Sara Cales

Sara has 12 years of experience in product marketing, project management, and program management, with seven of those years being spent working in the Salesforce ecosystem. She started her career in 2010 in marketing for a non-profit before moving to Cars.com in 2011 where she worked for four years on the Product Marketing, Product Management, and Sales Strategy teams. She then left Cars.com for a Digital Project Management role at Tribune Publishing, overseeing all eight portfolio publications’ marketing activities. She then realized her passion for standardizing operating procedures, technology, and Salesforce, which led her to Fusion Risk Management in 2016.

Sara started at Fusion as a Project Manager, overseeing 78+ implementations in four years, then leading a team of 10+ global members, and now managing presales for enterprise clients. As Manager of Enterprise PreSales Engagement, Sara is responsible for engaging with prospects on behalf of the Professional Services team to review scope, assist in SOW (statement of work) creation, consult on implementation best practices, and set project expectations prior to signing with Fusion and starting implementation.

Sara came into Fusion knowing she wanted to be in the technology space, broaden her Salesforce knowledge, and make an impact. She feels she has achieved all of this and is thankful to the leadership team that she had when she started here who encouraged and supported her the entire way. Now, she is especially proud of seeing how her direct reports have grown (both personally and professionally) in the 1+ years she has managed them, whether it be their way of thinking, approach to problems, creative solutioning, or certifications achieved.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Purdue University and Master of Arts from Purdue University Northwest. She was also nominated and completed the Vista Customer Operations Accelerate Program in 2021 for up-and-coming leaders in the Vista portfolio. She was also the only Project Manager at Fusion to have a session at Fusion’s annual Solutions conference for consecutive years (2018, 2019, 2020-virtual).

Aside from work, Sara is the youngest of four. She is the only one in her immediate family with a master’s degree which she achieved while working a full-time job. Funny enough, she used to get in trouble for “talking too much” in school, but this clearly became a benefit in her academic and professional achievements! She also loves to travel and absolutely despises carrots.