A Pittsburgh company built to help accomplished women make bigger career moves is investing back into a local community filled with the very women it was created to serve: executives, leaders, entrepreneurs and working moms balancing ambitious careers with raising athletes and showing up for the moments that matter. Founded by veteran executive recruiter and working mom Tracy Saunders, BossmakeHer has grown from an idea launched with early support from Pittsburgh's AlphaLab into a multimillion-dollar company serving Director through C-suite women nationwide. Now, Saunders is bringing that success back home by supporting local student-athletes and the families behind them, creating a full-circle connection between the women BossmakeHer serves professionally and the women Saunders sees beside her in the stands every week.
PITTSBURGH, Aug. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Long before BossmakeHer became a multimillion-dollar company serving senior-level women nationwide, founder and CEO Tracy Saunders saw an overlooked market hiding in plain sight: highly accomplished women who had built valuable careers but were still navigating some of their biggest professional decisions largely on their own.
After a long career in leadership recruiting, including for companies such as Amazon and Cisco, Saunders had seen how much strategy, market intelligence and investment companies put behind finding great talent. Yet when accomplished women found themselves on the other side of the table, deciding what came next in their own careers, many did not have that same level of insight working on their behalf.
Saunders built BossmakeHer specifically for them.
Today, the Pittsburgh-founded company serves Director through C-suite women across the country. And as BossmakeHer has grown, Saunders has found herself surrounded by the very women the company was built to serve somewhere much closer to home.
They are sitting beside her in the stands.
"My boys play local football, so I spend a lot of time on those sidelines," Saunders said. "And when I look around, I see so many of the women BossmakeHer was built for. They're answering one last email from the bleachers, getting to a game after a full day of work, moving meetings around so they can be there, volunteering, raising kids and building careers at the same time."
That connection is behind BossmakeHer's decision to bring some of its success back home through a 2026 sponsorship of the Peters Township Quarterback Club, supporting local high school and middle school football student-athletes.
Funds raised through the Quarterback Club's sponsorship and advertising program go toward supporting student-athletes and strengthening the local football program.
For Saunders, the sponsorship is about more than football. It is about recognizing and investing in a community filled with working women and families who show up for one another every day.
A Pittsburgh Idea Built Around an Overlooked Market
Before BossmakeHer became a company, it was an observation Saunders could not shake.
She had watched talented women spend years building experience, taking on greater responsibility and becoming leaders inside their organizations. Yet when it came time to negotiate a promotion, evaluate an opportunity, make a career change or understand what their experience was actually worth in the market, too many were left to figure it out themselves.
Saunders believed there was an underserved market hiding in plain sight.
That idea found an early home in Pittsburgh's startup ecosystem through AlphaLab, where Saunders began testing whether her experience in executive recruiting could be translated into a scalable company built specifically for experienced women.
"We didn't start with a big company. We started with an idea and a problem we believed was worth solving," Saunders said. "AlphaLab gave us an environment where we could test that idea, challenge it and start figuring out what BossmakeHer could become."
What began as a Pittsburgh startup has since grown into a multimillion-dollar national business helping Director through C-suite women understand their market value, position their experience and make more intentional, high-value career moves.
For Saunders, that growth has created an opportunity not only to serve more women, but also to invest back into the community where the company began.
The Women Leading at Work Are Also the Women in the Bleachers
For Saunders, one of the most powerful reminders of why BossmakeHer exists happens far outside the office.
"I know what it takes to build a career and a company while also trying really hard not to miss the things that matter to your kids," Saunders said. "Some days you nail it and some days you're running into the game five minutes late. I watch women in this community doing that same juggle every week."
They are accomplished working women leading teams, making decisions, building businesses and advancing careers. Then they are racing to practices, sitting in the stands, volunteering, raising families and trying to be present for the moments that matter.
They are not choosing between ambition and motherhood. They are living both.
That reality is deeply connected to why Saunders built BossmakeHer.
"BossmakeHer exists because women have spent decades figuring out how to make all of this work, often while accepting less than what they're actually worth professionally," Saunders said. "We built a company to change that."
Bringing Success Back Home
BossmakeHer's sponsorship supports local student-athletes, but for Saunders, its significance extends beyond the field.
It represents what becomes possible when an idea born in one community grows into a successful company and has the opportunity to contribute back to the people and places that were part of its story.
"There were people and organizations in Pittsburgh willing to believe in BossmakeHer before there was much to point to besides an idea," Saunders said. "You don't forget that."
As BossmakeHer continues to grow nationally, Saunders says maintaining a connection to Pittsburgh and the communities behind the women the company serves matters.
"Growth gives you the opportunity to do more than build a successful business," Saunders said. "It gives you the opportunity to decide what you're going to do with that success."
For BossmakeHer, part of that answer is investing back into the communities where ambitious women are building both careers and lives.
"BossmakeHer supports women making big moves in their careers, but those women are also moms, neighbors, volunteers and the people sitting next to you on Friday night," Saunders said. "Success doesn't happen somewhere separate from your life. This is our life. This is our community. And we want to show up for it."
For Saunders, that is what makes the investment feel full circle.
"This community shows up for our kids week after week," Saunders said. "We want to show up for it, too."
About BossmakeHer
BossmakeHer is a career strategy company built for Director through C-suite women who are ready to make intentional, high-value career moves.
Founded in Pittsburgh by veteran executive recruiter Tracy Saunders, BossmakeHer helps accomplished women understand their market value, position their experience and navigate major career decisions with greater strategy, leverage and confidence.
Launched with early support from Pittsburgh's AlphaLab startup accelerator, BossmakeHer has grown from a Pittsburgh startup into a multimillion-dollar national company serving senior-level women across the United States.
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BossmakeHer
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Media Contact
BossmakeHer Marketing Ops, Bossmakeher Inc., 1 7244703570, [email protected], www.bossmakeher.com
SOURCE Bossmakeher Inc.
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