Leadership Lessons from a Soul Explorer: Interview with Sara Byers

LeaderSight: Leading Others By Managing Self

Episode Three: Sara Byers, Co-Owner and President, Leonardo's Pizza

• “Sharing Love Through Pizza” isn’t just new branding for her family business, but also Sara’s philosophy of life. How does viewing the world as literally made of love translate to business success? Sara says, “Love is everything.”
• Why does leading with authenticity and honesty resonate with so many business teams today?
• Sara explores the power to connect with employees, customers, and the community, and finds that its source is in the “unspoken.”

Erik interviews Sara Byers, Co-Owner and President, Leonardo’s Pizza. After an 11-year career around the US with Gap, Inc., Sara returned to Vermont to join her family’s business, Leonardo’s Pizza. Sara is co-owner and President of the company, which has locations in VT and ME. Sara serves as Board Chair at the Vermont Business Roundtable and as Board Vice Chair at Champlain College. In recent years, she has served on multiple boards, including the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce, LUND, and the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts. She has been appointed to multiple state initiatives, including the Governor's Opioid Coordination Council and the Capital Debt Affordability Advisory Committee. Sara is honored to have received numerous community awards including an Honorary Doctorate of Commerce Degree from Champlain College, the Catherine McAuley Award from Mercy Connections, a Health Building Block Award from the United Way of Northwestern VT, and the Rising Star Award from the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce. Outside of her professional roles, Sara is a wife, mother, poet, and soul explorer.