Sara Gullickson, a negotiation strategist and business leader, as featured in the March 2026 edition of The Beauty Box Magazine. Gullickson emphasizes that power is built through systems, standards, and boundaries, rather than personality. She distinguishes between performance, which seeks to impress, and positioning, which focuses on control and building trust. Her approach is rooted in the following principles:
- Strategic Beauty
- Skill as a Radical Act
- The Power of Clarity
- Emotional Regulation
Gullickson’s perspective was forged in the highly regulated and scrutinized cannabis industry, where she learned to navigate high-stakes negotiations without the luxury of emotional reactions. She defines “leverage mode” as a state of calm, intentional decision-making aimed at protecting the future, contrasting it with the reactive nature of “survival mode”. Ultimately, Gullickson encourages women to stop performing and start positioning by enforcing standards and letting their systems—rather than their personality—define their professional impact.
