September 4, 2025 • 32 mins
Julie's brand new Big Gorgeous Goals: Official Workbook can be ordered now! Grab your copy.
Sarah Michelle Boes created and sold a multi-million dollar nurse practitioner test prep company before turning 30, only to face her newborn daughter's heart condition diagnosis just weeks after the acquisition. Her journey reveals how entrepreneurial success and personal crisis can intersect, forcing a profound reevaluation of what success truly means.
Sarah Michelle Boes, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, is the Founder of Sarah Michelle NP Reviews and also served as the Chief Nursing Officer at Blueprint Test Prep. With a robust educational background including a BSN from the University of Kentucky and an MSN in Nursing Education from Western Governors University, Sarah has extensive experience in oncology, intensive care, and nursing education. After obtaining her family nurse practitioner degree in 2020 she launched SMNP Reviews, an innovative platform that rapidly grew to a seven-figure business within seven months. Following SMNP Reviews’ acquisition by Blueprint in 2022, Sarah transitioned to a role where she continued to oversee the nursing vertical while integrating cutting-edge educational technologies.
You can connect with Sarah on her website, Instagram or LinkedIn.
Click here to check out Beyond the Exit by John Rood.
You can connect with Julie on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Find Julie's writing at her blog or by ordering her book Big Gorgeous Goals and the brand new official companion workbook!
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FIGURE 8 UPDATE
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Julie (00:04):
Welcome to Figure 8, where we feature inspiring
stories of women entrepreneurswho have grown their businesses
to seven and eight figuresrevenue.
If you're in the mix of growinga bigger business, these
stories are for you.
Join us as we explore where thetough spots are, how to
overcome them and how to prepareyourself for the next portion
(00:27):
of the climb.
I'm your host, Julie Ellis.
I'm an author, entrepreneur anda growth and leadership coach
who co-founded, grew and exitedan eight-figure business.
This led me to exploring whysome women achieve great things,
and that led to my book BigGorgeous Goals.
(00:47):
Let's explore the systems,processes and people that help
us grow our businesses to newheights.
If you're interested in growingyour business, this podcast
will help.
Now let's get going.
Hello and welcome to thisepisode of Figure 8.
Today I am chatting with SarahBoes Bowes, and Sarah created
(01:11):
and sold a multi-million dollarcompany before she turned 30.
But as soon as she sold thecompany, within a month, she was
faced with a personal crisis,navigating one of the hardest
moments of her life and it, youknow, looking from the outside,
she had everything, but, ofcourse, navigating anything
difficult and an acquisitionnone of that is easy, and so
(01:34):
today she does lots of worktalking about how to build
resilient businesses, how to beresilient and how to become a
philanthropist and an activistin your own life.
Welcome to you, Sarah.
I'm so glad to have you with metoday.
Sarah (01:50):
Thank you so much, and thank you for letting me share
part of my story today too.
Julie (01:54):
Ah yeah.
So I was so amazed when Ilearned, I mean, how fast you
were able to build your business, how much opportunity there was
.
Sarah (02:05):
Yeah, I think part of all a lot of that.
Two reasons, one, it was a veryarchaic market that hadn't been
touched or done anythingdifferent in a long time, and
two, I'm a little bit obsessivewhen I dive into things, and so
when I came in with thischallenger brand, I was like go
big or go home.
Julie (02:24):
Yep, and so the business that you were able to build was
really transforming testing fornurses.
Sarah (02:32):
So Sarah Michelle MP Reviews was a nurse practitioner
test prep company and soessentially what we were doing
was preparing people to taketheir board exams, which sounds
really boring and monotonous butmy kind of unique spin on it
from my own experience ofpreparing for this exam and what
it took to pass this exam Icreated test prep that was
(02:54):
really centered around mentalhealth as the focus, and so I
tell people all the time, likeyou can know the content all day
long, you can study and studyand study 1000 hours, but if you
can't manage your own anxietythen you still might not pass.
And so I'd had a lot of troublemanaging my own anxiety and
really kind of building up mytoolkit to be able to do that.
(03:16):
And when I kind of opened upabout the experience and shared
some of those tools with others,I mean it was an immediate hit,
immediately resonated withpeople.
Julie (03:25):
Yeah, interesting I think that's a universal kind of
problem, right, is the testtaking anxiety piece, and
especially, I think, for sothere's a lot of information to
learn, but there's also a lot oflike hands-on and experiential
learning that comes with.
But then you have to take allof that and distill it into
(03:45):
being able to answer the rightthings on a test.
Sarah (03:48):
Absolutely, and it's just such a high stakes exam, I
think, unless you're taking amedical style exam where
literally your license dependson it and your future career
depends on it and you can't doanything with that degree unless
you pass.
It just feels like the heaviestweight in the world to take
those types of exams.
Julie (04:06):
Yeah, because yes, the alternative of yeah.
So do you study for anotheryear and take it again or do you
move on and, like, re-educateyourself and take another career
?
Like that's a lot of pressure.
Sarah (04:18):
It's so much pressure, especially because by the time
that you're becoming a nursepractitioner, a lot of those
people are in the season of life, so of having families and
getting married and all thethings and there's just an even
bigger pressure of I have topass this thing Like there's no
choice, like I have to pass theexam to be able to move on to
the next phase of my life andall the money and time that
(04:39):
you've put into getting thatdegree too.
Julie (04:41):
Yeah, And now you were sparked to start the company,
not only because you wanted tokind of address those pieces,
but also because some of thetraditional review methods
weren't available.
Sarah (04:54):
Well, the market was incredibly ancient in a lot of
ways, and the fact that Iactually started my business
during 2020, it was the prime ofCOVID, and so what a lot of the
older review courses would dois they would have a two-day
in-person conference you wouldbe taught at for up to 10-hour
days and then you would go onyour merry way and figure out
what you need to study more onyour own, and so what those
(05:17):
companies thought during COVIDwas well, if we just flip this
onto Zoom, it'll be the sameexperience.
It absolutely was not the sameexperience, and I was having a
very beautiful experience at thesame time, because I actually
taught on Zoom for gosh nearlytwo years and I was teaching
clinicals and labs to nursingstudents.
(05:39):
So I was teaching bachelorstudents, and so I had all of
this like fun, creativity timeof how do I make a clinical on
Zoom that's supposed to be inperson in the hospital
meaningful and purposeful for mystudents so that they still can
become competent nurses someday.
So, like we, literally we wereputting catheters in the water
(05:59):
bottles, catheters in the tissueboxes anything like innovative
and creative I could do toreally sink in that experience
for them, but it was a greatlearning curve for me to see
what worked and what didn't, andI was able to use a lot of
those principles that I wasexperimenting with to then
create this like course andbusiness that really I mean
truly changed my life.
Julie (06:20):
Yeah, and I mean you started inviting people.
So you had this idea, you setup the course and you started
inviting people to come and takeit for free.
Sarah (06:30):
Yeah, it was a very whirlwind thing.
Between the spark of having theidea and actually bringing the
course into the world was lessthan a week.
I was just like I have to dothis thing, I've got to try it
out.
I just think I could do itdifferently.
I don't necessarily think atthe time I was like I can do
this better, but I knew I coulddo it differently, with a
(06:51):
different spin and my own likelens and perspective, and I
thought that might be valuablebecause I had already seen the
value with my younger nursingstudents, but me being anxious
me, I was the first person in myclass to test and so I had a
whole, basically classroom offellow students seeing online
(07:12):
who were paying for their ownexams from my same school
because we all went to the sameonline nurse practitioner school
and so I gave it to the 29 ofthem for free and our agreement
was you can come in and take mycourse for free if you invite
somebody to my group.
So I gave and take my course forfree if you invite somebody to
my group.
So I gave the first 100 peoplefor free and then my 101st
person.
I was like, oh, my goodness,I'm so nervous, but I'm going to
(07:32):
try to sell this thing becausepeople are already getting
results.
And that was a really coolexperience for me too, for
people to be like, wow, like Ireally felt, like I managed my
anxiety today, or I was able todo this because of what was in
the courses, and my 101st personwas very upset with me that I
was trying to charge $25 for athree-hour course yes, I know.
(07:59):
And so she bartered with medown to $15.
So I sold my first course for$15 for that first day and I
made $1,000 in a day.
And sometimes I almost want tobe like the rest was history,
because once I got even just ataste of like oh my goodness,
like my life could be different.
Like what if I made a thousanddollars every day?
Like what would that look like,especially coming from a
nursing salary, because I wasn'tworking as a nurse practitioner
(08:19):
yet.
It was like fascinating to meand mind boggling to me and I
was like, okay, I just want torepeat this tomorrow and I just
want to repeat this the next day.
Julie (08:29):
Yeah, but obviously word of mouth spread like wildfire.
You were doing somethingdifferent.
Sarah (08:37):
Well, I was doing something different and you also
have to think about the timethat it was in, because
everybody was online andeverybody that was taking this
exam and feeling even a littleanxious was feeling super
anxious because COVID wasclosing down testing centers.
Like I showed up twice to takemy own exam, the testing center
was just closed, like there werelots of those kinds of things
(08:58):
going on, and so everybody'slooking online of what is
everyone else's experience andthen for me to show up and be
like here is my recentexperience during COVID and I
have made a review course that Ithink can help with your
anxiety.
People were just stoked huh,it's so amazing how that
(09:18):
happened, though, and I mean Ican see how it would be totally
motivating to yeah.
Yeah, I'm just like I'm gonnachase this thing.
Yes, I will work all daythrough the door.
Yes, um, and it was actuallyreally cool because, I mean, it
only took seven months to hit myfirst million dollars, which is
(09:38):
still crazy, and we did all ofthat with word of mouth, like
all I had was a Facebook groupand word of mouth.
And it's still like I remembergoing to my first business
retreat and they're like whatabout the emails you're sending
and what's the funnel?
like this Emails?
I know I was like I haven'tsent an email in my life
actually.
I was like I talked to all mycustomers and they're like what
do you mean?
I'm like I talked to myFacebook messenger and I talked
(10:00):
to him over here and I was likewe do a lot of co-creation of
like what do you want fromcourses?
I can make that for you.
And people were just likealmost mind boggled by me.
Julie (10:09):
Right, what do you mean?
Because you just didn't seem tobe fitting into the playbook
looked like for how you werebuilding a business.
Sarah (10:17):
Yeah, there was no like blueprint.
There was no business plan.
It was really just me figuringout.
Okay, what do people want?
Can I create that?
What does that look like andhow can I support people?
Because people were reallylooking for support during that
time too.
Julie (10:32):
Yeah, and it's kind of interesting because, like I
think about nursing, like it'snot, you're not.
You're using technology to givecare and deliver care.
That yes, but you're notsitting at a desk in front of a
computer all day, it's not atypical, like it's a different
kind of consumer that you'reselling to as a startup.
Sarah (10:53):
Yeah, they're very tactical, which is why I had to
very quickly, because you know,when you think about the
different styles of learning,for example, a lot of these
people are tactical learners.
So I started with courses andthat was very auditory and that
works for some people.
But I mean, it wasn't very longbefore I was having to create
study guides and workbooks anddifferent things to try to meet
everybody where they were at, intheir own learning style too.
Julie (11:16):
Well, just yeah how that content grows right.
So from the base that youcreated and then yeah, when you
get to a million, you have tohave multiple kind of ways of
delivery to meet people wherethey are.
Sarah (11:32):
Yeah, and eventually what I ended up creating that was
kind of like my I hate evensaying high ticket, but the
premium offering, if you want toput it that way was I had all
these recorded courses, a wesome.
I had a Q bank, awesome.
But what I really wanted wasfor someone, when I was taking
my exam, to be like okay, todayis day one, I want you to watch
(11:55):
this video, do these questionsand think about like these
reflections, for example, andday two, I want you to do this.
And so that was what I ended upcreating about six months in.
And that was really what kindof like skyrocketed to the next
level Because you know, thosetwo person, two day in-person
conferences were no structure.
And then for me to be likehere's a five week plan and I
(12:18):
know by the end of the fiveweeks, you'll be ready to pass
this exam.
I mean, people were runninglike people really wanted it
Julie (12:26):
Like a lot of things in my life are hard right now, like
just show me.
Sarah (12:31):
Show me how you did it.
I want to do it myself.
Julie (12:35):
Interesting and so you like okay so $1000 in the first
day, you must have very quicklyrealized you were gonna replace
your family's income, your joband your career was going to
look really different from whatyou'd been doing before.
Sarah (12:39):
Yeah and that's actually an interesting experience for me
too.
I've talked to a lot ofentrepreneurs because a lot of
the coaching industry today inthe world of business coaching
(13:00):
is they're like you know, quityour job, dive right in.
If you go a thousand percent,it will work.
And there are parts of thatthat I agree with.
But for me, I'm actually apretty risk averse human.
Like if you had asked me fiveyears ago, before I started my
business, I would have told youlike I never would have started
a business.
That's too risky for me.
(13:21):
And so I actually kept myteaching job and worked full
time until I made a milliondollars in the business.
Like that for me was comfortand security.
Now, that was not my husband'sexperience.
My husband was like, oh my God,you're making thousands of
dollars.
Like I'm going to quit my jobtomorrow.
I'm so excited and I mean itwasn't literally tomorrow, but
(13:43):
it was like three months in hequit his job way before I did.
But he was so wonderful in thefact that like he saw that I had
kind of the golden ticket orthe golden egg and he was like,
let me clear as much out of theway for you as I possibly can
and let's just build this thingand go crazy with it.
Like I'm going to give you thespace to dive in outside of your
(14:07):
crazy.
I'm still working my full-timejob hours.
Yes, that's good.
He's got a pain in the dream.
I don't always have the dreamin the same way.
Julie (14:14):
Right, yeah, so, but then you did, you cross that million
and left your job.
And what was that like?
From sort of like that one yearto the two year point.
Sarah (14:25):
That was a really interesting time because it was
growing so insanely fast that Ifelt like, a I was becoming a
bottleneck and, b I was breakingeverything that we touched, and
(14:45):
so I really needed my ownsoftware and I really needed
some personalized tools to beable to work with to deliver the
things that I wanted to deliver, and I could do bits and pieces
of that in the confines of likethird party software.
I really started to explore, ok, like what if I become like a
Kaplan, for example, and we haveall the different verticals,
like I could do medical, I coulddo legal, we could have nursing
, all the things and kind of myfirst dipping my toe into that
(15:09):
experience was trying to buildout a question bank app, because
that was what everybody wantedand it's what people needed
because, as you said earlier,nurses are on the go.
So we spent nearly $150,000 onthat question bank app and what
we had at the end of it was abunch of junk code and a wasted
investment and I really had noclue what I was doing and what I
(15:31):
was getting myself into,because I was just trying to
figure things out as I went andyou also have to think like I'm
trying to build software, butI'm also a name and face of the
brand.
So like I'm having to show upon social media every day and
I'm still teaching all thecourses because that's what
people expect from me, and so Iwas wearing so many hats at once
(15:52):
.
I feel like it was really evenimpossible to think about
bridging myself out in a waywhere I could become a giant
test prep brand, and ultimatelywhat I decided was I didn't want
to be.
I was like you know, I'm aboutto move into this really cool
season in my life where, for thefirst time ever, I have
flexibility of money and I couldhave flexibility of time.
(16:16):
And like I knew that I wantedto become a mom and I knew that
I had other aspirations and justlike working a hundred hours a
week.
And so that was how weeventually got into the
conversation between me and myhusband of like it's always
tricky when you're thinkingabout a sale because it's like
you've got to.
It's like you got to.
(16:36):
It's like you have to time itso perfectly.
You have to time it whenthere's like enough, you have to
try to time as perfectly as youcan, but you don't really know
if it's the perfect time to doit, but there's got to be enough
growth room left for somebodyto find you enticing.
And we were growing so fast andI knew the market wasn't huge.
(16:57):
I'm like how long will wecontinue to grow on this like
rocket ship pace before itplateaus off?
Because nobody wants to buy youon a plateau either.
So what we eventually decidedto do was go to market as a
teaser, not actually to sell,but instead to see what is the
(17:18):
value of this business, because,kind of like real estate, it's
where someone's willing to payfor it.
But for me, the real question Iwanted to figure out was what
is someone willing to pay for mybusiness with my name and face
still on it?
Like, do I need to rebrand?
Do I need to start makingstrategic decisions to take
myself out?
And then, in the process ofdoing that teaser, we ended up
(17:41):
meeting the company thatacquired mine.
But that was not the initialplan.
Julie (17:45):
And who made you an offer you couldn't refuse.
Sarah (17:47):
Exactly.
Well we did this really coolthing as a couple too, that
before we ever went to any ofthe teaser meetings any of that
we decided what our number was,so that way we could take all
the emotions and all the extraout of it and we can make like a
solid decision.
Because once you start talkingto people and you get excited
and all those emotions startflying around, it's really hard
(18:09):
to make grounded decisions.
Julie (18:11):
Or you get excited, you get a little offended because
you know, like all the whole,range of emotions that comes out
right.
Your baby that they're talkingabout,
Sarah (18:21):
I'm like literally my name and face.
Julie (18:24):
and so you ended up selling them the business
basically at that two-year mark.
Sarah (18:29):
Yeah, literally within like two weeks of the business
turning two years old, I sold itand then, as you kind of hinted
at earlier, I tell people allthe time like literally I rode
the highest high in my lifeselling my business.
Like that's such a coolexperience.
I can now realize there's a lotmore layers to selling your
business than I could like thinkabout and really capture then,
(18:51):
because there's actually alittle grief that goes alongside
that too, so much grief
Julie (18:56):
We could talk for days.
Sarah (18:58):
I'm like I'm still working through that grief today
.
Julie (18:59):
Yes, there is, but you kind of didn't get a chance to
feel a lot.
Sarah (19:06):
No.
Julie (19:06):
Because you kind of crashed into a wall pretty fast.
Sarah (19:15):
Yeah, so I actually, the very first meeting that we had
with our broker, slash banker,to even think about selling the
business.
That day I found I was pregnant, and so I sold my business when
I was eight and a half monthspregnant, which is like.
At the time I was like, oh,this is perfect timing.
I'll get everybody settled.
I'll have everybody settled,everything good to go.
I'll take a quick leave andI'll come back and work because
I love to work.
But I sold at eight and a halfmonths pregnant and nine months
(19:39):
pregnant.
Just a couple of weeks later Ihad actually switched OBs
because I felt like my OB at thetime couldn't meet me where I
was at with my anxiety and Ijust like looked at my husband
one day and I'm like God, ifanything goes wrong in the
delivery room, this is not thehuman I want with us.
I was like actually I wantsomewhere else entirely.
So we went to a whole newhospital system, the whole thing
(20:00):
, and they did another anatomyscan as a liability check and
when they did that they foundout that my daughter actually
had four heart defects check.
And when they did that, theyfound out that my daughter
actually had four heart defects.
And so we had spent my entirepregnancy me thinking I was
insane because I felt likesomething was wrong all the time
.
But we thought that we had anormal, healthy baby.
(20:20):
And then it turns out we had avery, very sick baby who was
going to have open heart surgeryher first week of life and was
going to have at least four moreopen heart surgeries throughout
her lifetime.
So it was just like.
I can't even like begin todescribe the whiplash of living
that moment, cause I was like Iwas finally at peace in my
(20:40):
pregnancy, I was finally atpeace in the business.
I was like we have all of thislike freedom, and then to live
in and out of the hospital forthe next six months was jarring.
Julie (20:51):
Very, yeah, very jarring, and yet you gave yourself
freedom to be able to do that.
You know, you knew you hadfinancial stability to be able
to do it.
Like all of the pieces did fallinto place for a reason you did
not expect.
Sarah (21:06):
No, just not for the reasons I expected fall into
place, for a reason you did notexpect.
Julie (21:09):
No, just not for the not the reasons I expected or how
you would have wished for, butbut it is amazing how, how that
happened.
Sarah (21:15):
Yeah, I was so fortunate.
I tell people I don't know whatit is.
I tend to nail timing prettywell Um, and I really like being
able to be in my daughter's ICUroom and not have to worry
about going to work and be ableto have my husband right there
with me and be able to like makedecisions as a team and
(21:36):
advocate for her as a team, likethat was priceless to me.
That was absolutely priceless.
Julie (21:42):
Yeah, so now take us forward to today and and tell me
how she's doing.
Sarah (21:47):
I love to tell people today that my daughter Meadow,
she is the healthiest she hasever been.
She had six surgeries by thetime she was five months old, so
she kind of went through it fora hot second.
But we hope that she'll beschool age before she has
another one, and so we're kindof enjoying our gap time at the
moment.
And you know, when you find outthat you're going to have a
(22:09):
child with congenital heartdisease, there's all these other
worries that run through yourmind of like is she going to
develop, or developappropriately?
How is she going to turn out?
What will our life look likeday to day?
But most people who meet Meadowhave no idea what she's been
through.
And actually there was a momthe other day, her like scared
through the top of her dress,and she was like is she okay?
(22:31):
And I've lifted up her dressand showed and she just
literally had no idea and shehad met Meadow probably 25 times
.
Um, so that's been really cooland really like I love being a
mom so much, um, and I love thatI also have the medical
expertise to show up as heradvocate alongside being her mom
too.
Julie (22:50):
Yes.
Sarah (22:51):
Yes, that's huge.
Julie (22:51):
Which is incredibly important.
Yeah, to have a voice for her.
Sarah (22:55):
Yes, and be able to understand what's going on and
hospital standard time, as Ilike to call it, all the things.
Julie (23:02):
Yep.
So you thought you were goingto have a short maternity leave
and then get back to work, andobviously the work looked a
little bit different.
How has that shaped what you'vedone since then?
Sarah (23:17):
I think that when you are a founder and an entrepreneur
and you're used to being able torun at lightning speed, when
you move into a bigger company.
It's always going to be hardand I don't use the word always
lightly, but I just think it's areally rough transition.
It's not one that people talkabout very much.
I actually just found a reallygreat book called Beyond the
(23:39):
Exit, where this man his name isJohn Rube he interviewed gosh.
There's probably 200 exitedfounders and it was super
insightful to be able to justsee people's different
experiences with grief because,as we said earlier, there is so
much grief and I kind of had alate entrance into that because
I was just so emotionallyoverwhelmed with becoming a new
(24:02):
mom but also becoming a heartmom at the same time.
So the last couple of years, Ithink for me especially because
I sold in June of 2022, I'vereally been reworking and
redefining what success means tome.
Because I grew up in EasternKentucky, success to me meant
you made lots of money and whenyou made lots of money, you have
(24:23):
made it.
But I went through anacquisition and I made a lot of
money and I'm forever gratefulfor that.
My life is forever changed bythat.
But that isn't my definition ofsuccess anymore, and I'm really
grateful to be able to befortunate enough to even explore
what success looks like outsideof that.
I think it's something I'mstill exploring.
(24:44):
Like I'm 30 years old today.
Do I think I'm going to buildagain?
Probably.
But I don't want to just likerush into anything either,
because for me, like beingsuccessful means that in the
middle of the day if I want togo hang out with my daughter at
the baby gym, I can do that.
Or like she had a zoo play datelast week, I got to surprise
her at like.
(25:04):
Those sorts of things kind oftake precedence for me at the
moment, and then I'll just keepreworking as time goes on too.
Julie (25:13):
Yeah, no, I think it is interesting how we can attach
success to a dollar value, butthen, once we have the dollar
value, we're kind of like huh.
Sarah (25:24):
Or it becomes a moving goalpost.
I'm like, oh, like I reallywanted this number, but now, if
I had this number, oh gosh, Igot, like I really got to step
away from that.
So cause for me, like being aphilanthropist, like always want
a little bit more, to be ableto give a little more.
Julie (25:36):
But yeah, I feel that.
I feel that, with the investingI do in women entrepreneurs,
I've always liked a little moreto invest in one more person,
right, yeah?
Yeah, it's true, but I do thinkthat's interesting and I'm very
interested in that book.
I'm definitely going to look itup.
We'll put it in the show notes,because I mean, I talk in my
book about getting stuck on thecouch after, and you know, my
(26:00):
coach told me don't do anythingfor 90 days.
But you know, at day 91, I wasno closer to doing anything than
on day one.
I just didn't have as manyvacations planned, and so it was
really a really difficult roadto figuring out what I would do
next.
Sarah (26:16):
Yeah, which I'm very much still in the thick of that
transition.
It's like it's such a liminalspace to be like I could do
anything, and on the surfacethat sounds great, but to live
that it is really intimidating.
Julie (26:31):
Yes, yes, because you know what you lived already to
get your business to where itwas and sell it.
Yeah, it is an interestingthing and I think there's like
for me.
I think there was a block aboutthe grief part around looking
ungrateful.
Yes, right, like you know,people are like oh, wow, wow,
(26:51):
wow.
You just sold your business and, you know, took your money off
the table.
I don't really want to hearabout why you're sad and so it's
an interesting place to getstuck in and I'm, you know I'll
be really interested to read thebook because I think it isn't
talked about all that often.
Sarah (27:07):
Well, and something I've even been exploring in my own
books I'm in the process ofwriting my memoir right now is I
didn't realize how deep seatedit was for me being a successful
entrepreneur so fast.
Everybody's looking at me likewhat's next?
And I mean I love that theyasked me that.
I love that they're curious.
But I didn't realize how much Iwas really afraid of being a
(27:28):
one and done and so then I wascreating all this pressure of
like I have to do somethingright away and I was like no, I
don't have to do anything rightaway.
I really need to take care ofmyself and my mental health and
my daughter.
I mean everything is settled,I'll know when it's time.
Because when the first ideacame to me like it was like a
mosquito, it would not leave mealone.
I was like I have to do thisthing, I have to try it out.
(27:49):
I just got to put it out there,so I know how simple and easy
that moment can look to and Iknow I don't have to force it.
Julie (27:58):
And you don't want to force it, because then it's not
the same with the same ease.
And I'm not saying that meansit was easy, but there's
something about that.
When you just have somethingthat you know is going to do
something, yeah and so yeah, butkeeping your, but not ignoring
the little signs either.
(28:18):
Oh, yes.
Sarah (28:20):
Being aware, but not diving in too fast.
Julie (28:24):
Yeah, definitely, I'm figuring out what you want and
letting go of the like for me.
The other thing that I find wasgetting me caught was like the
but I, you know, I have to besuccessful next time.
In fact, I have to be moresuccessful.
Sarah (28:39):
Oh, yes, I feel that in my bones and for me I want it to
be fun, Like it has to be alittle bit fun too.
Julie (28:49):
I'm big on.
You can't work that hard andnot have fun so important.
It's so important.
So you've been working on yourmemoir.
I'm really excited to hearabout that and to know when it
comes out.
Do you have a timeline yet, oris it still in progress?
Sarah (29:05):
It is progress, in progress but, like my personal
goal is for it to be finished bythe end of the summer, so
fingers crossed.
I've been writing like athousand to fifteen hundred
words a day, so I have a hundredthousand words like I have made
momentum.
Um, but me being me, I'm alwaysreworking what I'm saying.
That's part of the process.
Julie (29:26):
So yeah, yep, and then your editor will come and cut a
whole bunch of stuff.
You'll have another half a bookwhen you're done.
Sarah (29:36):
I'm like I'm just writing it all and then whatever gets
chopped is chopped, but I'mgoing to put it all out there
and then we can figure it out,like I think that's the easiest
path.
Julie (29:45):
I think that's exactly what you should do and I'm
excited you will have to reachback out and we'll let all the
listeners know when the book iscoming, because I think people
will be interested to hear moreabout your story.
Sarah (29:57):
Thank you, yeah, I think it's going to be interesting.
At first, when I started itsomething we haven't talked
about yet is I actually foundout after I sold my business,
after my daughter was sick, allthe things I have obsessive
compulsive disorder, and so whenI first started the book I
thought it was going to be abook about looking back and
seeing how like I've always hadOCD and how like in my childhood
(30:18):
that wasn't so great, but whenI was creating a business that
was actually really helpful.
But I think the more I'vegotten into the book, I think I
don't want to say it's more thanjust an OCD memoir.
But there's so many otherlayers to it, so kind of in a
pivot part of the book right nowI'm kind of like reworking the
through line a little bit, but Ithink it's is bigger than that.
Julie (30:35):
Thank you, but yes, just even on our kind of short
conversations, but I'm really,really keen to see what you do
next and where you land, because, um, and how you keep
(30:58):
redefining success for yourself.
Yeah.
Sarah (31:01):
That's fun too.
Julie (31:03):
Yeah, yeah, good.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me.
I really appreciate it and, uh,I'm looking forward to
following on your journey.
Yeah and Well, thank you somuch for joining me.
I really appreciate it and I'mlooking forward to following on
your journey.
Yeah.
Sarah (31:11):
And I'll let you know when the book comes out.
Julie (31:13):
Perfect, Thank you, Take care.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Please remember to hitsubscribe on your favorite
podcast platform so you won'tmiss any episodes.
Figure 8 isn't just a podcast.
It's a way of seeing the big,gorgeous goals of women
entrepreneurs coming to life.
If you're interested inlearning more, you can find my
(31:36):
book Big Gorgeous Goals onAmazon, anywhere you might live.
For more about my growth andleadership training programs,
visit www.
julieellis.
ca to see how we might worktogether.
Read my blog or sign up to getyour free diagnostic.
Are you ready for growth?
(31:57):
Once again, that's www.
j ulieellis.
ca.
When we work together, we allwin.
See you again soon for anotherepisode of Figure 8.
Welcome to Figure 8, where we feature inspiring
stories of women entrepreneurswho have grown their businesses
to seven and eight figuresrevenue.
If you're in the mix of growinga bigger business, these
stories are for you.
Join us as we explore where thetough spots are, how to
overcome them and how to prepareyourself for the next portion
(00:27):
of the climb.
I'm your host, Julie Ellis.
I'm an author, entrepreneur anda growth and leadership coach
who co-founded, grew and exitedan eight-figure business.
This led me to exploring whysome women achieve great things,
and that led to my book BigGorgeous Goals.
(00:47):
Let's explore the systems,processes and people that help
us grow our businesses to newheights.
If you're interested in growingyour business, this podcast
will help.
Now let's get going.
Hello and welcome to thisepisode of Figure 8.
Today I am chatting with SarahBoes Bowes, and Sarah created
(01:11):
and sold a multi-million dollarcompany before she turned 30.
But as soon as she sold thecompany, within a month, she was
faced with a personal crisis,navigating one of the hardest
moments of her life and it, youknow, looking from the outside,
she had everything, but, ofcourse, navigating anything
difficult and an acquisitionnone of that is easy, and so
(01:34):
today she does lots of worktalking about how to build
resilient businesses, how to beresilient and how to become a
philanthropist and an activistin your own life.
Welcome to you, Sarah.
I'm so glad to have you with metoday.
Sarah (01:50):
Thank you so much, and thank you for letting me share
part of my story today too.
Julie (01:54):
Ah yeah.
So I was so amazed when Ilearned, I mean, how fast you
were able to build your business, how much opportunity there was
.
Sarah (02:05):
Yeah, I think part of all a lot of that.
Two reasons, one, it was a veryarchaic market that hadn't been
touched or done anythingdifferent in a long time, and
two, I'm a little bit obsessivewhen I dive into things, and so
when I came in with thischallenger brand, I was like go
big or go home.
Julie (02:24):
Yep, and so the business that you were able to build was
really transforming testing fornurses.
Sarah (02:32):
So Sarah Michelle MP Reviews was a nurse practitioner
test prep company and soessentially what we were doing
was preparing people to taketheir board exams, which sounds
really boring and monotonous butmy kind of unique spin on it
from my own experience ofpreparing for this exam and what
it took to pass this exam Icreated test prep that was
(02:54):
really centered around mentalhealth as the focus, and so I
tell people all the time, likeyou can know the content all day
long, you can study and studyand study 1000 hours, but if you
can't manage your own anxietythen you still might not pass.
And so I'd had a lot of troublemanaging my own anxiety and
really kind of building up mytoolkit to be able to do that.
(03:16):
And when I kind of opened upabout the experience and shared
some of those tools with others,I mean it was an immediate hit,
immediately resonated withpeople.
Julie (03:25):
Yeah, interesting I think that's a universal kind of
problem, right, is the testtaking anxiety piece, and
especially, I think, for sothere's a lot of information to
learn, but there's also a lot oflike hands-on and experiential
learning that comes with.
But then you have to take allof that and distill it into
(03:45):
being able to answer the rightthings on a test.
Sarah (03:48):
Absolutely, and it's just such a high stakes exam, I
think, unless you're taking amedical style exam where
literally your license dependson it and your future career
depends on it and you can't doanything with that degree unless
you pass.
It just feels like the heaviestweight in the world to take
those types of exams.
Julie (04:06):
Yeah, because yes, the alternative of yeah.
So do you study for anotheryear and take it again or do you
move on and, like, re-educateyourself and take another career
?
Like that's a lot of pressure.
Sarah (04:18):
It's so much pressure, especially because by the time
that you're becoming a nursepractitioner, a lot of those
people are in the season of life, so of having families and
getting married and all thethings and there's just an even
bigger pressure of I have topass this thing Like there's no
choice, like I have to pass theexam to be able to move on to
the next phase of my life andall the money and time that
(04:39):
you've put into getting thatdegree too.
Julie (04:41):
Yeah, And now you were sparked to start the company,
not only because you wanted tokind of address those pieces,
but also because some of thetraditional review methods
weren't available.
Sarah (04:54):
Well, the market was incredibly ancient in a lot of
ways, and the fact that Iactually started my business
during 2020, it was the prime ofCOVID, and so what a lot of the
older review courses would dois they would have a two-day
in-person conference you wouldbe taught at for up to 10-hour
days and then you would go onyour merry way and figure out
what you need to study more onyour own, and so what those
(05:17):
companies thought during COVIDwas well, if we just flip this
onto Zoom, it'll be the sameexperience.
It absolutely was not the sameexperience, and I was having a
very beautiful experience at thesame time, because I actually
taught on Zoom for gosh nearlytwo years and I was teaching
clinicals and labs to nursingstudents.
(05:39):
So I was teaching bachelorstudents, and so I had all of
this like fun, creativity timeof how do I make a clinical on
Zoom that's supposed to be inperson in the hospital
meaningful and purposeful for mystudents so that they still can
become competent nurses someday.
So, like we, literally we wereputting catheters in the water
(05:59):
bottles, catheters in the tissueboxes anything like innovative
and creative I could do toreally sink in that experience
for them, but it was a greatlearning curve for me to see
what worked and what didn't, andI was able to use a lot of
those principles that I wasexperimenting with to then
create this like course andbusiness that really I mean
truly changed my life.
Julie (06:20):
Yeah, and I mean you started inviting people.
So you had this idea, you setup the course and you started
inviting people to come and takeit for free.
Sarah (06:30):
Yeah, it was a very whirlwind thing.
Between the spark of having theidea and actually bringing the
course into the world was lessthan a week.
I was just like I have to dothis thing, I've got to try it
out.
I just think I could do itdifferently.
I don't necessarily think atthe time I was like I can do
this better, but I knew I coulddo it differently, with a
(06:51):
different spin and my own likelens and perspective, and I
thought that might be valuablebecause I had already seen the
value with my younger nursingstudents, but me being anxious
me, I was the first person in myclass to test and so I had a
whole, basically classroom offellow students seeing online
(07:12):
who were paying for their ownexams from my same school
because we all went to the sameonline nurse practitioner school
and so I gave it to the 29 ofthem for free and our agreement
was you can come in and take mycourse for free if you invite
somebody to my group.
So I gave and take my course forfree if you invite somebody to
my group.
So I gave the first 100 peoplefor free and then my 101st
person.
I was like, oh, my goodness,I'm so nervous, but I'm going to
(07:32):
try to sell this thing becausepeople are already getting
results.
And that was a really coolexperience for me too, for
people to be like, wow, like Ireally felt, like I managed my
anxiety today, or I was able todo this because of what was in
the courses, and my 101st personwas very upset with me that I
was trying to charge $25 for athree-hour course yes, I know.
(07:59):
And so she bartered with medown to $15.
So I sold my first course for$15 for that first day and I
made $1,000 in a day.
And sometimes I almost want tobe like the rest was history,
because once I got even just ataste of like oh my goodness,
like my life could be different.
Like what if I made a thousanddollars every day?
Like what would that look like,especially coming from a
nursing salary, because I wasn'tworking as a nurse practitioner
(08:19):
yet.
It was like fascinating to meand mind boggling to me and I
was like, okay, I just want torepeat this tomorrow and I just
want to repeat this the next day.
Julie (08:29):
Yeah, but obviously word of mouth spread like wildfire.
You were doing somethingdifferent.
Sarah (08:37):
Well, I was doing something different and you also
have to think about the timethat it was in, because
everybody was online andeverybody that was taking this
exam and feeling even a littleanxious was feeling super
anxious because COVID wasclosing down testing centers.
Like I showed up twice to takemy own exam, the testing center
was just closed, like there werelots of those kinds of things
(08:58):
going on, and so everybody'slooking online of what is
everyone else's experience andthen for me to show up and be
like here is my recentexperience during COVID and I
have made a review course that Ithink can help with your
anxiety.
People were just stoked huh,it's so amazing how that
(09:18):
happened, though, and I mean Ican see how it would be totally
motivating to yeah.
Yeah, I'm just like I'm gonnachase this thing.
Yes, I will work all daythrough the door.
Yes, um, and it was actuallyreally cool because, I mean, it
only took seven months to hit myfirst million dollars, which is
(09:38):
still crazy, and we did all ofthat with word of mouth, like
all I had was a Facebook groupand word of mouth.
And it's still like I remembergoing to my first business
retreat and they're like whatabout the emails you're sending
and what's the funnel?
like this Emails?
I know I was like I haven'tsent an email in my life
actually.
I was like I talked to all mycustomers and they're like what
do you mean?
I'm like I talked to myFacebook messenger and I talked
(10:00):
to him over here and I was likewe do a lot of co-creation of
like what do you want fromcourses?
I can make that for you.
And people were just likealmost mind boggled by me.
Julie (10:09):
Right, what do you mean?
Because you just didn't seem tobe fitting into the playbook
looked like for how you werebuilding a business.
Sarah (10:17):
Yeah, there was no like blueprint.
There was no business plan.
It was really just me figuringout.
Okay, what do people want?
Can I create that?
What does that look like andhow can I support people?
Because people were reallylooking for support during that
time too.
Julie (10:32):
Yeah, and it's kind of interesting because, like I
think about nursing, like it'snot, you're not.
You're using technology to givecare and deliver care.
That yes, but you're notsitting at a desk in front of a
computer all day, it's not atypical, like it's a different
kind of consumer that you'reselling to as a startup.
Sarah (10:53):
Yeah, they're very tactical, which is why I had to
very quickly, because you know,when you think about the
different styles of learning,for example, a lot of these
people are tactical learners.
So I started with courses andthat was very auditory and that
works for some people.
But I mean, it wasn't very longbefore I was having to create
study guides and workbooks anddifferent things to try to meet
everybody where they were at, intheir own learning style too.
Julie (11:16):
Well, just yeah how that content grows right.
So from the base that youcreated and then yeah, when you
get to a million, you have tohave multiple kind of ways of
delivery to meet people wherethey are.
Sarah (11:32):
Yeah, and eventually what I ended up creating that was
kind of like my I hate evensaying high ticket, but the
premium offering, if you want toput it that way was I had all
these recorded courses, a wesome.
I had a Q bank, awesome.
But what I really wanted wasfor someone, when I was taking
my exam, to be like okay, todayis day one, I want you to watch
(11:55):
this video, do these questionsand think about like these
reflections, for example, andday two, I want you to do this.
And so that was what I ended upcreating about six months in.
And that was really what kindof like skyrocketed to the next
level Because you know, thosetwo person, two day in-person
conferences were no structure.
And then for me to be likehere's a five week plan and I
(12:18):
know by the end of the fiveweeks, you'll be ready to pass
this exam.
I mean, people were runninglike people really wanted it
Julie (12:26):
Like a lot of things in my life are hard right now, like
just show me.
Sarah (12:31):
Show me how you did it.
I want to do it myself.
Julie (12:35):
Interesting and so you like okay so $1000 in the first
day, you must have very quicklyrealized you were gonna replace
your family's income, your joband your career was going to
look really different from whatyou'd been doing before.
Sarah (12:39):
Yeah and that's actually an interesting experience for me
too.
I've talked to a lot ofentrepreneurs because a lot of
the coaching industry today inthe world of business coaching
(13:00):
is they're like you know, quityour job, dive right in.
If you go a thousand percent,it will work.
And there are parts of thatthat I agree with.
But for me, I'm actually apretty risk averse human.
Like if you had asked me fiveyears ago, before I started my
business, I would have told youlike I never would have started
a business.
That's too risky for me.
(13:21):
And so I actually kept myteaching job and worked full
time until I made a milliondollars in the business.
Like that for me was comfortand security.
Now, that was not my husband'sexperience.
My husband was like, oh my God,you're making thousands of
dollars.
Like I'm going to quit my jobtomorrow.
I'm so excited and I mean itwasn't literally tomorrow, but
(13:43):
it was like three months in hequit his job way before I did.
But he was so wonderful in thefact that like he saw that I had
kind of the golden ticket orthe golden egg and he was like,
let me clear as much out of theway for you as I possibly can
and let's just build this thingand go crazy with it.
Like I'm going to give you thespace to dive in outside of your
(14:07):
crazy.
I'm still working my full-timejob hours.
Yes, that's good.
He's got a pain in the dream.
I don't always have the dreamin the same way.
Julie (14:14):
Right, yeah, so, but then you did, you cross that million
and left your job.
And what was that like?
From sort of like that one yearto the two year point.
Sarah (14:25):
That was a really interesting time because it was
growing so insanely fast that Ifelt like, a I was becoming a
bottleneck and, b I was breakingeverything that we touched, and
(14:45):
so I really needed my ownsoftware and I really needed
some personalized tools to beable to work with to deliver the
things that I wanted to deliver, and I could do bits and pieces
of that in the confines of likethird party software.
I really started to explore, ok, like what if I become like a
Kaplan, for example, and we haveall the different verticals,
like I could do medical, I coulddo legal, we could have nursing
, all the things and kind of myfirst dipping my toe into that
(15:09):
experience was trying to buildout a question bank app, because
that was what everybody wantedand it's what people needed
because, as you said earlier,nurses are on the go.
So we spent nearly $150,000 onthat question bank app and what
we had at the end of it was abunch of junk code and a wasted
investment and I really had noclue what I was doing and what I
(15:31):
was getting myself into,because I was just trying to
figure things out as I went andyou also have to think like I'm
trying to build software, butI'm also a name and face of the
brand.
So like I'm having to show upon social media every day and
I'm still teaching all thecourses because that's what
people expect from me, and so Iwas wearing so many hats at once
(15:52):
.
I feel like it was really evenimpossible to think about
bridging myself out in a waywhere I could become a giant
test prep brand, and ultimatelywhat I decided was I didn't want
to be.
I was like you know, I'm aboutto move into this really cool
season in my life where, for thefirst time ever, I have
flexibility of money and I couldhave flexibility of time.
(16:16):
And like I knew that I wantedto become a mom and I knew that
I had other aspirations and justlike working a hundred hours a
week.
And so that was how weeventually got into the
conversation between me and myhusband of like it's always
tricky when you're thinkingabout a sale because it's like
you've got to.
It's like you got to.
(16:36):
It's like you have to time itso perfectly.
You have to time it whenthere's like enough, you have to
try to time as perfectly as youcan, but you don't really know
if it's the perfect time to doit, but there's got to be enough
growth room left for somebodyto find you enticing.
And we were growing so fast andI knew the market wasn't huge.
(16:57):
I'm like how long will wecontinue to grow on this like
rocket ship pace before itplateaus off?
Because nobody wants to buy youon a plateau either.
So what we eventually decidedto do was go to market as a
teaser, not actually to sell,but instead to see what is the
(17:18):
value of this business, because,kind of like real estate, it's
where someone's willing to payfor it.
But for me, the real question Iwanted to figure out was what
is someone willing to pay for mybusiness with my name and face
still on it?
Like, do I need to rebrand?
Do I need to start makingstrategic decisions to take
myself out?
And then, in the process ofdoing that teaser, we ended up
(17:41):
meeting the company thatacquired mine.
But that was not the initialplan.
Julie (17:45):
And who made you an offer you couldn't refuse.
Sarah (17:47):
Exactly.
Well we did this really coolthing as a couple too, that
before we ever went to any ofthe teaser meetings any of that
we decided what our number was,so that way we could take all
the emotions and all the extraout of it and we can make like a
solid decision.
Because once you start talkingto people and you get excited
and all those emotions startflying around, it's really hard
(18:09):
to make grounded decisions.
Julie (18:11):
Or you get excited, you get a little offended because
you know, like all the whole,range of emotions that comes out
right.
Your baby that they're talkingabout,
Sarah (18:21):
I'm like literally my name and face.
Julie (18:24):
and so you ended up selling them the business
basically at that two-year mark.
Sarah (18:29):
Yeah, literally within like two weeks of the business
turning two years old, I sold itand then, as you kind of hinted
at earlier, I tell people allthe time like literally I rode
the highest high in my lifeselling my business.
Like that's such a coolexperience.
I can now realize there's a lotmore layers to selling your
business than I could like thinkabout and really capture then,
(18:51):
because there's actually alittle grief that goes alongside
that too, so much grief
Julie (18:56):
We could talk for days.
Sarah (18:58):
I'm like I'm still working through that grief today
.
Julie (18:59):
Yes, there is, but you kind of didn't get a chance to
feel a lot.
Sarah (19:06):
No.
Julie (19:06):
Because you kind of crashed into a wall pretty fast.
Sarah (19:15):
Yeah, so I actually, the very first meeting that we had
with our broker, slash banker,to even think about selling the
business.
That day I found I was pregnant, and so I sold my business when
I was eight and a half monthspregnant, which is like.
At the time I was like, oh,this is perfect timing.
I'll get everybody settled.
I'll have everybody settled,everything good to go.
I'll take a quick leave andI'll come back and work because
I love to work.
But I sold at eight and a halfmonths pregnant and nine months
(19:39):
pregnant.
Just a couple of weeks later Ihad actually switched OBs
because I felt like my OB at thetime couldn't meet me where I
was at with my anxiety and Ijust like looked at my husband
one day and I'm like God, ifanything goes wrong in the
delivery room, this is not thehuman I want with us.
I was like actually I wantsomewhere else entirely.
So we went to a whole newhospital system, the whole thing
(20:00):
, and they did another anatomyscan as a liability check and
when they did that they foundout that my daughter actually
had four heart defects check.
And when they did that, theyfound out that my daughter
actually had four heart defects.
And so we had spent my entirepregnancy me thinking I was
insane because I felt likesomething was wrong all the time
.
But we thought that we had anormal, healthy baby.
(20:20):
And then it turns out we had avery, very sick baby who was
going to have open heart surgeryher first week of life and was
going to have at least four moreopen heart surgeries throughout
her lifetime.
So it was just like.
I can't even like begin todescribe the whiplash of living
that moment, cause I was like Iwas finally at peace in my
(20:40):
pregnancy, I was finally atpeace in the business.
I was like we have all of thislike freedom, and then to live
in and out of the hospital forthe next six months was jarring.
Julie (20:51):
Very, yeah, very jarring, and yet you gave yourself
freedom to be able to do that.
You know, you knew you hadfinancial stability to be able
to do it.
Like all of the pieces did fallinto place for a reason you did
not expect.
Sarah (21:06):
No, just not for the reasons I expected fall into
place, for a reason you did notexpect.
Julie (21:09):
No, just not for the not the reasons I expected or how
you would have wished for, butbut it is amazing how, how that
happened.
Sarah (21:15):
Yeah, I was so fortunate.
I tell people I don't know whatit is.
I tend to nail timing prettywell Um, and I really like being
able to be in my daughter's ICUroom and not have to worry
about going to work and be ableto have my husband right there
with me and be able to like makedecisions as a team and
(21:36):
advocate for her as a team, likethat was priceless to me.
That was absolutely priceless.
Julie (21:42):
Yeah, so now take us forward to today and and tell me
how she's doing.
Sarah (21:47):
I love to tell people today that my daughter Meadow,
she is the healthiest she hasever been.
She had six surgeries by thetime she was five months old, so
she kind of went through it fora hot second.
But we hope that she'll beschool age before she has
another one, and so we're kindof enjoying our gap time at the
moment.
And you know, when you find outthat you're going to have a
(22:09):
child with congenital heartdisease, there's all these other
worries that run through yourmind of like is she going to
develop, or developappropriately?
How is she going to turn out?
What will our life look likeday to day?
But most people who meet Meadowhave no idea what she's been
through.
And actually there was a momthe other day, her like scared
through the top of her dress,and she was like is she okay?
(22:31):
And I've lifted up her dressand showed and she just
literally had no idea and shehad met Meadow probably 25 times
.
Um, so that's been really cooland really like I love being a
mom so much, um, and I love thatI also have the medical
expertise to show up as heradvocate alongside being her mom
too.
Julie (22:50):
Yes.
Sarah (22:51):
Yes, that's huge.
Julie (22:51):
Which is incredibly important.
Yeah, to have a voice for her.
Sarah (22:55):
Yes, and be able to understand what's going on and
hospital standard time, as Ilike to call it, all the things.
Julie (23:02):
Yep.
So you thought you were goingto have a short maternity leave
and then get back to work, andobviously the work looked a
little bit different.
How has that shaped what you'vedone since then?
Sarah (23:17):
I think that when you are a founder and an entrepreneur
and you're used to being able torun at lightning speed, when
you move into a bigger company.
It's always going to be hardand I don't use the word always
lightly, but I just think it's areally rough transition.
It's not one that people talkabout very much.
I actually just found a reallygreat book called Beyond the
(23:39):
Exit, where this man his name isJohn Rube he interviewed gosh.
There's probably 200 exitedfounders and it was super
insightful to be able to justsee people's different
experiences with grief because,as we said earlier, there is so
much grief and I kind of had alate entrance into that because
I was just so emotionallyoverwhelmed with becoming a new
(24:02):
mom but also becoming a heartmom at the same time.
So the last couple of years, Ithink for me especially because
I sold in June of 2022, I'vereally been reworking and
redefining what success means tome.
Because I grew up in EasternKentucky, success to me meant
you made lots of money and whenyou made lots of money, you have
(24:23):
made it.
But I went through anacquisition and I made a lot of
money and I'm forever gratefulfor that.
My life is forever changed bythat.
But that isn't my definition ofsuccess anymore, and I'm really
grateful to be able to befortunate enough to even explore
what success looks like outsideof that.
I think it's something I'mstill exploring.
(24:44):
Like I'm 30 years old today.
Do I think I'm going to buildagain?
Probably.
But I don't want to just likerush into anything either,
because for me, like beingsuccessful means that in the
middle of the day if I want togo hang out with my daughter at
the baby gym, I can do that.
Or like she had a zoo play datelast week, I got to surprise
her at like.
(25:04):
Those sorts of things kind oftake precedence for me at the
moment, and then I'll just keepreworking as time goes on too.
Julie (25:13):
Yeah, no, I think it is interesting how we can attach
success to a dollar value, butthen, once we have the dollar
value, we're kind of like huh.
Sarah (25:24):
Or it becomes a moving goalpost.
I'm like, oh, like I reallywanted this number, but now, if
I had this number, oh gosh, Igot, like I really got to step
away from that.
So cause for me, like being aphilanthropist, like always want
a little bit more, to be ableto give a little more.
Julie (25:36):
But yeah, I feel that.
I feel that, with the investingI do in women entrepreneurs,
I've always liked a little moreto invest in one more person,
right, yeah?
Yeah, it's true, but I do thinkthat's interesting and I'm very
interested in that book.
I'm definitely going to look itup.
We'll put it in the show notes,because I mean, I talk in my
book about getting stuck on thecouch after, and you know, my
(26:00):
coach told me don't do anythingfor 90 days.
But you know, at day 91, I wasno closer to doing anything than
on day one.
I just didn't have as manyvacations planned, and so it was
really a really difficult roadto figuring out what I would do
next.
Sarah (26:16):
Yeah, which I'm very much still in the thick of that
transition.
It's like it's such a liminalspace to be like I could do
anything, and on the surfacethat sounds great, but to live
that it is really intimidating.
Julie (26:31):
Yes, yes, because you know what you lived already to
get your business to where itwas and sell it.
Yeah, it is an interestingthing and I think there's like
for me.
I think there was a block aboutthe grief part around looking
ungrateful.
Yes, right, like you know,people are like oh, wow, wow,
(26:51):
wow.
You just sold your business and, you know, took your money off
the table.
I don't really want to hearabout why you're sad and so it's
an interesting place to getstuck in and I'm, you know I'll
be really interested to read thebook because I think it isn't
talked about all that often.
Sarah (27:07):
Well, and something I've even been exploring in my own
books I'm in the process ofwriting my memoir right now is I
didn't realize how deep seatedit was for me being a successful
entrepreneur so fast.
Everybody's looking at me likewhat's next?
And I mean I love that theyasked me that.
I love that they're curious.
But I didn't realize how much Iwas really afraid of being a
(27:28):
one and done and so then I wascreating all this pressure of
like I have to do somethingright away and I was like no, I
don't have to do anything rightaway.
I really need to take care ofmyself and my mental health and
my daughter.
I mean everything is settled,I'll know when it's time.
Because when the first ideacame to me like it was like a
mosquito, it would not leave mealone.
I was like I have to do thisthing, I have to try it out.
(27:49):
I just got to put it out there,so I know how simple and easy
that moment can look to and Iknow I don't have to force it.
Julie (27:58):
And you don't want to force it, because then it's not
the same with the same ease.
And I'm not saying that meansit was easy, but there's
something about that.
When you just have somethingthat you know is going to do
something, yeah and so yeah, butkeeping your, but not ignoring
the little signs either.
(28:18):
Oh, yes.
Sarah (28:20):
Being aware, but not diving in too fast.
Julie (28:24):
Yeah, definitely, I'm figuring out what you want and
letting go of the like for me.
The other thing that I find wasgetting me caught was like the
but I, you know, I have to besuccessful next time.
In fact, I have to be moresuccessful.
Sarah (28:39):
Oh, yes, I feel that in my bones and for me I want it to
be fun, Like it has to be alittle bit fun too.
Julie (28:49):
I'm big on.
You can't work that hard andnot have fun so important.
It's so important.
So you've been working on yourmemoir.
I'm really excited to hearabout that and to know when it
comes out.
Do you have a timeline yet, oris it still in progress?
Sarah (29:05):
It is progress, in progress but, like my personal
goal is for it to be finished bythe end of the summer, so
fingers crossed.
I've been writing like athousand to fifteen hundred
words a day, so I have a hundredthousand words like I have made
momentum.
Um, but me being me, I'm alwaysreworking what I'm saying.
That's part of the process.
Julie (29:26):
So yeah, yep, and then your editor will come and cut a
whole bunch of stuff.
You'll have another half a bookwhen you're done.
Sarah (29:36):
I'm like I'm just writing it all and then whatever gets
chopped is chopped, but I'mgoing to put it all out there
and then we can figure it out,like I think that's the easiest
path.
Julie (29:45):
I think that's exactly what you should do and I'm
excited you will have to reachback out and we'll let all the
listeners know when the book iscoming, because I think people
will be interested to hear moreabout your story.
Sarah (29:57):
Thank you, yeah, I think it's going to be interesting.
At first, when I started itsomething we haven't talked
about yet is I actually foundout after I sold my business,
after my daughter was sick, allthe things I have obsessive
compulsive disorder, and so whenI first started the book I
thought it was going to be abook about looking back and
seeing how like I've always hadOCD and how like in my childhood
(30:18):
that wasn't so great, but whenI was creating a business that
was actually really helpful.
But I think the more I'vegotten into the book, I think I
don't want to say it's more thanjust an OCD memoir.
But there's so many otherlayers to it, so kind of in a
pivot part of the book right nowI'm kind of like reworking the
through line a little bit, but Ithink it's is bigger than that.
Julie (30:35):
Thank you, but yes, just even on our kind of short
conversations, but I'm really,really keen to see what you do
next and where you land, because, um, and how you keep
(30:58):
redefining success for yourself.
Yeah.
Sarah (31:01):
That's fun too.
Julie (31:03):
Yeah, yeah, good.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me.
I really appreciate it and, uh,I'm looking forward to
following on your journey.
Yeah and Well, thank you somuch for joining me.
I really appreciate it and I'mlooking forward to following on
your journey.
Yeah.
Sarah (31:11):
And I'll let you know when the book comes out.
Julie (31:13):
Perfect, Thank you, Take care.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Please remember to hitsubscribe on your favorite
podcast platform so you won'tmiss any episodes.
Figure 8 isn't just a podcast.
It's a way of seeing the big,gorgeous goals of women
entrepreneurs coming to life.
If you're interested inlearning more, you can find my
(31:36):
book Big Gorgeous Goals onAmazon, anywhere you might live.
For more about my growth andleadership training programs,
visit www.
julieellis.
ca to see how we might worktogether.
Read my blog or sign up to getyour free diagnostic.
Are you ready for growth?
(31:57):
Once again, that's www.
j ulieellis.
ca.
When we work together, we allwin.
See you again soon for anotherepisode of Figure 8.
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