Product & Digital Marketing Leader
Proven
marketer,
designer,
storyteller
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Hi I'm Sarah – a Chicago-based product and digital marketing leader who's passionate about building creative campaigns, innovative go-to-market strategies, and meaningful content. Feel free to explore my portfolio below and reach out to me for collaborations or just a friendly hello at sarahpodella@gmail.com
Software release branding & campaigns, competitive intelligence reports, user adoption surveys, new feature announcements, feature tutorial videos, innovation summits, on-demand software demos, technical resources, and more.
Case studies, customer testimonial videos, blog posts, infographics, industry reports, email marketing, webinars, on-demand demo videos, use case packages, pricing sheets, website development, sales presentations, and more.
Industry Events
& Public Relations
Sponsorship management, press releases, media coordinating, event planning, vendor management, budgets & forecasting, ROI and event recapping, and more.
Company Culture
& Leadership
Team building, company outings, incentive programs, interview & hiring processes, charity work, company all hands meetings, lunch & learns, guest speakers, and more.
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Working With Me
Kelly Hickey
Marketing Manager, CRM @ Instacart
Formerly Social Media Community Coordinator @ Shiftgig & BookedOut
Sarah was an ardent supporter of my personal and professional growth early in my career. She gave me support where needed, but also empowered me to take ownership of my department. Even when I decided to leave the company, Sarah took the time to help me with my resume and interviews and was instrumental in helping me secure my next opportunity. She is an absolute force of nature: driven, determined, and unparalleled in her ability to focus on the details. I consider myself lucky to have had her as a mentor.
Claire Williams
Specialist, Social Media and Online Communities @ Relativity
Formerly Marketing Coordinator @ Heretik
Sarah was my first boss out of college. She spent personal and professional time mentoring me in my first job and is an extremely strong leader. As a team of two, she prioritized my learning experience and gave me opportunities to shine. With her mentorship, I gained skill sets that have brought me to the next level in my career and allowed me to stand out in hiring situations. I absolutely wouldn't be where I am professionally had we not worked together.
Andrea Wagner
Large Enterprise Sales @ Slack
Formerly VP of Enterprise Sales @ Shiftgig
Whenever I need a world class presentation to knock the socks off my clients, I always turn to Sarah! This means bypassing my own internal marketing teams from time-to-time... but getting my hand slapped for this is always worth it. She is the absolute best!
Carolyn Pokorney
Senior Designer @ VMLY&R
Formerly Graphic Designer @ Shiftgig & BookedOut
Sarah was my manager for one of my first jobs out of college and it's safe to say she was pivotal to my early growth as a well-rounded designer that has led to continual success in my career today. She not only took the time out of her schedule to make sure that I felt supported in my day-to-day with 1-1 mentoring, but she really made me feel like I was part of something bigger than just myself. She's always been one step ahead of the rest and goes above and beyond when it comes to identifying areas of the business that could be improved in ways that others could not. I've never worked with someone more consistent and dedicated to her craft than Sarah and I'd be honored to work with her again in the future.
Rishi Khullar
Group Product Manager @ Relativity
Formerly Dir. of Product Management @ Heretik
Sarah is hands down the best marketing leader I've ever worked with. She's a unicorn with phenomenal taste and vision, but also with a relentless ability to execute. Sarah is a force of nature when it comes to doing the hard work of bringing concepts to live across any format you can imagine. She's also a great listener that truly treats feedback like a gift both in how she takes and gives it with such grace.
If you have the opportunity to work with Sarah and you're wavering at all, just stop. It's uncommon you get to work with people who are obsessed with their craft, have the talent to move the needle for your business, and also have the sort of kindness that makes you want to root for them in whatever they do.
Sam Miles
Lead Software Engineer @ SocialTables
Formerly Senior Software Engineer @ Heretik
Sarah is a product marketing superstar who elevates any team she works with. Her natural curiosity, ability to conquer ambiguity, and knack for distilling our engineering speak into effective collateral helped drive our success. Just like an athlete at the top of their game, Sarah makes it look easy.
Charlie Connor
Dir. of Product Management @ Relativity
Formerly CEO & Co-founder @ Heretik;
SVP of Products & Operations @ Shiftgig & BookedOut
I have been fortunate enough to work with so many amazing people in my career, but I have never worked with anyone like Sarah, who consistently executes and exceeds expectations when it matters the most. One of my favorite examples of this was the time Sarah taught herself how to build our company website in Wordpress in a matter of weeks, and then went on maintaining it for several years. Sarah truly is the catalyst every company needs.
Dan Snyder
Chief Product Officer @ BuildingLink
Formerly Dir. of Product Management - SaaS Platform @ Shiftgig & BookedOut
I'm a strong believer that the 'Sarah's' of the world don't come around often. She's a creative machine who can adapt to any industry, request, and situation. Sarah develops a strong position and understanding of the market as well as the customers point of view to help ensure we delivered the most value possible.
Chris Tkach
Director, Contract Solutions @ FTI Consulting
Formerly Sr. Manager, Customer Success @ Relativity;
Dir. of Customer Success @ Heretik
It was a pleasure to call Sarah a colleague. On top of being a team player and incredibly easy to work with, she is an absolute marketing genius. Passing out materials that Sarah had put together at one onsite, a client asked me how big our marketing department was given the high-end caliber of the materials. When I told them it was only one person, the client was visibly shocked. During my 3+ years working with Sarah, clients praised her work to me dozens and dozens of times. Sarah consistently amazed me with both the quality of her work and her work ethic, and I'd be lucky to call her a co-worker again.
My Background
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In my previous two roles at Heretik and BookedOut, I was the first marketing hire that ultimately helped lead both of those companies to and through acquisitions.
After completing Heretik's acquisition and marketing integration, I was fortunate enough to be able to take some time off to travel and spend with family. I am now excited to make new connections and start my next adventure!
Get to know more about me personally as well as my background here →
