Lead Better, Live Better: Community Management Insights with Sarah Hudson

Guilty by Association: The Vantaca Podcast

Today on Guilty by Association, Kathleen sits down with Sarah Hudson (Director of Continuous Improvement at Inframark)—a self-described problem solver who has literally spent half her life in this industry. Sarah traces her path from temporary admin to PM lead to CI director, and shares how project management principles, tiny habits, and a renewed focus on wellness can transform the way we lead at work and live at home.

They dig into building an onboarding program from scratch, why “progress over perfection” beats all-or-nothing health kicks, how to start with low-hanging-fruit habits (water, steps, smarter takeout), and the surprising ways sobriety and running unlocked long-term consistency. If your calendar is chaos and your energy is up-and-down, this one’s a blueprint.

Key takeaways

• Careers aren’t linear: saying “yes” to interesting problems can create a 20-year arc across ops, AR, software integrations, and leadership.
• Onboarding = a project: treat new-client onboarding like mini projects with clear lifecycle, owners, and checkpoints.
• Start small to stick big: audit one week of life, pick two low-effort wins (e.g., +water, −one takeout), and track for 3–4 weeks.
• Intentional steps > magic numbers: break movement into short walks you can actually do; consistency beats intensity.
• Protein helps adherence: prioritizing protein supports satiety and muscle maintenance while you improve other habits.
• Progress over perfection: miss a day? Reset tomorrow. The goal is autopilot foundations, not a 90-day sprint.
• Leadership lesson: empower people—and explicitly hand off ownership so they know it’s theirs to run.

About Sarah

Sarah Hudson is Director of Continuous Improvement at Inframark. A PMP-certified project leader, she partners across departments to streamline processes, elevate client value, and coach teams through change. Outside work, Sarah is an avid runner and wellness advocate.