ABOUT OUTSIDE ANGLE
A different kind of firm for people who take a different kind of path.
We help teams on a mission.
Where we're coming from
Outside Angle was built by practitioners — people who did the work of leading change before advising anyone else how to do it. Sam and Sarah co-founded the firm in 2020, bringing tools and strategies that had worked in their own leadership. Then they spent five years in the trenches with more than 30 organizations, dialing in what works when the terrain is hard and the stakes are real.
That body of work is now the foundation, and we continue to build on it - honing our tools, our way of working, and our point of view on what leaders actually need into one integrated system that helps teams perform through anything.
We call the leaders we work with navigational leaders — people bringing new things into the world through volatile, uncertain conditions who need more than a strategy deck. They need a mindset, a system, and a partner who's been there. That's what Outside Angle is built to provide.
Read: What is navigational leadership? →
I didn't come to this work through a consulting firm. I came through the work itself.
I started my career as a 6th grade teacher in Oakland. From there I went to Carnegie Mellon, where I designed a public high school as my thesis — and then went and built it. Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy opened in 2007 and became the highest-performing Pittsburgh public high school.
After that: an $80 million transformation of human capital systems across Pittsburgh Public Schools. An executive residency at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College teaching about change leadership and the societal consequences of technological change. Then leader of the school network at AltSchool, where I restructured a national network of lab schools personlizing learning using cutting edge technology.
Throughout, the throughline was leading, supporting, and facilitating people through change. I co-founded Outside Angle in 2020 to bring all of that to leaders doing work that matters — not as an expert with all the answers, but as a partner who's been there. Now, we have a true playbook that's working across industries and sectors helping navigational leaders deliver sustainable impact.
I grew up at the intersection of different worlds — different classes, cultures, and geographies — and it shaped how I communicate, listen, and find common ground. I have a streak of going against the grain. I'm a dad, a basketball coach, record collector, and dabbler in many things creative. My family travels in a camper van. My work has been recognized with Carnegie Mellon's Recent Alumni Award, Pittsburgh's 40 Under 40, and Heinz College's Otto A. Davis Award for Commitment to Racial and Social Justice. I've lived in Maryland, Ohio, Philadelphia, Oakland, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and now Asheville, North Carolina.
Why Outside Angle
We're not the firm you've seen before.
Not this
The ivory tower think tank
Smart, principled, full of ideas. They leave you inspired and no closer to Monday morning. Better at diagnosing what's wrong than helping you do something about it.
Not this either
The corporate machine
Polished, hierarchical, built for Fortune 500 procurement cycles. They send a junior associate. You get a framework, a deck, and a handoff.
Outside Angle — the third option
The one most of our clients couldn't find anywhere else.
· Rigorous without being sterile
· Values-driven without being preachy
· Practitioners first — we've done the work, not just studied it
· Partners, not vendors — we go on the journey, not just the kickoff
· Intentionally safer for leaders who don't fit the default mold
The Team
Senior practitioners. Not junior associates learning on your time.
We hire people who have helped lead organizations, not just advise them. That practitioner background changes what we see, what we say, and what we're willing to name out loud.
Core Team
Senior Advisors
Sarah Kozel
Senior Advisor
Co-founder of Outside Angle, trusted executive performance coach, facilitor, and speaker, PhD in Learning Sciences from The Ohio State University. Check out Sarah's new venture High Impact Humans and her Substack, Becoming a High Impact Human.
Jerome Goings
Senior Advisor
Owner of The LionFish Co. Asheville-based marketing strategist and consultant expert at helping businesses and nonprofits bridge the gap between their missions and their audiences.
Our Values
These aren't aspirational. They're how we actually work.
Our clients named them before we did.
Forward Motion
We don't let teams get stuck. We help you take the next step, stay proactive, and keep momentum through complexity and change.
Climb the Ladder
We do both the most strategic and the most tactical — translating nuanced guidance into practical actions that save our clients time and energy.
Same Team
We embed alongside you, building trust, knowing your people, and making the work energizing and fun. Your success is our success.
"Preparation and quality: Outside Angle delivers high quality materials and meeting engagements. They invest in preparation and really think about our organizational situation and how they can help move us forward."
Carey Harris
Literacy Pittsburgh
"Other consultants bring technical expertise, but Outside Angle's approach also builds a sense of relational trust which allows our team to engage more deeply with Outside Angle as a partner."
Laura Tavares
WPS