Two COOs. Decades of real-world experience. Three things per episode.
Penny Cook and Sarah Wilson are fractional COOs who have spent decades leading operations inside growing, complex businesses. Each week they take one topic and break it into three practical insights you can put to work right away.
You get two experienced COOs in your corner every week, thinking through the topics that matter most to operational leaders. Operating on Purpose is the practical, honest, insightful conversation that will uplevel you and your team.
In the time it takes to have your first cup of coffee, we give you three insights on a topic that you can put to work with your team right away. Every episode draws from decades of hands-on operational leadership, because that's where the best advice actually comes from.
Also in the catalog: The Ops Audit · Enabling ERP Success · Leveraging AI in Your Operations · Eliminate "Try Harder" Culture · Great Project Sponsors Do This · How to Gamify Your Operations · Engagement Surveys: Best Practices · Are Your Metrics Making You Better? · Fostering Accountability · Bridging the Data and Execution Gap · Blind Spots That Hit Margin · Mastering Difficult Conversations · Busy vs. Productive · Getting Ready for AI · Operations That Scale
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.