Here I Am
Hi. I’m Kathy Sacks. I build, study and write about products and strategies that unlock potential. I’m endlessly fascinated by the human mind and all the ways it can help us get sh*t done and how it undermines our greatest ambitions.
My teams and I have built valuable brands, worked with incredible leaders, questioned the unquestionable and grown companies.
Today, I spend my time working with early-stage and high-growth companies through my strategy firm, Coleap where I help founders and CEOs of tech companies lead movements and drive change. I invest and sit on boards of tech companies.
I make early-stage investments in tech companies through Sacks Ventures while also advising or serving as a director on boards.
I’m deeply curious. Reading, writing and meeting new people are my drugs of choice.
My main focus is exploring what it means to be a better leader–of your own life first, the direct and most beautiful byproduct of which is then being a better leader of others.
As a leader of high-performing teams, I’ve observed the patterns and the keys to growth and performance. I’ve worked with all kinds of CEOs in my career, I’ve seen patterns emerge and I’m also an angel investor in tech companies through Sacks Ventures. I’m an entrepreneur, marketer,
I’ve worked with all kinds of CEOs in my career. I’ve seen patterns emerge. After years of more short-term and mid-term focus in my career, I’m now an entrepreneur who likes to play the long game.
My roles as a mother, wife, daughter and friend I hold most precious. Professionally though, I don’t mess around. I drive hard at making this one chance at life the very best it can be in all areas of my life.
I’m interested in the intersection of business, leadership and change.
My years as an American growing up with immigrant working-class entrepreneurial parents inspires my work exploring the intersection of business, grit and the journey of the high achieving.
I often speak about my experiences as a builder of several businesses, one of which I and my cofounder husband sold over a decade ago, bizAZ magazine. I also love to speak and teach about marketing, leadership and the influence of gender and diversity in building high-performing teams.
As a conscious capitalist, I’m believe vigorously in the power of making and using money as a tool to enablement of freedom and options. Living your best life–one where you serve at your highest level and practice ‘presence’ every day vs numbing daily distraction–is what it’s all about.
I currently live in Phoenix with my family after heading West from the East Coast over 20 years ago, where I’m in pursuit of the perfect sunset.
Me in Bullets
- Currently a Phoenician who loves this growing city any month except June-September
- Die-hard East Coaster who talks fast from New Jersey
- Entrepreneur at heart who loves the high-intensity of growth
- I’m all about tough love. Direct yet delivered with kindness.
- People tell me I can be a bit intense at times, so remind me to smile when I do that.
- I believe in simplicity and minimalism. Every year I try to downsize and acquire less.
- My strengths are Strategy, Connectedness, Empathy and Problem Solving.
- I’m obsessed with culture, doing good, building communities, and avocados.
- I believe entrepreneurship is the answer.
- I’m a parent to a bright, strong-willed daughter who remains my single proudest focus and joy
- I’m wife to an entrepreneurial husband who, like me, grew up in the Northeast. Long Island to be exact. But it took the desert for these two tri-state area fools to meet.
- My first business was a media startup built and sold with my (now) husband, Brian.
- Sometimes vegan whose family filled a freezer with a cow and a pig butchered annually in our basement. My job was wrapping and cleaning.
- Committed composter who doesn’t harvest often. (I just keep filling it, which still counts, right?)
Professional Bio
Kathy Sacks has held senior roles spanning from high-growth companies like Infusionsoft and iLinc to small startups. She is a widely-recognized industry spokesperson on growth marketing, brand building, SaaS and diversity in leadership.
A growth expert who leads with brand and entrepreneurial DNA, Kathy has been helping leaders and growing companies unlock potential for decades. A serial entrepreneur and experienced marketer, having launched four businesses, with one exit to a publicly traded company.
Well known for her signature enthusiasm and hard-driving solutions thinking, Kathy is passionate and driven to help companies lead movements and create meaningful change.
Today, Kathy helps people and companies unlock their potential through her marketing company Coleap, focusing on growth and the intersection of people, product and positioning. She also advises and invests in early-stage startups with a focus on consumer, enterprise and ed-tech software.
Early in her career, Kathy co-founded bizAZ, a media company that became the number one magazine focused on local business coverage in Arizona. She led editorial, brand and products as Editor-in-Chief. Kathy, along with co-founder and husband, Brian Sacks later sold bizAZ to Gannett Inc. They went on to launch a second media company, bizSanDiego a magazine and web property that featured Tony Hawk and other successful entrepreneurs in San Diego county.
Most recently, she was VP Marketing and Communications at Infusionsoft where she helped grow sales from $5 MM to $60+ MM and launched a NY Times bestselling book. Previous to that she led marketing as a VP for iLinc, a publicly-traded web conferencing company. Prior to that, she founded a boutique communications agency, Sacks PR, helping venture-backed tech companies grow market share through the power of story. She served as VP Marketing for the AZ Technology Council where she launched, TechConnect, the first magazine covering technology in Arizona.
Kathy has been named a Top 20 Women to Watch by the Sales Lead Management Association and has been featured in the NY Times, Entrepreneur and MarketingProfs. She’s been named one of the top people to follow on Twitter by bestselling author and tech investor Gary Vaynerchuk.
A graduate of ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business, Kathy is fluent in Hungarian and is particularly interested in technology, sustainability and global citizenry. When she’s not having deep talks with other entrepreneurs, biking with her family or pondering her next world domination strategy, Kathy can be found in Phoenix, making a simple, yet killer guac.
OK. Cool. If you’ve made it this far, thanks.
… Maybe you’d be interested in connecting through my newsletter where I share a weekly dispatch of ideas and learnings in business and personal growth. It’s an email that comes from me that continues a more direct dialogue on what it takes to grow and live a full life.
Gary Vaynerchuk, NY Times Bestselling Author and CEO, Vaynermedia
“Jersey girl! Someone I respect for a few reasons I can’t share, but you should trust me when I say she is a great person, and deserves your attention.”
Pamela Slim, Bestselling Author, Body of Work & Escape From Cubicle Nation
“Kathy is a force of nature and someone who inspires and pushes people and their businesses forward.”
Aly Saxe, Founder & CEO, Iris
“Kathy has helped me immensely in not only growing my business but growing as an executive. Her years of marketing know-how, personal brand-building, and knowledge of how companies get from 0-60 is a powerful combination. Anyone who is serious about getting their brand and their business to the next level would benefit from working with her.”
Jay Baer, President, Convince & Convert
“If you want passion, smarts, drive, experience and business savvy (and you do) you need to find a way to work with Kathy Sacks. She’s had a huge impact on my career.”
Jermaine Griggs, Founder, Hear and Play
“Kathy Sacks is as brilliant as they come! She has the uncanny ability to connect with people on a deep, authentic level, inspiring all who come in contact with her.”
Courtney Klein, Founder & CEO, SEEDSPOT
“Kathy is a gift to entrepreneurs and dreamers. She’s not afraid to ask the hard questions or give real feedback. She digs deep because she cares. Kathy is an incredible combination of wisdom and wit with a depth of experience that is enviable for anyone on the other side of the table with her. In short, she’s a badass.”
Lori Teig VP Talent, Vevo
“Kathy inspires. She asks incredibly thought-provoking questions that get you to the answers you need to transform your career and your life.”
Marc Chesley CEO, Lavu Inc.
“Kathy is a rare jewel–she’s incredibly talented, and has helped me make bolder moves in my career.”
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