In this inspiring episode, Sara Simmons, founder of Sera Swimwear and a seasoned HR executive, joins Lorie Jones for a candid conversation about blazing your own trail in male-dominated industries.
They’ll explore the difference between confidence and competence, the power of investing in yourself, and the reality of growing a career—and a business—from the ground up. Sara shares her unconventional journey from childhood fashion dreams to building startups, navigating setbacks, and undertaking unique challenges as a woman leader.
Whether you’re just getting started or facing your own crossroads, this episode delivers the wisdom, grit, and practical advice you need to take the next fearless step in your career. Get ready to be inspired and empowered on your own path to success!
Show Highlights:
- Two must-reads for leading organizations with a competitive edge. [03:48]
- The opportunity in underserved plus-size apparel with data. [10:58]
- The indispensable value of CE and professional certification. [16:06]
- How to recognize a stagnant job and cues for a change. [16:37]
- Who’s in your combined Voltron of key advisors? [19:54]
- Why the advice you take must fit your context and realism. [20:33]
- The truth about fearlessness and micro steps. [28:52]
- Advice to find a 401(k) employer match. [32:24]
- Balance vs. work-life integration for multi-hyphenate women. [34:24]
- Avoid opportunistic thought leaders as early-career women. [39:47]
- Confidence vs. competence in real-life business building. [41:51]
Connect with Sara Simmons on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-s-053a1a126/.Sara can also be reached via email at sara@seraswimwear.com.
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review!
For more information about Lorie Jones, go to https://fearlessfinancialadvisors.com/fearless-females.
00:01.69
Lorie Jones
Good morning, Fearless Females. So we are here today with Sarah Simmons. She’s the founder of Sarah Swimwear. And I’m so excited, Sarah, that we’ve got this opportunity to chat and just kind of get to know you a little bit better and hear about your journey. Thank you so much for joining us.
00:18.42
Sara
Yeah, thank you, Laurie, for having me. i appreciate being here.
00:22.39
Lorie Jones
So my first question is, I’m a reader. I love books. Give me your favorite.
00:27.96
Sara
Yeah, well, a business book I read a few years ago in my first role as an executive is called The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni.
00:32.55
Lorie Jones
you
00:38.08
Sara
Hopefully I pronounced that correctly, but as a founder, in spending a couple of decades supporting founders and startups and growing businesses, especially in the growth stage where execution matters, that book really changed how I think about business and what it means to have a seat at the C-suite table.
00:58.28
Sara
So… Everyone typically obsesses over strategy and marketing hacks and growth hacks, but the advantage really makes the case that organizational health is the ultimate competitive advantage where you have clarity, alignment, and trust.
01:14.01
Sara
which is what really scales. And in my experience as an ah HR executive, that book really forced me to realize that leadership really isn’t about being the most creative person in the room, but it’s about those building blocks that can help achieve something cohesive and resilient.
01:34.14
Sara
and It really sets the foundation for a healthy leadership team across being vulnerable and mastering conflict and building trust and achieving commitment and embracing accountability.
01:46.27
Sara
But I do have to say a close second is Nine Lies About Work by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall. I am a founder of Sarasomir.
01:56.35
Sara
I’ve also spent my career for the last two decades as an ah HR leader. And that one really resonated with me as i was growing up in my career in ah hr and the people space because it really challenges the way we think about performance and talent and fit.
02:15.55
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
02:15.78
Sara
It actually reinforces that excellence is at the individual level and people thrive when their strengths are seen and amplified. And I’m kind of a rebel, free thinker that sense, that I challenge the status quo of very bureaucratic BS politics about work and how work gets done.
02:37.24
Sara
And so both of those books really shaped how I lead, not necessarily from ego or hustle culture, but from clarity, strengths and intentional design.
02:47.38
Lorie Jones
I love that. The first one that you mentioned, I’ve written or I’ve read other books written by um that author. And i love i love that at a 10 because it just feels like people will say, I’m
02:53.91
Sara
Yeah. Yeah.
03:00.63
Lorie Jones
people will say well I work in financial services. So it’s a whole bunch of small shops that want to grow. Right. And they reach a certain level and they’re like, well, how do I grow? And I’ve seen so many of them. I said, it’s culture.
03:16.92
Lorie Jones
You get your culture figured out. You get your people, your systems, your processes figured out, and you can go to the moon and you can go to the moon with a, with a huge, um, you know, advantage in that you’ll feel like a small shop, but you’ll be handling a lot more, you know, a lot more assets under management. I just, i I cannot tell you how much I believe in that.
03:40.98
Sara
Absolutely. And culture is simplified is the behaviors you permit and promote, right? So those are the foundational things that are going to stay true when you can revert back to, okay we’re going through this hard thing. How do we make this decision? Well, let’s go back to the doc that defines how we’re going to solve hard problems and behave. So yeah, I definitely recommend the advantage.
04:04.44
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I love it. So it’s on my list. It’s on my, it’s way down on my list though, because my stack of books has just gotten out of control.
04:07.24
Sara
Yeah. I’m sure.
04:13.14
Lorie Jones
yeah
04:13.34
Sara
not Right? We need more time
04:14.46
Lorie Jones
I’d probably have to take a month off and read nonstop to get through them.
04:16.76
Sara
specific
04:18.11
Lorie Jones
So we’re doing our best.
04:19.96
Sara
Yeah, exactly.
04:21.50
Lorie Jones
So tell me a little bit about your journey, Sarah. How did you get started? Did you always know what you wanted to be? Or did you like, did that come in a wavy path? Was it a straight line to where you are?
04:31.54
Lorie Jones
Tell me a little bit about what you do and and all of that.
04:33.66
Sara
yeah Not, absolutely not a straight line. um So I have to back up. to my childhood because there’s a correlation here where my mom used to make my dresses and we used to go to the fabric store and pick out fabrics together.
04:51.87
Sara
and i kind of had this knack for knowing what was coming and trends. An example would be this in the 80s, there was the pink and black polka dot fabric was really popular, probably from one of those ladies rom-coms.
05:05.14
Lorie Jones
Oh, I so remember. Mm-hmm.
05:07.68
Sara
And I picked that fabric out for a dress. And then two weeks later, we saw it in the storefront of of the Macy’s window. And so those kind of things kept happening over time.
05:19.84
Sara
And so very quickly, you know, around eight years old, I decided I wanted to go to fashion design school. And partly because i was always a bigger kid. and so I had to be really creative with what I wore. and so having my mom sew my clothes for me kind of folded into that.
05:43.74
Sara
um So I went to design school in Chicago and i worked for an online apparel company after I graduated in Indiana.
05:43.94
Lorie Jones
Yes.
05:54.78
Sara
And I didn’t want to be in Indiana. So I decided move to London. i was like, where could I go that’s furthest from here where they still speak English? And so I ended up in the UK.
06:07.00
Sara
i went to a school in London and I studied my master’s in international business. And i thought I would come back and merge those two things together. i always had the entrepreneurial spirit.
06:18.64
Sara
I come from a family of entrepreneurs. you know, my grandfather owned a cemetery. My aunt had a hair salon. My mom’s done some boutique, you know, businesses.
06:29.32
Sara
Um, And so I’ve always been around kind of blue collar workers and had that spirit instilled in me. And so when I came back from London, i actually met a a founder opening up a small cell and cell phone and wallet case company. And that changed the trajectory of my career. And then here we 17 years later, where I have now spent my time growing my career across eight founders and six startups. And so I’ve been a part of self-funded failures. I’ve been a part of VC-backed unicorns, and I’m still a part of a self-funded success. um
07:18.03
Sara
today in addition to my role as founder of Sarasomware and the VP of people for music tech company and um You know, i think that God really has a plan for me to have that experience So i could have the confidence and exposure to really understand what it takes to build a business and so A couple years ago, I started building quietly behind the scenes just to get started again.
07:49.11
Sara
right I hadn’t worked in apparel in many years, but um when my husband and I moved from ah Chicago to Florida, I was like, you know what, there’s still a lack in plus size apparel and swim.
07:52.93
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
08:04.91
Sara
And I’ve always been a plus size ah woman. And even though the market has grown somewhat, there’s still so much opportunity.
08:15.10
Sara
And I realized, um you know, over 70% of women are a size 12 or larger and only 10% of catered to plus sizes and only of apparel is plus size.
08:28.87
Sara
So There is a huge disparity between the size of the market and what’s actually available for our choice.
08:30.24
Lorie Jones
Thank
08:37.12
Sara
And that’s why I started Sarah somewhere. So as I’ve been building, I’ve still been maintaining my career as well, um which I’m happy to dive more into that.
08:47.99
Sara
It takes a village and it takes a lot more time, but that’s kind of how I got to where I am today.
08:55.66
Lorie Jones
That’s so interesting. And I didn’t realize the statistics were so low. Like, you know, I i always think like, why isn’t this fitting the way it fits on the models?
09:00.59
Sara
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
09:05.55
Lorie Jones
Well, it’s if 80% of whatever we buy is designed for size 12 or less, and and we’re, you know, bigger than that.
09:05.88
Sara
never
09:17.05
Sara
Yeah, we’re the exactly. And you what I have found is, you know, we’re in a time and space where size inclusivity is a thing.
09:27.51
Sara
Body positivity is a thing. ah But what I am finding that brands are doing is they’re not investing in the development of what it means to have plus size apparel.
09:38.78
Sara
They’re just grading their sizes up from a straight size, expecting it to fit. And it’s like, it does not work that way. There is a lot of intricacies in fitting the plus size body well.
09:51.33
Sara
And if you don’t have those experts, then you’re not going to do it well. And it’s also a different marketing play. You know, if you’ve been marketing to straight sizes for 20 years, but you want to add a plus sizes, you have to think about how are you going to change the behavior then of that plus size consumer?
09:59.51
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
10:11.79
Sara
And so when they launch there and it fails, they’re like, well, it failed. It’s like, well, did you put the investment in the right places to make it succeed? And oftentimes they don’t.
10:22.98
Sara
And, um you know, I’ve just noticed that. And I was like, well, no one if very few people are willing to raise their hand and solve this problem. Let me raise my hand then, you know, and solve the problem.
10:36.44
Sara
And I can empathize with the plus size consumer because I am my own consumer.
10:42.17
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
10:42.42
Sara
And I often see that’s where other brands fail. I’ll look at the designer or the founder and they’re not plus size or they’re not even women. And I’m like, well, so it’s it’s really hard to empathize with a female plus size body if you are not those things. um So there’s a lot of challenges and that’s why I decided to tackle the space myself.
11:09.02
Lorie Jones
And it sounds like you’re a startup entrepreneur as well, just over and over and over again, helping those startups kind of get off the ground. Is there a space that you exit? You’re like, okay, they’re doing okay.
11:19.30
Lorie Jones
I got to go find another one.
11:19.80
Sara
Yeah. That’s a great question. ah Actually, yes. i love building from zero to one and one to two. The largest org I’ve been a part of, I scale from 25 to 600 people in four years.
11:33.90
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
11:35.23
Sara
And that’s kind of when they reach maturity. um i’m like, okay, you know, my work is kind of done here. I’ll someone else can, who’s been in more enterprise level organizations, um is a better fit at that time.
11:43.50
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
11:54.18
Sara
i like the building phases. I like building through chaos. um I like the, the, the lack of red tape and bureaucracy at that stage, when you can just kind of have ideas and solve problems quickly and move fast. That’s really where I thrive. And I’ve been fortunate enough to have found, you know, six different homes where I’ve been able to do that over the last two decades.
12:23.48
Lorie Jones
I love that. I say that my superpower is creating order out of chaos. And um and and i I like that startup phase too. That’s kind of exciting. That phase where they’re they’re still in a little bit of chaos and they need it to they need to find structure.
12:39.58
Sara
Yeah, when I see first time founder in despair, I’m just like, oh man, you need my help. I’m here. And you know, it’s just such a relief for them. So yeah, I love to partner with founders and kind of help them build that order through chaos during those growth moments.
12:57.18
Lorie Jones
So what, Sarah, is the best investment that you’ve made in yourself? Can you kind of look back over your journey and think, oh my gosh, I’m so glad I did that. I just wouldn’t be where I’m at today.
13:07.29
Sara
Yeah, I mean, outside of investing in myself for things like health, which is always a work in progress, but things from mental health to physical health to overall well-being, I’ve invested a lot in my education and my ah HR certifications. which have exponentially paid off in my career.
13:27.82
Sara
And those investments have given me the confidence to take various opportunities, which have really given me fruitful life experiences and have brought me where I am today. but the the turning point is, um you know, really taking the advice of some friends to push me out of my comfort zone during a period in my career where I had given so much to a founder was struggling to scale, um you know, selling stocks to pay for payroll.
13:56.81
Lorie Jones
Oh,
14:02.82
Sara
And opportunity yeah it was it was dire.
14:03.35
Lorie Jones
ah wow
14:05.98
Sara
um But I was loyal and I was there, but the opportunity was stagnant. So I had to get uncomfortable and find other opportunities which led me to SaaS tech environment.
14:18.08
Sara
And that is really where I learned how to mature a business, how to scale a business and build successfully.
14:31.04
Lorie Jones
So sorry, give me just a minute.
14:32.47
Sara
Yeah, no worries.
14:40.79
Lorie Jones
Oh, well, I love that. The idea of investing in yourself is always something that kind of comes through. um but I like how you put that you had to to realize that maybe that opportunity was stagnant or it wasn’t going anywhere.
14:57.42
Lorie Jones
Like, what were the clues?
14:57.98
Sara
Mm-hmm.
14:59.34
Lorie Jones
and And how did you find the fortitude? Because I know that I will stay in a situation longer than I should because I’m like, Oh, they count on me. They need me here. You know, that sort of thing.
15:11.83
Sara
Yeah, I had just gotten too comfortable and was coasting. And this is before I really knew what ah HR was. Like I didn’t get a pay raise in four years. You know, my compensation stayed flat. I didn’t know I could ask for a promotion. i didn’t know what a mature company looked like. And i was, you know, just kind of winging it in the startup, um not really having that corporate experience. So, kind of going back a couple of questions. Yes, I thrive in a startup environment, but also having that mature company experience is really important. so you can bring some of those best practices into the startup environment. And I didn’t have that at that time. um So, you know, it was really my, you know, my friends and, you know, my, now husband saying, you know, this is kind of weird. This is not your typical environment. Why don’t you find something better? And that’s what kind of pushed me to realize like, yeah, i have been kind of doing the same things,
16:23.70
Sara
moving along the same, like, where are we going with this? And I just saw that the founder also was struggling. There was little room to kind of expand his perception of how we could scale. And so those kind of red flags started popping up and I realized like maybe it’s time to move on.
16:45.59
Lorie Jones
So it sounds to me like one of the the things that you had in your pocket was a good personal board of advisors or friends and family that are looking at that and saying, hey, this isn’t right.
16:57.76
Lorie Jones
Because sometimes you need someone beyond yourself to look at the situation.
17:00.92
Sara
Oh, all all the time.
17:01.54
Lorie Jones
Yes.
17:03.50
Sara
Always, you know, the one thing I’ve learned is just like benchmark yourself, right? Be analytical, be critical. and it’s okay to question circumstances and situations. And yeah, build your your Voltron, your vortex of advisors that you can go to for pieces of advice. So if you know someone who’s great at career advice, go to them. If you know someone who’s great at relationship advice, you know, you want a mix of people in your network that you can go to, whether it’s personal friends, family, or mentors, even that you can kind of defer to in those challenging moments.
17:49.69
Lorie Jones
Sarah, what about the worst advice you’ve ever gotten? Can you think of some really bad advice and did you take it?
17:57.91
Sara
You know, I think the worst advice or bad advice in general is when people give you advice, perhaps out of the very best of intentions, but they give you a advice out of context of your own filtering capabilities.
18:04.69
Lorie Jones
Okay.
18:12.80
Sara
So for example, you know, oh, you should do that because I did it and it worked for me, or you should have hired this person because they’re great. and I’ve hired people out of, based on recommendations, which, you know, it’s kind of embarrassing as a career as an ah HR leader, I think to kind of balancing career and founder startup, I had defaulted too much on someone I had trusted based on the recommendation, but I didn’t do the work I should have, which has was interviewing the person based on their skills and abilities. So without context of your needs and your business environment in this stage in which you are, I have taken advice, again, i think with good intentions, but it turns out to be bad advice because they don’t have the context in which I need to filter through some of those decision-making abilities. So I’ve learned what works for other people will not work for you and you have to be more critical and analytical about the world if that thing is actually going to serve you in a way that is most beneficial to you.
19:27.13
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. That’s important. i It brings up, it reminds me of this friend that I have and she always, she, she does these fads, you know, like eats nothing but protein for a while or whatever.
19:39.62
Lorie Jones
And she’s always, she’s like, oh, you need to try this, this juice fast that lasts for like three weeks or something.
19:43.58
Sara
Right.
19:46.60
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
19:46.94
Sara
Perfect example, right? It worked for me. i lost some pounds, but you have a different biological makeup, so that might not work for you. So this is perfect example.
19:55.13
Lorie Jones
And I need food. So juice fast didn’t work at all.
19:57.66
Sara
Yeah. There’s that too, right? Yeah.
20:02.14
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. But that it is that the same sort of context. Like what does this fit me and what I’m trying to do and my work style? Because you’re right. They are always well-meaning.
20:13.48
Lorie Jones
She always wants the best for me, whatever that is. And this, this happens to be the best for her and And you have to run that through your own filter because they’re not doing it for you.
20:19.80
Sara
Yeah.
20:24.32
Lorie Jones
Because for them, it worked. It’s great. It’s sliced bread. They’re wonderful. They’re going to pass it on. But for you, you have to run it through the filter and say, is this is this great for this person or is it great for me?
20:30.10
Sara
like
20:36.25
Sara
Absolutely. So my advice to those advice givers, stop giving good advice that you think would work for other people that work for you.
20:46.75
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah, I love that. But you do come up with um like if you just have an idea board where they’re like, not like, oh, you need to do this and they’re trying to sell it. But they’re saying, oh, you know, these are a few things that I’ve tried through my career. Maybe one of them will come in handy for you.
21:04.57
Sara
Absolutely. That’s a great idea. And just again, being more analytical about, okay, is this actually going to benefit me and what I need? and I’m, I’m still reminding myself of that all the time. Um, and even i think back to getting a fashion degree, you know, i was,
21:25.46
Sara
supported by others like, oh yeah, go out and get follow your passion. do Okay, I should have balanced that with practical you know application of that degree in the real world. Will that degree actually make me money and sustain me over time with opportunities The answer is no. You need to supplement that. It’s a very hard degree, right, to get out of college. And I struggled finding work because you needed to know someone or you need to have 10 years of experience. I’m like, well, how can I get the experience if no one’s going to give me the experience? So now I’m here with this
22:04.76
Sara
design degree and I cannot apply it anywhere, which is part of the reason why I went back to business school so I could merge. So I wish someone would have said, okay, follow your passion and think about how you can make money supplemental to that degree, maybe get an undergrad degree in business. So in hindsight, I think those are kind of the pieces of advice. I wish I would have dialed in a little bit more.
22:34.55
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that’s so interesting. My first degree was in history before I went back for my MBA.
22:37.72
Sara
Yeah.
22:39.53
Lorie Jones
And that and it’s the same thing. I got out of there and I had, you know, straight A’s, did all the best work. And I’m like, so what do I do?
22:48.64
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
22:49.94
Sara
And someone probably told you, follow your passion. If that’s what you want to do follow your dream.
22:53.17
Lorie Jones
Yeah,
22:56.18
Lorie Jones
yeah yeah. My dad did tell me that I needed to be ah more economically minded, but I was young and dumb and didn’t listen at that
23:06.04
Sara
Right.
23:08.41
Lorie Jones
who
23:08.44
Sara
I also think about that too, right? Would have really made a different decision. i don’t know.
23:13.93
Lorie Jones
Yeah. um What about that situation, kind of going back and looking for a situation that you you could do over? If you had the opportunity to go back and with all the knowledge that you have now and change um the way that you handled the situation, is there something you can think of that you would be like, oh, yeah, I definitely want to do over there?
23:35.86
Sara
Yeah, you know, I was just talking about this the other day with someone and I generally don’t believe in regrets per se only because I think things divinely come into your life so you can learn from them or grow from them. However, there was ah the summer I graduated high school, there was a lot of pressure from a university to start right away. And that is the summer my whole family, siblings, parents, aunts, cousins, and my grandparents took a celebratory trip to Canada for my grandpa’s birthday at the time. And I didn’t go because I felt like I had to start college right away. but that turned out to be the last summer was alive. So I don’t have those memories like everyone else. But then again, if I didn’t start that summer like I did, it could have changed the trajectory of my life. So I have some very dear friends to this day because I started college that summer. So I, you know, don’t like to play with God. i like I like to believe that we are exactly where we’re supposed to be learning. The lessons are supposed to be learned in that moment, which is why I can reflect. um
24:52.82
Sara
So I believe in reflection so I can do better or do things better going forward. So if there are things that I want to prevent reoccurrence, I make the time for that reflection, but I don’t wish the to change the course of my life that God had planned for me.
25:12.44
Lorie Jones
Yeah, i think I think that’s a really important distinction too, is that like know better, do better. So as you as you learn those lessons, taking that time to do an after action analysis, I like do it with all of my team. Whenever something goes terribly wrong, we come together and talk about what we did well, what we didn’t do so great, what we could change next time so that next time we do a better job of getting through it. And And with certain situations, we’ve had to do the same analysis three or four times, but each time we’re failing better, you know, and we’re and we’re getting better at what we do. So I do think that there’s some value in
25:55.99
Lorie Jones
and passing on those experiences. So maybe you don’t have to make the first or second iteration of failing, but, but I, but I, I, you know, going back and doing the same thing, who’s to say that my life would have turned out the same if I hadn’t had those same experiences.
26:02.56
Sara
Yeah.
26:13.33
Sara
Right, exactly.
26:16.34
Lorie Jones
What scared you the most as you started your journey? Do you, is there something that like, you were scared of.
26:25.24
Sara
Well, I was… I mean, I’m always scared, you know, i’m thinking about the title of this podcast, fearless females, right?
26:35.42
Sara
And i think we do things with fear, but the difference is we push forward through that fear, which I guess in makes us fearless or appear fearless, but we’re doing it with fear.
26:49.58
Sara
um But Generally speaking, you know, I had a very unconventional early stage career working for independent startups that, you know, again, were self-funded and that came with a lot of ambiguity.
27:04.68
Sara
it came with not knowing if payroll was going to be made on time, not having benefits, um, and being asked to be a consultant, but treated like an employee and not knowing that there should be more of a structured environment.
27:20.30
Sara
And i used to be loyal to a fault. And I feel like that had stagnated my growth, where I should have experienced in my late 20s or 30s.
27:32.60
Sara
But again, now that I know better, I can make situations or decisions that I’m not in those situations. So my early career kind of prepped me for dealing with a lot of fear in those situations.
27:49.58
Sara
But I think the most important thing is Even though you might be scared of something, still pushing forward and working through those fears because you never know what is going to happen on the other side.
28:03.04
Lorie Jones
Okay.
28:04.84
Sara
And so kind of facing those head on, acknowledging them too out loud um and can also bring a lot of, you know,
28:17.22
Sara
analytical kind of perception on how you’re going to navigate through those fears. So yeah, I guess I always put myself in a situation where I’m more risk tolerant for sure than a lot of other people.
28:32.70
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I find that there’s ah safety is a priority, especially for women. that The idea of of being really good at what you’re doing, being very competent at what you’re doing, having that skill set, doing the same thing so that you know that you’re good at it.
28:39.29
Sara
Mm-hmm.
28:50.76
Lorie Jones
It’s harder for us to show just a little bit of fearless, to take that step, not knowing where it will lead. and And I agree with you. i think it’s important. I think it’s important in my life, even if it’s uncomfortable and hard and scary, that that first fearless step, if you can just take it.
29:06.60
Sara
Yeah.
29:11.61
Sara
yeah
29:11.74
Lorie Jones
um I think it it makes all the difference.
29:15.58
Sara
and make it a micro step, right? It doesn’t have to be one giant leap. Maybe it’s a micro step to that next thing. So the the risk isn’t as large when you’re you’re taking that initial step. You can kind of micro um make micro changes through that process. So it’s not as scary, but yeah, you have to have the the mental fortitude and and resilience to be a founder for sure.
29:44.95
Lorie Jones
Yeah, yeah. What about a really great financial decision? Is there anything you can kind of look back on over your journey and you’re like, high five yourself? I did such a great job of this this financial thing.
29:59.26
Sara
ah Um, let’s see great financial decision. um I would say, i wish I had a better example, but definitely find an employer with a matching 401k and start contributing. find a way to build assets and invest, um, and figure out how to make that work, build collateral and try not to get into credit card debt to do so. um You know, i my investment career has ebbed and flowed over the years. I’ve learned a ton of hard lessons financially. um so that would be my number one piece of advice. And another one is
30:46.97
Sara
again, deciding to move on from jobs that I’d been in too long, i grew my salary leaps and bounds within a few years after kind of getting out of that stagnant job that I was in.
31:00.92
Sara
and someone told me anecdotally too, one said, there’s a reason people who are at the exec level move every couple of years um and continue to grow their income. And I believe that. I’ve actually seen it multiple times over the years in my role as an ah HR leader. So that would probably be some of the financial pieces of advice or considerations for other women.
31:29.27
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that’s if ah that is kind of important. um if you’re stagnate If your growth is stagnating, if you’re feeling like you maybe aren’t growing in that role, your your’ salary is probably also stagnating.
31:44.25
Sara
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And if you do not understand your company’s compensation philosophy or how they approach compensation, or if there’s a lack of transparency in how you can grow your career and your role financially, um most likely, you know, the market will tell you otherwise kind of where you are and where you should be.
32:11.26
Lorie Jones
he um Did you have any unique challenges because you were a woman?
32:18.46
Sara
Oh, I think it’s a challenge to work full time to kind be head of household where, you know, I cook a lot. So I plan dinners and do the washing and the cleaning and keep the home running smoothly and being a wife and all of those other roles we play and being a solo founder on the side. um I think we as being the beings we are are multi hyphenate women naturally having to play the different roles that we have on a day to day basis. think that in itself is challenging. um
32:56.06
Sara
And I don’t necessarily believe in balance of all those things. I do believe in work-life integrations because when you’re giving yourself to one area more, you’re going to have to naturally give less to another area. So you’re going to have to be okay with that as a multi-hyphenate woman doing all of these things, playing all of these roles, or you’re going to beat yourself up unnecessarily.
33:29.77
Lorie Jones
So work-life integration. that’s That’s an interesting way of looking at it. So like you’re integrating um all the different, your you know, physical, mental, social, ah career, family, like…
33:43.93
Sara
Yeah, we all have 24 hours in the day and think we have things we have to do, right? Doctors appointments, family needs pop up. um But you also have to work, right? And so I tell my team, like, I get it. Things happen.
34:02.42
Sara
I’m not tracking that you’re sitting at your desk for eight hours.
34:03.98
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
34:06.20
Sara
I’m tracking the outcomes that you’re going to deliver. So if you need to bop out at, you know, 3 p.m. for childcare or pick up your children, go do it.
34:17.62
Sara
And if you have to finish work after dinner, that’s okay. That’s work-life integration. You have to integrate your life with work. Because one thing does not stop over the other.
34:30.25
Sara
You have to find a way to create your own integration and that works for you and all the things that you have to deliver for everybody else, whether it’s dinner, sports, you know, events or a deadline that you have at work.
34:47.10
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that’s a really interesting way of thinking of that. i’ve I’ve heard it put like, there’s, I have no balance, I can’t figure out work life balance. But, but I haven’t had it put that way before where you kind of have to integrate, like, ebb and flow with, I’m not sure I’m going to be good at that either, but I’m going to try it.
34:57.16
Sara
Yeah.
35:06.63
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
35:06.81
Sara
yeah I mean, i always tell my team, like, you’ll never have balance because if you do achieve balance, something in life is going to happen and you’re going to be quickly out of balance.
35:18.90
Sara
So good good luck playing that game.
35:20.09
Lorie Jones
yeah
35:22.22
Sara
But you can try to integrate the things, you know, that happen in life with work and having an employer, too, that understands that and understands the need for that flexibility great.
35:36.12
Sara
hugely important. So if you don’t have that, that could be a red flag.
35:44.63
Lorie Jones
um What is the thing you are most proud of, Sarah?
35:49.38
Sara
i’m I’m proud of being me. I’m proud of being a wife ah and leader a leader, founder at the age of over 40. I decided to start this side thing you know after I turned 40. I’m proud of being resilient and agile and Doing the things in life that most people would never do or couldn’t fathom doing. and i’m I’m proud of the risks that I’ve taken and i I’m proud of the leader I’ve become and the organizations that I serve. And I’m proud that I’ve not given up and that I’m still facing challenges every day even today, but I’m going to do what I can.
36:36.92
Sara
that is in my control and do what I can to keep pushing forward even through all of the challenges. So I think my my mental fortitude and my resilience is is pretty strong.
36:51.28
Sara
But again, I’ve positioned myself having worked in startups for 20 years to to build that skill.
36:59.45
Lorie Jones
Yeah, when when crap hits the fan all over the place, yeah you pick up the pieces, you’re like, oh yeah, that isn’t so bad.
37:05.78
Sara
Yeah.
37:07.06
Lorie Jones
That isn’t such a bad emergency, right?
37:07.39
Sara
Yeah. And I’m pretty even keeled. You know, I think one of the things that people tell me the most is that you’re so calm and your demeanor is just very calming. And it’s like, well, why freak out? That’s not going to change the situation or the outcome. So let’s just pragmatically approach what we have to do and find a solution to to get over this hump.
37:34.42
Lorie Jones
Yeah. um Any advice for a young lady who’s kind of coming down your path, who’s just maybe at the start of her journey? Anything you could tell her to help her be successful like you?
37:48.04
Sara
Yeah, I mean, there’s so much noise in life, right? it’s It could be family, it could be, you know, all the influencers or the comparison to other people.
38:01.15
Sara
The too many LinkedIn thought leaders that turn into predatory marketers. that benefit, you know, from other people’s hope and desire to achieve dreams.
38:08.60
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
38:14.38
Sara
So my advice is to please pause, think critically, analyze if that thing will serve you, if it’s worth your time and investment.
38:24.74
Sara
And it’s okay to say no, not now, this is not for me. But, you know, people do make money off hope and dreams and the desperation of people wanting to be successful and achieve that dream.
38:38.45
Sara
And, you know, I’ve, I’ve been victim to that. I’ve been in so many groups that take my money that i haven’t found value out of that, you know, market certain products or services that don’t deliver.
38:53.51
Sara
you people will take from you and you may not get the value that you expected in return. So, and start small, start with micro steps, but just start if you truly believe that you have an idea, product, or service that will be of use and service to others.
39:12.16
Sara
So you can build that momentum slowly. You don’t have to have everything figured out. And which I used to think, right, everything had to be in a perfect scenario before I’m able to do this thing.
39:24.29
Sara
And that’s not true because you’ll never be in a perfect state. Almost like work-life balance is not a thing. um
39:32.13
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
39:32.82
Sara
So don’t overcommit to every infinity group. I’ve done that where I’m in you know, 10 different groups and then my time is spread too thin. Pick one like really solid group that you think might benefit you if that is truly something you’ll get value out of. um And know that it’s hard. It takes grit. It takes mental fortitude and resilience and your own conviction because even with all the supporters around you, it feels very lonely and dark at times. and only you are going to pull yourself out of those moments. and
40:14.55
Sara
the whole, like, if you just work hard, you’ll be successful.
40:18.26
Lorie Jones
you
40:18.81
Sara
think is a complete fallacy. It’s a romanticism of what is actually happening in practice in the field to build a successful business. There are so many people who work hard on a daily basis and their dreams never become reality. And that’s not because they’re not hard workers, but i think as Americans, like we value beauty and extroversion, right? The talkers are the ones who are excited and enthusiastic and they’re kind of the chosen ones. in this life and there’s a lot of research statistics that support that but we we know that we have to get around it right our our locus of the control that i can versus i can’t but know that confidence is not competence and it takes a lot more than hard work to be successful it’s sometimes about timing and
41:15.80
Sara
What resources are at your fingertips and available to you? And what can you make happen with what you have financially? Right. I had to wait.
41:27.42
Sara
you know, 20 years to start my business until I was making six figures because I just didn’t have those financial resources. um You know, your relationships too.
41:36.23
Lorie Jones
Mm-mm.
41:38.42
Sara
Are you in alignment and support from your partner? You have access to capital and know that that’s not easy either. You have to have a certain credit score. You have to have collateral, um you know, If you’re diverse enough on paper for underrepresented loans or grants, there’s so many caveats to getting resources and help and support to get your your idea out in the world and be quote unquote successful.
42:09.05
Sara
So it’s hard. It will take way more time, money and effort than you ever thought.
42:11.82
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
42:16.37
Sara
So keep your day job, keep your income until that side gig can replace your main gig. and if all that still doesn’t scare you and you want to give it a go, i will pray for you and your journey ahead.
42:32.21
Lorie Jones
yeah I love that. That’s true. It is, it takes a special kind of person to be an entrepreneur, to, to like take that unknown step and to go into that.
42:42.26
Lorie Jones
It, it, it is not an easy place to be, but it is, I would argue it’s worth it. If, if you have, if you have a clearer understanding of what you’re looking at, you know?
42:55.93
Sara
Yeah. And you might have setbacks, you know I’ve had setbacks, I’m going through a setback and you just have to keep pushing forward, right? And what can you do, right? If this one thing isn’t working out that you thought over here, okay, what can I do to keep things going, keep that momentum? but still trying to unblock this thing that’s keeping me from fully moving forward. so having that mindset, i think, is really important. And, you know, if if you have all of those things in line and are still working through them and still push through them, then, yeah, it it might work out in the end.
43:40.12
Lorie Jones
Yeah, it’s great. So, well, thank you so, so much for your time today, Sarah, and for all of your knowledge and wisdom that you’ve shared with us. If I have a young lady who wants to get in touch with you or pick your brain a little bit, how does she do that?
43:56.70
Sara
Yeah, I am on LinkedIn, Sarah Simmons, founder of Sarah Swimwear, that’s S-E-R-A, swimwear, two words. And you can also email me, Sarah, S-A-R-A, at Sarah Swimwear, S-E-R-A,
44:15.64
Sara
s-w-i-m-w-e-a-r.com. Feel free to email me or connect on LinkedIn. I’m happy to share advice for what worked for me. Might not work for you, but I’ll share, happily share some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way.
44:34.17
Lorie Jones
Thank you. Thank you, Sarah, for your time. I really appreciate it.
44:36.60
Sara
Yeah. Thank you, Lori, for having me. I really appreciate being here today.