Reclaiming Your Hue: A Podcast for Women Rediscovering Themselves in Motherhood & Entrepreneurship

Ep. 87 with Sarah Bohline | Co-owner, The Parts Department

• Kelly Kirk • Season 1 • Episode 87

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Building A Boutique Events Agency As A Mom

A single decision can change the way you work, parent, and lead. When Sarah realized staying in a comfortable role was dimming her optimism, she chose the unknown—and co-founded The Parts Department, a boutique events agency designed for impact, not bloat. We get candid about what it really takes to build a modern experiential marketing shop, from value-first delivery to relationship-led growth and the courage required to quit without a safety net.

I loved hearing how Sarah’s career at Periscope and Advocate shaped her point of view on events: people love brands that love them back. That belief anchors their niche—high-touch experiential strategies that actually move the needle. We unpack their two modes of working—embedding with teams on retainer or owning projects end to end—and why a lean model beats the old habit of filling rooms with extra bodies. You’ll also hear the realities of client outreach on LinkedIn, using relevance over hard sell, and why most early wins come from trust that’s been earned over years.

There’s a deeply human thread here, too. The London chapter—navigating a foreign city with a one- and two-year-old—reshaped how Sarah thinks about fulfillment. She talks about “buckets” that need filling: work, motherhood, movement, community. Flexibility isn’t a perk; it’s a system. A 9:45 a.m. Friday hockey game becomes proof that work can bend around life when partners trust each other. And yes, we talk about women leading in an industry that once looked like Mad Men, and how kindness as a business practice never goes out of style.

If you’re building a brand, leading marketing, or figuring out your next bold move, this conversation offers practical playbooks and real encouragement. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a quick review—then tell us: what’s your next hell yes?

Connect with Sarah:

Contact the Host, Kelly Kirk:

  • Email: info.ryh7@gmail.com

Get Connected/Follow:

Credits:

  • Editor: Joseph Kirk
  • Music: Kristofer Tanke 


Thanks for listening & cheers to Reclaiming Your Hue! 

Welcome And Origin Story

Kelly

Welcome everybody to Reclaiming Your Hue, where we are dedicated to empowering women to embrace and amplify their inherent brilliance. Our mission is to inspire mothers and entrepreneurs to unlock their full potential and radiate their true selves. I'm your host, Kelly Kirk, and each week my goal is to bring to you glorious guests as well as solo episodes. So let's dive in. Good morning, Sarah. Good morning. How are you? I'm good. How are you?

SPEAKER_01

Thank you so much for having me.

Kelly

Well, of course. And let's just do a quick little cheers. Cheers. Thank you for the Starbucks. I appreciate it. All right, let's go ahead and dive in after you take that sip. All right.

unknown

Perfect.

Kelly

I would love, Sarah, for you to share first. I always love to ask this question to kind of gear the listeners up. How is it that you and I are connected? Do you remember? Oh, I sure do.

SPEAKER_01

All right. So a dear friend and neighbor, Katie Frander, lives just down the street from me. Um, she sent a text and was like, okay, you have got to meet Kelly. Like, she is so great, and she does this podcast about women in entrepreneurship, and you have to be on it, and you guys are gonna mesh so well. And so I'm like, okay, great. And so she sent the intro text, and we had coffee, and then we had a happy hour, and now we are sitting together.

Kelly

I know, I love it, and I loved too just having that conversation with you when we had coffee, getting to know you a little bit better. And I had to giggle, Sarah, because you were like, I mean, is my story even interesting? And I was like, Are you kidding me? Like my jaw dropped and I was baffled. I'm like, yes, it is. And we're gonna have the interview just as long as you feel comfortable.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I'm glad you think so. And hopefully your listeners will agree and stick with us here.

Kelly

So of course. I'm I'm pretty sure that they will.

SPEAKER_01

Good.

Kelly

So, what came first for you, Sarah? Was it entrepreneurship or was it motherhood?

SPEAKER_01

So, motherhood technically came first for me. It's interesting when I think about it because I it's not like I have this typical like entrepreneurship story, right? Where I knew from day one that I was gonna be an entrepreneur. Like I didn't, but when I now that I'm sitting here and and am an entrepreneur, I look back from my history and I'm like, oh yeah, that's kind of a sign that probably led me to here.

Kelly

It's so interesting doing that reflection backwards. Um, and I don't know if you've had a chance to listen to some of the other interviews that I've had, but yes, I have on more than one occasion referenced a quote by Steve Jobs, and I'm paraphrasing it, which is you can only connect the dots looking backwards, not forwards. And so it's that that reflection back going, oh, well, yeah, that that totally makes sense. Like if I think about where I'm at now in context to where I was before, and all of these little like subtle little seeds that were dropped.

SPEAKER_01

So that's exactly right. Go ahead. Well, I I was gonna say, like, as I was kind of reflecting, I I recall, and we still joke about it to this day, when I was, you know, a kid growing up, I would beg my mom to have a garage sale. Like, I loved this idea of playing like customer and cashier. I love it, and so I would beg her, and she was always like, Oh my gosh, no, like it's so much work. And I mean, yeah, I'll sticker everything, I'll price everything. I love it.

Kelly

I just desperately wanted to have garage sales, whether we had enough to sell or not, you know, and so and little did you know that that actually does indeed play a role in in some way, shape, or form entrepreneurship. So very much so. Well, let's let's dive in further. So motherhood came first, and can you share with the listeners how many kiddos you have?

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So my husband and I, Ben, have two kiddos. We have Emma, who is eight, and Henry, who is 10. Mm-hmm.

Kelly

And fun fact for our listeners that our youngest kiddos are in the same class. So when we had this coffee meeting, it was like, well, wait, you're your kiddos are over at Concorde, my kiddos are at Concorde. What grades?

SPEAKER_00

What teacher?

Career At Periscope And Advocate

Kelly

Teacher. I mean, small world, yet again, it's proven here. I know. I'm sitting there after our coffee meeting that night, having dinner with the boys and going, Hey, Lando, do you know Emma Boleen in your class? And he was like, he like perked up and he was like, How do you like kind of like inquisitive, like, wait, what? How do you know? And then also fun fact when we had that wine get together with um now my Katie T me. Um, and she was like, Wait, you're Conrad's bonus mom? I was like, yeah. So it's just fun, small world. And I mean, that's just kind of how we dine is. So very much so. Well, as you as as you are talking through motherhood, right, in the midst of that, entrepreneurship had not come to fruition yet. And so what was it that you were doing um when you had when you had Emma and um Henry, Henry?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I so I was working at Periscope at the time, um, which is now called Betty, uh in downtown Minneapolis. Um, and frankly, I I was there for 15 years, and I had literally all of my life's major milestones working there. Um, so I started when I was 23 right out of college, and then I got engaged, and then I got married, and then we got a dog, and then we had babies, and here we are. And I was like, okay, I I I loved Periscope and I learned so much. Like I and I the network that I've built from there is just absolutely incredible. But I was like, you know what? If I don't make a move, I am going to become a lifer here. And not that that's a bad thing, I just thought there's so much more to my career than just here. And I need to, you know, experience and be able to have comparisons to other places and spaces. And um, so, anyways, then I went to a place called Advocate, um, which is based out of Washington, DC. Um, they were in year five of a startup um events agency specifically, and they were looking to um hire someone to lead their account team. Um, so previously they had everyone, you know, they were scrappies, so everyone was kind of wearing all the hats. Yeah. And so it was time to finally kind of define that account management function within the organization. Um, so I went over there for a couple of years. It was great until it wasn't. Um, I learned so of many women. Yeah, I mean, very much so. And you know, like it that I had a lot of autonomy to do what I felt was was right for them. And for that I'm so grateful. But I think there got to be a point where I'm like, okay, I think I think I've hit the ceiling where like I don't really see myself being able to offer a lot more than what I have to this point. So then I was like, okay, um, now what? Like the best part of my job has always been the relationship component. And I just I love so much being able to kind of create that shared success with my client partners, and you know, oftentimes we become friends out of it, and it's just so great, and I I love it, and so I'm like, how can I like bottle up all these relationships I've built and like bring them to somewhere meaningful? And so I had met with Katie Tiemann and she was like Shout out to Katie Timon. Shout out to Katie, and I was like, Katie, help me. Like, I'm open to the world right now. Um, she's a a local recruiter and is so lovely, just knows everybody in town, and she's like, Well, what do you want? And I'm like, honestly, agency side, brand side, I don't know. I just have a lot of awesome relationships and I want to keep it going. And she's like, Well, wait a minute. Have you ever like thought about doing your own thing?

Kelly

I just love this story so much. Just wait, listeners. Seriously, just wait because it gets better. Oh Lord.

The Spark To Start An Agency

SPEAKER_01

Um, and so she was like, This is gonna sound crazy, but my husband, Andy Tieman, is in the middle of, you know, figuring out his next thing, and he has been wanting to start up an agency. In fact, he already has a name for it and like, you know, the workings of a website. And she was like, he doesn't want to start it until he has a partner to do it with. And she was like, you should just meet with him. Like, just go have coffee, just like see what you think. And I was like, Okay, Katie, like, I'm open to the world. I told you that. So here I am.

Kelly

Careful what you wish for.

SPEAKER_01

Careful what you wish for. Um, so I don't know, maybe like a day or two later, Andy and I went and had coffee. It was in, you know, the summertime. So we're sitting out on the patio drinking our coffee. And what's funny again, small world, is Andy went to college at the U of M with my oldest sister. I don't know if I if we talked about this. Maybe, maybe not. So, like, I already certainly knew of Andy, and of course, Katie and I worked together at Periscope back in the day, and so I knew Andy, you know, just on the peripheral from that. So, anyways, I already knew of this Andy Tieman because of my sister and Katie. And um, and we sat down for coffee and just kind of talked about like what our like grievances in the working world had been to date, and like what we want if we were to like do our own thing. And they were very similar and tracking kind of on the same path. And he was like, Well, so I already kind of named an agency, it's called the Parts Department, yeah, and we can totally change it, but like I did get a logo made, and like I started the website. He's like, So what do you think? And I'm like, Oh, I like sit up in my chair, I'm like, oh, okay, like, so we're we're we're doing this, and it was just like he assumed the thing natural.

Kelly

Good job, Andy. Way to go, Andy.

SPEAKER_01

It was it was just such a like, well, yeah, this is a no-brainer. Yeah, we're gonna do it. And I had already at the time put in my notice, and I was, you know, finishing up at Advocate. So, like timing-wise, it was super great. Yeah, and so we just kind of hit the ground running and you know, tapped our network and our relationships, and it's just been an unbelievable ride so far.

Kelly

Okay, we're gonna we're gonna back up just a hot second. So, two things. Okay. First, I would love for you to just give context to the listeners as to what the business is that you're in. You said agency. Let's dive a little bit deeper in that. But the other thing that, and maybe this is just a note, and I do think that we actually touch and go a little bit deeper on this part too. The fact that you put in your notice without actually having anything as a backstop or a safety net, we are gonna talk about this. Okay, so yeah, first, first, let's cover grounds on what agency means for the listeners.

SPEAKER_01

Super. So, agency. Um, when I say agency, I mean marketing agency. So working with brands and clients to support their marketing and event strategies. You have a niche though. We do, yep. So when you look at marketing, obviously there's all sorts of channels to and tactics to build within your marketing plans. And where we really thrive is in events specifically. Yeah. Um, and so you know, I have always my career started on the events team at Periscope. Um, it it was actually just in its infancy. So back in 2007, they were just building the what they called at the time a brand advocacy event team. Interesting. And so yeah, I like that though. Yeah, it was funny because at the time we were like brand advocacy, like, what does that even mean? Like, I don't think even our clients will like totally like get the connection right away, especially when like really at its core, brand advocacy meant events. Yeah. So, um, anyways, uh, so I I kind of grew up on that team and experiential and events, experiential is a just a broader term for events. Um, but I just developed such a passion, like it was such a thrill for me to work on events. And at the end of the day, like people love brands that love them back, right? And that is the actual purpose of event marketing is creating these memorable experiences that create a positive impact and keep buyers coming back.

Kelly

Yeah. Whenever I think I might have mentioned this too when we were having coffee, I think when I think of like marketing agencies, I go back to this time when I was watching Mad Men. Exactly. And so a note that I had that um again, we're gonna just put a pin on the fact that you you put in your notice without having any sort of safety net. We will come back to it. But I put a note down to talk through the fact that, well, maybe we talk about discrepancies for how mad men was depicted, but also I put a note about how this particular field is male-dominated, correct? Or maybe I'm incorrect in that statement, or has it shifted and I'm just you know naive to that.

Women In A Changing Ad World

SPEAKER_01

I mean, like I think marketing and advertising, much like a lot of industries, was kind of built from men at the core, right? I mean, that's madmen in a nutshell. Um, but I would say by all means, like it has totally evolved, and there are so many incredible women in the industry running agencies right and left. So awesome. I stand for that's great. Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, but you're not wrong. Like when you think of madmen, it is men. Yeah. And so so yeah. Um have you watched that show though? I it's funny you say that because my husband and I were like, gosh, we we need to start the new year with a new show. Like, yeah, it just we love to like after we put the kids down, you know, hop in bed and and watch a show, and like that's kind of like our time together. And Mad Men came up. Honest to God, I hadn't watched, like, you know, religiously the seasons, and so we're just getting into it.

Kelly

Oh, I can't wait. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

So we're gonna have to have a little recap session. That's totally fine.

Kelly

Yeah, that's totally fine. Okay, so circling back to the pin. The pin. The pin. I wanna talk through that moment where you put in your notice and you did not have any safety net, no backstop whatsoever. You must have had a lot of faith in the fact that something else was coming down the pipe. Yeah. And I want to just talk through what were you feeling in that specific moment.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

Kelly

And had you already talked to Katie and maybe had just this intrinsic feeling that maybe no, okay. No, so you already put your notice in and then talked to Katie for sure. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Tell me more. Buck a lot more. No, I'm kidding. Um, okay, so first off, I I have always been a strong believer in destiny. Like I just so deep in my heart know that things happen for a reason. Um, I have destiny tattooed on my foot.

Kelly

I love that. Interesting. I'm sure that didn't feel very good either.

Quitting Without A Safety Net

SPEAKER_01

Um, but and so I, you know, I'm someone who is very positive. Um, I always know that things are going to work out, and I would say nine times out of ten, they do, and sometimes, you know, we get burned. But um, in this moment of where I was at with Advocate, I I was just struggling enough with kind of, you know, the culture at the time. A lot of agencies go through it. And I had, you know, talked to my husband, and you know, I'm always sharing grievances about like, oh, I'm so frustrated with this, this, and this. And so it wasn't like a shock to him that I wasn't like super happy there anymore. And I remember it vividly. I was, I was sitting on a call with um, you know, five other people at the agency. We worked remotely. Um, and I was it just like the middle of the call, it dawned on me. I'm like, what am I doing here anymore? Like, I am a positive person and I feel like this culture is making me negative, and I don't want that. Like, that's not me. And so after that call, I texted my husband. I was like, hey, so um I'm gonna be putting in my notice here in about half an hour. And he was like, Okay, I fully support you. Like, I'm surprised, but not surprised. Like, let's talk tonight when I get home. Um, and sure enough, I just I knew in my heart, like I had to do it, and I knew something would work out. And so I had a conversation with the president and CEO that I had already had a meeting set up with, and so it worked out nicely, but I kind of said, like, hey, I've I've got a little bit of an agenda snipe here. Um, I'm I need to put in my notice, and so I love that you call it agenda snipe, yeah, yeah, you know, it's like not necessarily on the agenda, so we're just gonna kind of sneak it in. So um I think it was, you know, certainly good for for all of us, and and they're evolving, and I'm certainly evolving. And yeah, um, but yeah, that then it was after that. I ended up, you know, I gave my two weeks, but because of this relationship that I've had with one of our core clients at the time, they wanted me to kind of see a project through. And so it ended up being a longer two-week duration. It was more like four weeks. Okay. And so that's where I kind of had that time to be like, okay, Katie, like, yeah, I'm putting myself out there. And so it was in that kind of duration.

Kelly

Okay. So you had a little overlap then when having the conversation with Andy and and committing to did you like in that meeting with Andy commit to moving forward? Or were you like, hold on, I'm gonna just no take a minute, take a minute to marinate.

SPEAKER_01

No, nope. I I mean like, and that is how I roll. Like my husband will say it all the time, like, you know, shopping, for example, like he will him and ha over buying some sweater in the store. And I'm like, Yep, that's it. I know I need that, and here we go. And I just am that way in life. Like, I guess I'm a I would call myself a pretty decisive person. And when it feels right in the moment, yeah, and I just pounce on it. I love it. Uh-huh.

Founding The Parts Department

Kelly

Hell yes or hell no. Uh-huh. I love it. Yes. Yes, you know, with Joe and I being in business together. Right. We so I'll give you an example of the hell yes or hell no. We had a a new client meeting. Yesterday. Okay. And he's literally talking through. Um, we're in person with the wife, husband is on the phone, and he's like, listen, when we get out there, I want prior to going out, I want you to make a wants and a needs list and come together after doing this separately, come together and let's talk through those needs. And that's non-negotiable. Yep. The wants are like, you know, it's, you know, perhaps niceties. Yep. But when we go out and we start looking at houses, it's either a hell yes or a hell no. And that's just we're not gonna, we're not gonna be indecisive about it, right?

SPEAKER_01

So I'm just like time for that. They don't like, let's just be efficient here. Exactly.

Kelly

But I want to just circle this back to also partners, right? And the nice little balance between like who you are as a person and who Ben is as a person. And I can say I'm probably a little bit more on the Ben side with him and Han sometimes. And I kind of get into my feels and my emotions, and then Joe comes in and he goes, Hell yes or hell no. Which one? I love this.

SPEAKER_00

I'm gonna use this, hell yes or hell no. I mean, you've like summed it up perfectly. Yeah, that's just how it is.

Kelly

So good. Well, thank you for sharing more about how that process went with putting in your notice and then having the conversation with Andy. Now, how old were Emma and Henry when this all came to fruition?

SPEAKER_01

Um the building of the parts department. Uh so it's been about a year and a half, so it'll be two years this August. Okay. Um, and so what they were um six and a half and eight and a half. Okay. Perfect. So, you know, well into their school years and yeah.

Kelly

Interesting thing, too, about how their ages, right?

SPEAKER_04

Mm-hmm.

Kelly

Because we're like you and I are kind of in the midst of having kiddos that are around the same age, right?

SPEAKER_04

Mm-hmm.

Kelly

And these different seasons that you go through and how as an entrepreneur, the nicety that we have is as they're as the kids' seasons shift with either transitioning from elementary school to middle school or activities all of a sudden in the mix. I think that we were having our grievances about this, right? Totally. It's like as an entrepreneur now, yes, we have the flexibility, but it requires us to go, okay, how are we gonna divide and conquer? How are we going to um really hone in on our time management as well? And so before I ask you this question, I want to talk through the thought process that you've had about the challenges that you had while being in the corporate setting, more of a corporate setting with the kids and how they were growing up and how that differentiates now with being more on the entrepreneurial side.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

Kelly

And what commonalities do you still see?

Flexibility, Parenting, And Time

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Um, so it's funny because pre-COVID, I feel like we're all in this like pre-COVID versus post-COVID mode. Um, pre-COVID, I was going into the office, you know, with our littles, dropping them off at at daycare and then heading into the office. And it was, you know, a 20-minute drive there and back every day. And you like think back on that now, and you're like, how on earth did we function? Like, because my husband was going into his office every day. Like we were both working at an office and just having to deal with the logistics of like getting kids to and fro, and oh, now one's sick. And yeah, you know, when when it was pre-COVID, at least with my experience at Periscope, like you do feel a little bit of this guilt if you have to stay home for one reason or another. They were very flexible about it, but like deep down for me, I was always like, oh gosh, like I'm still working really hard. Like I promise, but like I know that there's this level of trust that they have in me. And and so, anyways, pre-COVID working in an office, I guess when I look back, the fact that our kids were in daycare during that time frame where I was actually going into an office made things a heck of a lot easier. Yeah. Than now when they're at school, and I have the flexibility as an entrepreneur to pick up our children at 220 at the end of the day. And that's wild to think about. Like that wouldn't be a thing if I were at an office somewhere. Right. Um, so I just appreciate that bit so much. Um, and then there's this whole thing, you know, Henry's in hockey and Edine in hockey is you know very intense. Um, again, he's 10 years old and they've got a tournament this weekend. Starts on Friday tomorrow. First game is 9 45 a.m. What? So, like, no questions asked, no acknowledgement, like kids are just not going to school on Friday because they have a hockey game. So, again, something like that. Like, I will be able to have the flexibility to take my 10-year-old child to his hockey game at 9 45 on a Friday.

Kelly

Um, this is a perfect segue into that other question I was gonna ask, which is what does the time management piece on the other side of that look like, right? Okay, so you just gave the perfect example of okay, I am pulling my kid out of school for a nine, nine o'clock hockey game, which then also requires me to figure out how am I going to um do the workload as well. What is that gonna look like for you? This is like the purest example, and I love it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it really is. Andy, are you listening? No, I'm kidding.

Kelly

Um she slaps the laptop closed Thursday evening and says, won't be opening it until Monday. Just kidding.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, like, that's just it though. The reality is like when you're an entrepreneur, or frankly, like in any in a lot of businesses, like there isn't necessarily this like finite set time where it's like you have to get your work done between the hours of eight and five. Yeah. And so while I may be at a hockey rink from nine o'clock to 11, and then again at 3:30, like I've got that window in between. I've got the weekend, like Andy, and I of course try not to work on the weekends because again, that's the beauty of being able to have your own business and your own hours and flexibility, but we both trust each other to know that whatever we need to get done in whatever hour of the day, it will get done. You know? So, so that's where like these kinds of moments where we're midday and have to like bring our kids to X, Y, or Z, like it it doesn't rock the boat so much because we know we're going to get whatever we need to done.

Boutique Model And Scaling Plans

Kelly

I love it. Something that's coming to mind to me too now, Sarah, is the fact that you're in you have a business, you're a co-owner with Andy, and so to your point, it requires such a level of trust between one another. Now, one of the um follow-up questions that I have is yes, you guys are in startup mode, essentially. Very much right, um, but what does have you guys talked about what the future looks like on bringing on other employees and scaling? Yeah, I have to imagine based off of some of the conversations we had over coffee.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yes, certainly. I mean, I think, you know, both of our visions are to grow this agency into, you know, a small shop. We don't want to be like 50 to 100 people, like we want to be nimble. Sure. Um, and we want to be able to start to hire FTEs, full-time employees. Um but at the same time, like our model is such that there are so many brands that hire agencies, and you get a team of 10 people working on your account. And if I'm a brand, I'm seeing these 10 people sitting in this room where reality is like probably only two of them are actually like productively doing something for you. Like, that's just the old agency model. Like, you just throw a lot of minds and bodies at something, but like it's so inefficient. And both Andy and I experience being on the agency side that you know, your clients see the the time clock ticking and how many people are in it and what their hourly rates are, and it's like, oh my gosh, like yeah, we gotta cut back, like, and then they the client starts to worry about who's working on it and and how many people, and like that's the last thing we want. Let's not worry about that, like we'll manage that. We want to spend all of our time working on creating a solution for you, sure, sure, you know, and so that's I go back to saying, like, that's where right now we we are functioning so well, being able to bring people in in a you know, freelance type of capacity, especially in events like things are so project-based. Yeah, and so it it's hard to know, like, okay, for 2026, we know we have this much revenue coming in because events are popping up, and yeah, our clients aren't even necessarily aware of what event needs they might have or where they need to pull in a partner to help them. So it we both have the vision to hire and and have you know a bigger group of people beyond just he and I sitting in this office that we have that's huge and it's just he and I. Um, but like we we don't want to do it just to do it, like it needs to be very intentional, yeah.

Kelly

So you guys would be considered more boutique style, very much so. Yeah, yep. I I love that as well because it gives high-level touch, right? And almost like a white glove service versus let's throw a bunch of people in a room and and call it a day.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and our clients feel like they're the only client, right? Because Andy and I are on everything, and so they have his creative mindset, and then they have my, you know, strategic logistic production mindset. And so the two of us together complement each other so well, and from a client standpoint, like they have the benefit of the two of us with a lot of years of experience under our belts versus like putting, you know, more junior folks on an account because we can and we have the bodies and we need to make them useful, yeah, you know, yeah.

Kelly

So okay, so typical day. I want you to think on this and just give day in the life of Sarah. Okay.

Working With You Vs For You

SPEAKER_01

With the parts department. All right. I mean, there's no typical day, I guess I would start with, which every event person would say to you. Yeah. Um, so there it is. Uh, but generally speaking, get up in the morning at seven o'clock, get the kids wrestled out of bed. Um, my husband and I, you know, get them off to school. I love the morning walk to school because it is like social hour for mom. Um, and just the ability to even be in proximity to walk to school is just so great. I agree. Um, yeah, right? Like you know it so well.

Kelly

It's a dream, seriously.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, and that's one of those things, like from a want and need standpoint when you're looking for your house that some people don't necessarily think about, right? Proximity to being able to walk your kids to school versus bus. Oh gosh, right?

Kelly

Like, I don't know, I feel like that gets overlooked. Oh, for sure, right? No, I it's it is completely out of context for a lot of people, especially just talking on the real estate side for a hot second. Yeah, especially if they're relocating and they have zero context to magnitude, isn't it probably but like just in in general, the twin cities and like okay, I'm gonna be working in downtown Minneapolis, but how far is it to downtown Minneapolis? How do I have to um you know, struggle through traffic to get to downtown Minneapolis? And where are my kids gonna go to school? Are they gonna are we gonna live here? Are we gonna live there? Like they have zero context. And so, you know, to to be able to have that frame of reference is highly important.

SPEAKER_01

But yes, which is where they rely on you, right?

Kelly

What right, what a time saver though, just in in the relation to what we're speaking to, yeah, with being able to get them to school real quick and then hop back, and you're like, okay, now I'm I'm into the groove.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, yeah, but okay, so drop the kids off at school, having my coffee at home, probably watching the today show, just you know, being up to speed on all the the daily happenings. Um, and then Andy and I have an office um in Eden Prairie, which is about 20 minutes away, um, that is we're just so grateful to have a a mutual friend of ours um is in real estate and um was so kind to offer up this space to kind of get us going. Seriously, and it yeah, like you don't realize how um beneficial or valuable it is. I mean you do, but until you start talking about it with people and they're like, wait, what? Like you're not paying rent? Like, yeah, okay, so you don't have much of an overhead. Correct. Nope, we don't right now. Right now, yeah, right now. So, so, anyways, we'll, I would say maybe a couple days out of the week, we'll go into the office and it's time to kind of let the two of us put our heads together, and maybe we're working on business development, or maybe we're, you know, brainstorming for a client on X, Y, or Z project that we're working on. Um, but it also allows us to just have the credibility of an office space to be able to offer meetings in our space with our clients. Um, so that's been really helpful. But, anyways, um when we're not in the office, we are probably, you know, going and having coffee with a potential client or just using our network and and having conversations to, I mean, that's what it's all about with business development. It's just like getting yourself out there as much as humanly possible. Totally. Um, so so yeah, we're doing that. Um, and then it's 220, and both of us are picking up our kiddos at Concord. Um and then, you know, it's finishing up the day with whatever we have left on the radar. Um awesome. I don't know, it it's not that descriptive, but it it's just so it's flexible and squishy for the purpose that events are flexible and squishy, frankly.

Business Development And LinkedIn

Kelly

For sure. Yeah. Well, and you're giving context to the fact that in each industry, there's a lot of common core things that help run the business, right? And keep the business. And you're talking through a lot of that and hitting a lot of that throughout the week, whether it's just you, just Andy, or the two of you collectively, right? But also the the differences in just like for what you are doing in business, the flexibility that you have as it pertains to doing events for other businesses, right? And helping to build that. So I I love it. I'm like, I went into the wrong field. Oh my god. I'm just kidding. No, I love, love, love everything that I'm doing with the podcast and then with real estate. It's it's incredible, but it allows a different kind of flexibility for sure. Yeah. And so I something else that has come to mind that I'd love to talk through is that process for you and Andy of mining for clients. And let's talk through this because I I get a sense that it probably looks a little bit different than maybe what perhaps we do on the real estate side. And then even how what my mining looks like for the podcast, too.

SPEAKER_01

Right, yeah, true. Um, I mean, everyone will say, like, you have to constantly be thinking about business development. Um, and I I will say, and I think Andy is very similar in this way, like, I am not a salesperson. Like, I just get like itchy thinking about like putting on a hard sell with someone. Um, but what I am is a very like relationship-oriented person. And so I want to frankly get to know you and your challenges at work and your struggles to to then determine if if I'm even the right partner for you. Um, because I'm not just gonna, Andy and I are not just gonna like shove ourselves at someone just because it's it's a new piece of business. And like that's that's exactly why we've started this, is we want to be very intentional with who and how we support based on our skill set, not just because we call ourselves an agency and we'll figure it out. Of course, there's some level of that, but um for me, it's it's about you know sustaining those relationships and keeping in touch with your network as often as possible and like also like connecting brands, right? Like if you've got a food and bev brand um that could be well suited for another one of your client partners, like let's talk about merging and how the two of you can support one another via us to you know put on an event and is there so this is my disconnect right now.

Kelly

Yeah, you have talked about your your niche, right? But is there a specific like um revenue that a company needs to be making or like amount of money that they would be willing to put into working with you guys? Like, yeah, help me make that connection.

SPEAKER_01

So, I mean, we're still small enough where like we're not gonna say no to a small project budget, like call it fifty thousand dollars. Like some agencies in town, obviously, uh they have a whole uh company to support, and so a$50,000 project is probably not gonna be mean much to them. To us, it's great, and like we can be super nimble and efficient with those dollars so that you know we have our revenue that the parts department will take from that budget, but that we can put a lot more to, you know, the hard costs associated with the event elements that we need to bring in to make it a successful event. Okay. Interesting. So there isn't like a we don't have like a threshold of like, okay, anything under 20%.$25,000, like we're not gonna touch. We're not that way. And and I think the other thing is um the way we're structured, we kind of have this idea of like we can either work for you or with you. And when we work with you, we're essentially an extension of your team. So for example, we work with CH Robinson with their events team. And they have hired us to be on retainer with them on a monthly retainer to literally act as an event um manager within their events team. So like they can throw anything and everything at us as if we are a C. H. Robinson employee, which by the way, I I technically am because that's what has allowed me to, you know, badge in and out of the office at any point in time and support them to the to the optimal fascinating. It is so that's the whole like work with you kind of model, yeah. Versus the work for you could be a situation like um, I don't know, like Ecolab, for example. We work with their events team and they have a very robust experiential and events team, whereas CH Robinson is super nimble.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

London Season And Identity Shift

SPEAKER_01

And so on the Ecolab events team, they um may have a project that their internal team can't necessarily put the support and dedication behind it. So they're gonna hire someone like us to work for them, okay, versus like with them every single day and and getting at the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day. We're taking on a project, and of course, they're still, you know, along the ride with us, but it's more of a okay, the parts department, we're gonna give you this project for you to execute from start to finish. So you're gonna concept it, you're gonna brainstorm it, you're gonna figure out how best to, you know, come up with a solution for this event, and then you're gonna go make it happen. Okay.

Kelly

All right, so diving deeper into this, and and just bear with me, Sarah. Just bear with me. So you both you and Andy have lots of experience backing you, which also means that you have a lot of relationships that you have already fostered and have had from previous companies that you've been with. Yeah. So I have to imagine that a lot maybe not, but have has business come from some of those previous relationships that you had already fostered and built? And then part two to that question is like, okay, again, bear with me. I think of like LinkedIn, right? So like LinkedIn is severely underutilized by all vast majority of businesses, individuals, entrepreneurs of the like. Yeah. Do you utilize LinkedIn as a source of like just mining for that gold and then helping like having that allow and help to build your pipeline for the year? Yeah. Talk me through more of this. Yeah, okay. I'm so fascinated.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So your your first question about like does much of our business come from our existing network or not? The answer is heck yeah. Like, I think you know, relationships are key to any success. And people want to work with people that they trust and people that they know. It's just like when you get a referral to hire someone at a company, um, you're more likely to probably hire that person if you trust the person that you got the referral from that has validated. It's the same thing in our business of like, okay, my good friend Nicole at Ecolab, we worked together at Periscope for years, and she knows how I work and how I function. And so it's easy, air quote, I guess, um, for her to know that she can trust me with a project and that I'll follow through. And so, yeah, like that is where the bulk of our business is right now, is with the people that we have worked with in former lives. I love it. But then that's not always enough, right? Like we still need to build beyond that. Um, so yeah, we do use LinkedIn a lot. Okay. However, to your point of like it is very underutilized. We may like come across, like, let's say we're targeting um Unreal, for example, the business Unreal.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um, because this is actually a very valid example. We both were like, oh, it'd be so fun to work with Unreal. Like, they are on fire right now. Like all of our children in their sports, like all of the gear is unreal. Um figuratively and literally, I guess. Unreal. Uh, and so we reached out, you know, blind reach out to their marketing folks and their CEO and all the things, and like didn't get much of a response back from people. But like, that's so normal because if you don't need someone like us, like you're just gonna, it's like junk mail, right? Like you're just gonna like pass it by. But there's going to be that time where someone's gonna need someone and it's like right time, right place. And that's what we have to rely on when we're like blind outreaching. Totally.

Kelly

So what's the like um there's like an average amount of like touches before it finally like I think it's like upwards to 10. Yeah, you're probably right. I don't know, I haven't looked it up, but what's so funny if it's cold, like right? If it's like a cold lead, like you're you're cold outreaching, uh warm is completely different, right? But I do think that it's like something, it's it's there's some algorithm for it for sure.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, I I laugh because again, I'm I'm not a salesperson, like, and so the way that I do cold outreach is trying to find a story, uh like a relevant story, for example, like with Unreal, like I I'm talking about my son and all of his hockey gear being on real, trying to be relevant to them, not trying to sell anything on that first outreach. It's just like, hey, oh my gosh, like kudos to you. You've built an incredible brand. Like, yeah, our hockey boys just absolutely love it. And then, like, you hope you might get a response from that. And if you don't, you try again after a little bit, and maybe you're gonna put on a little bit more of a hey, I'd love to meet for coffee. We could talk about you know, a potential partnership.

Kelly

Nope, no pressure, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's a little bit. I feel like our approach um to have to sales, and I you're quoting sales because I don't love that term either. Yeah, let me back up. Yep, I don't think that I have a natural knack for sales, if that makes any sense. So however, I have had individuals who have met me a couple of times and then have they've literally been like, you are actually very good at sales. And I think that this is you and I because it's actually the relationship that we focus on, which then ends up turning into work people know, like, trust, want to work with us. Ooh, I like that.

SPEAKER_01

I like you just like nailed it. I like that. No, that is exactly it. Like you just bottled that up perfectly. Wait a minute. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, we are very similar in that way.

Buckets Of Fulfillment

Kelly

Well, I just yes, and I do thank you for kind of diving a little bit deeper into what that looks like for you. Again, it's funny enough, we talked about this early on in the interview where industries across the board, entrepreneur, corporate, there are these core functions that have to be done in order for the business to sustain and to keep going and to you know thrive and scale. And so there's there's those core functions, business development, business building is one of them. And the approach to it, there's a lot of commonalities to that. So LinkedIn, for instance, and kind of like, but then going, okay, I recognize that brand, I like what that brand is doing. Hey Andy, should we do this? Like, it's the same thing with Joe and I and how we approach it. So interesting. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's like, yeah, we want to continue to foster and build relationships. Yeah. How do we continue to build and foster relationships?

SPEAKER_01

Right. But like you want to. I mean, for us, like we we at this point, like we get to choose who we go after, whether or not they wanna be with us or not, is a whole nother story. But like we get to go after like our passion brands. Yes, right? Like the brands that we live and breathe every day and feel like we could really make a difference and impact on. Yeah, like that's what we get to go after. And you gotta go after like a dozen plus before you get one.

SPEAKER_00

I could not agree more. It's hard work. I couldn't agree more.

Kelly

By the way, I'm giggling because you mentioned Unreal, and I literally like my brain did this like back and forth, back and forth for like two hot seconds. Because isn't there a food brand too that it's not unreal, it's like real. It's something like no, I think you're right. It's ingredients, but like U-N-R-E-A-L. Yes. Yeah. And then there's Unreal, the appealing and apparel, which funny enough, there was another gal who was on the podcast um weeks and weeks and weeks ago. Her episode dropped, and she brought um like a branded Unreal. It was the first piece of apparel that I've had from them. Oh, interesting. Which I'm like, what is this? And I I think I was like, UNRL, that's what I was just calling it. And then finally somebody was like, it's unreal. So I'm giggling because I'm literally like my brain was doing this like funny kind of toggle back and forth. Like, is she talking about the apparel or is she talking about the food? But like the food. Yeah. Well, but the food and the food one might be another really good one for you, too. Maybe we'll put that on the list. You should. Yeah. Because um uh their their snacks are really yummy, and you don't feel crappy eating them, exactly. Yeah, okay, switching gears. Okay, listeners don't know that we had this conversation over coffee, but I do want to talk through this, and we talked about it off air as well. Yeah, so you had a stint overseas in London. Where does that fit in this timeline? Okay, and I want to talk through your experiences while you were over there with the family.

Community, Friendship, And Support

Advice, Mantras, And Media Recs

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so this was in 2018. So I was at Periscope at the time. Henry was three years old, and Emma was one year old. Okay. Um, actually, he was two, but he turned three while we were overseas. So one and two year old. Okay. Um, and my husband works for Nova Group, um, and they are a real estate due diligence company. Um, they are worldwide, and Ben was working on an acquisition of another company out in London. And so um Nova proposed to him either we can move your family out for a period of time to be close to, you know, the the day-to-day happenings of this acquisition, which is gonna require a lot, or um, you're probably gonna have to fly there like you know, every other week or so. And so he brought this home and we talked about it. And again, the decisive me was like, oh my gosh, like, yeah, we have to do this. Like, who gets that kind of an opportunity? Like, we would be silly to say no to that. Yeah, I had never been to London, by the way. Um, and so okay, we decided we're gonna do it. So I go back to Periscope the next day, and I'm like, hey, so there's this thing, this opportunity that's come up. And I had been at Periscope for 11 years at this time, just meaning, like, I had I had built in the the trust factor. And so when I brought this to them, they my boss at the time, Katie Kelly Lamberg, shout out, um, was just so gracious and was like, you're you're right, you do have to do this, and like we'll give you a leave of absence to go and do this for three months, and then you'll have your job waiting for you when you get back. And I was like amazing. Okay, like I thought it would have to be this situation potentially of like, okay, I like literally have to put in my notice and like we'll see what happens when I get back. Um, but it wasn't. So that was like again another point of validation of like we have to do this. So um the kids are one and two at the time, right? So we get to London with all of our gear, all the things we have a flat rented um that Nova had rented for us for a three-month period. Um, and I went from being a full-time working mom with two children to a stay-at-home mom with two children in a foreign country where I don't have a car. I don't have the ability to like just drop them off at a daycare per se because I don't know anybody in London and like the trust of like putting your one and two-year-old in a daycare that you don't know from Adam. Like, that's just crazy. Yeah. Um, and so I, you know, when you had emailed me about some questions to topics to talk about, like you had said, what is what is one of your darkest moments and let's be really vulnerable. I I would call this a dark moment in life, but one that brought me so much clarity on what I needed for myself that I am just so grateful for every part of it. Um, I laughed when I was like thinking about it because I'm like, oh my gosh, this totally sounds like when you're in an interview and they ask you for like your weaknesses and your strengths, and like you say a weakness that like has turned into a strength. And so I feel the same way about this though. It's like, yes, it was a really dark time. And what I mean by that is Ben would leave for work at 8 a.m. He'd go into the office in London, and I'd be home with a one and two-year-old in a small flat, think New York, you know, very small flat. I don't know anyone. I I need to find stuff to do all day, every day, because I am now a stay-at-home mom for like a nine-hour time frame. And so we you can only visit the the park nearby so many times during the day. And I it was funny, I remember like talking to myself and being like, okay, seize this opportunity. Like, you gotta just like do it, like do the hard things. And so I would like you know, research and I'd find a local library and they'd have X, Y, and Z events, and so we'd go and do that, or there'd be like this um music activity where the kids could play little like drum instruments, and like that would take up an hour of the day. Yeah, and then it, you know, I got to do that for a few weeks, and then it's like okay, now what? And I was so fearful of taking the underground with two children. By the way, when you take the underground with a stroller or what they call a pram, it's not easy, like you're juggling two children, and some of them don't have like elevators. Yeah, so it's up and downstairs, yeah, with your stroller and your one and two year old. And then the thought of like, what if we get trapped down here? Because that does happen, like frankly, more often than not. So then I'd be then I'd be like, okay, I have to pack the diaper bag with like so many snacks and water just in case. I'm getting in anxiety even thinking about this right now. Literally, and so you you feel what I was feeling. And it took me probably six weeks before I'm like, okay, Sarah, you can do this. You're gonna go on the underground, you're gonna take the kids, we're gonna go visit who knows what, but we're just gonna go somewhere because I'm gonna feel so good that I've overcome this fear of doing it. So, anyways, finally did it, and it was great. We didn't get stuck, like all the things. But I remember like four o'clock would come every day, and I would be like calling Ben, and I I hated to do this, but I'm like, when are you gonna be home? I'm at my wit's end. The minute you get home, I just need to go for a walk, and I just need to go to the grocery store or whatever. And what I realized in the moment is the the the clarity that that I discovered through this experience was I have a lot of buckets that offer fulfillment for me in my life. I've got my work butt bucket, I've got my mom bucket, I've got my yoga bucket, I've got my shopping bucket. Like all of those buckets I need to be able to constantly be filling to feel fulfilled as a whole. And I wasn't one of my buckets was empty. My work bucket was empty. My mom bucket was overflowing. My shopping bucket was pretty good. You're my yoga for God's sake. Exactly. My yoga budget, not or bucket, not so much. But the point was like I was missing such a core thing that fulfilled me each and every day. And I wouldn't have realized that if we didn't get this opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom, frankly. Gives you even more appreciation for the stay-at-home moms. My goodness, like, shout out by all means. That is the toughest job.

Kelly

Well, it is it's a full-time gig. Let's call a spade a spade. Like it is so for the stay-at-home moms that are listening right now, like just know being a mom is already challenging as it sits. Yep. In the greatest way possible. Let me add. And also, there is this navigation of okay, I'm staying at home, um, in a foreign country. Okay, like let's take the foreign country piece out of it just for a hot second. Fair. Say you're here in E Dinah, which there are quite a few stay-at-home moms in E Dinah, so that's not unreasonable to state. But you also have to coordinate, like, how am I going to fulfill my bucket and also kidslash kids, if you have multiple kids that are at home at that given season of life. Yeah. And there it's a lot of navigating. Yeah. It's a lot of navigating. Yeah. And also navigating identity, which is the thing that, like, when you shared this with me, I was like, ooh, so good. Because it's you, you probably had these peeling back of onion layers of this identity piece, like that was stripped of you, right? You had the work piece that was stripped of you. Yeah. And then all of a sudden you're like, oh my gosh. There's so many different layers to this. There is so many.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and what has always stuck with me is, and I think a lot of moms go through a lot of working moms go through this, right? As they're having kids, they're like, Should I stay home with them? Like, I feel this insurmountable. Guilt if I don't. Like these are their pivotal years, right? When they're newborn to five before they go off to school. And I always had in my head that, like, well, that's the time period that I should be a stay-at-home mom. Because once they're in school, like, what am I doing? Yeah. And I'll never forget. So we Ben and I had dinner with um the parents of one of his good friends growing up, um, Luke Carlson. His parents are Pete and Marsha Carlson. We had dinner with the two of them. They are like the most incredible, amazing couple. And I remember talking to Marsha about this. I had just had Emma, I think. Um, and so I was like waffling with this idea of like, do I stay at home? Do I not? And she goes, you know what, Sarah? I had the same, you know, challenge of like, what do I do here? And she's like, now that I've gone through it, what I would recommend or offer you think about is when your kids are newborn, one, two, three, are they gonna remember that you spent all of those days at home with them? Right. Probably not. Yeah. Like, how much of us remember our one, two, three year ages? And so she's like, for me, what was important was once they were in school, and now you and I experience this. Like now they're in sports and they have activities and they have to be carted from here to there all the time. Yeah, maybe you want to consider being home and being available for them at that point in their life because that's what they're gonna remember.

How To Connect And Closing

Kelly

And I was like, Oh this little, like, it's so interesting. I'm getting this little like butterfly effect in my belly right now because it's the reason. Well, I mean, I can totally resonate with what you're speaking to because when I had Maddie, I can arguably say that this the seed had been dropped when I met Joe and then finally met the boys. Yeah, and I was like, oh, this is what family dynamic looks like, and it's different, right? Because it's I'm their bonus mom. But and and it was like something shifted in me without me even recognizing, it was just sort of this subconscious thing. Yeah. And then Maddie came, and I remember being pregnant, and you were we were talking about um my my goal board, my um vision board. Yeah, okay, so Joe and I were doing something collectively together for our family, vision board, and he was like, What do you want? And I was like, I don't know. I don't know what I want. Do I want to stay home? Do I want and that at that point I was in mortgage, so I was like starting to question totally everything, which eventually led to the podcast. And I just remember having a breakdown because I was like, Do I stay home? Like, am I going to be a stay-at-home mom?

unknown

Yes.

Kelly

I had to be a good one. And then that was I mean, and that comes with its own wave of emotions. Because for me, I was like, Am I worthy to step into a role like that? Am I should I actually just be at like doing work, right? Because for me, growing up, that's all I've known. Like both my parents were working all the time, full time. And so that's what I that's what I've known. You don't know anything else, I don't know anything else different. Yeah. And so there were just all of these different identity pieces that were kind of tugging and pulling for me. But the reason I was getting butterflies in in your story is like, was that perhaps a seed that had been dropped by Martha that like you didn't even realize it, right? Like you didn't even realize that this was like, and then all of a sudden you're like, now I'm an entrepreneur, and this is literally the life that Martha was talking about.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Probably for sure. Well, and what it was almost like a foreshadow to the experience in London of being able to see what it was like to be a stay-at-home mom when they were one and two years old. Because I we had this dinner when, you know, before pre-London, pre-any talk of London. And so she had already like planted that seed in my head. And then we got this opportunity. I was like, oh, this is perfect. Like now I can like actually like test drive it. Yeah. Um, and realize that I I can't be a stay-at-home mom in this phase of life. Yeah. When the kids are young, like this. Like, I just know what I need for myself to be a better mom, frankly. Yeah. And um, and yeah, here we are now, the phase of life that she said of hey, you may want to be available and around after school and get them a decent meal before they're off to, you know, hockey and soccer and all the things. And so it's all now my reality. And so shout out to Marsha because she Oh, sorry, I called her Martha. Oh Marsha. No, no worries. Um correction. Correction. Um, yeah. So I love it. Very foundational.

Kelly

What has your village of support and community looked like for you? And let's let's start off with when you were working at Periscope and as you transitioned into entrepreneurship, what has that looked like?

SPEAKER_01

Oh my gosh. If I could shout out like hundreds of people right now, I would love to. Um, I would not be anywhere where I am without so many of the people in my life. Um, certainly my husband, like my goodness, he is like my absolute biggest supporter of all time. I love it. And everyone at Periscope, all of the the mentors and the bosses that I had through the years, frankly, I keep in touch with all of them, which is telling in and of itself. Better, better that than burning any bridges. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Um, and so I just feel so grateful for the the people that have kind of helped give me the guidance and frankly the confidence and all of those things to kind of get me to where I am now. Um, and when I think about like starting the parts department with Andy, while I knew in my heart that like that was the right next step, the friends in my orbit in this moment of life right now have been just so unbelievably supportive and excited for me and us. And like I don't take any of that for granted because I feel like there are some people in life where that might become like a point of jealousy, for example, and it turns, and everyone in my life has just been so wonderful and so gracious, and yeah.

Kelly

Yeah, I'm shaking my head right now because that has I've had uh obviously, you're my 86th interview. Woo-hoo!

unknown

Woo woo!

Kelly

And I've started to ask this question more frequently of um the gals who have been on here, especially ones like in your position where you're you're scaling, you're scaling quickly and you've got a successful business, right? And how that has um what's the word I'm looking for? What how has that been reflected in the relationships, the friendships around you? And have you I've asked the question, have you had to do an honest reflection yourself of the people who you're surrounding yourself with? You talk we talk about yeah, you are the five people you surround yourself, right? And so full circle, I think that this is just a huge testament to who you have in your orbit. Yeah, yeah. If they are if they are cheering you on and there's like no negativity or or apprehensiveness to support you, right? Yeah, that's that speaks volumes of who you are surrounding yourself with. So let's talk about the importance of who you are surrounding yourself with. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Which, like, I have to say, again, back to destiny, like everything happens for a reason. Like the people in your orbit are there for a reason. And I truly believe that. And and I will say, like, in this phase of our life, so many of our dear friends right now are parents of our children's friends, yeah. And you can't necessarily pick those. It's like your neighbors, right? Like, you can't pick your neighbors. Well, you can't necessarily pick who your children are going to be friends with at school or in sports. And we have just been so lucky to have this incredible community of friendships through because of our children. Like it gives me the chills thinking about how lucky we are. Like they are our very, very dear friends. Um, and it's not to say that, you know, our friends from growing up or college are less dear in any way, shape, or form, but you know how strong of a bond you build when you're with each other day in and day out, you know, watching your kids play soccer, doing gymnastics. Like you just inevitably are building this incredible bond and you're going through some hard life moments of just learning how to navigate it all. Oh, for sure.

Kelly

For sure. I definitely think that we are we are in that season too. I mean, of course, the listeners already know our kids are around the same age, and so there's just so much that they're going through that then you're going, you're having the conversation with your spouse, and you're like, okay, how do we navigate this? And then it's, you know, as you're having conversations with other parents, it's like, what are you navigating right now? Are you is it similar? Is it different? Have you experienced something like this? What are you doing to navigate it?

SPEAKER_01

Because and you're just always helping each other and you're always like supporting. And I don't know, like you probably feel the same way about this community, but like I'm like surprised in the best way every day, how people just like come forward to help. Like when you think about carpooling or yes, like packages on your doorstep that maybe you were gone for the weekend, but like your neighbor just picked it up because they saw it. And like, oh my goodness, that's so great and so nice and so thoughtful. Yeah.

Kelly

I I can attest to this. I I love our neighbors. We have Sally and Rob. Shout out to Sally and Rob. Um, they're right across the street. They knew we were in Florida this past week, and they were like, it just snowed massive amounts, just dumped on us. We're gonna help you out and and snow blow yours.

unknown

I was like, thank you.

Kelly

I mean, how nice to be able to come back and not have to pull your suitcases through a bunch of snow. It was so nice. Amazing. So, yes, I can attest to incredible that, and then as we're continuing to build relationships with parents, you know, Landon is in all the sports activities, Conrad is doing dance, and it's just this evolution of what those friendships are looking like. So I love it, it's so nice. So nice. Well, I think that we've covered a lot of ground here, and it's it's time to start landing the plane. Okay. So I have just a few more questions for you, dear Sarah. Um first, what's a piece of advice that you would give a younger version of yourself, knowing what you know at this current moment?

SPEAKER_01

Um, well, one of the things that I have lived by personally and have like instilled in my daughter is this whole notion of she believed she could, so she did. And I love that so much. I we like got a stencil of that art and put it in Emma's nursery um when we had her. And I just feel like, you know, oftentimes women will doubt themselves for one reason or another. And when you just put your mind to believing in yourself and knowing that you can do whatever it is you want to do, you can do it. Totally. And I yeah, so I guess it's this whole idea of like when you believe you can, just do it. Don't don't dream about it, dream about it, yeah, but like actually follow through and execute out it on it because it doesn't just have to be a dream in the clouds. I love that, Sarah.

Kelly

Would that advice transgress across the board for a woman who's listening right now who's perhaps doubtful of their dreams? How would you approach advice to them? Would it be the same or would it be different?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I guess I would ask them like, what is it that you're doubting? And maybe they don't even have an answer for that, which is the answer, right? Like, what are you doubting? You don't even know what you're doubting, so why are you doubting?

Kelly

It's like you know, the the proverbial thing with fear, right? Like exactly. What's the acronym to fear? Like the uh false evidence appearing real. Oh, whoa, I did not know that. False evidence appearing real. Wow, okay.

SPEAKER_01

Learn something new. Like, um, but yeah, like I guess I would just continue with you know the encouragement of whatever it is you want to do, do it. Because YOLO, like I haven't heard of YOLO in a while. Oh my gosh! Like, I am always like, you only live once, like yeah, none of us are promised tomorrow. So, like, what can we do today that will make us feel so good and not have any regrets in life? You know?

Kelly

If the listeners have been listening thus far, you heard us say this earlier. It's either a hell yes or a hell no. Hell yes or hell no, and bring it all together, YOLO.

unknown

I think you just landed the plane.

Kelly

We're not done. I have just a few more questions. So how can our lovely listeners find and or get connected to you? Ooh, I love this.

SPEAKER_01

Um so here's my cell phone. No, I'm kidding. Um, so the parts department is um the parts.work uh is the URL. And I am very active on LinkedIn um and of course Instagram. Um, but I am just like such a curious human. So if anyone's listening and wants to just have coffee or happy hour or whatever it may be, like I am always about that. Like you don't know who you might meet next that's gonna be so helpful to the both of you.

Kelly

You know what I mean? 100%. Yeah, I love that, Sarah. Two final questions. Okay, you think you got this? I know. You do, you do. I owe okay. So I love these two questions. So, what book are you currently obsessed with and why? And if you're not reading a book right now, what's a favorite TV series that you are currently obsessed with and why?

SPEAKER_01

Okay. I have to go the TV series route. I want to read more books, but I just I don't know. It's a problem. Um, okay, so what show am I obsessing about? Uh Emily in Paris. Like, come on. And they just signed a sixth season, so like, yay.

Kelly

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you for that. I see so much of myself in her, just in like the world that she lives in, right? Like, she's in the ad industry, she's doing events, she's working with brands, she's like just putting herself out there. Um, I one of my favorite movies of all time is The Devil Wears Prada. And same thing there. Like, I I just see myself so much in that character. Um, and so it just is easy for me to resonate and just get like super locked in.

Kelly

I love it. All right, last question. As you know, my husband and I are in real estate. We've talked about this. I am very curious. What's the favorite room in your house and why? Oh goodness.

SPEAKER_01

Oh man, alive. Um, well, if we had a sunroom, it would be that, but we don't. Um, so I would say, I mean, honestly, probably the kitchen. Because I feel like the kitchen is the heart of the home because it's where everyone gathers, whenever you have people over, we're all in the kitchen. It's where we have deep conversations with the kids, right? At the dinner table. And when I say deep, it's like, okay, we play the whole two truths and a lie game to learn about each other's days, and then you have to guess what the lie is.

Kelly

Oh, I like that.

SPEAKER_01

It just like helps the kids like come up with things that happened in their day, and then it helps us parents when you ask them how their day is to not just be like, it was good. I love it so, anyways, like stealing that one. Yeah, you should. Um, I learned it from another wonderful mom. So passing it on. R D. R D. Yeah.

Kelly

Yeah. So the kitchen. I like it. It's interesting. I in just a quick reflection, I I remember when I had a townhouse out in Woodbury, and it wasn't very big, right? But like every time I had people over, we would congregate in andor near the kitchen. Yeah. It's where the food is, yeah. It's where the island is, you can do round table, you can see. Yeah. And yeah, I I couldn't agree more. I love that question. Thank you. That's such a good one. Because I feel like it tells a lot about the person too. Right? Yeah. Well, it it forces you to reflect on like, well, what room in my house do I never answered that question before?

SPEAKER_01

It's so good.

Kelly

I love it. I love it. Sarah, this has been enlightening. I love it. Thank you for carving out time to come and share your story with the listeners. Those pieces of advice, YOLO. YOLO.

SPEAKER_01

Hell yes, hell no. Oh, and one more. Just because I just love this one so much. Kindness is fashionable. Like, it's so easy to just be kind and people want to work with kind people and you know, surround themselves with kind people, but like you gotta you gotta work at it and you gotta be authentic with it. So, kindness is fashionable.

Kelly

What a great way to land the plane, Sarah. I love it. Thank you so much, Kelly. You're welcome. I hope you have a great rest of the day.

SPEAKER_00

You too.

Kelly

Thank you. Cheers. Thanks for listening. And if you enjoyed this episode and know of any inspiring mamas who are powerhouse entrepreneurs, please help connect them with myself and the show. It would mean so much if you would help spread this message, mission, and vision for other mompreneurs. It takes 30 seconds to rate and review, then share this episode with your friends. Until the next episode, cheers to reclaiming your hue.

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Kelly Kirk

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