Sarah Personette: Choosing Kindness

Ever feel like everyone else has it figured out while you're drowning in chaos? Sarah Personette's journey through Facebook, Twitter, and now Puck as CEO reveals the messy reality behind big-name success. She shares brutal truths about workplace bullies who wanted her gone, the isolating loneliness of leadership, and making gut decisions that horrified her father. From losing student elections repeatedly to navigating public failures at major tech companies, Sarah exposes how kindness became her secret weapon—not weakness, but a "structural force" that brought her back to three different companies. This raw conversation proves messiness and compassion can lead to extraordinary breakthroughs.

Show Notes: 

Guest: Sarah Personette, CEO of Puck

Follow Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-personette-4b71125/  

Topics Covered: 

• The childhood challenges that shaped her resilience and risk tolerance
• Why losing multiple student elections didn’t stop her but from chasing leadership roles
• The career move her father called “the worst decision ever,” and why she took it anyway
• How trusting her instincts guided her from job to job 
• Navigating workplace hostility and choosing to lead for the many, not the few 
• Taking a “gap year” to explore, connect, and clarify her goals. 
• The importance of boundaries in balancing C-suite leadership with motherhood and marriage 
• The importance of having a strong value framework 

Mentioned: 

Puck: https://puck.news/ 

Writers at Puck: John Heilemann, Dylan Byers, Julia Ioffe, Matthew Belloni, Baratunde Thurston, and more

Starcom MediaVest Group: https://www.starcomww.com/ 

Facebook (Meta): https://www.meta.com/ 

Twitter (X): https://x.com/ 

Hidden Potential by Adam Grant: https://adamgrant.net/book/hidden-potential/ 

Rotary International: https://www.rotary.org/en 

Whispering Angel Rosé: https://www.esclans.com/ 

Send us a text

Email us: [e-mail]

To stay up to date with The Messy Parts and get all the behind-the-scenes content, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a rating and review on Apple or Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts.

Thank you for listening.