising.
As my roles expanded and the stakes increased — professionally and personally — it became clear that continuing to operate the same way would eventually undermine everything I was building.
That realization didn’t soften my drive. It sharpened it.
I began reworking how I made decisions, how I led, and what I required of myself under pressure. The result wasn’t less ambition or lower standards — it was cleaner thinking, stronger boundaries, and leadership that didn’t rely on self-erosion to function.
This is now the core of my work.
I help high-performing leaders reinvent how they operate so their success is sustainable, precise, and aligned with who they are becoming — not who they had to be to get here.
I still care deeply about the people in my life and the people I work with. But care, in this context, means honesty, rigor, and the refusal to let capable leaders stay trapped in patterns that no longer serve them.
This work is not about escape.
It’s about building a way of leading that can actually hold the life you’re creating.
TIMELINE + HIGHLIGHTS FOR CONTEXT
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1974: born in New Jersey
1987: got my first job at a pizza place answering phones (told them I was 15)
1989: moved to Hillsborough, New Jersey, changing high schools middle of freshman year
1990: managed a local deli after school and weekends called Sub n’ Jug, decided I was meant for more
1993: graduated Berkeley College of Business with an Associate’s in Fashion Merchandising
1994: landed first entry-level corporate job, on the Hudson river with a view of NYC
1995: quit my job and moved to Arizona for ASU to get my Bachelor’s in Marketing
1997: hosteled across Europe with three friends visiting 12 cities mostly living off bread, cheese and wine
1998: started first job as 4-year college grad in marketing for an eyewear company
1999: joined a startup business magazine, bizAZ to sell advertising
1999: fell for my future husband - he was the founder, took on Editor-in-Chief role
2000: bought our first house together, launched web and events products in our print media company
2001: got married a month after 9/11, guests overcame fear and flew from all over
2002: working with a spouse ain’t easy, left bizAZ for VP job at nonprofit AZ Tech Council and later launched TechConnect magazine, covering Arizona tech scene
2004: Brian and I sold bizAZ magazine to publicly-traded Gannett Inc. I’m ready to get back to working for myself. Left Tech Council to start Sacks PR my marketing and PR agency supporting mostly tech companies
2005: launched bizSanDiego, with partners and Brian, him leading sales and me getting editorial off the ground with the first three issues
2006: miscarriage at 10 weeks, wondering if it’s not in the cards for us
2007: second miscarriage, but marketing agency business was booming. Wrote my first angel investment check for $10k
2008: Partner strife at bizSanDiego, unclear what mag’s future will be. Shifted Sacks PR’s strategy, transitioning B2C clients to agency employees, now freelancers and doubled down on fractional CMO’ing for software company clients.
2009: bizSanDiego folds, had a baby, turned down full-time CMO job, took 6 months off to care for my baby girl
2010: joined Infusionsoft as VP Marketing and Communications, proud to be part of its 250% growth over the next 4 years
2013: rough year, left my big job inside the machine (it was time), mother died of cancer within four months of diagnosis, I turned 40 six months later
2014: first angel investment delivered a return, started advising startups and joining boards, more angel investing in local tech companies
2015: formally coaching women entrepreneurs and execs, started IVF
2016: had a baby
2017: joined a women’s health startup and raised money, but that wouldn’t last long
2020: founding member of team seeking to accelerate investment in women, bringing Golden Seeds chapter to Arizona
2021: bought our first investment rental properties, started writing a book based on my coaching methods
2022: let go of financial advisor, learned how to manage public stock strategy
2023: sabbatical from coaching, added three doors to real estate investments
2024-: coaching and writing + holding my breath as older daughter learns how to drive OMG text goes here
-
1974: born in New Jersey
1987: got my first job at a pizza place answering phones (told them I was 15)
1989: moved to Hillsborough, New Jersey, changing high schools middle of freshman year
1990: managed a local deli after school and weekends called Sub n’ Jug, decided I was meant for more
1993: graduated Berkeley College of Business with an Associate’s in Fashion Merchandising
1994: landed first entry-level corporate job, on the Hudson river with a view of NYC
1995: quit my job and moved to Arizona for ASU to get my Bachelor’s in Marketing
1997: hosteled across Europe with three friends visiting 12 cities mostly living off bread, cheese and wine
1998: started first job as 4-year college grad in marketing for an eyewear company
1999: joined a startup business magazine, bizAZ to sell advertising
1999: fell for my future husband - he was the founder, took on Editor-in-Chief role
2000: bought our first house together, launched web and events products in our print media company
2001: got married a month after 9/11, guests overcame fear and flew from all over
2002: working with a spouse ain’t easy, left bizAZ for VP job at nonprofit AZ Tech Council and later launched TechConnect magazine, covering Arizona tech scene
2004: Brian and I sold bizAZ magazine to publicly-traded Gannett Inc. I’m ready to get back to working for myself. Left Tech Council to start Sacks PR my marketing and PR agency supporting mostly tech companies
2005: launched bizSanDiego, with partners and Brian, him leading sales and me getting editorial off the ground with the first three issues
2006: miscarriage at 10 weeks, wondering if it’s not in the cards for us
2007: second miscarriage, but marketing agency business was booming. Wrote my first angel investment check for $10k
2008: Partner strife at bizSanDiego, unclear what mag’s future will be. Shifted Sacks PR’s strategy, transitioning B2C clients to agency employees, now freelancers and doubled down on fractional CMO’ing for software company clients.
2009: bizSanDiego folds, had a baby, turned down full-time CMO job, took 6 months off to care for my baby girl
2010: joined Infusionsoft as VP Marketing and Communications, proud to be part of its 250% growth over the next 4 years
2013: rough year, left my big job inside the machine (it was time), mother died of cancer within four months of diagnosis, I turned 40 six months later
2014: first angel investment delivered a return, started advising startups and joining boards, more angel investing in local tech companies
2015: formally coaching women entrepreneurs and execs, started IVF
2016: had a baby
2017: joined a women’s health startup and raised money, but that wouldn’t last long
2020: founding member of team seeking to accelerate investment in women, bringing Golden Seeds chapter to Arizona
2021: bought our first investment rental properties, started writing a book based on my coaching methods
2022: let go of financial advisor, learned how to manage public stock strategy
2023: sabbatical from coaching, added three doors to real estate investments
2024-: coaching and writing + holding my breath as older daughter learns how to drive OMG
-
1974: born in New Jersey
1987: got my first job at a pizza place answering phones (told them I was 15)
1989: moved to Hillsborough, New Jersey, changing high schools middle of freshman year
1990: managed a local deli after school and weekends called Sub n’ Jug, decided I was meant for more
1993: graduated Berkeley College of Business with an Associate’s in Fashion Merchandising
1994: landed first entry-level corporate job, on the Hudson river with a view of NYC
1995: quit my job and moved to Arizona for ASU to get my Bachelor’s in Marketing
1997: hosteled across Europe with three friends visiting 12 cities mostly living off bread, cheese and wine
1998: started first job as 4-year college grad in marketing for an eyewear company
1999: joined a startup business magazine, bizAZ to sell advertising
1999: fell for my future husband - he was the founder, took on Editor-in-Chief role
2000: bought our first house together, launched web and events products in our print media company
2001: got married a month after 9/11, guests overcame fear and flew from all over
2002: working with a spouse ain’t easy, left bizAZ for VP job at nonprofit AZ Tech Council and later launched TechConnect magazine, covering Arizona tech scene
2004: Brian and I sold bizAZ magazine to publicly-traded Gannett Inc. I’m ready to get back to working for myself. Left Tech Council to start Sacks PR my marketing and PR agency supporting mostly tech companies
2005: launched bizSanDiego, with partners and Brian, him leading sales and me getting editorial off the ground with the first three issues
2006: miscarriage at 10 weeks, wondering if it’s not in the cards for us
2007: second miscarriage, but marketing agency business was booming. Wrote my first angel investment check for $10k
2008: Partner strife at bizSanDiego, unclear what mag’s future will be. Shifted Sacks PR’s strategy, transitioning B2C clients to agency employees, now freelancers and doubled down on fractional CMO’ing for software company clients.
2009: bizSanDiego folds, had a baby, turned down full-time CMO job, took 6 months off to care for my baby girl
2010: joined Infusionsoft as VP Marketing and Communications, proud to be part of its 250% growth over the next 4 years
2013: rough year, left my big job inside the machine (it was time), mother died of cancer within four months of diagnosis, I turned 40 six months later
2014: first angel investment delivered a return, started advising startups and joining boards, more angel investing in local tech companies
2015: formally coaching women entrepreneurs and execs, started IVF
2016: had a baby
2017: joined a women’s health startup and raised money, but that wouldn’t last long
2020: founding member of team seeking to accelerate investment in women, bringing Golden Seeds chapter to Arizona
2021: bought our first investment rental properties, started writing a book based on my coaching methods
2022: let go of financial advisor, learned how to manage public stock strategy
2023: sabbatical from coaching, added three doors to real estate investments
2024-: coaching and writing + holding my breath as older daughter learns how to drive OMG
Where I come from
I didn’t grow up with privilege. I grew up watching my immigrant parents build a life from nothing — without language, education, or connections — and reinvent themselves as circumstances demanded.
That experience shaped my standards. I value ownership, effort, and forward motion because I’ve seen what they make possible when excuses aren’t an option.
It’s also why I care deeply about who gets access to opportunity and capital. When women lead and invest, the impact compounds — economically and socially.
This perspective is lived, not theoretical.
And it informs the work I do and the standards I hold.
If this work resonates, the next step is a simple conversation.
You can reach out here, and we’ll see if working together makes sense.
“i used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now i’m afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.”
— Author Bob Goff, capturing so eloquently what so many high achievers feel