In this episode, Mary Sullivan, co-founder of Sweet but Fearless, talks with Susannah Robinson, CEO & Founder of Partnership for Talent, about what it truly means to lead with impact through service leadership. Susannah emphasizes the importance of defining your leadership vision and leading from it with clarity and purpose. Drawing from years of guiding leaders, she reminds us that perfection isn’t the goal—authenticity is. When leaders show up as their real selves, it creates space for teams to do the same, building trust and fostering a culture of accountability.

Susannah is also the author of “Beyond the Boxes and Lines: Are You Ready for the Next Step?”, where she unlocks the secrets to mastering organizational design in today’s dynamic business environment.

Susannah is the founder and president of Partnership for Talent LLC. With more than 30 years of executive level leadership experience in human resources, communications, investor relations, board interaction, and business management in a variety of verticals, she works closely with you and your management team to catalyze change within your organization and support your leaders.

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MORE ABOUT SUSANNAH ROBINSON:
LinkedIn: Susannah Robinson

LinkedIn: Partnership for Talent LLC

Website: Partnership for Talent LLC

Book: Beyond the Boxes and Lines: ARE YOU READY for the NEXT STEP? Transforming Business Results Through Organizational Design

ABOUT SWEET BUT FEARLESS:
Website - Sweet but Fearless

LinkedIn - Sweet but Fearless

In this episode, Mary Sullivan, co-founder of Sweet but Fearless, talks with Valarie Sandjivy, founder of EllipsUS. As a seasoned leadership mentor and business coach with over 20 years of experience guiding leaders through growth and change, she empowers today’s leaders to lead themselves and others with empathy, agility, and fresh thinking. Valarie believes that true leadership starts within - because you can't lead others until you know how to lead yourself. Somewhere along the way, we were taught that focusing on ourselves is selfish, but the opposite is true. Self-awareness is strength, and asking for support is a sign of wisdom, not weakness.

Valarie Sandjivy is an adaptive leadership mentor and business coach with over 20 years of experience. She combines her corporate expertise with a creative, intuitive approach to leadership, helping clients build scalable systems while fostering personal and professional transformation. With a deep commitment to evolving leadership and empowering others, Valarie inspires lasting and meaningful change in both business and life.

Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe, hit like, and leave a comment—we’d love to hear your thoughts!

MORE ABOUT VALARIE SANDJIVY:
LinkedIn: Valarie Sandjivy
Website: EllipsUS
Blog: EllipsUS Blog

ABOUT SWEET BUT FEARLESS:
Website - Sweet but Fearless
LinkedIn - Sweet but Fearless

In this episode, Mary Sullivan, co-founder of Sweet but Fearless, talks with Melissa Franks, founder of On Call COO, a fractional COO company. Melissa talks about her journey from corporate executive to entrepreneur and how aligning business goals with personal vision is key to sustainable success. She suggests that when looking to make a career pivot, you should ask yourself: 1) What does my life need to look like right now? 2) What does the next year need to look like? 3) What will my life look like once my goals are achieved.

Melissa doesn’t believe in waiting for the right opportunity. She believes in creating it, and part of that comes from knowing how influence really works. If there’s a decision you’re trying to move forward at work, find out who’s influencing the decision-maker. That’s where your relationship-building should start.

As a Fractional COO, Melissa provides part-time operational leadership and expertise. In 2022, she left corporate life with a mission to support small businesses with pragmatic approaches to unique problems and a healthy dose of optimism that all businesses can be successful with the right people, doing the right things at the right time.

Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe, hit like, and leave a comment—we’d love to hear your thoughts!

MORE ABOUT MELISSA FRANKS:
LinkedIn: Melissa Franks
Website: Melissa Franks

ABOUT SWEET BUT FEARLESS:
Website - Sweet but Fearless
LinkedIn - Sweet but Fearless