Who Got Me Here Sarah Franklin: From Engineer to CEO, How Relationships Shape a Career
Jan 22, 2026
Sarah Franklin, CEO of Lattice and former Salesforce leader, shares a career shaped by relationships and relentless curiosity. She recounts bold pivots from engineering to tech, 14 rejections that led to creative breakthroughs, and rising from individual contributor to CEO. Short, practical takes on serving others, intentional networking, and goal-setting frame the conversation.
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Make Work Meaningful
- Sarah Franklin says fulfillment at work requires clarity about why you show up and what makes you happy.
- She argues spending a third of adult life at work makes meaningful work essential to wellbeing.
From Chemical Engineering To Tech
- Sarah recounts moving from chemical engineering into tech because she liked explaining technical work to business people.
- She found product marketing and pre-sales fit her skillset and energised her more than lab work did.
14 Rejections, One Creative Breakthrough
- She saved a folder of 14 rejection letters and used creative outreach to land her first job at PwC.
- Sarah met hundreds of recruiters at a career fair to build relationships that overcame resume rejections.
