Sara Simmonds

CEO Impact Innovator | Helping Purpose Driven Entrepreneurs Scale to $1 Million, $50 Million and Beyond | Follow Me For Systems On Sustainable Growth 🌎

Impact Innovator OS: 

The #1 In-House Growth System For Mission-Driven Founders, Conscious Coaches, and Innovators To Build Sustainable Scale As A Category Of One Business.

I help innovators simplify their business to a category of one so they can build sustainable scale to 7 figures, 8 figures and beyond.

I spent over a decade on the table as a buyer controlling $100M+ budgets for billion-dollar retailers. 

In 2006 I saw something that changed everything.

The Problem:

Each year, $49 trillion is spent on products & services globally. But buyers only choose the top 1% of businesses. The ones who lead as a Category Of One. The rest struggle. Their innovation never scales. It ends up as waste.

Why?

Corporations dominate because they know something most innovators don't: the proven system to lead as a Category Of One business.

My Mission:

I quit the corporate world to figure out how innovators who want to make an impact can actually scale.

My first company, Sharkah Chakra - The World's First Feel Good Sustainable Jeans Brand. I used my buyer intelligence to create a sellout launch. 

But we spent $150K trying to simplify our complex innovation. We outsourced our growth system to agencies. Our funding ran out.

The insight hit me: 

Entrepreneurs aren't taught to think like buyers. We think like sellers. We outsource to experts instead of building our own systems like corporations do.

My Second Company Changed Everything:

With Bespoke Your World, I built an in-house system to scale as a Category Of One. 0 to $300K in 12 months with the world's top 0.1% clients. Organically. No ads.

Then innovators started asking for the game plan.

So I Built Impact Innovator OS:

One integrated system using my Billion Dollar Buyer Intelligence Framework. 

Purpose. Positioning. Offer. Sales. Marketing. Organic scaling methods. Everything in house. Everything you own. Forever.

Founding Member Results:

→ Carol: $200K launches, scaling to $50M
→ Jo: $2M to $4M growth in 12 months
→ Amy: 0 to $300K launch in 90 days
→ Marie & Jason: 30% profit increase
→ Paula: Successful Exit Less than 12 Months

This Is Bigger Than Business:

This is a movement for every innovator working tirelessly to build a better world. For those who refuse to let their legacy innovation become part of the waste problem. For those ready to transform how we consume, how we scale, and how we lead.

Founding Member Access (Limited Spots):

DM 'SYSTEM' for founding member details
DM 'MASTERCLASS' for registration link
DM 'NEWS' for newsletter

Business Mentor

For a long time, I thought success was something you arrive at.

A destination.
A big moment.
A finish line.

I was wrong.

Success is built in the quiet moments no one applauds.

Last week, while hiking, I noticed something simple, but powerful.

I didn’t reach the top by feeling confident.
I didn’t reach it by having a perfect plan.

I reached it by choosing to move when stopping would’ve been easier.

Not fast.
Not perfectly.
Just forward.

That’s when it clicked:

Resilience isn’t loud.
It isn’t heroic.
It’s ordinary.

It’s the decision to keep going when you’re tired.
To keep building when you’re unsure.
To keep showing up when results are invisible.

My business didn’t grow because I had clarity every day.

It grew because I honored small progress:

One conversation.
One action.
One honest attempt.

Over and over again.

You don’t need to see the whole road.

You don’t need to know how it all works yet.

You only need to respect the step that’s in front of you.

Do that long enough…

And one day you look back and realize:

You’re much further than you ever imagined.

Keep walking.

Founder, Impact Innovator OS | The #1 Buyer Psychology Growth System for Mission Driven Founders, Conscious Coaches + Innovators to Scale Sustainably $1M-$50M+ as Category-of-One

Ten years ago, I made myself a promise.

One day, I would walk the trails of El Chaltén in Patagonia, not as an escape, but as a reminder of why I chose this path.

That hike wasn’t just about the mountains.
It was about following the footsteps of innovators who refused to compromise on what mattered.

The person who carried me through the hardest years was Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, the billion-dollar brand that was never meant to be one.

Yvon wasn’t a businessman chasing money.
He was a broke climber who simply wanted better gear.

So he taught himself blacksmithing.
Made tools for his friends.
Sold them out of his car for $1.50 each.

He didn’t set out to build a unicorn.
He just refused to abandon his values.

When being a purpose-led founder nearly broke me
when every part of me wanted to give up

I remembered his words:

“Impossible is the lamest of excuses.”

And I realised something important.

Quitting doesn’t make life easier.
It only delays the dream.

Because dreams don’t disappear.
They wait.
And they return louder.

What stopped me from walking away was understanding this:

Everything is figure-out-able including sustainable growth.

Just as Yvon built for climbers, I’ve spent the last ten years building for purpose-led founders.

When there wasn’t a roadmap, I created one.
And that work became Impact Innovator OS.

So here’s the question I keep coming back to:

What would change if you realised your purpose isn’t the obstacle, it’s the path?

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Talks about #impact, #entrepreneurship, #productinnovation, #businessinnovation, and #businessmentorship

Founder, Impact Innovator OS | The #1 Buyer Intelligence Growth System for Mission Driven Founders, Conscious Coaches + Innovators to Scale Sustainably $1M-$50M+ as Category-of-One

The secret to 6 and 7 figure sales increase (no matter the industry or objections):

The world feels quite uncertain at times.

But building sustainable growth CAN feel certain.

I was just speaking to a founder yesterday. 

She was stressed about sales. 
People who were paying less wanting more.

I hear you. 

It's HARD.

You're not powerless against the market. 

Trust me, you're not. 

Social selling is the answer to your problems. 

So here's is my solution to help you sell 24/7:

Be where your dream clients are.

Both online AND offline. 

Here are the 9-steps for the social selling formula:

1. OBSESS over your ICP: who/where they are
2. Focus only on this EXACT ICP online/offline 
3. Build EVENTS to educate your ICP
4. Plan your 2026 monthly events schedule 
5. Collaborate to connect to new audiences
6. Build your dream strategic partnership list 
7. Launch your events 
8. Analyse what works and what doesn't 
9. Repeats refine and scale 

Your social selling game plan should be incredibly simple, yet work incredibly well.

You and your team should understand it. 

Simplicity sells.
Simplicity scales.

Together we will transform our world.

P.S. We have a few slots left to sign up for our March 3rd Masterclass to get the growth secrets for FREE: https://lnkd.in/e6S62RhM

See you soon!

When Standing for Something Gets Expensive And You Choose It Anyway

Most brands talk about purpose.

Very few are willing to risk anything for it.

Ben & Jerry’s just showed what real purpose looks like.

Founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield recently launched a campaign to reclaim control of their company from parent company Unilever, saying the corporation has restricted Ben & Jerry’s ability to speak and act on its social mission.

They’re not protecting a product.

They’re protecting a point of view.

As the founders put it:
Ben & Jerry’s became successful because people know it stands for something bigger than ice cream.

And here’s the part most people miss:

Purpose didn’t hurt their growth.
It fueled it.

Ben & Jerry’s has outperformed other Unilever ice cream brands in multiple recent years.
Their activism has driven massive engagement, loyalty, and list growth.
Thousands of people actively choose them because of what they stand for.

Even when Unilever allegedly removed their CEO over his commitment to the brand’s social mission, the founders didn’t retreat.

They pushed harder.

That’s the line between marketing-purpose and lived-purpose.

Real purpose isn’t a tagline.
It’s not a campaign.
It’s not something you keep only when it’s convenient.

Real purpose costs you leverage.
Control.
Comfort.
Sometimes money.

And you choose it anyway.

Two founders in their 70s could be enjoying a quiet, ultra-wealthy life.

Instead, they’re challenging a multi-billion-dollar corporation to defend the soul of what they built.

Not for headlines.
Not for profit.
For integrity.

Here’s the takeaway:

You don’t scale by diluting your values.
You don’t win by becoming safer.
You don’t build iconic brands by trying to please everyone.

You build them by standing so clearly for something that the right people feel it in their bones.

When purpose costs you something and you still choose it -
people know you’re real.

And real brands don’t create customers.

They create believers.

Most companies retreat the moment values become inconvenient.

Category-of-one founders double down.

Because they understand:

Purpose only becomes powerful once it has a price.

Your move:

What are you willing to defend when it would be easier not to?

DM HELL YA if you want to join Impact Innovator and build businesses that change the world.

Warm wishes,
Sara

Exciting news: I just heard one of our members signed a multi billion dollar partnership... 

(90 days ago, they were treading water)

We used my Billion Dollar Buyers Guide to achieve this goal (after years of trial and error).

And it all started by growing a business with a purpose with a fouder who has a heart. 

To be honest, it's easy. 

Someone shared this in my masterclass:

"Sara, with so many competitors today, business is hard, but your systems make it easy to stand out and scale."

Being overlooked is a real problem today for founders, and it no one's fault. 

Buyers will love you, but they need to understand these 7 things:

1. Your Unique Business Hook
2. How your Offer changed your world first
3. How your Offer changes others' worlds second.
4. Why you are a must have now and forever
5. How to sell you in one sentence 
6. Who your followers are
7. Why are you the number one in what you do

This list is a game changer for 2026, to stand out, get seen, sell in, and sell out.

Give buyers instant clarity on your unique power and purpose.

Let your brilliance shine.

If you'd like to know more billion dollar buyer secrets, sign up for my newsletter here:

https://lnkd.in/dsVQABvv

Together we will transform our world.

10K Clients. $300K Launches. $300K+ Funding. Billion-Dollar Partners.
Member wins from just the last 7 days.

I didn’t set out to become a business growth mentor.

I became one because I spent years trying to scale… and watching other purpose-led founders struggle with the exact same problem.

Here’s what I discovered:

Scaling isn’t hard because you’re not working hard enough.
It’s hard because innovation is complex—and buyers crave simplicity.

Buyers want to instantly understand:

Who you’re for
What you solve
Why you’re different
Why they should trust you

You can’t outsource that clarity.

Because it’s connected to everything:
Your positioning.
Your offer.
Your pricing.
Your marketing.
Your sales process.
Your brand story.
Your thought leadership.
Your community.
Your impact.

Buyers don’t look at these as separate pieces.
They see your business as one system.

And they decide in seconds if it makes sense.

I spent 20 years inside buyer behavior and buying decisions learning how that system actually works.

After my own painful experience buying fragmented “expert help,” I built a buyer-centric framework that creates certainty around how to scale:

✔ One holistic system
✔ One custom roadmap
✔ Five steps to sustainable growth

What I see every week:

Founders go from invisible → category leader
From inconsistent sales → $300K launches
From no funding → hundreds of thousands raised in 90 days

Not because of hacks.
Not because of funnels.

But because their entire business finally makes sense to buyers.

This framework is for conscious founders, coaches, and consultants who are ready to scale with integrity.

(I personally invite only the top 1% into the program.)

If this resonates and you want to understand how the framework works, join me live:

👇 Free Masterclass – Next Tuesday
The 5 Steps to Build Sustainable Growth

https://lnkd.in/dqNVxTFy

It’s time to unleash your unique brilliance.

Systems = Your License to Step Back

Most founders think systems are about tighter control.

More rules.
More approvals.
More oversight.

But real systems do the opposite.

They give you the confidence to step away.

Great systems are not built so you can monitor everything.

They’re built so things run even when you’re not watching.

Recently, I took time off without checking Slack.
No daily standups.
No constant pings.

The business kept moving.
Clients were supported.
Work went out on time.

Not because I was hovering.

Because the team had clear outcomes, clear frameworks, and real ownership.

Here’s the difference most founders miss:

Control-based systems say
“Follow this exact process and ask me before acting.”

Ownership-based systems say
“Here’s the result we need. You decide how to make it happen.”

Control-based systems create dependency.
Ownership-based systems create leaders.

Control-based systems make you the bottleneck.
Ownership-based systems make you optional in day-to-day operations.

And being optional in daily operations is not a risk.

It’s the real definition of scale.

So the better question isn’t:
“How do I track everything?”

It’s:
“How do I build systems that don’t require me to track everything?”

When your systems work, you don’t feel anxious stepping away.

You feel calm.

That’s not losing control.

That’s finally earning freedom.

Companies that tackle "impossible" problems are achieving 400% higher returns.

This is the trend 99% are overlooking.

Businesses chasing quick wins are failing rapidly.

However, the 1% of entrepreneurs addressing seemingly insurmountable challenges to improve our world?

Purpose-driven companies recorded 400% greater returns on the stock market compared to the S&P 500. 

Brands that enhance quality of life outperform the market by 120%.

The problems that cautious investors deem "unprofitable" are, in fact, generating the most value.

Here's the evidence:

Companies that align purpose with business report 25% higher revenue and 22% higher pre-tax profit. 

Purpose-aligned companies: 31% profit increase. Others: 3%.

Why does solving the "impossible" yield more than addressing the obvious?
Because impossible problems face no competition.

While everyone competes over marginal improvements, purpose-led companies forge new categories.

They are not competing; they are pioneering.

Companies solving easy problems = Commodities
Companies solving difficult problems = Monopolies
Companies solving impossible problems = Movements

Purpose enterprises grew by 1,681% while the S&P 500 averaged 118%.

Every boardroom dismisses these opportunities. Every spreadsheet indicates "no return on investment."

And that is precisely why it works.

The market rewards the courage to tackle what others avoid.

5 Reasons Purpose Is Winning

Starbucks learned a painful truth the hard way:
Purpose doesn’t save a business. Clarity does.

When Starbucks’ CEO recently reflected on their strategy, he admitted something rare:

They lost focus by chasing a version of “purpose” that diluted what made them great.

Not because purpose is wrong.
But because it became vague.

When your mission gets fuzzy, execution follows.

You can’t build community if you can’t deliver great coffee.
You can’t change the world if you’re failing your core customer.

Strong brands don’t start with “What impact can we claim?”
They start with “What do we do better than anyone else?”

Then they build impact from there.

That’s the difference:

🚫 Purpose as decoration
✅ Purpose as infrastructure

Real purpose isn’t a paragraph on your website.

It’s the filter behind every decision:

Who you hire

What you build

Who you say no to

How you operate

Patagonia doesn’t treat sustainability as a marketing angle.

It treats the business as a vehicle for the mission.

Product excellence isn’t separate from purpose.
It is the purpose.

If your operations contradict your message, your audience will feel it.

Stop attaching purpose after the fact.

Design your business so purpose is unavoidable.

Build from it.
Operate through it.
Let everything else be downstream.

If you want weekly insights on building brands that matter and win,
subscribe to my newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/dsVQABvv

Most founders think they need a louder brand, a prettier website, or a more “unique” offer.

That’s why they stay overlooked…
While weaker competitors get chosen.

After years inside billion-dollar buyer rooms, I saw how real decisions are actually made.

Here’s the truth:

Buyers don’t pick the “best” offer.
They pick the offer that aligns with five specific decision criteria that almost no one talks about.

On February 17th at 12:00 PM EST, I’m hosting a private masterclass.

We’re breaking down all five.

No surface tactics.
No marketing gimmicks.

Just the real buyer levers that make you the obvious choice.

You’ll learn:

• Why “being different” often hurts your positioning and what top buyers look for instead.
• How purpose-led founders sell out $200K launches in 24 hours without ads or agencies.
• The two hidden drivers that turn scattered growth into owned, sustainable momentum.

This is the same playbook I used to approve over $100M in buying decisions.

Founders have used it to scale from $1M to $50M+
- without bloated agencies,
- without fragile systems,
- and without burnout.

Only 25 seats are available.
Not public.

Save your seat + unlock the private pre-video series:
https://lnkd.in/dqNVxTFy

Most founders think they need a louder brand, a prettier website, or a “more unique” offer.

That’s why they stay invisible...
While weaker competitors get chosen.

I spent years inside billion-dollar buyer rooms watching how real decisions are made.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Buyers don’t choose the “best” offer.

They choose the offer that aligns with 5 specific buyer decision criteria almost no one understands.

On March 3rd at 12:00 PM EST,
I’m running a private masterclass.

We’re revealing all 5.

Not surface-level tactics.
Not marketing tricks.

The real buyer levers that make someone see you as the only obvious choice and confidently say yes.

Here’s a taste:

1. Why “being different” actually backfires, and what top buyers use instead to decide who wins the deal.

2. How certain purpose-led founders sell out $200K launches in 24 hours with zero ads or agencies.

3. The 2 hidden mechanisms that turn random growth into sustainable momentum you actually own.

This is the same playbook I used to approve and greenlight over $100M in buying decisions.

Founders have used these frameworks to scale from $1M to $50M+:

→ Without hiring bloated agencies,
→ Without stacking systems they don’t control,
→ And without burning out.

Seats are limited to 25 business owners.
This masterclass will not be public.

Register now to unlock the private pre-video series before we go live.

Save your seat: https://lnkd.in/dqNVxTFy

Founder Impact Innovator OS | #1 Buyer Psychology Growth System for MIssion Driven Founders | Scale to $1-$10MN as Category Of One

Most founders believe they need a bigger brand, a better-looking website, or a more differentiated offer.

That belief is exactly why they get ignored while less capable competitors keep getting chosen.

Here’s what most people miss:

Buyers don’t pick the best solution.
They pick the solution that aligns with a small set of decision criteria they care about.

On Feb 17 at 12 PM EST, I’m hosting a private masterclass where I break down those five buyer decision drivers.

No fluff.
No gimmicks.
Just the real levers that position you as the obvious choice.

Limited to 25 seats. Not public.

Save your seat and unlock the private pre-video series:
👉 https://lnkd.in/dqNVxTFy

Going live in 4 hours!

Most founders (like yourself) think they need to be louder, more complex, or more "unique."

Not true.

This is why most founders are being overlooked.

Competitors with MUCH worse offers are finding much more success because of this.

Think of it like this:

Your buyers do not choose the best offer.

They choose what fits 5 specific decision criteria that almost no one talks about.

And I'll be breaking down these decisions live on February 17th @ 12 PM EST.

We are hosting a private masterclass for the community at no cost.

You can use this as leverage to become the obvious choice in your industry.

There are 25 seats.

⏳ 4 hours to go

Save yours + unlock the private pre-video series here:
https://lnkd.in/e6S62RhM

Follow for daily Insights to live a longer, healthier life

Over the past decade, I’ve scaled revenue and client success at three SaaS companies from $3M to $50M+ ARR, delivering 110%+ net revenue retention and top 10% NPS scores (65+).

Today, we help recruiting agency owners & Principals ($5M–$20M billings, 5–20 recruiters) land new clients from LinkedIn by becoming a trusted authority in their market. 

Our clients are busy business owners. They don’t want to be “content creators.” 

They want done-for-you exec content that lands new clients. That’s what we do.

In the past 12 months, we’ve generated $5M+ in client billings from LinkedIn by positioning recruiting agency owners as the go-to authorities in their markets.

Our methodology:
→ Revenue Growth Engine - a 3-step system perfected with 40+ founders & recruiting agencies
→ Content strategy that generates demand for contingent and retained searches (not just likes)
→ Strategic outreach to initiate conversations with your ideal clients
→ All requiring just 1.5 hours per week from busy Principals and owners

Our results:
→ 40+ owners and Principals served
→ $5M+ in client billings generated from inbound leads via LinkedIn
→ 8+ qualified inquiries per month within 90 days (average client result)
→ Doubling client pipelines in under 6 months
→ Clients include 7 and 8-figure recruiting agencies commanding $75K+ fees and securing multi-search mandates

And we're just getting started!

We help recruiting business owners who are:
→ Tired of building trust from scratch and ready for clients who arrive pre-sold
→ Reliant on a referral pipeline that has plateaued and feels unpredictable
→ Ready to turn decades of expertise into an inbound client pipeline

Ready to turn LinkedIn into your #1 growth channel?
→ Book a 25-minute strategy call: 

https://calendly.com/rohan-karunakaran-mbww/1-1-strategy-call

Rohan Karunakaran

I sat down with LinkedIn’s first Chief HR Officer, Steve Cadigan, to share a few early lessons from his time at LinkedIn - well before it became the iconic company we know today.

Two moments from the early days stuck with me:

1// The “Obama validation” moment

When President Obama visited LinkedIn’s campus in 2011, signups jumped from 1 new member/second → 2 new members/second the very next day.

2// The “IPO perception shift” moment

On the day LinkedIn went public, membership doubled again - not because of a new product feature… but because of market validation. 

Big takeaway for founders/operators: 

Trust compounds. And visibility and perception can accelerate adoption as much as  product. In both earlier and mature stages of growth. 

Follow for the full episode dropping Friday !

CEO at Frontier | Podcast host at Founder-Led 🎙️

Most people think LinkedIn is a content platform.

It’s not.

It’s a trust layer built on top of a professional graph.

You’re told to “post content,” “build a personal brand,” “grow your network.”

But what LinkedIn actually does is simpler:

It’s where buyers decide who to call - before you know they’re looking.

Picture this:

→ A CEO has a critical hire
→ They ask their network for search firm recommendations
→ Three names come back
 → Before picking up the phone, they open LinkedIn
 → They scroll each profile and last 10 posts

One has nothing. Maybe a reshare from 2023.
The next has generic “we’re hiring” updates.

The third has sharp, specific insights about executive hiring in their exact vertical.

Who do you think gets the first call?

Not because they’re better. 

But because they compressed five trust-building conversations into a 90-second scroll.

That’s what this platform is: a credibility compressor.

It shrinks the time it takes for someone to decide:
 “They’re real.”
 “They’re sharp.”
 “They understand this market.”

Your posts aren’t the product. Reduced uncertainty is the product.

That's what people buy. 

The firms we work with aren’t trying to become creators. They’re bringing their offline reputation online. 

The result isn’t followers. It’s people arriving warm and somewhat pre-sold. It’s skipping the "five-call trust tour".

Most content on LinkedIn is noise. Which is exactly why specific, experience-based signal cuts through.

The bar is on the floor, especially for search firms. Now is the time to own your market.

If you're a search firm owner looking to grow your warm network through trust-building content, shoot me a DM. Happy to share what we're seeing work right now.

H/T ✍🏻 Chengeer Lee for inspiring this post 🙌

I asked 30 recruiting firm owners what stops them from posting on LinkedIn. Here's what they said:

"I don't have time " -14 recruiters
"I don't know what to write about" - 10 recruiters
"I'm afraid of sounding cringe" - 6 recruiters

All three are valid and totally solvable.

(1) "I don't have time"

You’re running 6 - 8 active searches. Managing clients. Sourcing. Putting out fires.

But part of the reason you’re this busy is because every new prospect needs 4-5 conversations before they decide to work with you. 

Good content accelerates trust. It reduces the amount of "selling" you have to do on every call, taking pressure off you and your team's calendar.

And the ROI on energy is REAL when people show up more bought-in on the first call. Calls just feel more fun!

(2) "I don't know what to write about"

• You convinced a CEO not to make a bad hire last week.
• You explained why retained is better than contingent
• You handled the same candidate objection for the fifth time.

THAT's the content.

You don't have an idea problem.  You have an extraction and packaging problem. 

The insights are already in your call recordings and inbox.

(3) "I'm afraid of sounding cringe"

This one keeps the best recruiters quiet.

You've seen the broetry. The humble brags. The "I'm thrilled to announce" posts. And you want no part of it.

Good. Neither do your prospects.

They want someone who sounds like they've actually placed 200+ executives. That's you. The fear of sounding cringe is actually a sign you have real experience and want to take the same care to package and present it online. 

The ones who pushed through? They’re booking 10+ meetings per month from LinkedIn. 

DM me and I'll show you screenshots :) 

Everyone who posts consistently felt cringe at first. They just decided being of service and growing their business was more important than playing it safe (spoiler: "playing it safe" is actually riskier long-term). 

If you wait until it feels comfortable, you’ll never start.

---

Here’s the truth:

It’s not a time problem.
It’s not an ideas problem.
It’s not an authenticity problem.

It’s a systems problem.

Most recruiting firm owners try LinkedIn casually - no framework, no rhythm, no one helping them distill what they already know.

Then they don't see any traction and it fizzles out. 

I can confirm with data: the firms driving 8+ qualified convos per month aren’t more established or “better at content.”

They spend 1 hour a week talking through what they already know.

A system handles the rest. 

Be honest. How many weeks has it been since your last post?

LinkedIn's first Chief HR Officer, Steve Cadigan, dropped this insight during our conversation and I keep coming back to it:

The companies winning right now aren’t the ones with the most resources or experience. 

They’re the ones who’ve learned to get out of their own way.

Two shifts he’s seeing:

1// Command-and-control is breaking

The most valuable companies are being built by smaller, faster, less hierarchical teams, where decisions happen close to the work, not at the top of the org chart.

2// Tenure is being replaced by 'rate of learning'

The strongest organizations are optimizing for rate of learning -  bringing in people who challenge legacy thinking and make better decisions faster.

AI is the obvious catalyst here. When the cost of intelligence and experimenting drops and the pace of change spikes, the advantage shifts to orgs that can adapt fastest.

Tesla is a clear example. Worth more than Toyota, Ford, GM, and Hyundai combined.

Not because they have more experience. Because investors believe they can out-innovate the incumbents.

Full episode in the comments below 👇

Just reviewed a recruiter's LinkedIn profile.

$150M org. 7,000+ employees. EY Entrepreneur of the Year.

Her content? Mostly podcast promos and company updates.

Great for brand awareness. But ineffective at building deeper trust, familiarity, and consideration with potential clients. 

This is the gap I keep seeing with search firm owners. 

Incredible operators. Hundreds of placements. Decades of pattern recognition.

But their content stays surface-level and could be written by anyone else. 

The stuff that would make a CEO or hiring manager stop scrolling:

- How you assess leadership talent differently  
- Why most retained searches stall at the same point 
- What separates firms that fill in 45 days vs. 120+

That’s the stuff that builds authority between conversations.

Educational content does something brand content can't - it makes a prospect feel understood before you've ever spoken. 

You want to 'get in their head' with how specifically you speak to the issues they're facing and how you'd solve them. 

Especially in exec search, where your average retainer is $100K+, arriving pre-trusted changes the sales cycle.

It's the difference between a 5-call trust tour and a 1-call close.

Most firms are sitting on decades of placement insight that never leaves the founder's brain. 

HUGE miss IMO. 

If you run a search firm and want to turn what you already know into inbound demand — DM me. Happy to share what we’re seeing work.

We're taught to chase achievement.

No one teaches us how to expand consciousness.

I came across this 2x2 and it stuck with me because it maps the relationship between the two - and how they reinforce each other.

And by consciousness, I mean self-awareness - the degree to which we’re awake to our patterns, motivations, and deeper purpose.

→ Playing the game - low agency, low consciousness. Running default scripts.

→ Winning the game - high agency, low consciousness Achievement driven by ego or fear.

→ Escaping the game - high consciousness, low agency. Insightful… but not impactful.

→ Evolving the game - high agency, high consciousness. Aligned and effective.

In my own life, breaking points - a stressful work environment and a relationship ending - forced an upgrade in consciousness

For some it's burnout, financial pressure, or a health scare - the universe giving us a shake toward a more joyful and aligned path. If we choose to listen. 

A disruption that asks: Is this actually aligned?

“Evolving the game” became a useful decision filter for me:

• Work with people I genuinely respect and enjoy
• Choose a lane that feels energizing, not draining
• Work in my 'zone of genius', delegate the rest where possible

Also, the path isn’t linear. For me, business stability came first. Consciousness expanded later.

Only then did I have the courage to step into the unknown and choose more aligned work.

Others may begin highly self-aware - and later build agency through action.

It's also easy to drift between quadrants. Staying in the “Evolving the Game” mindset isn’t automatic - it requires regular practice and commitment. 

Curious - does this framework resonate with you? Where do you see yourself on the map?

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The Battle

Sara Simmonds

Rohan Karunakaran

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taplio

The Battle

Sara Simmonds

Rohan Karunakaran

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Sara Simmonds's LinkedIn Performance

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Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreSara Simmonds's LinkedIn Performance