Meet Sarah Evans

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Evans. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Sarah, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I think it comes from being raised with a strong work ethic and an ability to keep moving forward. In business, I sometimes see things that are needed or missing in a community. If it’s a skill I can bring, I move towards it with an unwavering determination. The ability to lock into a vision like that allows me to push through setbacks, pivot around failures and bring an energy to what I’m doing that I wouldn’t otherwise have.

I have three start ups. I’ve been a small business sole owner for 25 years, a co-owner of another small business for 5 years and the Founder and board member of a nonprofit for 7 years. None of these paths have been easy. They have required me to learn about myself and grow in ways I would have never dreamed. The commitment to these projects and an ability to stay flexible has shaped me into the person I am today. Each business has had huge challenges, failures. and obstacles of their own, but a teacher of mine once said, “If you don’t quit, you can’t fail” so I just remind myself of that, change directions when things stop working and keep moving forward.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am born and raised in the midwest and love where I live. I have four kids and property outside of the city with horses and a couple goats. My kids grew up very active in travel soccer and showing horses in 4H. I am also a runner and am working on completing a goal to finish a half marathon on all seven continents. I’ve got four continents down and three more to go! I’m fairly new to running but I have really loved how strong and healthy it leaves me feeling and I’m grateful for the opportunity to travel around the world with it.

All of my professional adventures have fallen under the umbrella of health and wellbeing.

I first started as a massage therapist at the age of 21 years old and pretty quickly opened my own studio. I loved the one on one connection with a person and the ability to help them feel better. A few years later, I wanted to expand my knowledge and abilities so I became a Registered Nurse and worked in the Cardiovascular ICU while maintaining my small massage therapy business. Doing both was challenging, but it allowed me to go back and forth between two very different and important worlds in the health industry.

Ultimately, I decided I wasn’t making enough of an impact in the hospital and left that job to take a yoga teacher training. I had grown up with yoga, my mom being my first teacher. I had studied and taught several different styles so I knew the benefits of the practice. I decided I could make more of an impact if I helped people before they got sick, not after. so I left nursing to teach yoga.

The nonprofit, 3 Rivers Yoga, came next as a way to offer yoga to people who might not otherwise have access. Because it is a tool I come back to during my own feelings of overwhelm, burnout, anxiety and sadness, I wanted to share these tools with everyone. Not just people who would walk into a yoga studio setting or people who could afford yoga clothes, but anyone anywhere who wanted to find some relief. Our nonprofit team currently serves youth, military, first responders, inmates, people in recovery, we offer free classes in the community, large community events and so much more.

Five years ago I opened a yoga studio with my business partner Leslie. This gives us a place to create community and offer trainings. Power Yoga Fort Wayne serves as the connective tissue for the other two businesses. It gives us a place to offer open doors and a welcoming family to people whenever they need it.

What I am most excited about is watching all of this grow! Our team of leaders continue to step up and powerfully lead. Our trainings keep evolving which creates massive change in our students lives.

The piece I am really loving right now is our yoga retreats. We are getting ready to launch registration for our 5th annual trip and this is our 3rd year in a row to take our retreats internationally. At our core, we thrive on building community. These trips allow us to do that with people all over the world. They are packed full of adventure, good food, physical activity and incredible people. Every year we have new friends join from states all across the country and our community expands.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I feel like the three qualities that have been the most impactful for me are determination, perseverance and flexibility.

Determination is the desire to achieve a goal, perseverance allows me to keep working towards that goal despite challenges and flexibility allows me to pivot when I come up against a setback or failure.

If I offer any advise towards resilience, it would be stay committed! I think sometimes people get an idea for a product or business, but they expect the road to be easier than it is. It’s not easy to create something out of nothing. Expect it to be tough for longer than you think. I start something new telling myself it will take three years before I can take a deep breath and five years before I can relax into whats created. If it goes smoother than that, great! If not, I’m ready.

I also find it helpful to remember that my way is not the only way. “Many rivers lead into the same ocean” is a quote that has been a pillar to my success. Working on/with a team, on a board and in a business partnership is teaching me the importance of inner flexibility. None of what I have is a result of just me. It has always been created from a community, for a community. Because of this, what we have is diverse and inclusive.

Finally, I have always had a mentor or coach to support me. Like I said, creating something out of nothing isn’t easy. It throws people up against themselves and forces change. It’s helpful to have someone in my corner to point me back to my purpose and to lovingly guide me towards the qualities I know I need to make my ideas succeed.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

I wouldn’t be where I am today without podcasts and books. Tim Ferris (The Tim Ferris Show) was my first favorite. He taught me “You are the sum total of the five people you are around the most”. Ever since then, I am strategic in who I listen to.

Podcasts and audiobooks are ways I surround myself with powerful leaders who are doing the things I want to do. They open me to language and ideas that might be out of my current circle of influence. I also appreciate that they are free and accessible to everyone, anytime which makes them a powerful resource.

Some of my current favorites are Glennon Doyle (We Can Do Hard Things), Tracey O’Malley (Lead with the Enneagram), Berne Brown (Dare to Lead).

The Enneagram is a self discovery tool that uncovers what motivates us. According to the enneagram, we all do similar things but we are motivated by 9 unique ways of doing what we do. Learning my own motivation (to help others) has taught me how to direct my energy and how to watch for my limitations (setting boundaries) so that I act in a way that’s sustainable. Learning the motivation of my key team members has allowed me to put them in positions that align with their strengths. It has also helped me to support them effectively through their challenges. My favorite book on this topic is The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron & Susanne Stable. The podcast mentioned above spins this work into a leadership tool.

I believe one of the most important skills in leadership is self discovery. Getting to know myself and those around me better is a strong foundation to build on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.poweryogafw.com
• Instagram: peace4daworld
• Facebook: Sarah Evans (Sarah Pressler)
• Other: nonprofit website – www.3riversyoga.org
  Massage website – www.solacemassageandbodywork.com