This one’s been a long time coming.

In this episode of AMBUSH On Air, Sam finally sits down with her daily audio message co-conspirator and bestie, Kate Coffey Bacon, for a conversation that’s equal parts channel strategy, community therapy, and pure unhinged bestie energy.

Recorded live at Convergence in Miami, Sam and Kate pull back the curtain on what it really means to be “the community girlies” in the Microsoft ecosystem—showing up at every event, building relationships on purpose, and treating community as more than a buzzword.

They dig into:

• Why community is the new marketing funnel—and how UST’s rise in the channel is proof

• The tension between “desk job” work and being highly visible in the ecosystem

• Kate’s philosophy of “give, don’t grab” when networking and building relationships

• How to actually measure the impact of community, events, and partnerships in a messy, multi-touch buyer journey

• The origin story and vision for She Builds as a story-first, scalable community platform

• What’s exciting (and still uncertain) about the resurgence of Convergence and where it could go next

• How travel, speaking, and women-in-tech spaces are evolving in 2026 and beyond

If you live at the intersection of Microsoft, marketing, partnerships, and community, this episode is your love letter. It’s for the people who put their “butts in seats,” host the hallway conversations, and build momentum in the messy middle—long before the opportunity ever hits the CRM.

Press play to hear two women who actually walk the walk on community, collaboration, and showing up for the channel.