This week on The Connection Code, Jeana and Rachel sit down with Carla Piñeyro Sublett — former CMO of IBM, recovering tech executive, and founder of Co-Effect, where she helps people and organizations find more human-centered ways to work.

Carla shares her remarkable story of walking away from a high-powered tech career, taking her family offline for a year to reconnect, and rediscovering her purpose, “to be in service of humanity.” She opens up about her “100 first dates” experiment that helped her realign her professional values, what it means to work with an open heart, and why vulnerability is a leadership superpower.

The conversation covers:

• The year Carla’s family went device-free and how it changed everything
• The hidden cost of technology on attention and connection
• How she rebuilt her identity after burnout
• The importance of following joy — not just success

This one’s for anyone rethinking what a holistic approach to life and work really looks like.

Resources and links:

• Let's Go There (Carla's podcast)
• Carla's company, The CoEffect
• Carla Piñeyro Sublett on LinkedIn
• Henry Crown Fellowship — the leadership program she references
• “Dances with Whales” expeditions — from her transformative trip experience
• Thursday Murder Club book series — Jeana’s “Show & Tell” pick