Sarah Pekala

LinkedIn

As an English major at Northeastern University, I learned that while the written word is innately beautiful, it's also a powerful tool for informing, persuading, and creating meaning.

I like to slow down and read everything I write out loud (it must be the former theatre kid in me). The two questions on my mind before I even start putting my fingers to the keyboard or start developing a strategy are, “Who is this for?” and “Why should it exist?”

Sixteen years of asking those questions has taken me from staff writer to marketing leader, mostly inside venture-backed startups and the tech world around them.

Most recently, I spent six years at BAM, a PR and communications agency for venture-backed startups and VC funds, finishing as Managing Director of Marketing & Content. At BAM, I ghostwrote 50+ executive bylines placed in publications such as Forbes, Fortune, and VentureBeat, designed the client media messaging workshop system the agency still runs, and led more than 40 of those workshops myself. I took over the marketing services practice in 2023 and grew it from $277K to $373K (and a 2026 projected $562,500) while the team went from six people to two, signed roughly 15 new clients a year, and built the agency's AEO/GEO offering from scratch, helping brands show up in AI-generated answers.

Before BAM, I built content and demand-gen programs on the client side. At CarGurus, I led dealer-facing content that influenced 40% of monthly recurring revenue in 2019 and ran the content for a 400-person industry conference. At BevSpot, I owned brand and product marketing tied to $1.9M in ARR, grew leads 5x, and cut churn 48%. At Jana, I ran content across emerging markets, ghostwrote a byline for the CEO in TechCrunch my first week on the job, and coordinated an on-the-ground product launch in India that reached 80 million people. I started my career in editorial at Harvard Business Publishing, writing for a leadership product used by 55 million managers worldwide. Outside of work, I judge early-stage pitches for the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, which keeps me close to the kind of founders I like writing for and the future tech that could change the world.

I believe people buy from people, and most B2B content fails because it forgets that. What gets someone in the door is rarely what keeps them around, and what keeps them is writing that tells a story and builds a human connection. One byline I wrote for a healthcare founder reached a reader who messaged him on LinkedIn. That message was the catalyst for the company's first U.S. customer. Words can make people take action. That is what I strive for with my work.

I believe brands succeed when their content is authentic. We can all smell inauthenticity a mile away. Content should be conversational, not fussy, so I strive to bring a human voice to anything I write. My style is easily adaptable for any audience or platform, both in-product and across marketing campaigns. I'm a stickler for perfection, and my publishing background drives my need for consistency. Without it, brand identity crumbles.

In my spare time, I enjoy occasional home projects (my latest is wallpapering my hallway), gardening, and spending time with my husband, son, and daughter near the ocean on Massachusetts' South Shore.