Two COOs. Decades of real-world experience. Practical insight for operators and leaders.
Penny Cook and Sarah Wilson are fractional COOs who have spent decades leading operations inside growing, complex businesses. Each episode shares operational wisdom to sharpen any leader's skills.
Operating on Purpose™ gives you two experienced COOs in your corner every week, working through the topics that matter most to operational leaders. In the time it takes to have your first cup of coffee, we give you three insights you can put to work with your team right away.
Behind Every Great Business™ brings you conversations with operational leaders, unpacking the strategies, systems, and hard-won lessons behind how they run. Launching soon.
Every episode, across both shows, draws from real, hands-on operational leadership, because that's where the best advice actually comes from.
Real operational insight for any leader who wants to run a tighter, stronger business.
Interviews with operational leaders on staying competitive, working through real challenges, and what makes their approach different.
We've led operations through hypergrowth, turnarounds, and everything in between. That's the experience behind every episode, and every client engagement.
Penny Cook is a fractional COO and operational consultant who helps growing companies turn ambition into execution. She specializes in building the systems, teams, and processes that enable businesses to scale with clarity and control.
Penny is the co-founder of Cook&Brand and has spent her career in leadership roles across technology, services, and consumer goods. She has completed both the startup-to-IPO and startup-to-sale journeys, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Naturally Seattle.
She is known for bringing structure to complexity and works closely with founders to turn strategy into action, whether the business is growing fast, seeking operational stability, or navigating a change.
Sarah Wilson is a fractional COO and operational turnaround partner who helps founder-led companies bring structure to growth.
With a background spanning finance, operations, and transformation, she specializes in simplifying complex business processes into clear, scalable systems. Her work focuses on process design and operational alignment, helping leaders move from reactive execution to intentional growth.
Known for her calm, systems-first approach and emotionally intelligent leadership, Sarah partners closely with founders to translate vision into execution, ensuring the business runs with clarity, consistency, and control.
We love hearing from operators, founders, and leaders in the trenches. Got a question you'd like us to tackle? A topic we should cover? Or just want to share what's resonating?
Send us a message and we'll do our best to respond, and your question might just make it into a future episode.
