Today’s guest is Sarah Shepherd, president of Circuit Rider of Colorado, who shares with host Lorie Jones her fascinating journey of nonlinear career wisdom and personal triumphs.
Get ready for a conversation packed with insights on avoiding burnout, the magic of diverse teamwork, and the bold strides women are making in the professional world. From rafting the Grand Canyon solo to tackling community water crises, Sarah’s journey is nothing short of inspiring.
Tune in for valuable advice, empowering stories, and the motivation you need to embrace your power and create a sustainable future. This is one episode you won’t want to miss!
Show Highlights:
- How messy journeys of steady learning can create inspired careers. [00:05:35]
- Can self-defined goals of young adults transform the status quo? [00:14:30]
- Gain key wisdom on assessing the narrative behind advice. [00:17:44]
- Tips to harness communication during toxic social shifts. [00:21:38]
- How to approach goals with a sum vs. parts perspective. [00:27:53]
- The power of complementary teamwork to create change. [00:31:07]
- Insights on boardroom biases young businesswomen face. [00:37:11]
- Discover the joy of proud accomplishments as a virtue. [00:41:29]
- Empowering advice for young women on their power. [00:44:47]
To connect with Sarah Shepherd, go to https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-shepherd-b1997328/.
To learn more about Circuit Rider of Colorado, visit https://www.ccrider.us/.
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review!
For more information about Lorie Jones, go to http://fearless-females.com/.
00:01.64
loriejones7
Good morning, and thank you for joining Fearless Females. I'm so excited today. We have Sarah Shepard. She's the president of Circuit Writer of Colorado. And she assures me that she's going to explain exactly what that does what she does. So I'm excited to get to hear her journey. i I thank you so much for being willing to do this for us, Sarah.
00:24.71
Sarah
Thanks, Lori. Yeah, I'm excited to be here.
00:28.57
loriejones7
So my first question is always my favorite. I love books. What's your favorite book?
00:34.65
Sarah
You know, I have a really hard time answering an all-time favorite book. um My education was in the great books, so I've read a lot of books and from from the classics, right? Everything from ancient Greek philosophy and math and science all the way through more modern philosophy. um And so whenever people ask me that question, I'm like, well what is it? What's your interest? Because I bet I have a favorite in that vein.
01:06.55
Sarah
um because I just I still read such a kind of wide berth of things um like for example right now I'm reading a book about quantum mechanics um and transactional mechanics and also I'm reading um Storyteller by Leslie Mormon Silko so I guess I would say you know maybe my favorite book in the last few years has been the book called Storyteller by Leslie Mormon Silko um
01:32.14
loriejones7
Um,
01:37.41
Sarah
It's a really wonderful novel about Laguna Pueblo um native um integration with, you know, American white colonialism around the time of the Vietnam War, um which Soko has been praised and criticized for and sharing a lot of, ah and you know, private tribal lore and traditions, as well as really revered for you know sharing those stories and sharing the experience of ah those tribal um Americans.
02:19.11
Sarah
you know So um i I really love her writing and I hope you know to to spread the love. So if anyone hasn't heard of her or read her, that is a huge recommendation for me.
02:30.92
loriejones7
I love that thats um that. That kind of gets into the fact that, yeah, I like reading all sorts of different genres. I i go through two or three year phases of one genre and then another genre and stuff like that. But but i I love, my favorite thing is when my kids sit down and ask me, mom, what's your favorite book? Because it always changes. And there's always about 15 answers to that question. So I love reading other people.
02:54.56
Sarah
yeah Yes.
02:56.24
loriejones7
I love meeting other people who love to read too. so Sarah, tell us a little bit about your journey. Tell me about how did you get started? How did you end up where you are today? And kind of what do you do?
03:09.25
Sarah
Yeah, thanks. um So I love this question because I think it's a really good one for everyone to consider. I've had this question um asked of me in my different roles where I serve you know clients in my role as business owner and president as all the different roles within all those roles as a board member to non-profits and founder of different organizations and it's as if there's some like secret sauce that like if I do what they did I will get from point A to point B
03:45.69
Sarah
And I really like to share the mixed up muddled journeys that we all have. For me at least, that is a really good way to say, you know, A to B plus luck, plus environment, plus other humans, plus help is how we get where we are with a little bit of magic or luck and a little bit of hopefully our own wisdom and, you know, decisiveness coming in at times, right?
04:19.17
Sarah
So um yeah, so where I am today, um having owned a business for almost 20 years now, um and still being like a a little bit of a baby in the world of, you know, having done that um for my age is um really having had a ah wonderful liberal arts education in my undergraduate experience.
04:20.16
loriejones7
yeah
04:41.80
loriejones7
yeah.
04:43.25
Sarah
and learning to learn and being interested in always learning from others um and then finding places that spark
04:44.64
loriejones7
mm hmm.
04:57.56
Sarah
the excitement for a creative um investment and little you know kind of modulation where I can help um in those ways um with my experience, training, you know education, and also just being willing to keep learning and see where the path takes me because I wouldn't have expected that I would be here where when I started out. And, um you know, ah I remember specifically a ah young woman mentee asking me at one point, you know, how did you become the executive director of this nonprofit?
05:24.92
loriejones7
yeah.
05:36.19
Sarah
I was running at the time and I said, well, here's my story. And she's like, but how did that happen? How did that translate? And I just said, you know, I i was open and willing to help and said I was willing to help and then showed up and learned in the ways I needed to and you know first figuring out the general information I needed and then figuring out all the things I didn't know in those specific areas and being willing to go I don't know that and dive in and become an expert.
06:10.85
loriejones7
I love that. So so what um what was your education? You said you had a liberal arts education.
06:18.83
Sarah
Yeah, yeah, so liberal arts um and in kind of a, and oh I guess I would think it's an interesting um take on liberal arts. I went to a school called St. John's College. um There's a campus in Annapolis, Maryland, and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. And I studied the great book. So I studied the canon of Western philosophy. which translates into, you know, all these kind of various degrees of philosophy and um history of mathematics and I studied ancient Greek and I studied French and music and um art and all those things added up to I now feel like I can start sorting out a way to approach learning of almost anything
07:07.48
loriejones7
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
07:11.32
Sarah
and apply it to, you know, if I feel like I need to learn a code or how to build a website, um I can learn some of those basics and then I can also work in teams and build a team to help with the things I don't know. and lead, you know, lead them from a space of a space of learning. So yeah, so that education, I, I've served on the board for St.
07:37.77
loriejones7
Hmm.
07:43.11
Sarah
John's for six years now, I've actually turned off of that board just recently. And it was such a wonderful opportunity to be of service to the program that really made you know made me a well-rounded thinking human um and in in some ways it's a conservative program because the the program itself the books that we read there are still you know 25 years later for me what students who are there today are reading um
07:59.81
loriejones7
me
08:13.80
loriejones7
Uh
08:15.13
Sarah
My class was very small, about 65 people graduated in my my class and it's about the same today.
08:19.24
loriejones7
-huh.
08:22.74
Sarah
So people are getting that experience reading Aristotle and Plato all the way up to reading Einstein and Heidegger um and everything in between, um American novels, reading the um Declaration of Independence, reading and
08:45.34
Sarah
all all sorts of American and Western philosophy and literature and talking about it together and then thinking and writing papers about it. So it really helps people become articulate thinkers and and helpers in in whatever team they're going to end up working with and such a range of and experiences and i expertise of, you know, even people who served on the board with me have such a wide range of professions. um And beyond that, you know, people with whom I graduated are doing amazing things in wide, wide varieties of fields. So
09:23.73
loriejones7
I can imagine that so interesting, though, like you you go to school and you're like, Okay, I'm going to study the great books, great literature, and then I'm going to be blah, you know, like, what do you like, what do you say I'm going to be blah with that with that kind of a degree? Like, ah how did your career go? How did your journey?
09:44.62
Sarah
Yeah, well, um it that first year out of school, a lot of students, I think this happens generally, and everyone comes out and they go, oh, blah, that was really an experience, right? My undergrad or, you know, vocational school, you know, I learned so much, it was exciting, I felt inspired, I met friends, I had this adult experience of, you know, building networks and building resources. And now I'm out in the quote unquote real world. And what happens in college is the real world. And it's a mini experience of what happens as an adult. It's just it takes more from yourself and other resources when you're out in the world to you know forge those networks and build off of them. You have a nice
10:33.49
Sarah
you know, built-in environment you get to walk into in that community at a college. um And so a lot of the students um left and we all, you know, I remember at least a group of my friends and I went, what do we do next? You know, and so we, you know, we did college things, we worked at restaurants, we worked at bakeries, coffee houses, we philosophized on the side.
10:53.02
loriejones7
Mm hmm.
10:57.22
Sarah
um I worked at art galleries and studied the philosophy of aesthetics in some master's work afterward and was considering working in museum studies and things um for example at the Denver Art Museum and and I ended up coming home.
11:13.90
loriejones7
yeah
11:16.48
Sarah
um I had a ah family um event where my parents were divorcing and I needed to come home after college and after those wonderful experiences and um you know, took a pause, didn't know what I was going to do and helped my dad open a business. um And then he retired from the business and I bought the business from him.
11:39.99
loriejones7
Yeah. hmm.
11:40.25
Sarah
And, you know, I was working the business with its clients, I was serving as the executive director of another nonprofit org, helping it build and develop. um And then um the business kept growing and my team kept growing and I was learning things about how to build my team and work with my client teams and it has just flowed from there. So again, yeah, I had no idea um how I would end up where I am. So yeah, that's the ah kind of goose neck pathway, right? Like it flows up river sometimes and around straight fence to get where you're going.
12:24.46
loriejones7
So what is, if you can look back and think over your journey, what's the best investment you made in yourself during that journey? Was there anything you can say, oh, I'm so glad I did that.
12:37.25
Sarah
Well, for me going to going to that college, um you know, it actually still boasts, it's this contrarian college where it is not, you know, step into this college and we will put you on a path to become, you know, this professional, you'll make this much money in your life and that is your goal as a human. It allows you to define your goal as a human and a citizen in
13:07.72
Sarah
the world and in our country and that's that's a difficult thing as a teenager or you know young adult to go through but i kind of fought tooth and nail to do that in in some ways with my family they thought you know you have a scholarship but a nice you know four-year university you won't come out with any student debt what are you doing why are you going there to kind of torture yourself through all these really challenging courses
13:34.05
loriejones7
but
13:35.70
Sarah
And whatever my very young you know mind and wisdom had, there was something in there that I didn't even know. And so I think that was a huge investment in myself. And um I was really glad to pay off my student loans as as quickly as I could. and um But I would say that education as a theme is something that is just ongoing. and so whenever I come up with a ah client and they have an issue they need my guidance on and I have a gap, I look at what resources there are to fill that. And that's usually going out to get some education for myself and some help from others. um So it may be formal or informal, but I might be going to do a continuing education course. It could be in a field totally far flung from what I typically do.
14:31.77
Sarah
um It could be that I should be getting a Master Gardener degree. It could be that um I should be studying um ah different types of um practices for revegetating plains, you know, grasslands in Colorado.
14:46.51
loriejones7
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
14:49.60
Sarah
um It could be water law and things I need to understand and learn to help my clients with their funding. It could be board education. So, you know, taking the ACEs course, I work with boards all the time and it just allows me to, you know, kind of indulge myself in continuing to learn forever and because there's always something that I can be learning to do better.
15:00.11
loriejones7
Mmhmm.
15:15.11
Sarah
um You know, learning election law and ways to best practice on oversee elections and my role as an election official for ah Colorado local governments and then teaching others. So, you you know, education, I think is the theme, whether I'm sharing or, you know, being the sponge to absorb and then share later and benefit others.
15:37.98
loriejones7
Yeah, I love that I do love the idea of learning that's how come I, I love reading so much is is you can find yourself a the some vast amount of human knowledge available at our fingertips is just unfathomable if you look through history. So I love that idea of learning and constantly learning. Did you, Sarah, get any really bad advice along this journey? And did you take it? Did you not take it? What did you learn from it?
16:10.70
Sarah
Oh, wow. um You know, I feel like there's some advice that you can tell is coming from some someone's own regrets or agenda. And I think that what, yeah, I definitely have taken advice that I think was kind of meant for someone else to give to their past self, maybe their younger self, um maybe someone else and it's about a concern or a goal that maybe they have that I don't share.
16:46.90
loriejones7
Mm hmm.
16:47.75
Sarah
And as I've grown up, I try to center myself with, you know, is this advice related to something that this person and I have a common goal with? Is it related to a goal I have? And if not, can I let that go as, you know, kind of an unsolicited advice that, you know, thank you, but I can let, you know, release it and let it go.
17:04.34
loriejones7
Okay.
17:13.43
Sarah
um i I definitely have um had, I think, some, you know, just ideas of past requirements for readiness um from, you know, generally, I've received it from my mentors who may be, you know, kind of holding on to the bars and hoops, you know, they had to jump over or through in the past. And thankfully, as a woman, maybe they've actually paved the way that I don't have to do the same type of hoop jumping. And in sharing
17:55.33
Sarah
you know, in sharing that, it might create, you know, some type of mental barrier where I go, Oh, I'm not ready for this. And I think that's a common theme still for women that we talk about in the ACEs program in lots of places, which is, why do I create this barrier no one else has created for me. So that's something just generally that I would say don't take that advice you know if someone is creating a ah barrier or you are with your own narrative in your head maybe say no thanks to that and just or check it check it like it might be true but maybe not like you may not I mean one example was like when I bought my first home
18:32.58
loriejones7
Yeah.
18:38.19
Sarah
you know the the narrative out there is like you have to have 20% down payment on your home and that's a good guideline and maybe in the past you absolutely need to do that but in our case we saved and saved and had that and we absolutely didn't need it like in the market we were in when we were making an offer our realtor was like, wow, you're putting that much down. And we're like, well, we thought we had to. And she said, no, who told you that?
19:03.18
loriejones7
who Yeah.
19:04.50
Sarah
You know, so it just things like that, that it's like, you know, who, who was saying that? Where'd you get that information? Like, check your sources. um
19:13.69
loriejones7
That's a really good thought to kind of look and say, hey, this is the piece of advice I'm getting. Is it valid for me? Like, is this coming from someone else's experience or a past experience that maybe would have been valid for that person or that situation, but may not be what I need or what I'm going through. And it's really hard sometimes, I think, to discern, especially when you're young, Because a lot of times you do look up to these these mentors or these people who are giving you advice and it's really hard to trust your gut or kind of hear that their experiences and not internalize it. Instead, really critically think about, hey, is this is this something that I should take in and absorb or not? I love that.
20:06.20
Sarah
Yeah, absolutely well said.
20:10.06
loriejones7
So what about looking back on your journey? Is there a ah situation that you went through or something that you tried where you're like, you know, looking back on it today going, gosh, if I knew now or knew then what I know now, would I have done that differently? Or I i definitely would have done that differently.
20:32.08
Sarah
Yeah, I have have been reflecting on this because um it is it's another thematic thing we've been talking about today. it's just It's an ongoing journey that when you're ready for a new you know a new challenge, a new task, um a new adventure, whether it feels fun or not so fun at the time, um you're there at the you know ah that threshold. um And, you know, this year with some board appointments and things I've been serving on, there have been some tough things that we've come up against. And it can feel when you're um in a world right now that feels very, um
21:20.91
Sarah
in some ways agitated and not in a mood to cooperate and, you know, align or at least try to figure out a pathway to communicate as a first step. um It can feel very challenging and lonely to be the one or in a group of folks who are really trying to move that type of um style of cooperation forward.
21:48.40
loriejones7
Mmhmm.
21:49.29
Sarah
and I think that that's a lesson that I need to constantly remind myself when I hit these new thresholds of learning and go, okay, you're here because you probably have the tools or you can get them and there are people out here to help you. And it may feel lonely because it's sometimes easier to not maintain that ethic.
22:20.31
loriejones7
hu
22:20.36
Sarah
of wanting to be cooperative, professional, um bring some moderation and um yeah to the table.
22:26.28
loriejones7
Mm hmm.
22:33.41
Sarah
So um I think that's really important in this day and age in so many domains of life.
22:37.08
loriejones7
Mm
22:40.62
Sarah
We see a lot of examples of it not going well in social media, in politics,
22:40.76
loriejones7
hmm. Mm hmm.
22:48.42
Sarah
I think it goes well in a lot of cases because so much is going right in our world, but we don't celebrate that. And I think a lot of people who hold those spaces and are moving them forward can feel lonely in them because ah it is easier to complain or to like get in groups where it's, you know, um like, let's criticize this.
23:06.88
loriejones7
think
23:10.33
Sarah
Let's yell. Let's, you know, kind of troll or whatever the language is around it.
23:14.33
loriejones7
okay
23:15.56
Sarah
um Let's exit. Let's we have ultimatums versus heal and cooperate and try to move forward. um So yeah, that's that's something that I was really thinking about with this question.
23:30.20
loriejones7
Yeah.
23:30.34
Sarah
I don't know if that is a great answer, but it's the one that I was coming to.
23:34.33
loriejones7
No, I think that's really insightful.
23:34.36
Sarah
so
23:37.34
loriejones7
I think that's um important that sometimes it's it's really difficult to to stay true to your values, your morals, your beliefs, your goals, what you're trying to accomplish when it's easier just to to follow the flow. And and yeah, it's it's hard to be constantly optimistic or have energy or work on communication when it's easier to be pessimistic and complain. I was just saying today, I actually was telling one of my team, I'm like, um i'm I'm dealing with a difficult situation with one of our vendors. And I'm on the phone with them for like 45 minutes in the morning. And I said, they're turning me into someone I don't want to be. I'm like, I'm this grumpy person on the phone with them every single morning. And I'm not a grumpy. I'm, I'm happy. I'm cooperative. I'm, you know,
24:29.24
loriejones7
ah helpful and they're turning me into this person I don't want to be. So I'm the exact example of someone who's doing something you know that's easier um rather than than holding to my standards.
24:33.49
Sarah
who
24:41.05
loriejones7
So you've inspired me. I'm going to do better on the phone with that company tomorrow.
24:45.33
Sarah
Yeah, well, and this is not easy. And, you know, sometimes reflecting back to them, right, like you were saying, it it can be like, hey, I realize that I, you know, I struggle with you whenever we talk and maybe just being really blunt about it. I don't want to bring that anymore.
25:00.36
loriejones7
o Yeah.
25:02.20
Sarah
Is there a way through? And then if there isn't, maybe that's the time to just say we're complete, like, i you know, maybe there's something else that is better. And that's also a challenge, right? I think um as women too, we're socialized in a lot of ways that moving on is a failure of our our making.
25:16.83
loriejones7
Mm-hmm.
25:25.19
Sarah
um if we haven't you know muscled our way through um that it's our fault um we have maybe the majority responsibility for it especially you know with success um and that's I that's not always true and so I think a kindness to ourselves and to others is to just also decide you know hey this is this is done for now and we'll find it some other pathways and maybe we revisit that in the future um because yeah you you don't want to hold that grump or you know there's some ease and um that's a good validation it doesn't always feel easy but sometimes when you identify it and move through you can go okay yeah we we got through that rocky spot and here's why it was valuable for us and
26:16.41
Sarah
Now we're on the other side or nope, not happening.
26:19.93
loriejones7
Yeah, yeah, we're gonna go a different direction with us.
26:23.39
Sarah
yeah
26:24.80
loriejones7
Yeah, I love that. That's really, that's really good. And food for thought too, I think just really to kind of dig into that and, and think on whether we do, I i tend to agree with you as women, a lot of times, if we can't get through a situation, um it may not be good for us to get through the situation, it might be better to to put it aside and go a different direction, but it does always feel, at least to me, a lot of times it feels like a failure on my part. And and being kind to ourselves and saying, hey, you know, this isn't a failure. it We probably learned something from it, but this I have one of those in my past where I'm constantly looking back. And and I need to just say that that situation wasn't ever meant to to happen.
27:15.36
loriejones7
i need to I need to let it go and not consider it a failure in my life because it wasn't.
27:20.66
Sarah
Yeah.
27:22.09
loriejones7
What about um if you could go back and talk to your younger self, you know, 20, 21, 22, just younger on the beginning of your journey. Is there a piece of advice or something you'd tell her?
27:37.66
Sarah
Yeah, i well, you know, I would, I still tell myself this, you know, that it's not, it's not all about you, right? It's, and that's not, ah It wasn't that I was a selfish person. um It was that I actually put way too much responsibility on my shoulders, kind of in line with the last question.
27:59.24
loriejones7
but you
28:01.38
Sarah
I thought I could do anything or everything, even worse. um And what I've learned is I can do a ah lot and I can do it with other people and with a shared goal and story and ethic. Um, and that it's a lot more fun and more impactful in the world if it is with a team.
28:26.78
loriejones7
Mmhmm.
28:26.89
Sarah
Um, so that's what I would probably say to myself is, you know, you don't have to do, like if, if no one else is there showing up, you know, try it, but don't feel like it means you have to do that forever and that you're going to be overwhelmed and have to, you know, again, muscle it through forever.
28:28.38
loriejones7
Mmhmm.
28:39.94
loriejones7
Mm hmm.
28:45.65
Sarah
Like you, in another um interview I did we talked about the fact that we are all aspects of our world we're not the center of the world we have that experience because we're embodied with this experience of our mind and our brain and our body which is such a wonderful gift but we're also we're an aspect of all of the goals we have in the world all the teams all the
28:50.30
loriejones7
Mm hmm.
29:11.34
Sarah
um you know, career um journey, our personal journey with our families, with our hobbies, with sports, whatever it is we do, we're an aspect of that. We're part of the environment and our world and our culture and our time, as much as sometimes we might love that or not, we're there in it and we're influenced by it and we have some small you know influence possible. And so having a team that values you and helps lift up the gifts that you have is one of the best gifts you can give yourself is um and not trying to do everything for everyone.
29:54.05
Sarah
in all ways, so.
29:54.20
loriejones7
and i Yeah, I think it's gonna take me probably the rest of my life to learn that lesson.
30:01.36
Sarah
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have. um I, yeah, you're so right. So I will call you up and if anytime you need that reminder, and you vice versa, call me up and say, Sarah, how are you doing with that? Are you being an aspect today of your experience in the world? Or are you trying to do it all? Because check yourself.
30:24.09
loriejones7
Yeah, I yeah, if we could just collectively all as women help each other out with that.
30:29.31
Sarah
Yes.
30:29.82
loriejones7
I love that idea. I do.
30:31.43
Sarah
but
30:31.62
loriejones7
That's great. And it's good advice for you ah no matter what stage you're at, but definitely starting out, you know, you just tend to think you can, you can and should and will take on the world. And, and it's, it you know, it's hard to it's That's a hard lesson to learn, but it's so important because if not, yeah there that's why there's so much burnout in women, I think.
30:58.54
Sarah
yeah
31:00.79
loriejones7
What about something scary? Did anything scare you when you started out on this journey and and does it still scare you or did you learn how to how to work with it?
31:12.43
Sarah
yeah um what still um What still motivates me is thinking about you know thinking about my teams, thinking about my world. and i'm a person who really orients toward far future thinking. um so
31:36.88
Sarah
not everyone shares this kind of worldview and it's you know one of the insights into my wild brain but I for a while I was like I have a real hard time with the fact that our universe is like decaying an entropy is happening you know no one cares about that in their daily life and my husband said what is your deal why do you care that
31:54.02
loriejones7
Mm hmm.
32:02.06
Sarah
millennia from today when you're not around, no one that we know, who knows what the world and the ah universe looks like. You care that this is all you know folding and you know deconstructing. And then I you know started studying and reading about multiverse um theory. And I was like, oh, I feel so much better to know that you know the that these things are all happening in space and time. And it's all you know not for not for nothing that we're you know on these journeys and working together.
32:32.50
Sarah
But as silly as that sounds, it tracks back to the fact that I ah have a great care for the future of us as humans and our world.
32:40.90
loriejones7
Yeah.
32:44.10
Sarah
um And I know how, you know, as one human in a team, different teams that I'm associated with and get to, you know, play with and help, that that's a very, very tiny, tiny, tiny drop in the huge bucket. And um so that, to me, i I had this fear and scary feeling about the world and what we're leaving behind for everyone. um But what I've done to reorient around it is think about the care of the, again, the teams I work with. And so I can focus that on, you know, our, all of our mutual goals being attended to. And I can't do all of them for all of my like staff members or board colleagues, et cetera, but I can know what they are.
33:39.97
Sarah
and I can ask them and inquire about it so that as much as possible, the work we do together can mutually fulfill those.
33:45.85
loriejones7
Mmhmm. Mmhmm.
33:48.70
Sarah
And that really helps a lot of things turn out um because then we really start thinking about not just ourselves, but the teamwork and how the collective teamwork in our society and environments need us to act in ways that create a future that's healthy and um sustainable, you know, in terms of how we interact with the environment and with one another. So yeah, aside from mold and and mice, which we talked about outside of this call.
34:23.59
loriejones7
Yeah, I'm terrified of mice. Mold is scary too. I think that's, I think that's interesting. I think that it kind of goes to sometimes I worry about, you know, the universe as a whole. I don't, I i will admit I spent zero time thinking about what, you know, the big wide world is going to end up being. But, but I do think about, you know, I'm just one person, how can I make a difference in this world? And, and there's all these really, really big problems out there. But I do think that one voice, you know, in in your own little community, in your own little sphere, if you can practice positivity, if you can,
35:04.78
loriejones7
help um others meet their goals and be a ah positive influence. Like that's what you're talking about, right? is like Is like making a difference in your little sphere and then that little sphere makes a difference in a bigger sphere and pretty soon you are making a difference in the world.
35:22.35
Sarah
Yeah, and and building off that, you know, I i bring that positive orientation, this kind of big picture thinking, which is sometimes not helpful, right? Like sometimes if we're really having to look at like, what can we do in this amount of time with these resources? Like, Sarah, do not tell us what's happening in 20 years. My team will be like, no, stop it, wrong time.
35:49.12
loriejones7
Mm.
35:50.97
Sarah
And so it's really good to have those complimentary people who rely on me when that time comes for me to inject that type of positivity and the story and the inspiration and then they tie everything down and you know get stuff done or check my numbers make sure we all you know deliver things on time look good you know please our clients and you know yeah so all those things really come into play in a beautiful complementary way and so
36:24.84
Sarah
valuing people who aren't like you, I think is a huge one that we don't always celebrate that in our, you know, in this flow right now. Like we, we kind of look at you're like me and I celebrate that. um And visionary people are celebrated or people who always knew what they wanted.
36:39.16
loriejones7
Thank
36:42.54
Sarah
So I love to put my messy story out there. Like you're, I love that you ask that.
36:44.92
loriejones7
you. Yeah, yeah, I do. It's my partner, my business partner and I are complete opposites. And exactly that way, you know, he's, he's I was thinking of these big ideas. And I'm like, Okay, but how are we going to get this checklist finished? And I do love that they that you have those other personalities and those other talents to play off of in and in work and in life. And I think the world would be a much poorer place. If there was only one person, one kind of person, I love that
37:18.86
loriejones7
we celebrate that sort of diversity.
37:22.49
Sarah
Oh, yeah. Oh, checklist. I love hearing that. I'm like, Oh, you and I together could move mountains through checklist.
37:28.73
loriejones7
Yeah, exactly.
37:31.86
Sarah
Love it.
37:32.85
loriejones7
So what about unique challenges on your journey? Have you faced some unique challenges because you were a woman?
37:40.89
Sarah
Absolutely. Yep. Um, I i you know reflect again on where I stand today as a woman and the things I haven't had to deal with. you know I've talked with my mother about the fact that she was not able to go to college without her father signing her student loan paperwork, and she couldn't open a bank account um on her own.
38:01.39
loriejones7
Yeah.
38:06.54
Sarah
as an adult As an adult woman over the age of 18, she couldn't have her own bank account until her dad helped her out with that. and ah She had a ah dad who, you know, obliged her to do those things. Not everyone did. um You know, those are the times of Title IX coming into effect. Lots and lots of social shifting around women in the workplace, ah women with children in the workplace, um what it means to be a woman overall. And so I really am grateful for
38:45.02
Sarah
the challenges I get to have now that aren't so big, but they're still there.
38:49.12
loriejones7
Yeah.
38:50.11
Sarah
um As a woman and especially a young woman business owner, ah I'm often still today. you know I wonder how old I have to be to not be to and you know and talked down to. um I had a ah recent meeting ah with a new board client and board members. I brought my CFO with me, who's ah older than I and a man.
39:22.02
Sarah
And they assumed he was the owner of the business and that we were married on top of it, right?
39:28.92
loriejones7
Bye
39:28.98
Sarah
um And so these things just, you know, they continue. And um so,
39:39.66
Sarah
I acknowledge them and I see when they're happening. And I i kind of then you know work with work with the groups I have to laugh about it and try to barrel through it without taking it on as something personal to me, but also something that ought to be corrected for the next generation.
39:56.32
loriejones7
-bye.
40:02.60
Sarah
So our next generation has different problems to work on.
40:08.00
loriejones7
Yeah, they've got a lot they got to fix.
40:08.62
Sarah
so
40:10.10
loriejones7
So if we can help them out, like I agree, like those that came before us helped us out, you know, like they they forged the path into a lot of these different professions, they got a toehold in they got, um you know, bank accounts and and, you know, even before that, you were looking at women who were fighting for the vote and things like that. So So I feel like we stand on the shoulders of giants and we can reach down and help those out who are coming after after us. And and you know that it's women's problems are not the only problems out there.
40:44.19
loriejones7
There are problems because you're a minority. There's problems because youre you know there's lots of different issues. I just choose to focus on helping little girls achieve their dreams. That's all.
40:55.49
Sarah
Yep, yep. And that's, that's one that we, yeah, we need to put a hand back and it's kind of, you know, passing a baton or reaching down to bring someone up and kind of stand on our shoulders next. um And, you know, recognize the ways that we have had that disadvantage and tell that story but don't own that story, right? So um I love to hear the wisdom of generations 10, 20, 30 years older than me so I can hear their stories and appreciate what they went through.
41:21.12
loriejones7
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
41:32.02
Sarah
um And then also have them appreciate what I'm going through. So it's not better than or less than, right? Like they're like, Oh, you know, you, you are, so yeah you have way less challenging problems.
41:38.82
loriejones7
Yeah.
41:42.90
loriejones7
Yeah.
41:43.16
Sarah
Well, not really.
41:43.50
loriejones7
Yeah.
41:44.04
Sarah
Like it's, it's yeah, it's a gradient and we're all doing it to try to make things, um, better for those diverse identities to have fewer barriers.
41:44.48
loriejones7
Like, different.
41:56.57
Sarah
And that's our hand back to them.
41:56.89
loriejones7
Yeah. I love that. And I love the visual of like putting your hand back and lifting up and helping and and just being that force for for good and in in those lives. And ive I have appreciated i've appreciated those that have done that for me in my life and and want to be that person for someone else. So what about, um Sarah, what's the thing you are most proud of?
42:29.49
Sarah
Well, you know, I have a lot of things I am i'm proud of in my work life. I also i have things in my personal life I'm really proud of. um and Maybe I'll share one of those just to kind of put some facets on, extra facets on me. um i I'm really proud to have rode a raft down the Grand Canyon several times by myself. um And that is ah an accomplishment for me. um It's you know one of the most challenging rivers in the world. And so it's one that I just, I feel proud of and I love doing it too. So it's just, it's a really happy place for me and something I love to continue learning about that type of skill and doing it over and over again. So a huge privileged thing I've gotten to do and
43:25.78
Sarah
been in a place so beautiful. So I always like to mention something like that to encourage people to have yeah if those goals outside of career.
43:33.76
loriejones7
Yeah.
43:36.18
Sarah
In career, gosh, I mean, I think that there are all these milestones. And again, I'm future oriented. So I love you're asking this because it helps me get out of the future and look back and um think about those things. um you know I've been helping a community recently that has contamination in their water supply and were we're now you know we've sourced multi-millions of dollars for a really small community that couldn't drink their water and in about eight months we're going to have a party where we all drink the water from their water system.
44:13.51
loriejones7
That's amazing.
44:14.89
Sarah
Yeah, and those are those are things that you know, I get the opportunity because I work with so many communities, I get the opportunity to do those things a lot. And so, you know, we have a lot of clients and we're like, wow, this is happening. And this is moving forward with that client. And um so I think that the achievement of my team and organization working with boards and getting big things done in service of their communities,
44:44.39
loriejones7
My
44:44.47
Sarah
um in, you know, necessary things like water supply, ah everywhere from that to emergency services like fire protection, um or even parks and recreation, right? Like all these things, if they need their trash hauled away, these are things that we rely on every day so that everyone can go out and do the things that they need to do in the world too. So um that building of that team and being able to deliver to each of those clients the things that they really need for their community, that feels like an achievement too, even though a small one.
45:13.35
loriejones7
God.
45:20.33
Sarah
So everything from big, you know, a big personal one to being a part of a team that can achieve big things for, for these communities is a great one.
45:30.18
loriejones7
I love that you can't really go out and be your best self if you can't even get a drink of water, right?
45:38.68
Sarah
Yeah.
45:39.86
loriejones7
So that's, that's great. And I'd love to hear that you're making those amazing contributions to the world. It's we, we need people that are visionary and can kind of, um, make those big changes. So and that's, I'm proud of you too.
45:58.25
Sarah
Thank you.
46:00.56
loriejones7
Any advice for a young woman starting down on a path um that you've already traveled? Is there anything you would say to her at the beginning of her journey?
46:11.39
Sarah
The beginning of the journey. um i guess From my perspective, you know this is if someone out there is listening and you identify kind of in the way that I orient in the world, you might have some similar tendencies that I had when I was starting out, um which is you know got to know what's going to happen in the future or really trying to force or plan things.
46:44.91
Sarah
um and So like I think to some degree, it would be to, you know, know how powerful you are. And also know, I'm not sure how to phrase it, but knowing how powerful you are is really valuable. And it's also in relationship to knowing that you don't have to use all of it up all at once. So, you know, this is a ah long game of life for some that are are lucky. um And
47:19.87
Sarah
you know being open to all the things that might come your way um and you know not feeling like, again, you have too much on your shoulders or yeah you have to guide and direct things more than you really do have the power to control because it's a complicated world and there are a lot of people out there doing a lot of things. they don't know or care much about you, even though they should, you know. So, yep, yep. So, yeah.
47:49.35
loriejones7
love Thank you so much, Sarah. Thanks for spending the time with us today and for sharing your journey and just your experiences. I really appreciated it. If we have listeners who wanted to get a hold of you and ask some questions or just um ask you know more about your experience, how do they get in touch with you?
48:08.56
Sarah
Yeah, so um I can give you my website. um It's www.ccrider, C-C-R-I-D-E-R dot U-S. There's info to contact me there. um And yeah, that's that's a great way. There's email info, phone info to reach out. um The other way I would offer is to look up the ACEs program, and there are good ways to get in touch with me through those channels and networks as well. Um, and on, I'm on LinkedIn too.
48:40.56
Sarah
So look you can look me up Sarah Shepherd.
48:40.97
loriejones7
Mm
48:43.31
Sarah
Um, and I would love to love to chat with anyone.
48:44.89
loriejones7
hmm.
48:47.29
Sarah
So I really appreciate this Lori. It was so fun.
48:50.41
loriejones7
Well, thanks. Thank you so much. I appreciate it as well. Thanks.
48:54.31
Sarah
And you all can't see this, Lori, can I just say, like Lori and I are wearing matching striped linen, I think linen, but I can't, tell yeah, linen shirts that are beautiful today.
49:01.63
loriejones7
Yeah, it is.
49:05.50
Sarah
And it's been very fun to look at her blue and white and I have green and white today. So yeah,
49:10.02
loriejones7
Right. We're twinners, great minds and all that. So perfect.
49:13.48
Sarah
exactly.
49:14.65
loriejones7
Thank you. Thanks, Sarah. I appreciate it.