Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sanita Pukite. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sanita, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump into the story of starting your own firm – what should we know?

Every now and than we hear the inner voice: you can do more. There is more to life than what you have achieved already. What if your potential is far higher than where you have gotten so far?
I heard this voice a I was enjoying a quiet coffee cup moment in early 2021 while sitting on the porch of my villa in Dubai and there was no going back. As once you hear the voice, you cant unhear it. One thing led to another and 4 years later with Insead EMBSA degree on my CV and numerous other certifications I took the leap and stared my own leadership development practice.
Today – I work as a leadership and team coach and group facilitator. I am passionate about supporting leaders in finding their unique identity and voice – and having the courage to act on it when it matters, to create meaning, fulfillment, and impact. My second mission is to make psychodynamics accessible to wider audience not only elite group of academics, therapists or highly educated consultants. Psychodynamics are concerned with hidden dynamics, whats beneath the surface and often not visible, but influence and drive our behaviors and performance.

What were some biggest challenges in my journey? The biggest one was to resist the pressure to professionalise everything too early: branding, offers, systems – before my point of view and client work had fully matured. I was happy I did and built depth before building breadth.

Another challenge was managing uncertainty without overreacting, learning when to refine and when to stay the course. In leadership we call this -negative capability – the ability to stay in “not knowing” and let wisdom emerge.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a a leadership and team coach, facilitator, and advisor working with senior leaders and leadership teams in complex, high-pressure environments.
I came into this work through leadership itself. Before becoming a coach, I held senior leadership roles, led cross-functional teams, lived, worked or studied across 3 continents and over 10 countries and worked at the intersection of strategy, marketing, performance, and people. Over time, I saw a consistent pattern: when leaders struggled, it was rarely due to lack of intelligence or capability. The real constraints were internal, how they handled pressure, uncertainty, emotional reactions, conflict, and influence when the stakes were high. More so – I saw the struggle of embracing ones unique voice and accepting the tag ‘a leader’ as titles alone do not make you one, if the inner voice keeps saying: ‘you are not ready’, ‘ you are not there yet’. Leadership starts with leading self first, which in turn starts with knowing self, trusting self and being able to express oneself in a way that feels authentic to you and resonates with the others.

That insight led me to formally train in executive coaching, leadership psychology, group facilitation, and embodied leadership, and to build a practice focused on developing leaders from the inside out.

Today, I work with leaders who are already successful on paper but want to lead with greater clarity, presence, and authority. My work includes one-to-one executive coaching, leadership team coaching and facilitation, and the design of high-impact leadership programs and workshops. In 1:1 work this often shows in time of transitions – to bigger role, to new organization or to entirely new career – like starting a portfolio career or building your own business.

The main problems I help clients solve are recognizing the hidden patterns that been blocking them for years and turning them into high performance or their next level in leadership. It is like healer, a safety rope and business advisor and strategist all in one. My clients often hit what I call an invisible ceiling – where more effort and harder work does not translate into higher success. This is where I come in and help them to identify what’s holding them back – the past stories, experiences and relationships that no longer serve in todays leadership. Once they see it, they are able to make a choice on how to address it to move forward with clarity and confidence. They also start trusting their own voice vs. hundreds of other voices in their heads and this is where the path to self-trust, courage, confidence and more resonant and authentic way of expression and leading begins.

My work is grounded in a framework I developed called Inside-Out Influence™, which focuses on upgrading a leader’s internal operating system – how they feel, think, regulate, relate, and express themselves, so their leadership feels aligned, genuine and effective in high-stress and pressure environments we lead today.
What sets my work apart is the integration of real-world leadership experience with psychology, emotional and relational intelligence and group dynamics. I don’t focus on quick fixes or generic tools; I design experiences that help leaders practice new ways of showing up where it matters most.
I’m most proud of the depth of trust clients place in this work and the tangible shifts they make in how they lead under pressure. My work is for leaders who are serious about growth – reflective, demanding, and practical, without performance theatre or superficial confidence.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Consistency of depth and quality. I focused on doing serious work with real clients and letting outcomes speak before visibility. I didn’t try to position myself as an expert through volume or noise; I built credibility through repeat engagements, referrals, and trust-based relationships. Being precise about what I do and equally clear about what I don’t do also helped. That clarity made it easier for the right clients to find me and recommend me. I never promise quick fixes and overnight success, as I don’t believe it exists.

I was also deliberate about developing a clear point of view. Instead of positioning myself as a generalist, I became known for working with leaders under pressure – around presence, emotional regulation, adaptability, and staying grounded in complex environments.

Finally, I invested heavily in my own development and was selective about what I put into the market. I didn’t try to say everything; I focused on saying a few things well and backing them up with real experience.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I treated social media as an extension of my thinking, not a marketing channel. I shared reflections and frameworks grounded in my real work with leaders, rather than chasing trends or engagement tactics. Over time, that attracted a smaller but highly relevant audience – senior leaders, HR partners, and practitioners – who resonated with depth over soundbites.

For those just starting: don’t tbe afraid to start – even if you are still only exploring. Nobody finds their true voice, their resonance in Day 1. Every successful person ahs gone through many trials and errors and small experiments until they landed to something that was genuinly theirs, but also relevant and serving the others, which is the sweet spot, in my view.

Pick one platform to start with, speak to a specific audience, and focus on being genuine, resonant and ‘in service of’ va. being visible. Consistency matters, but substance matters more. If your thinking is clear and grounded in real experience, the right audience will find you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sanitapukite.com
• Instagram: @sanitapukite_official
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanitapukite/

Image Credits

Instagram
@laura.apine