Our People
How Sara works with businesses
Sara works with small, family and professional service businesses that have outgrown informal decision-making. The pattern is familiar: the owner is still in every decision, roles have blurred, the structure has not kept pace with the growth, and there is no consistent rhythm for the conversations that matter.
Her work is to install that rhythm. Clearer direction. Stronger governance. Better people decisions. And the execution discipline to deliver what gets decided.
From Mainframes to Boardroom
Sara Pantaleo began her career in IT Operations, working with mainframe systems. In 1996 she left the corporate environment for a twelve-restaurant family business called La Porchetta.
She was appointed CEO in 2005 and Director in 2010. Under her leadership, La Porchetta became the largest licensed a-la-carte Italian casual dining franchise in Australasia, expanding into New Zealand.
She did not do it by working harder. She did it by building the systems, structure and people decisions that let the business scale without losing the family values and culture that made it work in the first place. With those foundations in place, she introduced the structural and service innovations that sustained the growth.
That is the experience she brings to every advisory engagement: what it actually takes to move a business from owner-dependent to structurally sound.
Governance and board experience
Sara currently holds the following roles:
- Moira Kelly Creating Hope Foundation – Executive Director and co-founder
- Global Gardens of Peace – Vice Chair and Chair Public Engagement
- Maryborough District Health Services – Director
- Link Community and Transport – Non-Executive Director and Secretary
She served as a Non-Executive Director on the Franchise Council of Australia board for nine years and the Family Business Association for six years.
Across these roles she has worked on finance and risk oversight, governance rhythm, succession, strategic planning and the practical accountability that separates a board that meets from a board that governs.
Leadership and recognition
Sara holds a Master of Leadership specialising in diversity, equity and inclusion. She was named National Franchise Woman of the Year in 2010 and was a Telstra Businesswoman of the Year Victorian Finalist in 2012.
She takes the view that diversity is a commercial advantage rather than a compliance exercise. Businesses that make better people decisions, build genuine role clarity and hire for right-fit rather than familiarity consistently outperform those that do not. That conviction shapes how she works with boards and owners alike.
