People-First Strategy in High-Pressure Markets: M&A, Cannabis, and Change with Sarah Elizabeth Paré

Описание: In Episode 13 of the People Profit Podcast, Sandra Coker sits down with Sarah Elizabeth Pare—a high-stakes strategist who’s helped lead transformation inside Fortune 500 powerhouses like Constellation Brands and Canopy Growth—to talk about what happens when the spreadsheet says “go” but the people reality says “slow down.”

Sarah shares what it’s really like to navigate billion-dollar M&A moves, regulatory chaos in cannabis, investor pressure, portfolio cuts, and operating model overhauls—without losing the trust of the people who actually have to execute the plan. This episode is for leaders who are tired of “change management theater” and want to build transformations that hold up when things get messy.

You’ll hear why buy-in is a choice, how to spot when leadership is treating transformation like a math problem instead of a human one, and what it looks like to lead with conviction and humility when the stakes are sky-high.

In this episode, we cover:

Why strategy without buy-in becomes “a plan that collects dust”

The leadership habits that build trust when decisions are hard (cuts, divestitures, restructures)

What executive teams often underestimate in high-pressure industries like cannabis

How to communicate change without tanking morale—and how 1:1 conversations do the heavy lifting

The difference between fear-driven control and people-first leadership under pressure

Sarah’s leap from corporate boardrooms to building her next venture, FOOSH—and what she’s taking with her

If you’re leading a team through uncertainty, pressure, or transformation right now… this one will hit home.

🎧 Listen, subscribe, and leave a review—it helps more leaders learn how to invest in their people and lead change that actually sticks.