About Sara Mariani

Trusted advisor to purpose-driven CEOs
‍
‍I offer marketing, communications, and operations support to help purpose-driven, progressive leaders build their brand and their impact. If you’re using your powers for good, I’m here to help you grow.

My role is simple: to be a trusted outside advisor who helps you make sense of complexity, evaluate options, and choose the right path. Then I can step in to help your team deliver work that feels clear, polished, credible, and intentional. I’m hands-on when needed, invisible when not, and always focused on helping you and your teams do their best work, without adding stress, noise, or ego.

I’m often brought in during high-pressure moments, like preparing for a board meeting, communicating an acquisition or leadership transition, or pulling together a high-visibility customer or company event. When the stakes are high and the timeline is tight, having an experienced partner outside your organization can make all the difference.

I bring 25+ years supporting C-level executives at Fortune 500 companies, embedding with teams to provide executive advisory support, strategic operations, and communications leadership.

Previously, I led global brand campaigns and multi-agency teams at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, activating the HPE brand through the largest corporate separation in history and supporting the company’s shift from hardware to cloud services. I also served as Chief of Staff in the Office of the CIO for HP Software and led all executive and employee communications for the national homebuilder, KB Home.

Across these roles, I’ve blended strategy, technical fluency, operations, and communications to drive brand growth and become a trusted advisor and force multiplier for senior leaders.

Book a consultation

I work with

Enterprise teams needing fractional Chief of Staff or communications leadership without full-time executive overhead
Growing companies building strategic operations capabilities or scaling communications functions
Organizations navigating change, launches, or transformation requiring embedded leadership support
Agencies seeking white-label senior strategic expertise for complex client projects

describe your needs

Key moments

Brand Launches
I help leaders clarify their story, align teams, and introduce a brand to the world in a way that feels intentional, credible, and authentic, so the launch builds confidence internally and earns trust externally.
Leadership transitions
I provide strategic counsel and communications support during leadership gaps, onboarding new executives, and aligning employees, boards, investors, partners, and customers around what’s next.
Acquisition Integrations
I help leaders communicate change, blend cultures, retain talent, and give people a clear path forward, so an acquisition feels less like a disruption and more like a shared future.
Technology Transformations
I support change management, training, and communications so new systems are actually adopted, teams feel confident using them, and people stay oriented, steady, and willing to move forward when uncertainty is high.

Startup all employee meeting to introduce new CEO

Behind the scenes shot of video production for HPE Sustainability Keynote

Sara records interview with HP Software CIO Paul Chapman

Sara with HP Software CIO Saum Mathur at an employee all hands in Bangalore, India

Event keynote introduction of a custom video

Event photo featuring keynote video production

HP Software CIO Mahesh Shah speaks at employee meeting

CIO presentation for external speaking engagement

Leadership chats with the CIO of HP Software

Program Launch

At HPE, I launched the company's “In Her Element” platform to champion inclusivity and inspire women and girls to pursue their passions through technology.

The program earned 11 awards, including Best Strategy, Best Brand Campaign, Best Digital Campaign, including recognition from the Anthem Awards, a spinoff of Webby Awards, honoring purpose and mission-driven work; AVA, recognizing creative excellence; and MarCom, recognizing excellence in marketing and communications.

I also served as Executive Producer on the film by the same name. “In Her Element,” presented by Hello Sunshine and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, is hosted by Meena Harris. It highlights how three revolutionary women – a rocket scientist, a music engineer, and a Formula E racing team CEO – are using technology to break down barriers and advance their fields.

Brand Storytelling

As part of a program to highlight HPE’s work in sustainability and technology renewal, I produced HPE branded content with the company’s advertising agency, Publicis Groupe and CNN's Great Big Story. We developed a short film featuring teenage artist Zayd Menk using reclaimed technology to build a scale model of London.

See inside the company’s Technology Renewal Centers.

Strategic Pivot

While at HPE, I produced global brand advertising campaigns highlighting the company's B2B technology for cloud, servers, storage, and networking.

At the start of the Covid pandemic, we had to react to rapidly changing market conditions, in which traditional advertising was no longer relevant. We immediately paused all in-flight brand advertising, and with most travel shut down, I worked with agency partners to send production equipment to the home of our CEO, Antonio Neri.

In one week, we produced an entirely new TV ad and digital campaign focused on the company's technology and financing solutions to help customers address their most urgent needs.

Learn about HPE Solutions