THE ONES WHO DARED
THE ONES WHO DARED PODCAST Elevating stories of courage. You can listen to some of the most interesting stories of courage, powerful life lessons, and aha moments. Featuring interviews with leaders, pioneers and people who have done hard things. I hope these stories help pave the path for you to live out your courageous life.
THE ONES WHO DARED
She Built a Billion-Dollar Team—Then Lost It All: Sarah Robbins on Starting Over, Systems That Scale, and Leading with Purpose
She Built a Billion Dollar Sales Team. Then Lost 99.9% of Her Income in Just 60 Days
What would you do if everything you built disappeared almost overnight?
In this powerful interview with Sarah, a former kindergarten teacher who rose from the 2008 recession to lead a billion dollar sales team, only to lose nearly everything in just two months. What followed is a raw and inspiring journey of rebuilding, redefining success, and leading with purpose.
Sarah reveals the mindset shifts and leadership strategies that helped her not just recover, but create a life and legacy rooted in impact. From funding water wells and orphanages to building playgrounds for children in need, she shows how wealth can become a true force for good.
Plus, her new book The Multiply Method just hit number one on the USA Today and Amazon Best Seller lists.
If you're in a season of change, rebuilding, or looking to lead with more clarity, this episode is for you.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why the way you end things shapes how you begin again
- How to serve first, grow your brand, and create lasting momentum
- The key to leading without attaching your identity to your title
- Sarah’s two core leadership practices that most people overlook
- Small, simple systems that create real movement
- How hosting an event is like starting your business from scratch
- Why living on less today creates freedom and impact for the future
Whether you are facing a hard reset or building something that truly lasts, this conversation is filled with practical wisdom and tools to help you succeed.
-Links-
https://www.svetkapopov.com/
https://www.instagram.com/svetka_popov/
Sarah Robbins, welcome to the Once With Here podcast.
SPEAKER_02:I am so excited to have you on here. I am beyond thrilled to speak to your audience today and to have this conversation with you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm just so honored. Um, so if you guys don't know who Sarah Robbins is, she's a former kindergarten teacher who turned to become a globally influential sales leader, bestselling author, a mentor, and she built a billion-dollar network marketing organization, then lost much of it and came back even stronger. Come on. Her new book, The Multiply Method, which is by the way, USA Today bestseller. Congratulations, Sarah. Thank you. And in this book, she generally shares the practical framework she uses to help others scale with integrity and clarity. Sarah's passionate about helping leaders multiply their income and impact without sacrificing what matters most. Sarah, I am just so honored to be with you today. Thank you. I'm honored to be here. Thank you for asking me. I can tell that you have a really beautiful spirit of generosity just by of how we got connected. And it says a lot about your impact too. Um so we got connected through a mutual friend, beautiful Amy Lacey, who's an incredible I know me too. She's an incredible powerhouse of women in business. Um and I got this beautiful book in the mail. And I was like, who sent me this book? Like, where who's the mystery person? Because I get books sent, you know, we're from publishing houses for um their clients that I'm interviewing for upcoming books and things like that. And I usually know I'm expecting this book or that book in the mail, but I had no reference to like where is where does multiply a method? And let me get to know who Sarah Robbins is. And um, and I then I made a connection. I'm like, I think it's probably Amy Lacey. Like, I know her, she knows Sarah, so it might be her. And then I message her, and sure enough, it was her. There was supposed to be a note in here, it wasn't supposed to be a big mystery puzzle that I had to solve, but um it ended up being that, and so you're here.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so build the suspense. Here we are today.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Um, I love like one of the reasons I wanted to bring you on too is because you have such a beautiful story of resilience, and this podcast is about elevating stories of courage and helping us see beautiful examples of courage or resilience so that we too can step into our stories of courage. But one thing that I learned about resilient entrepreneurs is that they're usually forged by some difficult circumstances. So I'm curious to know what's the foundation that built Sarah Robbins?
SPEAKER_02:That's such a great question to start with. And there's actually really two pivotal moments in my story. And I'll share how I first got started in my industry and built to a billion. I'll share the journey of how we started over from a blank slate. And I would say those were the two moments in time where pressure promoted me because I allowed it to. And I started my journey basically into entrepreneurship back in the recession of 2008. I was a kindergarten teacher and facing the loss of my job, although I was the most requested teacher in the building, teacher tenure Trumped performance. So there I was teaching, and I had interviewed against 1,100 people to get my job. That was something I actually always dreamed of doing. And during that time, I had to look for extra income in case I lost my job. And so I started freelancing and working for different cosmetic and skincare companies just as a way to supplement my income, was in the right place at the right time when one of those companies said, Hey, we're gonna leave the retail setting, go into direct sales. Would you want to be a part of this? And I really knew nothing about that industry except for the fact that it was like, I'm not cut out for sales. But it was my mother, she was a savvy, successful serial entrepreneur who was like, You would be crazy not to do this. You know, you've been given an opportunity, you've been praying for opportunity, and here it is. It's just itself. And because I had a need, that is what caused me to say yes. Success was not easy or fast. For me, in fact, it was quite the opposite. I was in a business of sales, I was shy and I had no network, but I really became a student of my profession and started to learn and read the stories. And I'm like, you know what, if they can be successful in doing this, so can I. I just have to learn how. So I really poured myself into it. Um, ended up actually going on to build a billion-dollar sales team through creating simple selling systems. We did that in under five years, which is to build a billion-dollar sales team, they they say it's like a unicorn brand, but we were the fastest to do it in under five years. And that ended up being my profession for 17, almost 18 years. We actually got the company to over$2 billion in sales.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:And it didn't just change our life, it changed so many other people's lives as well through the legacy, the generosity, um, which I know we can talk more about later. But all of that shifted a little over a year ago. We got um called on an unexpected leadership call, and we get on, and there's an attorney on, basically saying the business that we had built for nearly 18 years was about to go away. 99.9% of our income, and we had 60 days to figure it out. And I will tell you, it's like in that moment. So when you talk about resiliency, we had a choice to go, okay, am I gonna sit in a corner and eat out of a cookie jar? I mean, really, it was like that was the hardest thing I had ever gone through professionally to go from billion sit in sales to total blank slate, yeah, or to say, like, this business is not my identity. I'm not starting over, but I'm starting with wisdom, with experience, with a network, with systems. And that's what I chose to do. We chose to rebuild again. And so that really is, you know, our story and how we allowed the pressure season in life to promote us on to the next thing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. How did you not cave in and just say, you know, this is so hard? I can't believe that I just lost it all. It's unfair. You know, just essentially cave into the victim mindset versus to overcoming. And what was it that set you up to not um go there to just not cave into that?
SPEAKER_02:Forgiveness and also faith that, you know, what was ahead could be greater. I had actually, and by the way, I want to just honor your audience here, regardless of belief, but I'll just share my true story is I was in a church service. This was six months before. And I'll just be honest, this was totally unexpected, even for me. I'm in a church service. My pastor's mentor was there and he was speaking, and he calls me out of the crowd. He does not know me. He does not know what I do, he does not know what's about to happen. Nobody would know, right? In a situation like that, that would have been kept so close, nobody knew. There's not even one hint of what was to come. Six months before, he says, girl in the sparkly shoes, I had sparkly tennis shoes on, and he said, a great betrayal is coming, but God's gonna heal it. And I'm like, oh shoot, who's gonna betray me? I'm thinking my friend better not be my husband, you know, like going on. And he said, then he says, and this is where it gets more obscure at the time. He says, and the thing you thought would be forever, God is going to change the trajectory. And I'm like, okay, now this is feeling a little strange. And he said, um, you've not done anything wrong. Nothing is out of order and nothing is out of place. He said, in 18, oh, and one more important thing, he said, people are going to start to come to you and say, What will it take for you to sell this or do this? So I'm thinking consulting, because I had started consulting for companies, affiliate companies, companies in my industry. I'm like, okay, must be that. And he said, in 18 months it'll make up for the past three years.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:Now I recorded it in my phone, but then I put my phone away because I'm like, this feels unsettling. And so I forgot about it, to be honest. The day of that phone call with the attorney, I remembered it. I pulled it out, I pressed play. And that was the signal to me, number one, there would be a great betrayal, but I was gonna have to forgive if I was gonna heal. And I decided from that moment, what I shared privately and publicly, it mattered, that I would honor that season because it was only an honor of that season, people, relationships, et cetera. Because when I look back, I'm like, that was an exceptional season of my life. It blessed my family. It allowed me to bless other people's family as well. I am going to hold that season with gratitude. And how many times do we see people they hold on to a seat and they they can, we can, it's justified bitterness, betrayal, and it literally kills us or it takes us out. And I'm like, I choose to do differently. So I honored publicly that season and every single person who had a part in it, even the ones who had to make that decision. I honored privately. I have never had a conversation that is dishonoring about any individual or that company. And I do believe that that seed of forgiveness and honor was one that set me up for success in the next season. Because ultimately it's like, you know, relationships matter. All of these, they they how we carry ourselves, it matters. But then I had faith ahead that why couldn't I, you know, experience even greater things, right? In this season that's ahead. So that was a big thing was forgiveness and faith.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's so beautiful because essentially you closed out that chapter well. So that when you're stepping into that chapter, you're not walking in with bitterness, you're not building out of that energy of just this like yuck of bitterness, anger, resentment, unforgiveness. Because you can't really build something so authentic and beautiful that people will be feeling like magnetized to if it comes with this from this place of unforgiveness. And that's I just I love that so much. And I think it's such a you know, it's across the board in all relationships in all different arenas, is that we have to operate out of a clean space of forgiveness and love. Because if you're coming to work, if you're coming to your businesses, especially if you're building something and you're building from this place of like resentment and bitterness, I mean, what how what is that gonna look like? That's right.
SPEAKER_02:It keeps us open to new opportunities, to um new relationships. But I will tell you, I'm actually writing a keynote right now for a group I'm about to speak to, and I was thinking about what are those seeds, you know, of success. And I think, gosh, I've always doubled down on relationships. I've always doubled down on leadership in good times and in hard times. There are leaders, you know, when you start over in a new chapter, it's like there are leaders that, you know, you wouldn't want to follow them anywhere, much less to the bathroom. It's like by the way they carry themselves, by the way that they respond to situations. Now social media holds a permanent record of our reactions. And ultimately, it's like I weigh my words and I count the cost of even conflict. And it's like, am I justified? Of course, I'm justified to be angry and bitter and to not forgive. But again, what is the cost of that? What is the cost of ruining relationships and jeopardizing trust? And even though I'm not the one who did this, this was done to me, right? I'm responsible for my responding.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And it sounds like in your leadership, because you were leading this incredible team or possibly multiple teams, right? In what you were doing, your involvement as a leader and your response to that is a trickle effect on all the other people involved. And I would bet that a whole bunch of those people followed you and was like, what's Sarah doing next? I want to follow you, right? Especially them seeing you lead well and wrap up that that chapter well. It's it's such a beautiful representation of your legacy and what you're building.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. And you know, it's interesting because I have watched now different leaders, different companies where they didn't fare so well. And when people do have a choice to choose, you know, 100% of our top leaders said, whatever we're doing, we're doing together because we built such a close-knit culture and community. And that's important, you know, any sales team, any business team, any team that you're leading, right? Is that you're a leader you'd actually want to follow? And I've watched people who had the same thing happen to me over the course of the past couple of years with the economy changing, with industries changing, and they didn't fare so well. And what I see oftentimes is a leader leads well in the mountaintop, or they get to the mountaintop, and then they stop leading and they start managing. They're no longer leading from the front, doing the things that got them there, right? Yeah. And what got you there is not what keeps you there. You have to continue to lead and lead from the front and exemplify, you know, the behaviors, the culture, the commitment that you want to see, you know, replicate in your entire organization.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's such a good point. How do you create a standard of excellence? Because you definitely have a level of excellence that you hold yourself to.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, and I will say that was something that was a strong commitment in terms of my personal value system over the past 18 years was I always showed up. I would show up for every leaderboard. I kind of looked at it this way. There was nothing that I was willing to train other people to do that I wasn't doing myself. And so no matter, I never felt greater than, you know, or or more than a certain task. If I'm training you to do it, this is something that I'm absolutely doing too. Um, it's interesting in starting over, although I always led with a spirit of excellence. Well, when you start over with zero customers, that's like to a whole nother level. And so I even look at, you know, our sales team, our sales organization organization, you know, um what it is that I would normally give to them. And now it's like I'm combing through every single thing, thinking, you know, how do we create sales that multiply? It's a lot of people each doing a little bit more. How can I simplify this? How can I streamline this? You know, so it's like with everything doing exceptionally well with a spirit of excellence. So I make their jobs easier, right? Because what we simplify, we multiply in other people too.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's amazing. I'm curious too how you didn't lose your sense of identity in losing what you worked so hard to build, right? Because I'm sure at some level you have had to identify with your work. And then losing that because company makes policy changes and you're no longer in the picture. How did you not get wrapped up in that?
SPEAKER_02:That's the best question. That was another area where my heart was being prepared six months before. I mean, I can't even make this up. I had joined a group, and anyone who knows me, they would know this is so unlike me. To join a small group of people, of leaders, just different business owners, etc., and to do a six-week study called the identity exchange with Jamie Winchip. I have chills as I tell you this. Again, this is a story I can't even make up. I don't even know, honestly, I'm trying to think of how did I find it, what possessed me to do it. Because normally, and the reason why I don't usually join groups like that, because my business is very much about, you know, inhaling people. I'm always working with people. I'm like, okay, to be in small groups with people I don't know. Like, that's where I'm like, whoo, I need a little break. And, you know, I'm building two businesses, I'm raising two babies. So it's like to put anything extra on my plate. But I was like, it's six weeks, and I think this is such a powerful thing where I'm not defined by what I do, but instead by what is my purpose here on earth? And it ripped away all of this false identity, which in my opinion is idolatry when I'm known by number one earner, founding leader, all of these titles and accolades, which I had accumulated over the course of nearly two decades of my life, how I was introduced on every stage, every book, etc. If you can imagine me not going through that, I think that it would have been a rough landing. And throughout the six weeks, basically it has you asking this question of, you know, what do you want me to do? And who do you call me? And that's asking that question to God, right? It's like, who am I? What do you have? What is my purpose here on earth? And it's really allowing yourself to still all of the false identities, the labels, everything that's been placed on you, and to listen. And I heard two things, two words, and it was teacher and leader. And I thought, no wonder I love teaching. I loved teaching, no wonder I love coaching. No wonder I love leading masterminds. No wonder I love leading sales teams. And I thought, okay, as long as I'm operating in those areas, those domains, I can have favor wherever I go. I can have success that follows me wherever I go. And it was because I had really spent that time in securing what my true identity was and letting go of that idolatry, right? It was like the things that we, and I'll just say it, the things that people worship about us or the things that we, you know, hold dearly ourselves was why it was so easy for me to go, that's okay. It still hurts. Of course it hurts when we're losing something that we have worked really hard for for two decades of our life. But to say that doesn't define me, but I can be an excellent teacher and leader over in this space as well.
SPEAKER_01:Wow, I love how you were prepared for that moment. Yeah, that is so incredible because you can't make that up. But like the identity that is the name of the course that you're going through for six weeks, and then like boom, everything changes. The things that you identified with are stripped away, and now you have to rebuild. That's incredible. Well, I love the leadership piece of you. Um, and I am curious to know uh from your experience of all the things, what is your one leadership tip that you'd love for the listener to take away?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. For me, I think there's two things. It's number one, being a student of your profession, whatever it is that you're called to do. You know, that's like when I started, I was like, I have no idea about sales or leading a sales team. So what am I going to do? I would literally invest in every course, every book. I would go to the events, the masterminds, the retreats, and I look and I'm like, okay, maybe it was a six-figure, you know, cumulative investment, but what to build an eight-figure business. I mean, that's powerful when you think about the return was to be a student of it. And then the second thing is being the leader that you would want to follow. And so when you think about, you know, and by the way, I just I love that having um this new season of leadership because I get the chance to choose. I choose what leadership looks like in this season. So I've been asking myself this question of like, how do I want to respond in this season? I have um a woman that I work closely with in business, her name is Melanie. And I was noticing as I was starting this new chapter of leadership, she was so thoughtful in her responding. So she would respond to a text. I I'll just admit I'm high drive ADD, so I can be fast. And it's not because I don't care, but it's like, okay, I have 50,000 texts and I'm going through and doing all the things and, you know, spinning the plates and bowls upside down. And but Melanie would respond, thank you so much for your note. I hope you're having a great day. How are you doing? She would respond to the question and say, I hope you have a wonderful day. And it was a small thing, but to me, it was a big thing to go. Every time she responds to me, I feel valued and important. I feel safe in our communication and in that relationship. And so I started to ask myself this question how do I want to respond in this season? And responding is to the people we love, to the people that we lead. And I thought, you know what? It's so incredible. And that's where I'm grateful for new beginnings. It's like we get a chance to choose. And we don't have to, you know, lose everything to start over. Today's a new date to start over, but we get to choose our responding. We get to choose how we love, we get to choose how we lead.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And have you always been a woman of strong faith and confidence? Because, like, I mean, that is definitely I can feel that through the screen. You're full of confidence, you know where you're going, you know why you're doing the things that you're doing. Hey, if this episode is speaking to you, can you do me a quick favor and share it with a friend who you think will also be encouraged by it? Because when you share or leave a review or subscribe, it really helps us to reach more incredible human beings like you. Thank you so much for being part of this journey.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I grew up in faith, I will say that. And that was something that was, you know, helpful and I think and you know, formative in my journey. But as we all know, people have to find their own faith. And it's usually in those pressure seasons of life where we gain that. And I'm actually really grateful because it's the hard seasons that cost caused me to really press in and to develop resiliency. You know, that is what forged me to be the person who I am today. It was the hardship, it was the rejection, it was the loss, it was the moments of failure, but it was like, what a success. It's getting up just one more time than when we fell. It's not letting those moments of failure define you, but it's like we're gonna use them, we're gonna learn from them, and that's gonna be the thing that catapults us to the next season.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's so beautiful. You're also really great at building community networks, obviously, especially with your multiply method. Um, what is some advice that you have for people who are wanting to build community? Um today we live in one of the most loneliest generations. We're the most connected we've ever been, but the loneliest we've ever been. And I know you lead masterminds and coaching and you do a lot of relationship business and networking and all that. What tips would you have for someone who's wanting to build community?
SPEAKER_02:I think the first thing is to identify, you know, what type of culture do I want to create? What do I want to be known for? What do I want this group of people that I'm leading to be known for? And it's doing an exercise where you really define what that is and then making through that it's carried that making sure that number one, the vision is communicated, but also it's carried out through everything that you do. So for example, I know you host masterminds, I host masterminds. We're getting ready to start a one-year mastermind together. And with the ladies on Monday, we're going to be going through just some of the core values of the program itself, but also too, just setting a standard of expectation of like, hey, masterminds are only as effective as collaboration and participation. So it's like, what is the expectation? We show up, but we show up with what? Like a spirit of excellence, the desire not only to learn, but also to serve. And it's communicating those things and making sure that they are carried through in everything that we do. I think communication is another piece. It's like, what platforms am I, you know, um making available to people to collaborate, to share best practices, to brainstorm maybe when there are things that are not working, that they need to troubleshoot? So I think again, it's remembering it's not just about customer service. Customer service is a piece of it, but it's culture and community, and that is the piece that we create.
SPEAKER_01:That's beautiful. It's kind of a segue to the next question about building a personal brand or people who want to build like an email list. What advice do you have for them on a practical level?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, I love the practical stuff. I'll share with you how we brought a Facebook page of zero to over 500,000 collective fans on all of our social sites. We have a half million people on our email list. And I will say where it started first, and without a doubt, this was before the days of ads, by the way, was being a giver of great value. It's kind of a funny story, and I'll share with you how the story of building our personal brand accidentally led to us building several successful businesses and then our brand. So it first started on a Facebook business page. This was when Facebook's first started. And I was going live once a week, which today could be live. So this is your practical tip for the listeners, or it could be podcasting, whatever it is, where we are a giver of great value. Most people have it backwards. It's like sell, sell, sell, sell, sell, sell, serve, where we should be focused on serve, serve, serve, serve, serve, serve because it builds our audience, sell, right? We're sprinkling it in. I would go live once a week doing my prospecting pop-ups. I would give free training in under 10 minutes. At the time, because I don't even think there was groups at the time, but I was going live for the purpose of giving sales training to my team. And our company had a policy because Facebook Live was so new, they didn't know what you were gonna say. You can do that, but don't say the company name. I was like, okay.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_02:So here I am young, and I'm starting to do these weekly live, and I'm giving sales training to what I thought would just be my team, but it was a public page. These started getting spread so far and wide, people all over the world started tuning in to my consistent once-a-week live pop-ups where I was giving value to my audience. I eventually started to get smart enough where I was like, okay, now I've got like 300,000 people following me. Like, I should probably use this to build my list. So at the end, and even in the beginning of those lives, I would say, hey, if you loved this free tip, you're gonna love this incredible guide. You know, go ahead and fill it out, you know, and I would give my link or have them comment a word below to get my free guide. And then all of a sudden, people start commenting and I'm building my email list. And I did that for a course of time. And I really got known within my industry for the knowledge that I shared. Eventually, people started coming to me and they're like, Do you offer coaching? And I always thought of coaching as one-on-one, which for me wasn't my personal jam or my forte. I was also very busy, had a brand new baby, was leading a booming, you know, billion-dollar sales team. And so I was like, I don't really have time for that. But it became more and more often that people were asking. And I thought, you know what? Originally, I was like, I'm gonna do a once-a-month class. That's what I did. And I would just share it with the people that were following because I had spent so much time giving value. 500 people would sign up. They were paying 97 bucks. You can do the math. It was great. And then I would say, hey, we're doing this again next month. And eventually I thought, you know what, this is something that I could do. I could kind of roll into a membership where I would do weekly group coaching. Okay, that's where my inner circle was birthed. And then from there, and by the way, I remember launching it. I was like, if about five people sign up, I'm just gonna be like, just kidding, we're doing this next year. We had 500 people. I was like, okay, great. And then people started saying, well, what do you have for leaders in our space? And that's what created the mastermind. So when I go back, and if I were to think of just a practical tip or a takeaway for everybody listening here, is when you're on social media, first and foremost, with all of your content, be a giver of great value. Ask yourself, how can I make his or her life easier or better? Today and who's his or her? That's your avatar. That's your ideal client. What type of content would they want to consume? If you sell a wellness product, it's not your product all the time, but maybe you're giving other tips to help them to, you know, um look, live, and feel younger longer. What would those things be? And you write down some ideas or you use ChatGPT to help you out, right? We're gonna serve, serve, serve, serve, serve, sprinkle in the business here and there. If you can, think about next starting to go live once a week or podcasting, whatever the platform is that brings you joy and allows you to confidently communicate to your audience as we start somewhere. And then, right, when we're ready for the next step of I'm gonna create that opt-in, that free guide that would be perfect for that ideal client, that's gonna be the thing that you'll start to drop in. And hey, if you liked this, check our free guide, go grab it here. That's gonna be what builds your list. Oftentimes we first come up with the I'm gonna coach, and we're like in the monetization part where it's like, wait, we have to first start by set serving before we sell anything, right? Building our following, right? Building our list, and then we have people that we can actually sell to.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, essentially it's what's the value that you offer before like how do I make money on this? Because if that's the approach, you're not it's not coming from a place of service and solving someone's problem. You're just trying to figure out how you can have more money in the bank. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It's true. I always say your product, whatever it is that you sell, product can be a physical thing, it can be a service, doesn't matter what it is. Right. It is only one solution to that person's problems. So it's almost like taking inventory and writing a list of like, what sort of questions can I answer for for these people? What types of problems can I start to solve for them? We get so confused on what our content should be. There's your content. It's solving that person's problem. So again, you're in wellness. It's, you know, how to get in the steps, how to get in the water, you know, intake, your favorite high protein snacks, recipes, et cetera. It can be funny things that make them laugh. It can be inspiration, education, right? And we're just sprinkling in our product. And most people do it backwards, totally upside down. They're selling, they're wondering why. Number one, it's killing the algorithm. Number two, why it's detracting their audience. Their audience is shrinking and not growing. And listen, this is not vanity metrics. It's not about how many followers I have, which make me feel better. I look at followers this way. These are all potential customers.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's beautiful. Tell me why you're so passionate about systems and creating clarity.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I think we over um complicate sales in general. I think we over-complicate social media. I think, you know, when we look at, you know, somebody starting new in a profession, what do what does a confused mind do? It does nothing at all. People freeze. And I believe that anytime that we have something that feels more complex, like social media, like selling, et cetera, we should look at how do we simplify it, create a system for it. Because again, I look at how do I create month-over-month sales growth? How do I create momentum on a sales team? We had millions of customers in all our sales organization. I didn't know millions of people. There's no way I could have done billions of dollars in sales. What do I do? I empower a lot of people to each do a little bit more. How do I get a lot of people, the average person, to each sell a little bit more? It's by creating a simple system that everybody can plug in and replicate. If you think about a Starbucks, for example, right? Or a coffee franchise. You go in, you know exactly as the customer what to expect. Employees know exactly what to go in and do. We could argue, right? Some people may say they have the best cup of coffee, right? Like the Elf World's best cup of coffee. Some people may say maybe not so good, or not my personal favorite. Right. But ultimately, what you can't argue is their success. Why? Because they have a self-replicated, they have a business model where every single Starbucks is operating on the same system. Right. And so thinking about for people who are listening, whether you're franchising, you're pseudo-franchising, or maybe you're just leading your own, you know, sales force, your own sales team, what can you do to provide simple systems for people that help them to just grow a little bit more? That's how we create when we think about the word momentum, right? That's such a big word, but it's like, what really is that? It's just month-over-month growth. So what can I do to empower my people to each do a little bit more?
SPEAKER_01:That's beautiful. And you also say in your book, and I want you to go into this as well, is you say that events are the best way to launch your business or product. Tell me more about that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's like having a grand opening to your business. When I think about sometimes people are so resistant to doing this, and I'm like, don't you want everybody to know what you do? And also, too, it's like, this is like the people who love you the most, they support you the most, but it's such a great way to maximize time, but multiply your results, right? It's like to get your first crop of customers, to get good loyal referral sources. I'm like, people will refer other people onto you if they know what you do. It cannot be a secret. And that would be when we can ask and say, you know, who do you know this would be great for? And literally asking for the referral. But the best way that you do that is by actually launching your business with an event.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's beautiful. I'm curious to know from you, Sarah, what is the legacy that you want to leave? Uh yeah. Because I know you really care about impact.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You're really generous, and there's a lot of pieces that are just so admiring about you and your character. But I'm curious what's the end-all legacy for Sarah? At the Once for Dare Podcast, giving back is part of our mission, which is why we proudly sponsor Midwest Food Bank. Here's why. Midwest Food Bank Pennsylvania distributes over$25 million worth of food annually, completely free of charge to over 200 nonprofit partners across PA, New York, and New Jersey, reaching more than 330,000 people in need. Through their volunteer-driven model and innovative food rescue programs, they turn every single dollar donated into$30 worth of food. Now that's amazing. Join us in supporting this cause. To learn more or to give, go to Midwestfoodbank.org slash Pennsylvania.
SPEAKER_02:That is an easy question. It's generosity and it's something that we live out and we are teaching our kids every day. I'll share with you a couple quick stories and then how it's translated to our children. Um, first of all, this was something that my mother modeled to me. She's one of the most generous people I know. And when I started my business, it was interesting. I had a mentor say to me, Sarah, you know, what is your why? Why are you doing this? And I think that's an important question to ask. Because otherwise, we can let those feelings of doubt, defeat, momentary times of failure, right? Just totally derail us. And I said, I want to start a foundation for women and children. And she said, So what does that look like? And I explained and she said, What is that going to cost? I said, millions. She said, No wonder you're quitting so much. Because every time you're facing a no and you're facing rejection, right? You haven't built that resiliency. Why? Because it's it's rejection. And so she said, I want you to start really formalizing that and put aside a portion of your check every month and do something nice for a family in need. It's like before we go and start the foundation, right? Right. Yeah. So it was sending kids to a fine arts camp, building a handicap room, and just different things we were long able to do along the way. So it was like as our income grew, our impact grew, eventually we started building orphanages and homes overseas. We ended up gifting, like literally gifting, wrote it off. So there was no taxes paid, our first home to a family in need. And that has been the thing that has driven me through every single hard season. It's not about lifestyle for us, it's about the legacy. And so, even that was the thing when everything came crashing down. I was like, do I do this again? Of course I do it again. It's not just about paying my bills because I could continue to pay my bills on what we had earned through our first business. But I'm like, this is about leaving legacy. So how that's transferred to our kids. I have two children. One is five, one is nine. Gabriel's my oldest, and he has such a spirit of generosity. In fact, he'll have his buddies over. Oftentimes we'll get calls from parents and they're like, hey, so and so came home with like bags full of Gabriel's stuff. We're gonna come back and return it. And I was like, please don't. We've taught him to be a generous giver that that gives him joy. It fills him up. Kids will be leaving with like five hats, you know, turn all the different ways, like bags of toys, and it brings us joy because we see in his young age, with the with the measure of what he owns, right? Which is smaller, it's his personal things, that he's able to give and it brings him joy. We've put parameters of like, it can't be money unless you ask mom and dad, right? Because we would never want him taken advantage of. But it's so cool to see that spirit of generosity now with our children. And I think that is one of the greatest things that not only I want to be known for, but it's like, you know, that's the legacy that they carry on as well.
SPEAKER_01:I love that so beautiful because I think there's, you know, there's certain people that believe that money's evil and people who are wealthy are greedy and all the things. And how we break some of those lies or some of those misconceptions is by having examples who prove the opposite, right? And you're somebody who is doing the opposite essentially of that misconception. Because I believe that the greater your influence, the greater wealth or whatever it is, you can multiply that and you can make a greater impact. So whether it's your accolades, your titles, even that maybe you don't identify with, but it gets you into rooms and places where you can have greater impact for good and to impact people. And um, yeah, so I think that's just that's so beautiful that you're modeling that for people.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Um, I usually wrap up my um podcast by asking three questions. One of them is what is the bravest thing that Sarah's ever done? And you've done a lot of crazy things.
SPEAKER_02:Oh gosh. Bravest thing that I have ever done. Well, this is kind of a funny story, so I don't know how inspirational it is. But I remember going through a hard time in leadership. And that's a whole story that I I've actually done talks on is um how I held it just kind of healed from betrayal, like in leadership situations. I had a season where some leaders kind of came against me. And long story short, there was reconciliation because of my responding, the fact that I didn't respond and I walked in love. And I remember being on this trip, and one by one they came and apologized and they started asking, would you come to my retreat? Blah, blah, blah. And I was like, of course. Well, one of the people asked me to um go zip lining, and I am deathly afraid of heights, like deathly afraid of heights. And I was like, of course I'm gonna go, because I'm like all over reconciliation, but I'm like, oh my goodness. So I remember, and then there's another fun fact about me. I don't love to get my hair wet. My hair is like a thing, it like takes hours all the time, and it was raining. So it's like two of my worst nightmares in the same place. I go and I'm like, I'm gonna zip line. You have those like, you know, crazy little, you know, helmets that zip and I put on a shower cap underneath because I was like, well, then my hair won't get wet. Nobody will know. Nobody'll know I put the shower cap on. I mean, I am going down the thing and they were laughing at me because of my Midwestern accent and she's you know, got a southern accent. She's like, here you are going down the thing, going crap, you know, like and she's laughing at me because I'm like screaming the whole way down. We get done and I go to take off my helmet. I forgot I had the shower cap on, and everyone is just standing there cracking up. I will tell you, I will probably, I shouldn't say never, but I don't want to zip line again. So please nobody ask. Um, and if I do, I'll be sure to bring my shower cap.
SPEAKER_01:Oh my gosh, that is hilarious. Okay, is there a picture of that somewhere on the internet? There might be, there might be. I'd have to dig for that one. Oh my goodness. Um, what is the best advice that someone gave you? I'm incredibly selective about the supplements I choose for me and my family, and soursup nutrition gummies by BME Beyond Medicine have become a family favorite. Uh not only are they packed with incredible benefits, but they're so delicious that everyone in my family enjoys them. Introducing Soursup Cell Plus Immunity Gummies are the first ever physician-backed soursup supplements in the US, uh, expertly formulated with soursup, elderberry, and ignesia, designed to enhance your well-being. Experience the benefits of soothing inflammation, balancing blood sugars, relieving stress and anxiety, and strengthening your immune system. Use my code SVECCA, that's S-V-E-T-K-A on soursupnutrition.com and get 5% off today.
SPEAKER_02:Uh well, to live on 20% of what we make. That was one of the best words of business advice that I had, because that is what really kept us safe in the space that we found ourselves in. Um, we had always saved, invested, paid our taxes. I I mean, it's shocking the people that I've talked to that are entrepreneurs and they're like, wait, I actually have to like pay money on what I earn. Yeah, you actually do, you know, but it's like having been wise with our money, our first house we paid off, and that was the house that we ended up gifting to that couple. Our next house we paid off before we ended up moving here. So we were in a position of not having to scurry and scrape and take kids out of school and sell the house and do all the things because we were given that wise advice at the very beginning. I think people often in those mountaintop seasons, it's like they think they're always gonna be on the mountaintop. Yeah. Here's the reality we all know as entrepreneurs, ups and downs, highs and lows, right? Mountaintop and valley. You look at the growth chart of Apple, nobody, no company goes up forever. But when you're in that upward trajectory, it feels like it's gonna be forever. And that's when people outspend, right? And they start to get over their skis and then they put themselves in hard positions. And that's where we see people lose everything. So I think that's good advice for every entrepreneur who's listening in is, you know, living on that 20% or whatever you feel is reasonable for you and your family and getting wise counsel, you know, a team of people around you who help you to save well, invest well, and really plan for the future.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that is really good practical advice. Thank you for sharing that. And what are three pivotal books that you read that were transformative for you at any period?
SPEAKER_02:One of them was Anxious for nothing, and that's by Max Lacato. That changed my DNA. Um, it was 2020 and I was pregnant in a pandemic. And um, I just remember literally my roof in my physical house. We had bought a house with a builder's defect during 2020. You can imagine you're not supposed to have construction people in and out of the house. This was when we first, like, you know, everything was very scary to the whole world then because we didn't know we didn't know when I was pregnant. They're like, we don't know what's gonna happen to pregnant women. Can you imagine? I remember watching this thing on the news and it was a pregnant woman, she's put on a bed. I was just like, okay, like I was I remember crying and I said to my husband, I was like, if I die, like tell my kids I love them. So I was like panicked. Yeah. We have this house that literally is physically like caving in, there's nowhere to go. We're stuck in this house, and people are coming in. And that was when they're like, I mean, this was so fresh. They're like to my husband, if you have an elevated temperature, you can't be there in the delivery room. And so I just remember like living in this state of anxiety. There's changes in our business as well. And I'm like, if I don't get this together, and so I will say that was the most pivotal book, was anxious for nothing. I read that thing, I think, so uh probably like 11, 12 times to the point where I would remember it verbatim.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:And so, yeah, so that was, you know, just something that I literally like, it was like I lived it out, I walked it out. And for me, that was the thing that, you know, again, when I would say like changed my physical DNA, it's like when I start to even feel anxiety creep in, it's like I'm anchoring myself into that. And that has been a game changer for me. The other is being grounded in the word. So for me, that's reading the Bible every day. And really, you know, not only watching what's going into me. So it's like, what am I consuming? But what's coming out of me? There's a verse that actually says, it's not what goes into a man's mouth that defiles us, it's what comes out of our mouth. And so, um, you know, many times we think about health, right? And and prosperity and all of that. It's like, what am I consuming? It's like, what is going into me? But it's also what is going out of me? Like, what am I speaking over the situation? Like our words are so powerful. Yeah. So that's been um a big one as well. And then usually I have just some sort of devotional or something that I'm reading every day. Like I've got mine here on my book right now, that's just something that's encouraging to me every day. Cause here I am. I'm a leader that is, you know, you can't lead on empty. I'm filling other people's cups. It doesn't matter how I feel that day, it doesn't matter what's going on that day. Like none of those things matter. Like I'm responsible no matter the season to show up and lead. So it's fueling myself as well.
SPEAKER_01:I love that. Thank you so much for sharing that. Where can people find you?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, on social. So Sarah with an H the right way, right? Old fashioned Robins with two Bs, or my website is Sarah Robins.com.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. And you can also find her book, The Multiply Method, wherever books are sold. Um, Sarah, is there anything else that you'd love to share with the listener before we end?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, just that pressure promotes you. If you're facing a hard season, don't allow that to be the thing that tells you to sit out. It's going back to that question of, you know, who do you call me and what am I called to do? And that is your chance to really press through and to face opposition, to face rejection. Sometimes we're gonna face, you know, bitterness, betrayal, all of those things, but to give yourself permission to heal, to give yourself permission to build and maybe even give yourself permission to begin again.
SPEAKER_01:Beautiful. Well, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. It's been such an honor.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you.