The Work of Friction

The Work of Friction is a podcast about what it actually takes to create change when systems resist it. And why the work of sustainability is often the work of friction. Season 1 is available to stream in its entirety. Season 2 coming September 2026!

The Work of Friction is a business podcast hosted by Sarah Haley Knowles, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Sarah Haley Knowles hosts The Work of Friction, a business show with 0 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #8

  Season 1, Episode 8: Always Trust Your Instincts with Guest Dimple Ajmera

  May 1, 202628 minS1

  <p>CPA, five-term Charlotte City Council member, Budget Committee chair, and the first Asian American and youngest woman elected to Charlotte City Council — Dimple Ajmera's story is the kind people love to hold up as proof the American Dream works. She has spent her career examining why it doesn't, for most people. Now she chairs the budget for one of the fastest-growing cities in America, trying to make long-term climate and housing investments survive short-term political pressure.</p><p></p><p>In this episode, we get into the tensions that define that work: How do you build consensus without trading aw...

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  Episode #8

  Episode 8: Always Trust Your Instincts with Guest Dimple Ajmera

  Apr 30, 202628 minS1

  <p>Dimple Ajmera, a former immigrant from India, shares her inspiring journey from cleaning hotel rooms to becoming a CPA and serving on the Charlotte City Council. She discusses the challenges of local government, climate action, and affordable housing, emphasizing the importance of long-term sustainability and community impact.</p>

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  Episode #7

  Season 1, Episode 7: Community Relations is Everyone's Job with Guest Michelle A. Thornhill

  Apr 22, 202630 minS1

  <p>Nearly three decades in financial services, most recently as Managing Director of US Community Relations at Citi — Michelle A. Thornhill has watched billions of dollars move through community investment programs and has watched communities absorb those commitments without ever quite feeling the ground shift beneath them. In this episode, we get into the questions that don't have easy answers: Why does so much money move without moving much else? What actually gets lost when community relations is always the first budget cut — and it always is? And after all these years of cycles, is there a version of this work...

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  Episode #6

  Season 1, Episode 6: Is My Scarlet Letter Showing? with Guest Geneviève Piché

  Apr 15, 202635 minS1

  <p>Twenty-five years at Wells Fargo, most recently building sustainable finance and advisory within corporate and investment banking — Geneviève Piché knows what it takes to construct something from nothing inside a large institution, and what it feels like when that work becomes a liability. In this episode, we get into the questions that are defining this moment in sustainable finance: Where is the clean tech commercialization gap actually breaking down — and why? Does the "S" in ESG now function more like a scarlet letter than a strategic priority? And when the work you spent years building becomes politically radioactive, what d...

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  Episode #5

  Season 1, Episode 5: The Kids Are Alright with Guest Alison Taylor

  Mar 31, 202630 minS1

  <p>NYU Stern professor, sustainability advisor to KKR and Unilever, and author of Higher Ground — Alison Taylor has spent years at the intersection of corporate ethics and the places it tends to break down. In this episode, we get into questions I've been sitting with for a while: Why do companies that genuinely want to do the right thing still get it wrong? Why does human rights keep getting pushed to the margins of sustainability work? And why is admitting something is hard and complicated actually the most powerful thing you can do with stakeholders? Alison's answers are sharp, honest, an...

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