Blog
Arming Veterans to Navigate the Obstacles to Meaningful Employment Veterans Day 2022
Are you a U.S. Veteran struggling to get a job? Or perhaps a family member or friend is a former warrior struggling to find gainful employment. Or maybe you are a former servicemember in a civilian role that doesn’t seem to fit. If so, I can relate. I am a Veteran who...
Veterans Day 2021 : A young man, a ferret, a flag, and a foul ball.
Kyle Stoeckli lived next door. I saw him grow from a sweet, always smiling young boy into a man and young warrior. As he grew, he proved to be kind, helpful, and earnest. As a single working Mom at the time, Kyle helped with my yard work and some occasional odd jobs....
Mining for Diamonds: Rethinking Your Disadvantages
When I was a little girl in elementary school, I hated being asked to line up by height. I was always the shortest in the class. Lining up by stature always made me feel small and insignificant. I would complain to my mom, “Why did I have to be so short?” My mom had...
Recover as You Work
“Recover as you work”, asserts my Peloton Coach, Matt Wilpers. The Peloton is a stationary bicycle equipped with a video screen that streams upbeat music and enthusiastic and well-toned coaches who “ride” along with you and hundreds of other peloton’ers. As you ride, the coach instructs you to adjust both your cadence and resistance throughout the workout. Cadence is how fast you pedal, and resistance refers to the load you pedal against. The center knob is located in front of the bike seat. When you turn it to the right you increase the resistance and when you turn it to the left, you decrease the load. What Matt is encouraging us to do when he says, “Recover as you work,” is to either slow our cadence or to lessen the load but to never quit pedaling. And believe me, I often want to quit especially after a really intense effort.
Resilience and Beauty
Don’t we admire those who persevere and overcome the odds? Don’t we long to hear stories of those who survived overwhelming difficulties and loss? I have always been intrigued by the resilient, and especially resilient women who have persevered. Desiring to learn more...
2019 Year End Reflection and Lessons Learned
Having traveled for business much of the month of November and December, followed by preparations for the holidays, it was not until after Christmas that I found the mental space to do some reflection on 2019. I was reading John Maxwell’s phenomenal book, The 15...
Veteran Valor
As Veterans day approaches, I have been thinking a great deal about several of my fellow Veterans and the heroes that I have had the privilege of knowing. I think of Bill Haneke, the author of the riveting book, Trust Not, where he recounts in incredible detail, his...
The Power of Passionate Storytelling
When I was a little girl, we would travel to my grandfather's farm in Iowa for a visit. I always loved seeing Grandpa Fotsch. We would run into his strong arms and he would pick us up and squeeze us until our sides would hurt. Also, grandad was a wonderful...
Join Sara at the 2019 IWL Conference in Indianapolis
Fail Fast
Have you ever felt like you are working up hill for a very long time? You don’t get that promotion, or the performance rating you desired. Or perhaps you have seized a deal and delivered but despite all your best efforts, your client is still not satisfied. Life is about learning to overcome setbacks and disappointments. We often forget in those times to see failure as transient but rather a step toward success. And I have certainly learned a great deal about failure during my West Point experience.
